BHLDN won’t pay for returned wedding dress

QI purchased three wedding gowns online last year from BHLDN. I received them a week later and returned them within the 30-day return period using their included prepaid UPS shipping labels. The gowns arrived in two boxes, and I returned the gowns in those boxes, in the same condition.

I monitored the return shipments. Both boxes were delivered to their warehouse a few weeks later. I had not received my money back and reached out a month later via email to ask BHLDN about my refund. Soon after, I received refunds for two of the three gowns.

BHLDN’S policy states it may take a couple of billing cycles for refunds to reflect, so I wrongly assumed the refund for the third gown would come shortly. I waited patiently, but it never showed up.

Four months later, I reached out again, for what felt like the millionth time, to ask about the refund for the gown. BHLDN is now conveniently saying they have no record of me ever returning the gown. They are claiming no liability for returns lost in transit to BHLDN’S warehouse. They are asking if I contacted UPS to see if it was erroneously marked as delivered.

Here’s the thing: The shipment they’re referring to contained two of the dresses, and the other dress was correctly processed as a return, and I received the refund months ago. Thus, the shipment was already in their possession, and I have the UPS tracking information as proof. Can you help me get my $950 back? — Holly Monasterial, Oakland

ABHLDN should have refunded all three wedding dresses immediately. It appears you met BHLDN’S return policy by returning your dresses within 30 days and in good condition.

A closer look at the rules suggests that while you met your end of the bargain,

BHLDN did not. The company promises that “most” returns will process in approximately two to three weeks, depending on your method of return. “Additional processing delays may occur,” it adds. But four months? Come on.

The real question is: How do you prove BHLDN received all three dresses? Or any returned product, for that matter? I can think of only one thing — take a picture of all three dresses in the box with the return label. It’s not a guarantee, but I imagine that if you had photographic evidence of the return, you might not have experienced such delays.

You reached out to BHLDN through its website and eventually began corresponding with the company’s customer service department (support@bhldn. com). But a review of your paper trail shows that the company was intent on placing the blame on UPS for losing the gown and making you pay $950 for something you didn’t have.

You could have appealed this to a manager. URBN, which owns Anthropologie, which owns BHLDN, posts the email addresses of all its executives on its site. So nice of them! I also publish the names of key customer service contacts on my consumer advocacy site. A brief, polite email with your paper trail might have done the trick.

You reached out to Hillary Super, the president of Anthropologie Group’s apparel and accessories division. I also contacted BHLDN on your behalf. Although it took almost an entire year, you eventually received your $950 back. Maybe you should have charged them interest.