Charlotte's Bridal and Formal Wear

Review: My 16 year old (minor) daughter viewed a dress which her father and I could not see until the next day. They took $25.00 from my minor daughter to hold the dress for less than 24 hours but did not contact her father or I to make sure that was alright. We did not know they had taken money from her until the next day. We did not purchase the dress and they would not refund my daughter's $25.00. I believe they made a contract with her to hold the dress but she is a minor and they did not contact either parent. I don't believe that they can or should be able to make a contract with a minor and take money from a minor without a purchase being made.Desired Settlement: I believe my minor daughter should be refunded her $25.00

Business

Response:

This customer came to our store with four

very reputable adults. These adults have been in our store many times and

are aware that we do not "take advantage of" teens as the mother in

this instance complained. Prom season is a very emotional time for our

customers. This young lady wanted this dress badly enough to call her mother

while she was in our store. We explained we only hold a dress with a $25

deposit. Because she did not tell her parents about this, is not our fault.

This $25 is a store credit to be used buying the dress of her dreams or

if she did not want that dress she could chose anything in the store. She did

not communicate to her parents that she put the money down. She

currently has a $25 store credit with us. We find it unfortunate that the

parents did not want to purchase the dress of their daughter’s dream. This young lady left crying with her parents.

The mother in this case was not willing to listen to anything we had to say.

It has happened OFTEN that once you try on a dress it is the dress every

customer wants. If we did not hold that dress, it could have sold

that afternoon -- yes it does happen!! We have had girls crying because

the dress they so desperately wanted was sold after they left the store. We are

very proud of our business practices and would not take advantage of anyone,

especially a teenager.

Consumer

Response:

My point in this whole matter is Charlotte's Bridal made an agreement with a minor and took money from her based on this agreement. It doesn't matter if other girls had their parents there, my daughter did not and therefore they should have spoken with us before accepting money from my 16 year old daughter. The fact that she did not tell us (her parents) at the time that she had given them $25.00 shows very much why it is wrong for a business to make an agreement with a minor. I cannot accept what Charolotte's Bridal did as an ethical and/or legal business practice.