7 On Your Side helps Antioch woman after fashion hats lost during delivery

ANTIOCH, Calif. (KGO) -- Bold hats adorned with ribbons, bows and flowers have taken on significance for one Antioch woman. When one worshiper lost a shipment of her hats, she called 7 On Your Side's Michael Finney for help.

A YouTube was taken in the "Church of God in Christ" convention in St. Louis this past November.

Many women sported beautiful hats that have become a part of their church's culture.

Bertha Langston was all set to go and had shipped her hats to her hotel ahead of time.

"At the meeting, everyone wears big fancy hats," said Bertha.

Bertha shared pictures of her showing off some of her hats.

Unfortunately, the UPS store inside the Marriott Hotel where she was staying had no record of them ever arriving.

"I cried, in honesty, because every hat is special to me," she said.

Her husband who is also pastor of his own church in Antioch explained.

"It's a part of her dress apparel and it's like having a tuxedo without a bow tie," said Joseph Langston.

Complicating matters, the hats were shipped via Federal Express, but supposedly dropped off at UPS because it handles all the hotel's deliveries.

FedEx says its records showed a UPS employee signed for the package.

UPS says it did sign for several packages, but Bertha's was not among them.

Bertha called 7 On Your Side. We contacted UPS and it apologized and agreed to reimburse Bertha for the lost hats.

But before it could send out the check, the hotel came forward and said it had found the hats at its front desk.

A hotel manager told us "I certainly apologized for her experience. It shouldn't have happened."

"I was excited because I really wanted the hats back," Bertha proclaimed.

Hats in all shapes and colors - green, purple, black, grey and white were among those returned to her.

Bertha was more than happy to model her hats for us. But asking her to pick out a favorite hat is like asking her to name a favorite child.

"They're all my favorites," Bertha said.

The Marriott says its employee did not follow proper procedure and should have notified Bertha immediately when receiving the hats. It also says the delivery driver should have dropped off the package to UPS, and not its front desk.

Written and produced by Randall Yip