An attorney representing the Dallas nurse Amber Vinson, who was recently at the centre of an Ebola scare, is seeking refund from a bridal shop for bridesmaid dresses she purchased from there.
Vinson, who was the second nurse at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to get diagnosed with Ebola after tending a patient carrying the disease, is asking Coming Attractions Bridal & Formal shop to refund a total of $480 for the dresses of her bridesmaids who either paid for the gowns in full or put down a deposit, Ohio's Akron Beacon Journal reported.
The bridal shop in Akron, Ohio, had to be shut for several weeks last month after they were notified that the Texas nurse, who visited them a few days ago, had tested positive for the fatal Ebola virus. The owner of the store, Anna Younker, claimed that the visit from the bride-to-be had resulted in a loss of tens of thousands of dollars. Many frightened customers even cancelled their orders.
Hence, naturally, when Youker received the letter from Stephen F. Malouf on behalf of the nurse, she assumed that it was an apology for all the inconvenience caused. Instead, she was shocked to see the request for refund of four bridesmaid dresses Vinson had ordered.
Malouf, acknowledges in his three-paragraph letter that "Amber's Ebola infection brought significant attention to Coming Attractions, not all of it positive." Still, he beseeched the store to refund $107 for two of the bridesmaids and $132.92 for two other bridesmaids "due to the most unusual circumstances."
Vinson has decided to approach another bridal store "in order to minimize additional public scrutiny", the letter revealed. Malouf further asks if the terms are agreeable to Coming Attractions.
"This is like the icing on the cake for her to ask," the bridal store owner said. "By canceling completely because she wants to go somewhere else, that's like a slap in the face to me."
The bridal shop owner is more agitated by the lack of initiative from Vinson and her refusal to discuss the matter with her in person. "I couldn't believe she didn't at least call me and have some discussion on why," Younker said. "Maybe I would have considered it differently."
Although the store's general policy is to refuse refunds, Younker has made exceptions in the past in accordance with the situation.
Malouf, however, claims that he had tried to call the bridal shop owner before sending the letter. "I'm sorry that the shop is upset," he said. "This was an effort to help the shop and Amber. Amber feels strongly that the publicity was such it was harming the business and she didn't want to add any further scrutiny to it. This was a purely innocent request and I'm sorry it wasn't received in the spirit in which it was sent."
According to Younker, Vinson had received her dress from the store in the summer and she was planning to call the latter and check on her plans for ordering the rest of the bridesmaids' dresses. "... I can't force her to continue to order. But for me to hand over a refund, it's not feasible. It doesn't make sense. I'm out a lot of money."
Younker had shut down her store for more than three weeks to ease the fears of her customers and used ultraviolet light to decontaminate the building before reopening it with a sale. However, she is still struggling to regain some customers because of the stigma caused by the Ebola scare
.
