Returning Bra

saggycaggy

Hi there,

I have a consumer query on behalf of my mum. I got married last May and as mother of the bride my mum decided to have an outfit made for her for the big day. I suggested she also get a good fitting bra and suggested a shop in Dublin that specialises only in underwear. My mum travelled up from Donegal especially for the day to go to this shop and get fitted etc and purchase a good bra for around €60. My mum would never usually spend this much on a bra.

She bought the bra at the end of March (30th) and only wore it for her dress fittings for the outfit she was wearing for the day. My mum said she tried on the bra a maximum of 5 times only and only at the dress fitting.

At the start of May she noticed tugging or ripples in the left cup along a seam across the front. She rang the shop and told the woman in charge and the woman asked Mum to send up the bra. Mum sent up the bra right away.

The next day mum gets a call from the woman saying that bra is “fit for the bin” and has “been worn to death” and has been washed many times (my mum never washed it) and there is nothing she can do about it and if she has any problems to go directly to the manufacturer herself. My mum has her receipt to show that she bought the bra on the 30th March and sent it back on the 11th May. Even if my mum had worn the bra every day in that timeframe it still shouldn’t be “fit for the bin”.

She also told mum that the shops tags were removed and the bra had been worn on occasions over the past few months. (She only had it a few weeks).

The woman in the shops’ argument is that the bra pulls do not affect the functionality of the bra!! This is not the point though. She said the pulls must have come from rings tugging against it, my mum said that this did not happen as she only tried on the bra a handful of times and would be well aware if this did happen.

She sent back the bra to my mum by registered post but it was returned to the shop because my mum was away at the time and didn’t get to collect it from the post office. My mum asked me to call into the shop to collect it and I did. I didn’t know the full story as this stage and couldn’t really speak up for my mum but her attitude was completely the opposite of the way she spoke to my mum. She was oh so nice and told me if there is any problems please don’t hesitate to come back!!!

I found her very patronizing to be honest. The incident has left my mum upset and at this stage I think all she wants is an apology after the way the woman spoke to her and didn’t believe her. I’m going to call back into the shop to speak with this woman but I need to know where we stand first. What are our rights in this situation?

Thank so much.

Caroline

gogo

This is a bit of a tricky one, really hard to advise without seeing quality of the bra. Was the woman in the shop a manager? If not then I ask to speak to one immediatley.

Here's a link to your rights as a consumer: scroll halfway down the page and you will see when you can return clothes, and what to do if your not happy, but as it says each case is individual and therefore its hard to advise you on the right course of action.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/consumer-affairs/consumer-protection/consumer-rights/consumers_and_the_law_in_ireland