I was quite reasonably asked by claudiecutie to name the shop where I experienced the palaver over two broken dresses, and problems getting a refund. The shop is so small that I would feel as if I were naming the manager herself, and my town is small enough for me to feel uncomfortable about naming a particular individual on mumsnet, however difficult my experience was, especially as she has my email address and would know that I was doing it.
However, the shop pretty much only sells Eucalyptus clothing - and this is the brand that I would basically advise people, given my experience, to avoid - unless they have absolute assurances of a refund if they experience any problems or tearing with the item. Reasons being
a) Their dresses, in my experience, break. And it looks as if it is not only the two I wore. I went to give some clothes to a charity shop today - saw a pretty dress on the rail - took a look - the label was Eucalyptus. Took a look at the dress bodice. Lo and behold - a split down the central seam!
b) When I was experiencing difficulties getting a refund, I wrote to Eucalyptus about my problem and they have not replied to my email. I also suspect that they did not support the manager of the shop over the faulty dresses, as she made a great point of telling me that she was refunding me with her own personal cash.