Life
Why Did These Brides Ransack A Wedding Store?
What would you do if someone scammed you out of your wedding dress? Well. if you're anything like a few ladies from Ireland, you and your fellow wronged brides might loot a bridal shop. Admittedly, this reaction sounds a little extreme — but hey, if they stole your money and never delivered your dress, it's easy to see how you might be driven to that point.
According to the Limerick Leader, Robelle Bridal in Limerick, Ireland has been facing a lot of criticism over its business practices, and pissing off a lot of angry brides. The owner, Shirley Flanagan, has been taking deposits from women for wedding dresses, but allegedly not following through and actually supplying their dresses.
Fed up, several customers seemingly concocted a plan to get justice. When Flannigan sent a representative to speak with one of the women and to give her a sample dress — meaning it wasn't fitted for her — several of the other brides were apparently lying in wait, and took advantage of the situation. The Limerick Leader reported that they "stormed the store and claimed any dress that they could lay their hands on."
I can't say I'm too surprised. Women are basically brainwashed with wedding fever from the time we're born, and the wedding dress is one of the most important parts of the whole fairy tale picture. It's infuriating enough to feel like you've been scammed under normal circumstances, but over a wedding dress? That's messing up a fantasy you've potentially had since you were a child.
The women in Limerick made off with several dresses — one even got away with three — but none of them were the dresses they'd ordered. One told the local paper that she had contacted the designer of the gown she'd ordered, who reportedly told her that the bridal shop in question was not one of their vendors. All the women were out large sums of money. According to their version of events, the store owner, Shirley Flannigan, encouraged customers to pay deposits in cash rather than via credit card by offering discounts on cash deposits.
Flannigan has also been in court in the past over insurance fraud and forgery.
In other words, this is all a nightmare for anyone planning a wedding. And while I do not condone ransacking shops for wedding dresses, trying to cheat brides out of their money by scamming them over wedding dresses — if that was indeed Flannigan's as-yet-unproven plan — is a pretty low thing to do. And when you mess with women planning a wedding, honestly, this is probably about what you should expect.
