Absolutely Furious I Could Scream

Icanandwillsavemoney

Long story so please bear with me...

My sister is getting married in September so we went bridesmaid dress hunting in late Feb at TONIA ANN BRIDAL CENTRE, TYNE & WEAR. They measured the 3 girls and advised us what sizes we needed so we ordered away. Paid £200 of a £282 bill as deposit (50%) and part payment of the balance.

Called in today for the first fitting and all 3 dresses were too small.

No problem I thought, send these back and order the larger sizes - easy.

OH NO not that simple.

We have to pay the remaining £82 and then buy a further 3 dresses paying another £282.

Apparently bridesmaid dresses are non returnable. if they don't fit then tough. At no point was this explained to us and it is not detailed on any paperwork provided by the shop.

The eldest bridesmaid tried on a shop sample that was too small as we had to hold the back together to get an idea of the look and yet the shop did the measuring of all three and ordered the same size as the shop sample!!!

I appreciate kids grow and when we were on our first visit to the shop I explained that I was expecting female growth on my daughter (age 11) so please make allowances for that growth when you size her up.

They refused to do anything to rectify the situation even when we reminded the manager that we had to hold the dress together and yet she was the one that ordered the wrong size.

I said she had knowingly miss sold the dresses to us and that we were not happy and she just walked off after telling me that I 'should have asked the question! She thought it would have been common sense! It isn't her fault our children have put on weight' - THEY HAVEN'T. The eldest one has lost weight!

We ended up saying keep the dresses and refund anything paid over and above the 50% deposit which is non refundable. We lost £141 and have no dresses.

My sister can not afford to purchase a further 3 dresses and it didn't make sense paying extra for 3 dresses that do not fit and no guarantee she could have made enough selling them on ebay.

Can they do this to you. No explanation, no signage and nothing written on any of the paperwork that the dresses can not be exchanged for different sizes.

?????????

looby75

It is usual that once ordered wedding/bridesmaids dresses are non returnable but this should be made perfectly clear to you at the time of ordering and most bridal shops make you sign to show you have been told this. Also if the staff ordered the wrong sizes then that is their mistake and you should not be held responsible for it. It does seem that it someone has messed up badly if they ordered 3 dresses the exact same size, for 3 bridesmaids that I presume are different ages/sizes.

I would phone trading standards (or what ever they are called these days) and ask for their advice.

Blacksheep1979

sod trading standards (don't know why everyone here keeps raving on about them) they probably won't do anything. Write a letter to the shop stating you were missold the items (they reccomended the sizes that were wrong) and if they don't refund within 14 days you will begin legal proceedings that may, if successful, result in further costs. If they have any sense they'll cough up, if not pay the £30 and go to court - if you don't say/do anything silly you will win.

Rex_Mundi

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

sod trading standards (don't know why everyone here keeps raving on about them) they probably won't do anything.

Even if Trading Standards wont take action themselves (sometimes they will take a specific case on, and sometimes they don't according to their area policy), they will always offer good advice regards the law and a customers rights (they know what they are talking about).

Sometimes in a case like this just a mention to the shop that the customer has spoken with Trading Standards can help the person get a satisfactory resolution with their problem.

I've dealt with many County Court claims for people (never lost yet), but I would always advise a person to take as much advice as possible before going down this route.

For the price of a phone call, it is well worth a call to your local Trading Standards for advice before you do anything (they are in your local phone book).

looby75

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

sod trading standards (don't know why everyone here keeps raving on about them) they probably won't do anything. Write a letter to the shop stating you were missold the items (they reccomended the sizes that were wrong) and if they don't refund within 14 days you will begin legal proceedings that may, if successful, result in further costs. If they have any sense they'll cough up, if not pay the £30 and go to court - if you don't say/do anything silly you will win.

I mentioned trading standards because they can tell your consumer rights and if they get enough complaints about a particular business they have the power to take legal action. Obviously they can't take that action unless customers tell them there is a problem.

My next suggestion was going to be a small claims court application

Altarf

And if you paid by credit card, consider section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

mookie

Not sure about your situation with the store but for finding some new dresses have you looked in BHS wedding dept? They have beautiful children's items at reasonable prices, my local BHS has just started getting things in so its the best time to start looking. If you have a friend with a BHS card I think they get 10% off at certain times. If your sister cannot afford actual bridesmaid dresses then maybe the eldest could have one and for the younger ones there are plenty of high street stores that sell very pretty party dresses you could find ones in contrasting colours to the eldest, I am sure they will still look perfect on the day.

Icanandwillsavemoney

Thanks to all posters.

I am calling trading standards tomorrow and will go through the whole story and see what my sisters rights are. If it means going to court then that is what we will do.

I am still so angry I can't believe it. I hope this subsides!!

Thanks again.

pinkshoes

A specialist bridal shop should know all about dress sizes and altering them. If all three didn't fit, then they obviously made a mistake with the measurements, and should rectify the situation. Good luck getting this sorted!

Perhaps go back and see the shop after speaking to trading standards, ask them again for a refund whilst armed with your information, and give them one last chance to either adjust the dresses to fit, or give a full refund. If they refuse, politely tell them that you'll be taking the matter to court and they will be receiving the paperwork shortly.

paula65

Next also do a fabulous range of wedding outfits for girls that could be used as bridesmaid dresses and not too expensive. Dont let this shop get away with it. Somebody there made a mistake and you should not be out of pocket because of it.

micky1971

Can i just stress that Trading Standards cannot take action against individual cases if it is a CIVIL matter, they can only do it for criminal matters. They can only take action against the trader if he has committed particular civil offences a number of times (under the Enterprise Act) and it is not done on behalf of the individual consumer but on behalf of consumers as a whole...