Lunch Break: Teen tries to return prom dress to pay for boyfriend’s funeral
by LauraLoo
OneMinuteNews.com correspondent Mark Payton reported May 23 on high-schooler Jackie Genovese, who tried returning her prom dress to help pay for her boyfriend’s funeral after he was killed in a car accident.
But the store, Freehold’s Diane and Co., stuck to its return policy and would only offer her a store credit. Later it also offered a memorial donation, unknown amount. Do you think the store should have bent the rules, given the circumstances?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG6H26caV_s[/youtube]
As an aside, I don’t know of any teenager/parent from an average-income household who would pay$1,200 for their daughter’s couture prom dress, not to mention other expenses such as shoes, hairdo, makeup, nails, etc. Do just rich parents indulge their daughter’s dream for the fairytale prom, or do you actually know average-income folks that would spend $1,200+ to do likewise? I guess I’m too practical to make such an expensive investment for just one night. What’s wrong with a dress that’s $100-$200 that can hopefully be worn to other special events after prom?
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I have been told that many girls buy dresses that cost $1000 and then daddy rents a limo for her, plus there is jewellery, a makeup and hair session as well, plus parties afterward that all cost money.
The reasoning, girls no longer have a “white wedding” to look forward to – their prom has become the big event in their lives and they want to be a princess at any cost. And mommy and daddy are willing to indulge the fantasy.
I sense a whole lot of guilt at work here.
I only spent $70 on my prom dress and it was beautiful. (The most expensive piece of clothing I’ve ever bought.) Thinking of using it as my wedding dress some day, since it’s already white. No need to go to extremes – a wedding is about love and connecting two lives, not showing off and spending tons of money that you don’t have :P
My mom got her wedding dress for like $150 from a second hand store (the dress was to be worn but the wedding never happened so the women sold it, meaning my mother got a brand new dress for half the price). It was beautifulllll and long and flowy…but the daughter of a poor farmer would have never been able to afford it otherwise. Why do people go all out? Hmmm… I’m not big on weddings. I like them, but I just don’t get all the decorating, stressing, etc…
Even less so when it comes to prom.
Also – got my jewelry from Claire’s – fake and cheap. My mom’s friend did my hair. My mom did my make up with make up I already had, and my date drove us in his car :P hahaha no need to get a limo, etc. crazy!!!
My prom dress was borrowed. I loved it! My then-boyfriend now-husband and I were given a ride by my parents to the restaurant, and took a taxi to the prom. We spent maybe $40 on the meal, maybe, and had an absolutely fantastic time!
My wedding dress was $100 at Meier & Frank. I’ve never found another wedding dress I like more.
My sister made her prom dress, and then our younger sister wore the same dress to HER prom.
I suppose it’s all a matter of priorities. We’re plenty of fun & beauty without spending the $$ on a limo, spendy dress, etc. ;)
Yes – the store should have allowed the return, for sure, under the circumstances!
And WAY TOO much for the dress – that is the cost of a wedding dress…Just think on how many people that would feed – especially if going through the food banks for food…
Sorry for her loss, though. This must be very traumatic…
It’s nice to see people that are interested in investing more love and less money. :)
Sadly, I didn’t go to either my senior or junior prom. I wasn’t one of the popular girls
:-(
For my daughter’s senior prom, however, the dress cost about $200.00. It was actually an informal wedding gown, off-white, very pretty. At the agency I work they had a senior prom for kids in out-of-home placement and I donated it, so someone else got to enjoy it. She wore some shoes she already had, did her own hair, and her boyfriend borrowed his father’s SUV and drove her. They looked adorable together and the whole thing cost under 300.00.
YES! The store should have refunded her money! Good grief.
If you want to see how much people are willing to spend on a dress that will be worn one time, watch an episode of “Say Yes To The Dress”. One family was willing to indulge their “princess” to the tune of $15,000! The dress was actually $27,000, but her parents talked the store down to 15 because the dress was a floor sample, and there was a tiny rip in the lace.
Another ridiculous “reality” show was “Outrageous Kid Parties”. There were parents on there who spent $20-30,000 on birthday parties for 6-7 year olds!
Sorry..I know this had not much to do with the post topic. ;)
I think the store should have bent the policy. They’re not obligated to but it is remarkably stupid, and of course uncaring, not to. That said, I took time off college and managed a retail store to help pay for my mother’s cancer treatments, and I know firsthand that people will make up the MOST OUTRAGEOUS stuff to try to skirt around store policies – I can’t watch the clip at work but perhaps the store initially declined the return due to something like that. I try to give the benefit of the doubt when people behave in particularly absurd ways.
I don’t think it’s very common for parents to spend that much on prom dresses. I went to high school in a fairly wealthy suburb of NYC and most dresses topped out around $300, but that was back in ye olden days ten years ago. These days, I sometimes work at a wealthy NYC high school, and a very wealthy NJ magnet school, and it seems like most kids’ dresses don’t go higher than $500 – and those are kids from moderately wealthy families. And I know lots of kids who don’t spend nearly that much.
I don’t really think that prom dress spending has risen to take the place of wedding dress spending. It seems to me like they’ve both escalated alongside each other, and that people who are inclined to spend a lot will probably spend a lot on both.
My prom dress was expensive, like about $280, but I wore it two years in a row (junior prom and senior prom – the horror!) as well as to the proms of other schools. I evaluate my clothing on a cost-per-wear basis :D so I prefer to spend more than what most people would consider “average” for a given item and get a ton of use out of it.
