A woman has been left feeling humiliated after the £75 dress she was wearing fell apart in the middle of a nightclub, leaving her to walk back to her hotel nearly naked.
But, to make matters worse, Destiny Campbell was met with a rude remark from the retailer when she complained, as they subtly fat-shamed her and suggested she should've "sized up."
The 21-year-old looked stunning in a silver chain mail dress she had purchased from Sorelle UK, during a night out in Liverpool on New Year's Eve last week, but disaster struck when the garment suddenly fell apart.
Destiny, who's a size 10 to 12, was forced to leave the packed club clutching at her dress to protect her modesty, before rushing back to her hotel while the only part of the dress that stayed intact was the neck.
She said: "I knew I would be out for a long time because it was New Year's Eve so I felt comfortable enough in the dress. I wanted to look nice.
"We went to the club and within an hour and a half my friend told me to look down and my boob was falling out of the dress. I was trying to hold the bottom bit so my boobs weren't coming out.
"All of a sudden the bottom skirt part came apart. Everything separated, I'm not exaggerating. My friend left the club with me and I was walking home basically naked, holding my boobs with my thong and bum hanging out.
"Men were approaching me and trying to touch me. I was in a strange city and I was vulnerable. It was awful, everyone would have seen. It was embarrassing and I felt humiliated."
However, when Destiny contacted Sorelle UK for a refund, the sales and marketing consultant says she was further humiliated when the company told her she should have "sized up."
Sorelle UK claimed that it was not deemed a manufacturing fault the dress had been "broken into many pieces" and photos show the customer "very happy" with her purchase on a night out prior to this occurring.
It was only once Destiny threatened to sue the company and expose them on social media that she was finally promised a full refund and she has been assured the dress will be discontinued.
Screenshots of messages exchanged between Destiny and Sorelle UK show the company state they don't accept returns for worn items.
The messages read: "This is a rhinestone dress that needs to be handled with care and it also needs to be a loose fit as per the pictures of all the models on our website, we would have suggested to choose the size up.
"It also doesn't just rip like that in so many pieces as it's not like that in the other photos. Unfortunately, this looks like it has been heavily handled with [sic] and we are unable to fix this."
Destiny told the brand: "Are you taking the p***? Do I look like a fat person? Oh my God. You have basically just called me fat which is so wrong.
"The dress broke apart from me trying to hold it all together as I was frantically running home so people would not see me naked.
"You as the supplier have a duty to make sure your dresses are constructed properly and with care. I am not an idiot and I know how to look after a delicate dress so do not insult me.
"If you are not willing to give me a full refund I will be taking this to court immediately and going through my bank to claim my money back. I will also be making the public aware of the incident and that people are not to buy from you again.
"Do not insult me by saying I've handled it heavily handed when I simply went to a club. You should be able to go to a club and dance normally or whatever and a dress not break on you? This is ridiculous."
Sorelle UK replied: "We never said or implied you was fat. You ordered a size M as we don't do a large in this dress. It looks like the dress ripped on one side only.
"The dress looked great on you and we will stop manufacturing this dress because of this accident."
After several more messages, and Destiny sharing her experience on social media, the retailer eventually agreed to process a full refund.
Destiny said: "If it's so bad that you're going to stop manufacturing then why are you not able to send a refund? I never asked for you to stop making the dress I asked for a refund.
"You are breaching the customer rights act. Under the consumer act which protects my rights I am entitled to a refund as you have sent a faulty item that isn't fit for purpose."
Sorelle UK replied: "This will be actioned for you, I can see many people think that we are in the wrong and I truly apologise if it came off across totally wrong."
Speaking after Destiny said: "Are they trying to say I'm fat? They don't know what weight issues or mental health issues I have. It's not nice.
"I've put on weight since I was 18 but I'm not fat. I felt like they were saying I shouldn't be wearing their stuff.
"They don't even sell a bigger size and the website doesn't recommend sizing up. I bought a medium and I am a medium. It's so unfair.
"The dress wasn't too small. I wouldn't spend that much on a dress and get the wrong size. I bought the dress a month before so if it was too small, I had time to change it.
"They're just making excuses. I've shopped at Sorelle before and it's always been fine. They said they'd take it off the website but I just wanted a refund and I don't want this to happen to another girl."
A Sorelle UK spokesman said: "We advised the customer as per all companies should that we would suggest getting a size up in this dress style as it is supposed to droop at the back as it has a cowl back like the models and all our customer photos which are tagged on Instagram.
"Unfortunately, we only go up to a size medium in this style of dress as it is very small sizing and that is all our supplier makes.
"The customer was obviously very happy with her purchase of the dress to receive it, take photos and wear it on NYE with no faults.
"A manufacturing fault would have been a rip up the seam but the dress was then pulled and broken into many pieces so this is not deemed as a manufacturing fault.
"However, we did provide the customer a full refund when this was escalated to a manager, the first few responses was a temporary customer service agent due to covid and apologised for any misunderstanding, we have also discontinued this dress due to this."
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