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I agreed to buy a wedding dress for my daughters'wedding on 23rd December, 2006 from a local bridal shop.I paid a deposit of £468.00 on order, and a further cash payment of £300.00 leaving a balance of £168.00.
At a first fitting of the dress on 8th November defects were apparent:
1)Stitching below the left/right seams puckered.
2)Front of the dress did not hang properly.
3)Length of the dress was too short.
The shop offered to send the dress back to the supplier in America but said it may not arrive back in time for the wedding!I therefore wrote on 13th November requesting a refund (quoting The Sale of Goods Act 1979) within 7 days.I received a reply on 15th November 'taken under advice' refusing to 'phone calls with all communication in writing.They have spoken to the manufactures who state they are satified that the dress is not faulted due to their quality controls.The shop offered to send off the dress to America to be tested.They also state that it is not proven that the dress is of unsatisfactory qaulity because this has not been proven by the manufacturer, or an independent testing house.It is simply our wiew and not that of a qualified professional.The letter goes on at lenght.
We replied on 22nd November advising we were consultind a solicitor.
To summerise the firm we approached accepted the case, and then later we were informed they did not have a consumer franchise for legal aid!!
In the meantime we contacted the local press who followed up on the story, and published an article on 'Wedding Disaster'.
We replied to their letter of 15th Nov. on the 28th Nov. offering to have the gown independedtly tested with both the parties bearing half cost.
On 29th November we received a letter from the other sides solicitors:
If we wish to collect the wedding dress the balance will have to be paid first, with a cut off date of 8th December.
Confirm in writing if we wish to send the dress for testing to America,(we have to pay delivery costs)however, be advised the dress will not be returned for the date of the wedding!!!
If we have not collected the dress by the 8th December then under their clients terms and conditions the dress becomes their propety.
I am of the understanding that the contract we have is with the dress shop not the manufacturer, and, therefore there is no need for us to be involved with what is said between them and the bridal shop.
In the meantime a wedding dress was hired.A letter before action was sent on 24th January asking for return of the monies plus costs for hire of the wedding dress, and compensation for stress and anxiety.We intend to submit NI form within the 7 day period allowed for a reply.
Can you comment in general on what has happened so far?Are we taking the correct actions?What are our chances of success?
I'm not sure what to put on the NI form on brief particulars of claim, and further, on more detailed particulars.Is there anywhere to look for case law to support the case?Thank you for any help anyone can give.
You won't get the money for the hire - this was something you would pay anyway ie buying another dress, small claims court and distress don't go hand in hand - it will be hard to prove the 'value' of your distress. All you can really claim for is the amount already paid for the dress and any costs involved because of their non performance ie if you got an identicle dress but cost £100 more then you could claim for that.
to blacksheep1979 28th JAN.
Thank you for your kind reply.How are you certain we cannot claim for the hire of the wedding dress?This only happened because of the actions from the bridal shop who refused a refund.
you can only claim consequential costs ie if the wedding dress cost more to hire than buy (bit strange I know) or hiring the dress cost more due to the urgent nature or as I pointed out buying a new dress (same one or similar quality) cost more. You can ask and add it on, but don't be surprised if the judge doesn't award that.
You can claim a refund of what you have paid as you can argue that the dress was not of satisfactory quality and therefore does not comply with the terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
However as Blacksheep said, you cannot in addition claim for the costs of hiring an alternative dress. The money you used to pay for the hire of the dress is money you would have budgeted for a dress anyway, so you weren't actually in a worse position financially than you would have been had the original dress not been faulty.
It's also unlikely that you will be able to claim for distress as the small claims court very rarely awards compensation for this - they award for financial losses only. There are exceptions, but since you were able to sort this out prior to the wedding day itself I would be surprised if the judge would make such an award.
(NB, examples of the main exceptions would be: if a holiday was ruined a court can award for loss of enjoyment, if the wedding photographs were ruined there may be a claim for distress etc. But as the day went ahead albeit not with the original dress, there was no "lasting" distress or upset, hence unlikely to succeed in this claim. Your only solid claim is refund of the amount you have paid them so far).
Please note I'm not insured in this capacity, so if you need to, do get official legal advice.
Dear Rosiecotton, 29th Jan.
Thank you for your kind reply.The balance owing on the wedding dress was £168, and the hire of the alternative dress was £415 for which we had not budgeted.We have already sent a letter before action, and wonder if you can help with the NI form on particulars of the claim?Do you know of any case law that can be quoted?Thank you.
Your claim would be for a refund of what you have already paid for the wedding dress, i.e. £768.00. You can't then claim the additional £415.00 as this is less than what you would have paid had the dress been fine and you had paid for that.
I doubt you will need case law to claim a refund of the £768 - it would be a fairly straightforward claim and you can rely on statute. You would need to quote that the dress was not of satisfactory quality, detail the faults, state that it does not comply with the terms of the Sale of Goods Act, that you gave the trader a reasonable chance to put it right but they were unable to do so within the required timescale and therefore you had no alternative but to go elsewhere. Therefore you are now seeking a refund of the amount you paid for the dress, £768.00.
Make sure that you have made this entirely clear to the trader and given them a fair chance to settle the matter before beginning court action.
Please note I'm not insured in this capacity, so if you need to, do get official legal advice.
consumer issue
dress for my daughters'wedding on 23rd December, 2006 from a local bridal shop.I paid a deposit of £468.00 on order, and a further cash payment of £300.00 leaving a balance of £168.00.
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