A problem waiting to happen

[PaulR17]

Hi

 

Let's say we are getting married in 3 weeks. My Fiancee and I have paid in full for and had an initial try on, of the wedding dress and was waiting till this weekend for a final fitting

 

When..... we have just found out that the retailer (a newish company, less than a year old) have had some problems between the business owners. One of the owners is contactable but is saying she can't help as she is no longer involved, not allowed to, the company is trading but is aware of contact issues. The other is completely un-contactable, by phone, email, mobile so far. Our latest visit to the shop to see what is happening found the shop closed, but clearly in a trading position, just no-one home and the company is currently not notifying anyone of financial difficulties either through the website or indeed my own companies house search

 

I've left a couple of clear messages with a family member of the un-contactable partner this evening and I'm hoping they now take this seriously, but if not

 

We've paid in full, we've seen the goods, we are not currently aware of any insolvency or similar issues, so what is my legal position, what can we do or what actions can I take to simply go and get the dress?

 

Thanks

[LaughingGirl]

With three weeks to go, your best option would be to find a way to collect the dress. You could commence court action via the small claims route, but to do this you would have to send a letter before action. Under the circumstances, I would say that stating in the LBA that they have 7 days to respond would be reasonable, but you're unlikely to see any money from this before your big day, unfortunately.

 

The only other thing (besides what you've already been doing) that I can think of is to see if the company concerned are advertised as appearing at any wedding fairs, and then turning up to see if there is anyone from the company there to speak to.

[steampowered]

If you are going for a final fitting, it sounds like the wedding dress has already been tailored to fit your girlfriend's particular body, so they should be able to hand it over even if they are in financial difficulties as it would be difficult to sell the dress to someone else.

 

It could be just a case of bad management. On the other hand it could be that this company is in trouble, a dispute between the owners is never a good thing. I think it is worth going down there in person to get the dress and take it away there and then. You can always get a tailor to make a few more adjustments if needed.

[PaulR17]

Hi all

 

managed to get the dress by speaking to the partners solicitors and setting a meeting to go and collect the dress

 

It is some sort of internal legal wrangle which had stopped either paty from trading, which is such a shame given how good the shop was

 

but, all done and thanks guys for taking time to comment and advise

 

cheers

[assisted blonde]

Good result and now enjoy the wedding

[havinastella]

Thank you for posting the outcome.