Lenexa bridal shop sues bride and her party for libel after reviews claim fraud

A bridal shop in Lenexa sued a bride and members of her bridal party for allegedly libelous statements left in online reviews and social media posts.

The One Bridal filed the lawsuit against bride Alix Schiraldi of Shawnee, Kansas, Monday, claiming she and other members of her party left negative and false reviews and social media comments about the store that were meant to hurt its business.

According to the lawsuit, Alix Schiraldi had an appointment in late January 2022, when she ordered a gown and veil for her Nov. 5 wedding. An invoice given to Schiraldi and Shelly Chambers, another defendant named in the case, states the date of the ceremony, which Chambers signed, according to court documents.

The store also gave Schiraldi a pamphlet, which said custom dresses like hers take at least six to nine months to arrive in store, at which point she would be contacted to pick up the gown, according to the lawsuit. Chambers also signed that she understood all shipping times given for the dress were an estimate and that delays could occur.

The order began processing on Feb. 7, after an issue with a bounced check was resolved, according to the lawsuit.

In April, Schiraldi informed the store her wedding date had moved up a month to Oct. 8, the lawsuit said. Store employees told Schiraldi this didn’t seem to pose an issue, as the dress was expected to come in August. Schiraldi did not express concern about the August arrival date at that time, the lawsuit said.

Fraud claims begin

Beginning Aug. 8, Schiraldi and her wedding planner called the store multiple times asking when the dress would arrive. Schiraldi was “panicked and wondering if she needed to come in to find a new gown,” but store employees told her it was in the quality control phase and would arrive within the month, according to the lawsuit.

A week later, Schiraldi came to the store to tell employees her final payment had not gone through, according to the lawsuit. Employees were able to complete the payment by wire transfer the next day.

Schiraldi came to the store a few days later with her fiance. They allegedly wanted the store to “give them answers” and accused employees of lying about payments going through and the shipping date of the gown. Her fiance said the store needed to “own up to it and make it right,” the lawsuit said.

The store told Schiraldi and her fiance that the payment had recently gone through and they were waiting to get shipping information from the designer.

But Schiraldi allegedly said she had visited other stores that sold Galia gowns, who she said told her that the dress was ready. She also said the other stores told her that The One Bridal lied about needing time to perform quality control, according to the lawsuit.

Later that afternoon, the store emailed Schiraldi to summarize the information the store had and inform her they received a complaint from the Better Business Bureau in which Schiraldi claimed she was promised her dress in June, the lawsuit said.

The Better Business Bureau complaint appeared to be a direct copy of an online review left by Gina Schiraldi, another defendant listed in the case, according to the lawsuit.

Schiraldi and Chambers also claimed the store was lying about the bounced check, according to the lawsuit. Around that time, the lawsuit alleges that Schiraldi claimed the store “acted like debt collectors to get your money upfront.”

The store said these allegations were false, as Schiraldi, Chambers and others knew the check had bounced and made the decision to pay the full balance upfront.

Schiraldi’s fiance allegedly emailed the store the next day, requesting a full refund of the gown and threatened legal action to get one, even though Schiraldi signed and acknowledged the store’s no-refund policy, the lawsuit said.

The store had its lawyer contact Schiraldi to correct some of the false statements she allegedly made, including calling other stores and saying The One Bridal “took her money and ran,” and request she stop making such statements, according to the lawsuit. That letter, which was sent Aug. 25, also told Schiraldi she could pick up her dress the next day.

Schiraldi picked up her dress on Aug. 26, six months and two weeks from when her dress deposit cleared the bank and within the six to nine month estimate the store provided, according to the lawsuit. She allegedly refused an offer to try it on.

Alix Schiraldi, along with Gina and Shelby Schiraldi, later claimed they were issued a “cease and desist order” from the store for leaving negative reviews and social media comments about the store, which the lawsuit characterized as a ”campaign of defamation toward The One Bridal with the purpose of injuring” the store, the lawsuit said.

Online claims

Gina Schiraldi allegedly wrote a Google review, saying the store tried to “use scare tactics to silence my sister’s truth by issuing her a cease-and-desist order” and called the store “completely fraudulent … scamming brides left and right,” according to the lawsuit.

She made similar claims in a Facebook post on The One Bridal’s page, saying the store called her stepfather every day, for multiple days “demanding payment” and that “once they get your money, they ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL,” the lawsuit said. Gina Schiraldi also claimed her sister did not have her dress, after the date she picked it up, according to the lawsuit.

Also in social media posts, Gina Schiraldi claimed the store used a “common swindle technique” to give bridesmaids dresses that required more alterations. The store disputed this, saying it’s standard procedure to order a standard size and then alter the gown.

After learning her gown was ready to be picked up, Alix Schiraldi made multiple false statements on social media sites, saying the store lied and that “They took my money and basically ran and won’t answer me,” the lawsuit said.

The day after she picked up her gown, Alix Schiraldi allegedly claimed on social media that her gown hadn’t arrived, she had to pick up a back-up gown and that the store called her wedding venue rather than herself to say the dress was ready. After refusing to try on the gown, Alix Schiraldi commented on a Facebook post saying the dress was a size too small even though the store had taken her measurements, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims Alix Schiraldi may have “orchestrated” the defamation after setting an appointment with another bridal shop, as she posted a review of Ricca Sposa bridal boutique in late August, saying she had an appointment three weeks prior.

Shelby Schiraldi allegedly also made posts claiming the store was “scamming” customers and posted that “After they have your money, all professionalism or any sort of business ethics are out the window,” according to the lawsuit.

Shelly Chambers also allegedly posted that the store’s “integrity and business ethic is non existent when it comes to the final piece of the bridal experience, which is actually getting your dress,” according to the lawsuit.

The Schiraldis were contacted for comment, but said they had not known about the lawsuit previously.