Wedding Dress Dilemma

Q: I am getting married April 27, 2002. When I was looking for my dress I found it in a little shop. The lady who owns and operates the store mentioned that she would be closing her store to bring it home. I thought that would be okay because she assured me that everything would be the same, only from home. At the time of ordering she gave me a 4 to 6 month time frame on when the dress would be in. Seeing as I ordered the dress in June 2001 I thought around November my dress would be in. I called her around mid November to inquire. When I did she was fairly rude and said, "It won't be in this year". I gave it a couple more months and called back in January. This time the level of rudeness went way up and she said: "It will be in one month before your wedding" I did the math and figured out that would equal 10 months. I tried calling to see if she could put a rush on my dress, however she would not answer my calls, or my mother’s calls. Finally I got through to her about 2 weeks later. This time she was very rude. She said that she can rush my dress but it will cost extra. By the end of the conversation she called me annoying and she hung up on me! Now I am afraid the dress won't be in or she would do something to the dress. I have already paid half the cost of the dress, and I only have 9 weeks until my wedding what should I do?

A: My goodness...this is a real problem! I am very glad that you sent this email through to me! My advice to you is to follow your gut instinct. Clearly, this lady is not reputable. I absolutely would not trust her with something as important as your wedding dress. It's just too much of a risk. The fact that she's been abrupt is the only thing that would indicate a real problem. Working from home is fine, the delay would even be okay, but the attitude problem and bad customer service are huge warning signs. I realize that you left a large sum of money in trust, but truthfully, your best bet is to run like the wind! Obviously, you should do your best to try to retrieve your deposit, but please don't trust this woman with your wedding dress. Regardless of what happens to the deposit, I strongly urge you to go elsewhere for the gown. I guarantee you that you'll feel a huge weight taken off your shoulders once you go out there and find another gown.

With regards to the actual deposit that was left, here are a few pointers:

• Was there a contract indicating the lady's commitment to having the gown ready for you at a particular time?
  
  
• Did you pay cash? If so, your chances of recovering the money are slim to none.
  
  
• Do you have a receipt for the deposit? Does it indicate that it is non-refundable? If not, you could always try small claims court.