NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Should a wedding dress shop take back a dress when the wedding is canceled by a death?

Video: Shop Won't Take Wedding Dress Back After Groom's Death

Sonya Cliff was to be married this spring to her longtime sweetheart, Kenny Cooper, before he suddenly died.

"I knew something was wrong because he didn't come to the door and the TV was on. He was laying face forward on the floor between his den and his kitchen," said Cliff.

"When I ran up to him, I shook him and said, ‘Wake up baby, wake up, what's wrong.’ He didn’t move, and I touched him, and he wasn't breathing," said Cliff.

The autopsy showed heart disease claimed Cooper's life.

Cliff asked her family to cancel all the wedding plans, including returning her $1,300 dress.

"The dress reminds me of the day I'm never going to have with him," said Cliff.

Cliff never wore the dress, never altered it and never removed the tags.

Her mother called the Bridal Gallery of Franklin and asked a sales associate if she could return the dress.

"They basically told me they had no return policy at all," said Sonya’s mother Barbara Cliff. "There was no compassion there.”

Most bridal shops have a no return policy on wedding dresses and Sonya Cliff knew that. She even signed a contract stating it, but she figured that was for broken engagements.

Her six other wedding vendors, including the photographer, the cake designer and the wedding planner, all returned her money.

"They were totally cooperative. I even received cards and was given condolences in the mail. They sent me 100 percent refunds," said Sonya Cliff.

The store manager said that most boutiques have to special order dresses, so if the store takes the dress back, they lose money.

She said most women don't want to buy a dress that's been returned. In other words, the store refuses to take a loss, despite whatever loss the bride experiences.

Channel 4 called five other bridal stores to see how they would handle the situation.

Two businesses said they would definitely refund the dress. Two more said they would try to resell the dress for her. One store said they would not give a refund.

To Cliff, that's make no sense.

"I have a groom who won't come back. I'm never going to marry him. There's never going to be a wedding with me and Kenny. For them to be so cold, I think is ridiculous," said Sonya Cliff.

Channel 4 called the Bridal Gallery of Franklin to ask for an on-camera interview, but they didn't return WSMV's call.

The vendor for her bridesmaids dresses also won't refund her bridesmaids for their dresses either, despite the death of the groom.

Bridal stores said the wedding gown industry is a highly competitive business, and that's why their no refund policy is so strict.