A torn dress

A woman went to a store and bought a dress at a large discount — instead of 600 NIS she paid 200. She went to a wedding, and there the dress got torn in the back in a very conspicuous and embarrassing way. However, the woman couldn’t change into another dress, since she couldn’t leave in the middle of the wedding. In the store they said that this is the reason the dress is being sold at a discount — because the fabric is of such poor quality.  

If the dress tore as a result of regular use, and it wasn’t used after it became torn, the store has to return the money that was paid for the dress. This is because they didn’t let the buyer know that the fabric is of such poor quality. However, if the dress was used after it was torn, then, according to the Shulchan Oruch, someone who uses the item after it became damaged can no longer claim that the whole deal was illegitimate.

We should consider, however, what the law is when the buyer used the item because he didn’t have a choice but to use the item, such as in your case, when you didn’t have another dress that you could change into when this one tore, so you kept using it and even had your picture taken in it after the wedding.

The Pischei Tshuva commentary to the Shulchan Oruch states that this matter is disputed by two latter commentaries. Therefore, we have to consider this situation as dubitable, and one cannot force the store to pay the money back out of a doubt. You can, however, ask them to compensate you. On the other hand, if you paid by a check or by a credit card, and the money hasn’t yet been transferred to the store’s account, then the doubt works to your benefit (that is, the store can’t force you to pay out of a doubt), and you don’t have to pay the full asking price for damaged goods.  

Shulchan Oruch, section Choshen Mishpat, chapter 232