To not want to pay for my wedding dress right now?

[GirlWithABrokenSmile]

My wedding dress was due in early March. With the situation in China, it was delayed, and finally arrived on Monday night. I was asked to collect it at 7am on Tuesday, wearing gloves and a mask, and try it on at home under the circumstances.

Then we went into lockdown. Wedding was cancelled. We've put a claim in with our wedding insurance, who have told us that we'll invalidate the claim if we make any further payments while they are investigating. They also told us that my dress is not currently covered, as they only cover wedding attire once you've collected it and it's in your possession.

The shop have sent me a video message today asking me to bank transfer the 50% remaining, pointing to a T&C which says that the remaining moneys are due on collection or 7 days after the dress arrives in any event. I replied saying I'd believed I needed to pay on collection and wasn't aware of this term when I bought as the T&Cs are only available on the back of my receipt, but they've said these are unprecedented times for everyone but I need to pay.

Things are tight right now. Fiancé was laid off the day before the support kicked in. My business is struggling. We need the insurance money to be able to get married again. We feel very stuck, and I'm really emotional (rightly or wrongly!). I've also got bipolar; which is not coping great with the current situation.

Is it unreasonable to respond and ask to pay when I collect the dress when we're allowed out again and insurance is all sorted?

I wouldn't pay for it until it's in your possession.

You could ask them to courier it to you? I would suggest they send you some photos first to check it's the design you are expecting.

Once it is with you then you could transfer them the money. If you didn't pay after receipt they could take you to small claims and would win.

Have you changed your mind about whether you want to get married to your partner?
If yes look very carefully at all of the terms and conditions of the contract.
There may be a clause about returns and refunds.

There may be something about "force majeure" (although in these current times it's unlikely to cover coronavirus.
I'm sorry for you but in the worst situation could you not just pay; receive the dress; put it in your wardrobe carefully bagged up; wait till this is over and you have decided whether to marry your partner; be careful for the meantime to continue to fit into it and thereafter know it is there for your eventual wedding (whenever that is).

Apart from my above guff about how to solve this I think the answer is in a very careful multiple read through of the terms and conditions you were sent about returns etc.

I wouldn’t pay for the dress either. I’d seriously wonder if the clause of payment in 7 days is valid seeing as though you couldn’t take ownership of it. What if they then turned round and said you needed to pay storage costs as they are keeping the Dress for you?

You've paid the deposit. I wouldn't pay without seeing it. I think that's enough reason to delay payment. If they're truly out of pocket, they can return to their supplier. This whole covid think is a mess. What a huge disappointment for you

My wedding dress turned up wrong the first time, the dress shop had to send it back (and it wasn't a cheap dress) And with so many wedding dresses you need a hand to get into them, are they expecting your groom to help you get into the dress to check it's ok?

I wouldn't pay until it was in my possession at the very least. So many brides have lost their dresses when the dress shop closed unexpectedly. I'd rather be out 50% than 100%. Good luck!

If you are based in the UK and the shop carry on contacting you to insist on payment after, tell them you will wait until the end of the lockdown and they reopen then you will try the dress on. Under which of the categories of essential travel this would fall under? Hope things go well with the insurance claim.

These are indeed unprecedented times, and in view of that, they need to take into account the instruction you've had from your insurer and the fact that they are unable to give you the item that's already half paid for.
Assure them that you do want the dress, and will pay the balance in full when it is in your possession and you've had the all clear from your insurer that this will not affect the rest of your claim. And unless you specifically agreed in advance to pay by bank transfer, you'll be doing so by whichever method suits you.

What if the shop shuts down goes into bankruptcy you won’t get anything

I do understand where the shop is coming from, however I would not be paying for something you cannot collect, and certainly not by bank transfer where there is no comeback if something is wrong. Tell her you will pay for it upon collection, as originally agreed, and if she wants to get funny, you will take your business elsewhere. If the terms are on the back of a receipt, something you don't have because you haven't paid, then she hasn't got a leg to stand on. If something is ordered in then she cannot force you to pay for something that she isn't willing to give you. She could arrange for it to be sent to you and you pay by credit card or PayPal. That would be my only compromise.

Don’t pay. You’ve not seen it yet.

These are difficult times but to try and help you, if the shop later say you have forfeited your deposit then you may be able to challenge this. Make sure you can document that they have closed their shop and stopped you going and trying the dress on. You would consider delivering with your DP at home not an acceptable substitute though the shop would argue it is. Force Majeure is, in simple language, where something outside someone's control makes fulfilling a contract impossible (as with most things, it's more complicated than that). If they withhold your deposit, say you will seek the appropriate redress. Hopefully you will succeed in your insurance claim and try the dress on in 12 weeks time, it will look wonderful, you will pay the shop and everyone (except the insurer) will be overjoyed.

I wouldn't pay. If, as unfortunately a lot of businesses will, the shop closed down you could easily lose the dress.

Tell them you will pay on receipt, and state the reason why - if the shop goes bust you will be at the mercy of the liquidators and no dress. You're happy to pay, money is waiting but only in receipt of the dress. They've quoted 'exceptional times' quote it right back at them!

I wouldn't pay for it until I had seen it.

Hopefully it won;t come to this, OP but for information in case push comes to shove, in England and Wales there is consumer law protection around the reasonableness of terms. If they have arguably unreasonable terms and/or which you couldn't have seen before paying the deposit on the back of a receipt around paying for a wedding dress in seven days or forfeiting a deposit then they may not be able to rely on this in the best of times, let alone the current circumstances.

Explain to the shop that the insurance won't pay out for the cancelled wedding, if you pay for the dress now. Tell them that you'll pay for it when the shop reopens in 12 weeks. They already have your deposit. I wouldnt risk losing the insurance claim, for the sake of the dress.

If the insurance tell you not to pay, then you shouldn't. Tell the shop that you've been told not to pay but that once everything's sorted out and you collect the dress then you will pay them

This.

Do not pay them without having seen the dress and taken possession of it. What if they go bankrupt in the meantime? What if the dress is faulty?

Yabu re not paying for the dress BUT you pay when you collect the dress. If dress not in your hand no payment

I wouldnt pay until not only had i seen it but i was taking it away with me.

Call the insurance people and ask what you should do

I wouldn't pay without seeing it.

Both of the above.

The insurance might agree tp your paying (seeing as you were contractually obligated to) BUT as others have said, it might be the wrong dress, not fit properly, have a hem down, greasy marks etc - it's unlikely, but these things happen.

Don't pay ANYTHING yet - if necessary let them sue you. Get your insurance money and if you have to, and they take you to court, pay them before the hearing.

I wouldn’t pay without seeing it.

" Fiancé was laid off the day before the support kicked in."

Martin Lewis advises people in this situation to ask their old employer to take them back on and furlough them. Apparently, this has worked for a few people.

No I wouldn't pay either!

You don’t need insurance for the dress. It’s not something you’re going to lose by cancelling the wedding, unlike the venue or DJ. It will be there for when you reschedule your wedding- and won’t need paying for again.