Bellisima Bridal brides: You can get your gown absolutely free (i.e., purchase price refunded) when you refer 6 friends who buy their bridal gowns from us within one year of the date that you do.

So here’s the basic rules of the offer: Any bridal gown purchase between June 1 and Dec 1, 2012 makes a bride eligible under the “Get Your Gown Free when you refer 6 brides who buy their gown from Bellisima” promotion. Such brides are called “entering brides” meaning they are able to enter or participate in the promotion. The price of the “entering bride’s” gown does not affect her eligibility to participate, it can be from $79 (which is about the lowest priced we’ve ever had), to the highest priced gown in the store. To be eligible for the refund each entering bride must have 6 individuals who they have referred who have bought “qualifying gowns.” To be a qualifying gown, it must be a bridal gown or prom/special occasion dress we market in our bridal collections and it must be intended to be worn by the bride at her wedding (i.e., clothing bought for her attendants or for other events does not count). A bride who buys a separate gown for the ceremony and the reception will already have one referral credit if she applies the following rules. (Usually brides will have the lesser priced dress be the one qualifying for a refund as this helps her referrals and it ensures she will get one credit for her extra gown purchase.)

The qualifying referral gowns must be priced over $500 or the price of the entering bride’s gown , whichever is lower. So, if an entering bride buys a $1500 gown, her referrals must all buy at least a $500 gown. If a bride buys a $200 gown, her referrals must all buy a gown priced $200 or higher to count as a qualifying purchase. The minimum dollar value for any qualifying dress purchase is called the “qualifying gown price”. So, for the bride who purchases two dresses, usually she will want the lowest priced to be the one qualifying for refund unless both are priced over $500 (otherwise, the lesser priced one will not count as a “qualifying purchase” because it must be priced at least as much as the original purchase or $500, whichever is lower per the above rule.)

To be a qualifying gown purchase, the referral gown must be purchased, ( i.e., bought and put on a sales contract) within one year of the entering bride’s purchase. It must also equal or exceed the qualifying gown price. Now, since we offer various layaway and payment plans this creates issues of how much must be paid on the 6 qualifying gowns before the entering bride who has made six qualifying referrals gets her refund. Since the referral brides can sometimes have over a year to pay on payment or layaway plans these dresses do not need to be paid in full before the entering bride is entitled to be paid her refund. However, each of the six qualifying gown purchases on which her eligibility is based must be paid to at least the level of the “qualifying gown price” which, as discussed above, will be $500 or the price of the entering bride’s gown, whichever is lower. This ensures that qualifying amounts will have been paid to Bellisima Bridal before the entering bride is refunded and minimizes the risk of fraud based on using layaway and making small payments on layaway but then cancelling once the bride has received her refund. Also, although brides with layaways, or payment plans are not ordinarily eligible for a refund, if for any reason payments made on a qualifying gown purchase are refunded, that gown will not be eligible to count as a qualifying gown for purposes of determining if the bride has made 6 qualifying referrals. In other words, regardless of any refunds, layaways, cancellations, etc. pending for the customers the entering bride has referred, Bellisima Bridal must have received 6 qualifying referrals each of whom must have paid in non-refundable amounts at least equal to the qualifying gown price for the entering bride. Any use of insufficiently funded checks, credit chargebacks, layaway cancellations or similar devices in an attempt to undermine the requirement that all 6 referrals must be paid up to the “qualifying gown amount” will be considered retail fraud, not honored by Bellisima Bridal, and prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.

Payment of the refund: Once at least 6 of a bride’s referrals have purchased gowns within one year of the original bride, and have paid their accounts off or at least up to the level of the qualifying gown amount, the bride who made the referrals will be eligible for a refund of her purchase price under this offer. Bellisima Bridal will check its records during the first week of each month to determine if there are any new eligible brides from the previous month and will issue a check for the refund at the next payroll date after the bride’s eligibility has been determined. Since there are only two such payroll dates per month, this could result in a delay of up to two weeks plus mailing time before a bride’s refund check will be available. Brides may notify the store when they believe they have qualified, and we will review our records and make a determination of eligibility at our earliest convenience, but in no event later than the first week of the following month.

What counts as a referral, or how do we know which participating bride gets credit for a referral? We will give any entering brides marketing materials with business cards that include a referral line and an offer of a 5% discount for them. We will start with 15 and provide any entering bride more if she wants them. These cards may be given to friends, co-workers, acquaintances, or even strangers or left at any place it is lawful to place marketing materials. Entering brides should enter their name in the “referred by” line to aid in getting credit for referrals. We will also count any bride who mentions that she was “referred by” and gives your name. They should write that information in the registration card we ask all prospective brides to complete when they first enter the store so that we have the info on file permanently from her first visit. However, as long as the referral bride customer mentions the referring bride (also called “entering bride” above) before she completes her purchase, we will put a note in the file and give the “entering bride” credit for the referral. However, even though we give you (the “entering bride”) credit for anyone who mentions you referred them, it is to the new customer’s benefit to actually bring the referral card with them since they will get a 5% discount off any purchases with it. You can use this as a selling point when you refer them to Bellisima and share your experience with them. (Note: only the actual price your referrals pay, not the original dress price, counts to determine whether a purchase is a qualifying gown purchase. So, if they use the 5% discount, we will use the discounted price to determine whether the referral qualifies.)

Please note that in order to qualify for the refund, any entering bride must have referred individuals who make six qualifying gown purchases. There is no partial credit, or partial refunds for referrals of less than six qualifying gowns. You must have referred individuals who made 6 qualifying gown purchases on signed contracts with at least minimum deposits paid by one year after the date you purchased your dress (or July 1, 2013 for brides who purchased in June 2012). As noted above, even though you must qualify by the one year anniversary of your purchase, as noted above, your refund will not be paid until your referrals make deposits or payments equal to the qualifying amount (i.e, price of your dress or $500, whichever is less).

Also, each new customer who buys a bridal gown can be credited to only one bride. For example, if a new bride says she was referred by two different brides, that sale can be credited to only one bride. If the new customer uses the referral card/coupon, we will credit the sale to the bride name listed on the card. Otherwise, we will just ask the new bride who she wants to credit the sale to. We will not be responsible for providing information to help them make a decision such as “how many referrals does each one already have?” or “who needs it more?”, etc. That type of information is not available in our point of sale computer system and Bellisima Bridal has no responsibility to ensure your information can be provided to the prospective customers. If she has been referred by several brides, unless she is using a referral card with your name on it, the new customer will be solely responsible for deciding which referring bride should get the referral credit.

Terminating the offer: It is our intent to continue this offer to all brides who purchase from now to Dec 1, 2012. However, this time period is not guaranteed and we reserve the right to cancel this offer at any time, for any reason including those related to cost, retail fraud, administrative difficulties or any other reason. Any brides who have already purchased their dress and entered their contract at the time this offer is terminated will have one year to complete their referrals as per the contest rules. However, Bellisima Bridal shall have no obligation to continue this offer to any bride who has not purchased by Dec 1, 2012 or at such time as this contest or offer is cancelled. To ensure your eligibility, it is recommended to complete your purchase at your earliest opportunity.

Limits of the offer: This offer is for a refund of the actual purchase price paid, less any credits, refunds, or discounts for the bride’s dress if the bride refers 6 others who make qualifying bridal gown purchases within a one year period from her purchase date. Although those referral dresses need not be paid off within one year, the referral dresses must be purchased within one year and they must be paid off or up to the “qualifying amount” (see above) before the referring bride will be entitled to obtain her refund. The refund offer does not include any services like alterations, accessories, or any other item beside the purchase price of the wedding dress.