Can Merchant Sue Me After Credit Card Dispute?

[scruffydog]

My Fiancée bought a wedding gown at a bridal shop 2 weeks ago and the merchant at the time told her that she will price match the value of the dress if we can find another place that sells it cheaper. At that moment, my fiancée placed down the down deposit (~$1450, which is 1/2 of the total charge of the dress) After she came home, she realized that many other places sold it for a lot cheaper ($600+ at multiple places). She then wrote the merchant e-mails + calling her trying to price match what she had promised. After several e-mail exchanges, in long story short, the merchant started making all sorts of excuses as to why she couldn't price match. Her first excuse was that the quotes my fiancée provided weren't authorized retailers/merchants; at the time when she bought the dress, nowhere she said it had to be from an authorized retailer. Anyhow, my fiancée went on the internet and searched and found some more stores that were authorized retailers and sold it for cheaper. My fiancee found out that the price the merchant sold the dress to my fiancée for was at 2010 price (which was higher) and not 2009 - the dress was bought in 2009. Nevertheless, the merchant made other excuses when we provided another quote; this time from an authorized dealer, she then told me that the designer aren't willing to budge to lower the price as this merchant claims all dresses purchased price must go through the design's approval....which I found to be ridiculous. The merchant threaten and told us, if other authorized retailers are selling for less, she'll alert the designer and these stores will be shut down. Basically, she made another excuse and wasn't able to price match again.

Since we weren't able to resolve anything with her, we created a credit card dispute. We've sent our credit card company all the information that's need. Now my concern is that if the credit card dispute does give us back the money, can the Merchant sue us for doing so? At the time of the purchase, my fiancée signed a receipt that states "All sales are final and no refunds or exchanges" However, we only put down a deposit, we didn't not buy anything yet (since no full amount is paid), nor did we receive anything. We told the merchant to stop and hold off the transaction until this is resolved, so no damage on any body on their end. It takes about 4-6 months to make a dress, and we literally told her to stop progress on the order to the manufacturer the 2nd day.

This merchant kept emphasizing that we cannot get our refund because she kept saying we've signed a contract and it's final, but to our understanding we've only deposited a portion amount of the full value of the dress and trying to give us a guilt trip so we won't go with anybody. So if the credit card company takes our side and dispute the charge, can the merchant sue us and what can I do to win our case?

Any help or feedback would be appreciated!

 

[army judge]

If the merchant brings suit against you, he has to prove his case.
Should the credit card company refund your deposit, the merchant would have little recourse.
The 'all sales final' is meaningless in this case.
You reasoned correctly about the deposit, assuming the creditr card company supports your position.

If the credit card company does not return your deposit, you're potentially out $1450.
Getting that back from this merchant could prove troublesome for you.

 

[mightymoose]

If you never received the dress, it is likely you will win your dispute.
Yes, the merchant can sue you, but that does not mean she will win. She is not out anything... there are no damages and you have a reasonable argument.
Don't worry if she sues... and I would be surprised if she does. You can make a complaint to the BBB.

Also, if the credit card dispute goes against you, YOU can sue the merchant for the refund of your deposit.

 

[scruffydog]

If the merchant tries to sue us, is there any law that protects customer from being charged unfairly? How much leverage do I have with the merchant's word of price matching in the court? There's prove we have of other friends that she has price matched before.

Can you elaborate why "all sales are final" is meaningless? Don't we have just as much rights to sue the merchant for unfair pricing practice since we've got written prove from many other retailers selling the same merchandise at a much lower price and she had previously agreed to price match?

 

[mightymoose]

You have plenty to argue your defense if she sues.
THe "All sales are final" argument won't do anything for the merchant in court. The merchant will have to show that there was some loss as a result of the canceled sale. You canceled on the second day for a legitimate reason- her failure to honor the agreement. She will not be able to convince a court that she has been damaged. She had opportunity to stop the dress from being made.
It may be frustrating for you, but easy to defend. Hopefully your card will be credited and then the burden will be put on her if she wants to be paid... otherwise you have to sue to get it back. Since she is a business owner in the wedding industry she probably can't afford much bad publicity, so it will be in her best interest to settle things with you.

 

[scruffydog]

thank you so much for your reassurance, my fiancee and I've been losing a lot of sleep over this, let's hope the credit card company will take our side so we can stop stressing over this matter before our wedding day.

 

[jharris352]

I don't know that your question has been fully answered so I'm going to throw in my 2 cents worth.

First, your contract is going to control the deal. Oral pronouncements made previous to or even subsequent to a written contract are meaningless. Check the written contract for "price matching" clauses. If they exist, then follow them. If they do not exist then you would be wise to just buy the dress that you contracted for and tell them that you will spread the news far and wide that they are not honest. (This is where a BBB report is somewhat worthwhile; internet postings are better in my opinion).

If there is a price matching guarantee in your contract and they refuse to follow it, then send them a letter canceling your order and the contract. I am concerned that you "canceled" your order verbally (which is not going to be good enough).

Finally, if the credit card company does not side with you (and it is very possible they won't if their is no price matching clause in your written contract), you would have to sue to get your money back. Again, if their is no clause in your contract, you will lose.

Check your contract. If there is no verbiage in their that supports your argument, then buy the dress and take your lumps. If there is, demand your money back and sue if you think the $600 is worth the hassle.

Good luck, I hope your wedding goes well. In the end don't let this ruin the bigger picture.

 

[scruffydog]

Merchant now demands final payment in CASH!!!

So my situation jsut got worst. I decided to drop the credit card dispute and decided to move forward with the contract in making the wedding dress. The merchant had the nerves to write back to me demanding the last payment to be paid in cash. ($1400) I told her in the back of the contract it clearly states that "cash and credit card as final payments" and she now's saying that cash is the only payment she's willing to accept because we previously opened a credit card dispute since we're now catagorized as "untrust worthy" people/customers.

Does the customer have the right to pay with Credit Card as wish? especially under these circumstances? Especially that's the contract we've signed, doesn't she also have to follow through her end in accepting either type payments? (Cash or Credit Card - which ever the customer wishes to pay with)

She can't just change the contract like that can she? It's not upon her to decide whether we're "untrust worthy" customers, therefore not allow to pay with credit card right? I mean after all that we've been through, I would think we should also have the right to protect ourselves by not paying Cash in full. Please advice!

Also, another thing I want to ask is

The merchant didn't fully disclouse all of the options available on the gown, the non-beaded version of the gown is $600 cheaper than the beaded version, but she didn't give us the non-beaded version as an option at the time of purchase even though we clearly stated we would like to purchase the gown at a cheaper price, we didn't find out there was a non-beaded version until later and she had confirmed that there was a non-beaded version that she can get however refused to change the gown for us. Is what she did considered violating the "Misleading Omission" law under the Federal Trade Commission Regulation?