Phillymiss – My daughter just had her junior prom a few weeks ago and it sounds like our daughters had a similar prom experience. I let her date drive my car and her dress was about $250 with tax and mom did her hair and makeup plus money for dinner but what really soaked me was the pictures at the dance. They were $80 for the middle of the road package with just one 8×10… Altogether her junior prom cost me about $400-$450 bucks and I would be lying if I said it didn’t effect my social schedule for the month but it was a sacrifice happily made. She had a GREAT time!
As for the store, I think they did the right thing in the end. It is hard to bend the rule for one person “no matter how tragic the circumstances” and not the next person as far as company policies go. However to show compassion they went ahead and made a donation to help pay for the expenses that made her want to return the dress in the first place. Hopefully she donated her dress so someone else who won’t have the same bad memories of it will get to enjoy it.
Sad story though, I hope they all get through it ok. I lost a girlfriend when I was in high school due to a heart condition nobody knew she had and it was gut wrenching. I never went to another school dance after that. Her funeral was one of confusion, nobody had expected it as she was a very good girl, no crazy partying, on the cheerleading squad, got great grades, and was about to take flight into her bright future… Nobody even knew what to say. I had another friend who committed suicide while we were in high school and his funeral was the same, nobody even knew he had a problem. It is those questions that keep haunting you long after they are gone, why didn’t I see it coming, what could I have done to save them, and then guilt because you failed them.
My heart goes out to this poor girl. My only advice to her is to keep breathing, each breath gets easier to take as time goes on, just keep breathing…
I’m sorry about your friend and girlfriend, Biggz. Losing someone you love is never easy, but like so many other things, the pain is often intensified in those adolescent years. I’m sure you were a good friend to them in every way you could be. I know you know that now, but it always deserves to be reiterated.
Your daughter sounds a lot like me, as far as proms go. I always had a blast, and I will always remember my mom curling my hair and lending me her lipstick. :)
I think the store was right in sticking to their policy. Had they changed they’re policy for her they would have had to do the same for others.
I went to my sophomore and junior prom. For my sophomore prom I bought my dress from a girl I went to school with it was a silvery blue dress and what made it special for me was that usually what I really like I can’t afford so being able to buy a dress I thought was beautiful was really nice. And I’ll always remember the kindness of her family.
Biggz I’m sorry about your loss too . It would seem with all the diagnostic tests they have now that testing people before they present with symptoms would be more logical than to wait until they’re having complications.
Biggz – thanks for sharing. Sorry for your loss of your friends. Tragic, for sure.
I’ll probably sound heartless, but here goes…
If the boyfriend died before the prom, then, yes, a refund would have been a great gesture, as the dress had not been worn.
If the boyfriend died after the prom, which is what seems to be the case, then no, the store is understandably being put in a bind. They are being asked to accept back at full face value a dress that has already been worn, and which can’t be sold as new. This, in effect, is twisting the store’s arm to help pay for a funeral of the boyfriend of a customer for at least the difference between the price of a new and used dress. Where does that end? These are tough economic times, and many boutiques have a thin profit margin with the falloff in high end retail sales. The young lady could have tried selling the dress online.
Okay, throw stones.
The entire story isn’t being told. The girl and her family returned the dress to the store, which has a strict no refund/credit policy (this is the same store where “Jersey Couture” is recorded). They offered them credit, when that wasn’t enough the family went to the news media stating they wanted the money to give to the family for the funeral. The funeral had already been paid for. The store already bent their policy by offering her credit, that was more than sufficient. Quite frankly, why would a 16 year old girl need a $1,200 prom dress?
I agree she could have sold the dress on ebay or found a consignment shop. I’m sure this family was aware of the policy of the store, before purchasing the dress.
We managed to deck Alison out beautifully for both prom AND her senior banquet in two lovely evening gowns… total cost for both evenings? $25. (Including $10 for the prom tickets). My mom found the dresses in thrift shops and she wore my shoes and my sister in law’s jewelry. And looked stunning, to boot. Her “limo”? Three couples in one family’s minivan.
Hm, I wasn’t aware of all the facts. I actually think it was more courteous of the store to donate money to the funeral AND offer store credit on the dress, since they basically gave the girl something for free – customer service is all about giving the customer what they need within the confines of your own business practice, and if their policy was no cash returns, then offering store credit AND a cash donation was excellent customer service that still went in line with their stated policies. If she had worn the dress already then I really think the store was being asked to bend quite a few rules for a situation that is really not their responsibility. So I guess I think that the store went above and beyond, actually.
I have to agree with Gerard Nadal. I think it was generous of the store to make a memorial donation, but policy is policy. No one could stay in business if they took a loss every time a customer came in with a sob story (I am not trying to downplay this girl’s experience, I feel horrible for her, but terrible things happen to people every day). I read a couple earlier news articles about this online and neither of them mentioned anything about the money being needed for the funeral. They just said the girl “wanted the dress out of her house.” This leads me to believe that the girl’s family added that part on to their story after their request for a refund was refused.
My daughter’s senior prom was this past Friday. Her dress was around $250. She paid for half of it herself. My biggest splurge was going all-out in getting her hair and makeup done. I don’t know why, but I felt like it! We went the thrifty route with everything else, borrowed shoes, I did her nails, she didn’t purchase the professional photos, etc., so I wanted to do something really special for her. Especially since it was the only school dance she attended during her high school career. We had a great time at the salon, and they air-brushed her makeup on. She looked very glamorous, and I could tell she felt like a princess!