THE owner of a dress agency in Romsey that faced criticism when it closed its town centre shop and moved to an appointment-only stockroom has insisted that he is still working his way through hundreds of items of clothes. 

As previously reported, Change Of A Dress closed its shop in Bell Street in 2022, despite having a large number of items of clothing that people had been hoping to sell through the shop.

Various customers tried to get in contact with the business to either get the money they were owed for their clothes or have their items returned, but some encountered problems with contacting it as it had moved to an appointment-only base in The Horsefair. 

In August, The Romsey Advertiser reported on some of the people who were affected, and pressure mounted on owner Simon Wills to either settle the shop's debts or return clothes. 

However, the business was hampered by phone connection issues and delays in setting up a website, as well as other electronic communication problems and Covid lockdowns, according to Mr Wills.  

Months on, some people such as pensioner Julie Rustin are still chasing him for their money or clothes. 

Mrs Rustin, 83, from Kimpton, was owed £220, and she contacted the Romsey Advertiser in the hope of finally being reunited with some of the clothes she left with the business such as designer jackets, dresses and handbags.

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Mrs Rustin took the items into the agency's former high street shop in Bell Street on November 6, 2021 and when she returned to the shop in April, she was told that her items had sold for £207.

However, she was told that the woman who normally handled the shop’s finances was off ill, so she would have to return at a different time to receive her money.

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Mrs Rustin returned to the shop a few times, even taking more clothes to the shop to be sold, but was not able to receive any money for her clothes, being told that the woman who handled the business’s finances was always away.

She said: “It was always the same story; ‘the lady who writes the cheques is unwell’, ‘the lady who writes the cheques is skiing’, and so, I never got a cheque.”

Mrs Rustin was surprised when she found that Change Of A Dress had closed its doors, with Mr Wills moving the clothes into a stockroom.

She tried to contact Mr Wills, but found that “the numbers that he left were always unavailable.” When she did get through to him, she said he promised to call her back but no call materialised. 

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She said: “He’s had many chances to give my clothes back." 

Mr Wills has since paid Mrs Rustin the money, after being contacted by the Advertiser, and has promised to deliver the remaining clothes back to her.

He said that the cheque had been written and had been in a drawer at the shop, but an oversight had seen it not handed to Mrs Rustin. 

He said that emails had been unanswered and that he could not pay the money directly to her bank account as he did not have her account details. 

He said: "We are doing our best to get the situation sorted."  

He said that he was still in the process of setting up a website, but this had been hindered because the agency has more than 2,500 items that it needs to photograph and upload before it goes live. 

Mr Wills also said that the business had faced setbacks with aggressive customers, abuse on social media, clients giving fake names or incorrect details and people trying to sell potentially stolen goods. 

He said: "I will not tolerate abuse, against me or any of my staff, and I will deal with it all, but I will deal with it in my time." 

He said they have set up two telephone numbers that people can call and a new email address. 

Mr Wills added: "We are asking people to get in touch and come and pick up their items, but they need to book an appointment first."

Mrs Rustin said she was delighted to finally receive more than she thought she was owed - £233 - from Change of a Dress as two more scarves had been sold online in December. 

Mr Wills has also promised to return her outstanding items. 

To get in touch with Change Of A Dress call 07985272643 or 07985272647 or email theteam@changeofadress.co.uk