Reader Brad says his friend was “shafted” by a bridal store in St. Louis, so she wrote to the local paper about her issue. The paper wrote up her story and is now asking readers to offer their opinion on the issue. Brad’s friend, Tia, went to a bridal store to buy a gown for her sister’s wedding. She was instructed by the bride to get a dress that was shiny and either black or red. Tia found a gown she liked and ordered it. When she got the gown, she looked at the tag and noticed that it wasn’t by the designer that she thought she’d chosen. When she asked the store what was up with the dress, they told her that the store ordered another dress because they thought the one she’d chosen wouldn’t “work for somebody of her size.” This, of course, made Tia cry.

Now she wants a refund of half of her costs but the store says no. They’re offering $75 as compensation, which is not half of the $230.50 she paid for the wrong dress.

On that day of departure, she looked for the tag, found it and noticed something odd. It didn’t say Bill Levkoff. It said Eden Bridal. Tia thought that perhaps Eden Bridal was part of the Bill Levkoff line. Maybe Eden Bridal did the larger dresses. So she went to the computer and looked up Eden Bridal. It did not seem to be connected to Bill Levkoff.

Had there been a mistake? Had she gotten the wrong dress?

She rushed to Ultimate Bride. If there had been some kind of a mistake and the seamstress had been given the wrong gown, would there be time to do the alterations on the right gown? She explained to the seamstress that they had been working with the wrong dress. The seamstress went to talk to the store manager. She came back and said, no, this is the dress we ordered for you. The manager didn’t think the other one would work for somebody of her size.

Tia started to cry. She took the dress and left.

She told the story to her mom in Iowa. It was humiliating. By the way, she now hated the gown. The sash was long and embroidered. Way too frilly. It wasn’t shiny enough. She called the store from Iowa. She spoke to the manager. I want my money back, she said. The store manager said she couldn’t do anything because Tia had taken the dress.

When Tia came back to St. Louis, she called the owner of the store, Ann Rafferty. She offered Tia a $25 refund, but overall, the discussion did not go well. Tia then spoke with general manager Richard Craig. That conversation was better, but resulted in the same $25 offer. Tia asked for half her cost back. In all, including shipping and alterations, she had paid $230.50. Craig continued to offer $25.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is asking readers to decide what should happen. What do you think?

OK, jury, you decide the Case of the Wrong Dress [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
(Photo: Getty)

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