A rogue wedding dress boutique conned brides-to-be out of nearly £12,000 for ‘hand-made’ white gowns – stitched up in a factory in China.
Bridal boutique owner Melanie Bishop, 36, and her mother Patricia, 60, tricked 13 brides into thinking they were buying bespoke gowns for their big day.
A court heard the pair advertised handmade bridal dresses up to £1,000 from the Bishops workshop in Wales.
Furious brides first found out they had been duped when they spotted ‘made in China’ labels on their dresses – and launched a campaign to get their cash back.
Bridal boutique owner Melanie Bishop (left), 36, and her mother Patricia, 60, tricked 13 brides into thinking they were buying bespoke gowns for their big day
But Bishop quickly shut up shop leaving more than 100 other brides worried they would be left without their white dresses on their big day.
Both women now face possible jail after pleading guilty to 18 counts of ‘engaging in unfair commercial practice’ after heartbroken brides complained to consumer watchdogs.
Before she was charged with fraud Bishop spoke about the ‘hellish nightmare’ that led to close her bridal boutique Anna Sara Bridal in Newport, South Wales.
One bride Nichola Pakau, 34, said: ‘It has been an awful experience. It has affected my home life and work life.’
Another bride’s mum Kim Burroughs, 55, said: ‘You expect everything to be perfect for your daughter’s wedding. I didn’t expect this.’
Furious brides first found out they had been duped when they spotted ‘made in China’ labels on their dresses and launched a campaign to get their cash back
Melanie Bishop (pictured) claimed her customers should have known their dresses from £700 to £1,000 were manufactured in China
Bishop and mum Patricia pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to 18 counts of engaging in unfair commercial practice between March 2015 and April 2016.
Melanie Bishop claimed her customers should have known their dresses from £700 to £1,000 were manufactured in China – and said she was the victim of a campaign of ‘abuse and lies’.
Bishop said: ‘In the space of three weeks my reputation is in tatters and I believe I will lose my house, my livelihood and the business I worked so hard to build up from scratch.
‘I haven’t stopped crying since it all spiralled out of control.
‘The reality is that these women have rallied together and whipped themselves up into a hysteria that is only based on one thing – the fact that my dress suppliers are based in China.
‘The dresses are not worth £40 and from eBay as these women believe. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
‘We own a factory that is staffed by 15 seamstresses. We run a legitimate business and I am devastated that this Facebook campaign of hate and lies is stopping my genuine customers from receiving their dresses.
Bishop said her reputation was ‘in tatters’ and said she feared she would lose her house and her livelihood
Bishop was forced to close her bridal boutique Anna Sara Bridal in Newport, South Wales, amid the furore
‘It’s not that we set out to deliberately mislead people, that’s not it.
‘When I said our dresses were all our own designs that was true.
‘The only thing I could have done differently was be explicitly clear about the origins of the dresses, but so many shops outsource their materials and labour from China.
‘It’s not uncommon and I never hid it. I left the made in China labels in.
‘And yes there is a mark up. As a company we pay around £200 for each dress and sell them to the customer from £700-£1000.
‘That’s how a business operates. That’s how I paid my rent, taxes, import fees and overheads but that markup does not take away from the quality of the product offered.’
Bishop and her mother pleaded guilty to failing to inform customers the wedding dresses were actually made in China, falsely stating they would be made in their local workshop
But an investigation by Newport Trading Standards ended with Bishop and her mother being charged with fraud.
The court heard they accepted they had claimed to have designed and made the dresses themselves.
The pair pleaded guilty to failing to inform customers the wedding dresses were actually made in China, falsely stating they would be made in their local workshop.
Another 20 charges will lie on file.
Judge Patrick Curran QC told them he will not be the sentencing judge and warned them: ‘All appropriate sentencing options are open.’
Both women, of Oakdale, near Blackwood, South Wales, were granted bail ahead of their sentencing in March.