Online bridal dresses threaten wedding

If anyone in your family is planning a wedding, you know how expensive dresses can be.

But one bride-to-be learned that some money saving options when it comes to dresses are indeed too good to be true.

Found Great Discounts Online

Courtney Brewer was hoping to save her bridesmaids some money.

Instead of asking them to pay $150 or more at a bridal shop, she found them beautiful dresses at a website called TB Dress.com.

"They had a whole lot of different dresses.  Cute models, cute styles, the website looked very legitimate," Brewer said.

Plus, the dresses were 55 percent off, well under a hundred bucks each.

So she ordered six bridesmaid dresses, in a deep red version of a slender gown on the website. But what arrived by FedEx a few weeks later was something different.

"Cheap looking, if a color can look cheap"

"The color is not at all what I wanted," Brewer said.  "It's tangy and cheap looking, if a color can look cheap."

Not only were they bright red, but they came with different colored sequins. Some of the dresses had white sequins, some had red.

"There's beading on both of these dresses that didn't show on the website," she said.  

Brewer also said they fit like tents. "My sister and I tried it on, and the sleeves were falling off down her," she said.

Laws and Regulations Won't Help

What Brewer didn't know -- and what the website doesn't reveal even in its "about us" section  -- is  that TB Dress is located in China,  where US regulations don't apply.

TB Dress is the subject of   numerous online complaints about dresses not matching the photos.

We emailed the company in China, and it did respond. It sent us an email stating that if Brewer sends photos, showing what is wrong with the dresses, it will consider refunding her money.

She's now doing that, while scrambling to find new dresses.
 
There's a lesson in here for everyone, not just brides and bridesmaids: Anytime you order something online, research the seller.

Can't find where they are located? No mailing address? They may be outside the country, and in that case it may be a case of don't waste your money.