‘It’s nothing like the one on the website’
NATALIE BRETTELL is getting married soon and has been hunting for the perfect wedding dress – but not a traditional one, she has her own style and was looking for something a bit different
She thought she’d found it on a website called instyledress.co.uk so sent off her measurements and paid £266.49.
The delivery took longer than advertised, but eventually it arrived. Or, at least, an approximation arrived. It didn’t look like the vintage dress featured on the website. It was a nylonfeel “thing” with bits of material tacked on with a single piece of thread and it arrived wrapped in a ball inside a green bin-bag with Chinese writing on it. Natalie, of Stirling, was disgusted. “It’s nothing like the dress on the instyledress website,” she said.
“It is a cheap knock-off run up by an amateur with a sewing machine. There’s no way it is worth £266.
“The dress on the website was beautiful. I don’t know how they can even claim this is the same thing. There should be a law against this.”
Natalie is now having a dress made to her specification by a proper seamstress.
It is almost needless to say, but like Audrey in the story above, Natalie had difficulty contacting instyledress, never mind getting a refund.
Their website looks professional and carries an English address, but it is (if you dig a little) hosted in China.
Natalie has a good chance of getting her money back because she paid with a credit card but she’s keen to warn others.
“When I read the comments on review sites, my heart goes out to those girls. Some of them paid £1000 and have been left with almost nothing,” she said.
“Don’t be scammed by these people.”