People wearing wedding dresses once and then returning them for a refund

[LaurenHeightable]

I can't believe people are doing this.

It was my friends wedding a few weeks ago and she'd ordered a dress online from a well known shop. She'd tried on the same one in a shop before and then ordered on online and it only came a few days before the wedding.

The dress looked fine at first but when she tried it on she could feel and see that someone else had worn it before. It faintly smelled of perfume and didn't have any of the feeling of a new dress and was slightly marked around the feet.

It think this is awful, and can really ruin the best day of someone's life. She couldn't get a new dress the same in time and had to wear a different one last minute. Of course the retailer should be able to prevent this in the first place, but I think it's disgusting that people do this at all.

Does anyone know people who do this? Or how people try to stop this happening?

She couldn't get a new dress the same in time and had to wear a different one last minute.

Rather than get it cleaned? 😳

It's an awful thing to do btw, I'm surprised anyone would return for a refund and get away with it.

I know, but I don't think she wanted to have her wedding in a dress she knew someone else had already worn. For such a special day

That's her choice.

Lots of women wear secondhand or even vintage wedding dresses but yeah, that's not what she signed up for so to speak.

Why did she not buy the one she tried on in the shop instead of going home and buying it from the same place online? Are you sure it was not the one she tried on and had gotten her own perfume etc on? The shop of course should have checked the dress over before selling it and sending it off.

I thought most places had now started putting tags that show on the outside to stop people doing this?

If I pay for brand new, I expect brand new. And don't expect dry cleaning costs on top.

Wedding dress shops often only carry samples and don’t hold stock, so there is an ordering process anyway.

To me this situation sounds more like a shop error (perhaps it was used as a sample or for photography?) rather than a cheeky customer.

I cannot believe any wedding dress shop would give a refund for that reason.. or everyone would take it back!

They don't pay new prices for them though!

Yes, this is what I've been wondering about.
Have you ever bought something with one of the tags on?
Apparently companies are trying to make more effective tags.

my sister in law did exactly this
Left the labels on and returned it for a full refund.

Though no tags on the outside and it was 20 odd years ago

Do people do this?

A wedding dress should never be allowed to be refunded. Once you've bought it that's it. It's yours.

Sorry, what tags? And how would it stop this happening?

Some companies put these big loopy tags that go through the neck and around the top etc, so that they're always visible and if you take them off then they know its been worn

Ah ha, thank you for explaining @LaurenHeightable

a ribbon loop is the solution. We just bought we a non-wedding dress for a special occasion. The only way we could get the one she wanted was online. It came with ribbon looped through from top to bottom. It did not impact trying on the dress for fit, but there was no way to hide the ribbon. It had printed on it that once cut the dress was yours permanently.

Whilst people shouldn't do this, the onus is on the retailer to do proper checks on returns.

The ribbon tag through the dress sounds like a great idea.

Understandable but for 'such a special day' she was a bit daft to order her dress just a few days before in the first place. What would she have done if they didn't have her size in stock, after trying it on in a shop and deciding she wanted it, but not buying it at the time?

However, back to your original point, people do things like this all the time. I think shops should put massive bright red tags on highly visible areas of the outfit and say that nothing will be refunded if the tag is removed and they need to check properly for faults before removing the tag. That would stop people taking the piss.

Do you think it would be better to have a big obvious tag, or a small discrete one that can still verify if the item has been worn?
I'm curious at to people's opinions on how that big tag might affect your feelings when trying on an item

What would you think of a more discrete tag?
One that maybe is hidden inside but can accurately say if it's been worn for more than just a try on? That way it wouldn't interfere with the fitting process at all.

Big tag that's obvious.

It's easy to imagine the item without it in 99% of clothing.