Weddingbee boards

I was very happy that I finally sold one of my unworn dresses to another prospective bride. I was a little worried because she didn't ask any questions about the dress except for asking pictures, and negotiating the price. Once we agreed, I asked her "do you have any other questions about the condition etc because the sale is final". My ad also speficied no returns. She wrote back as long as the dress is as described, all is well and she has no questions. We did the transaction through Escrow.com to be safe, she sent the money to them, I sent the dress. Here's the loophole : Despite my no return clause, Escrow.com gives the buyer an inspection period during which they can reject the merchandise and send it back. We agreed the inspection period would be 1 day, which is the minimum. Here's where things went awry. She received the dress friday night, and because Escrow.com is closed for the weekend inspection period doesn't even begin on Monday which means she gets 4 days to change her mind. Yesterday she sends me an email saying there's a problem that the dress has a hole. She sent me pics, it's a snag in the lace the size of a small fingernail on the back of the dress. It's one I never noticed before. I think she's going to use this as an excuse to return the dress because it doesn't fit or something. I'm livid because :

1. I think she's using this as an excuse because the hole can be very easily fixed by a seamstress, whereas she's going to incur $75 in return shipping and escrow fees if she returns. Doesn't make sense.

2. My ad mentioned the dress was bought as a sample. This is how I bought a $8400 Vera Wang dress for $2000, and now she's getting it unused, with a bustle and sweetheart added for $1200. She's saving $7200 off the retail price and complaining about a fixable tiny hole? Isn't it understood that a sample dress where you're getting 85% off may have a couple fixable things here and there? I never misrepresented the dress, for a sample it is in EXCELLENT condition. In fact it had more snags in the lace when I bought it and my seamstress fixed them all, this may be one she missed. Furthermore, my ad didn't even mention anything about the condition of the dress! For all she knows it could have had more severe problems, could've been dirty, could''ve been ripped etc...I asked her if she had any questions and she said no!

I understand escrow.com has the policy in process in case I tried to scam her and sent her a dress in a horrible condition, or sent a different dress, but this is not the case. I'm thinking fighting the return through escrow and going to the arbitration process. Especially since I'm going to lose my $35 shipping fee in case of a return, and I lost another potential sale because I turned down another interested bride after this buyer sent the payment. What do you all think?

i would say sorry. i described the dress as a sample dress which is what it is.... the snag can be fixed for a nominal fee compared to the return shipping fee.  no returns is your policy...  and she didnt have any questions about it before she bought it.... so i would fight it.

Thanks ladies, it's good to get some reaffirmation that I am on the right on this one. I'm such a goody two shoes that for about 5 min I was feeling bad that I sent her a dress with a hole, before I got my senses back and became angry.

 @Scottielass: and @daydreamwanderer: I am tempted to offer her a small discount but I already gave her $200 off my listing price because she said she couldn't afford anymore blah blah! Back then I just wanted a quick sale, now I'm ticked off and don't want to give her anything else. Plus she cost me another sale because I had another girl ask about the dress right after I shipped it, and I told her it's sold.

 @Amaryllis: Good point, I was thinking about that too.  

@veganglam: No kidding...At least I enjoyed the dresses I wore at the end though :) I typed this girl a long email and included that point: "why would you ship it back for $75 when you can fix it for much less?" Maybe she doesn't understand the return policy and what she'll have to pay so I explained her. I'm waiting to send it until she has taken some sort of action. So far she hasn't accepted the item on escrow.com but not rejected it either. I'm hoping she will still change her mind before I get nasty. The stress is killing me though :(

And to think I still have two more dresses to sell after this... Please let some nice Bees buy them without all this drama!

Yaaayy, happy ending!!! She emailed this morning and said even though she's disappointed and sad about the hole, her fiancee really liked the dress so she's going to keep it. Maybe she read this board :) I don't know which parts of what she said are true and which are not but what matters is that I get my money this week and she gets a beautiful dress at a steal. Happy end for everyone with no fighting.

great news! yay! good luck with the others!