wedding dress ruined by dry cleaner/storage - what to claim for?

tightauldgit

SGH33 said:

I am claiming £945, which is cost of a second hand dress minus what it's worth now (£0) plus the cost of the report £300 and postage of the dress. Not claiming for any deposits.
A stipulation of the mediation we agreed on was that a lower amount would be agreed on between us, but he withdrew.
I did think that maybe he thought I would not take it to court, but it is more a matter of principle now.  He should have taken responsibility for what he did, yet he is clearly still going to deny it even with scientific proof.
I had no other way of proving it other than having it independently tested.

What was said by them during mediation? It would seem strange to me to say a dress (even a damaged one) is worth zero so I presume that's what they would maybe challenge?

SGH33

They just withdrew before saying anything. One of the stipulations of the mediation was to compromise on the claim amount, which he could have done so.
I have asked the laboratory if the material was faulty in any way and they have confirmed it was not and are willing to provide statements to the court.

prettyandfluffy

I haven't read all the many responses but wanted to say without excusing what has happened: silk does discolour.  It just does.  My ivory silk wedding dress was specialist cleaned and stored properly in acid-free tissue paper, it still yellowed.  I went to see the exhibition of the Royal wedding dresses which are made of silk and they had all yellowed too; I think if anyone had access to a dry cleaner who could prevent this, it would have been the Queen.

SGH33

Thats interesting.
The laboratory has found that this discolouring was caused by over processing and over heating during the dry cleaning process.
They have also assured me that there was no evidence that the material was faulty, which is what the dry cleaner is claiming.

prettyandfluffy

This won't address the question of compensation but dyeing silk with cold tea to create an "antique effect" can be very effective and would enable you to wear your dress as planned.  NB This only works on natural fabrics so any trims and fastenings that are man-made would not take up the dye successfully.

SGH33

It already looks like this has happened unfortunately 😕 

SGH33

The defendant did not attend the resolution hearing and the final decision hearing is 5th March and I am allowed to use the lab report showing the dry cleaner (defendant) is at fault.
I have received an email from his solicitor regarding  a halfway settlement.
I do not wish to settle out of court at this late stage and wanted to know if i need to respond or not?  Will it look bad in the eyes of the court if i ignore it? If I should respond, what wording should I use in the email?

IvanOpinion

One thing to be careful of, even though you have said it has zero value, in your original post you said it had sentimental value. You may have to decide whether the compensation on offer is worth losing the dress completely, since the cleaner may be awarded possession - in which case it is likely to end up on a bonfire or in a skip (not a fitting end for something of sentimental value) .

You may want to make it clear any settlement must include you retaining ownership of the dress, if that is what you want.

SGH33

IvanOpinion said:

One thing to be careful of, even though you have said it has zero value, in your original post you said it had sentimental value. You may have to decide whether the compensation on offer is worth losing the dress completely, since the cleaner may be awarded possession - in which case it is likely to end up on a bonfire or in a skip (not a fitting end for something of sentimental value) .

You may want to make it clear any settlement must include you retaining ownership of the dress, if that is what you want.

Thankyou.
I am not willing to settle out of court. The dry cleaner has ignored at least 3 opportunities to settle this which has incurred me more stress and increased costs (days missed off work due to court date he did not attend).
Can I just ignore their offer or if it would be beneficial in the courts eyes for me to do so then how do I phrase the letter?