Incident at a Dry Cleaners

Larak

Hi, I had a nasty incident at a dry cleaners on Townsend Street the other day when I brought back a garment that they destroyed. The owner accused me of "trying it on" and trying to get money out of him and threw the garment down on the counter and said it was old and what did I expect. Without going into huge detail he was extremely abusive and told me to get out of his shop. When I got home I looked at a jacket they'd also drycleaned and it looked like they just put it on a hanger and charged me for the privelege, it was full of dust, stains and a pong of smoke. There's no point in going in there again and trying to reason with them. Just wondered if anyone has any advice on how to proceed. Not sure if it's worth the aggravation of going to the small claims court for the sake of getting my €25 back but they were so horrible I feel I have to do something.

Oryx

The 'destroyed' garment. How bad is it? Is it now unwearable? Was it expensive, if it was then your not just out your 25 euro, youre out the cost of the garment, and thats what you should be going to the SCC about.

The other jacket is a very hard case to prove imo. The cleaners could just argue that you got it dirty again.

Larak

I was getting it drycleaned for a trip I was going on and the fabric was damaged at the front and sides so I couldn't wear it. The coat is a few years old so it's hard to know how much to claim for it, but it was a lovely coat and the one thing I owned that people admired. I had to buy a new coat to go away so I suppose I could claim for that although it only cost around €60 and the one that was damaged was a more expensive one when I bought it.

As for the suit, yeah I agree it's their word against mine. I actually had it dry cleaned again this morning because I need it, so I've no proof.

Oryx

Moral of the story seems to be check your items before you pay, and when you find a good supplier of any product or service, stick with them, and dont give the bad 'uns any custom.

The SCC only costs about €9 so just for the satisfaction of doing it, you could consider taking a case for compensation of the cost of the coat.

Larak

yeah I agree. I only went there because I was stuck for time and needed them quickly. Won't make that mistake again. I should have checked the clothes there and then but I was in a hurry but if I had I'm guessing the outcome would have been exactly the same. although at least I'd have made a complaint about the suit straight away and not just the coat I doubt their reaction would have been "well fair cop, we take full responsibility". I later found out that a few people in my small office had run-ins with them. Pity I didn't know that beforehand!

sweetie

the owner may have been wearing your jacket since you gave it to them. Have you seen that episode of Seinfeld?

Larak

ha ha, I'm not sure pink is his colour, might clash with his eyes !! But like that episode of Seinfeld, I just wanted him to admit he was responsible...funnily enough hadn't even mentioned anything about a refund when he accused me of "trying it on". But maybe it was him trying it on all along, literally...

foggy_lad

a lot of reputable dry cleaners survive over the worse places because of word of mouth so you could do your bit and name and shame this place with family friends etc and maybe others will escape this awful treatment.

eth0_

Larak wrote: »

As for the suit, yeah I agree it's their word against mine. I actually had it dry cleaned again this morning because I need it, so I've no proof.

Perhaps the dry cleaners you brought it to this morning could put in writing what the damage was? It might be worth asking them.

The Other Hack

Larak wrote: »

Hi, I had a nasty incident at a dry cleaners on Townsend Street the other day when I brought back a garment that they destroyed. The owner accused me of "trying it on" and trying to get money out of him and threw the garment down on the counter and said it was old and what did I expect. Without going into huge detail he was extremely abusive and told me to get out of his shop. When I got home I looked at a jacket they'd also drycleaned and it looked like they just put it on a hanger and charged me for the privelege, it was full of dust, stains and a pong of smoke. There's no point in going in there again and trying to reason with them. Just wondered if anyone has any advice on how to proceed. Not sure if it's worth the aggravation of going to the small claims court for the sake of getting my €25 back but they were so horrible I feel I have to do something.

Would this Dry Cleaners happen to be The Wash House?
If so I'm not surprised as the feckin kip has a reputation for destroying peoples' clothes

Larak

yeah the very ones, did you have a bad experience with them?

By the way ETHo , good suggestion about asking the second dry cleaners if they could put something in writing. I told the lady there all about the incident yesterday and she was gobsmacked!

The Other Hack

Larak wrote: »

yeah the very ones, did you have a bad experience with them?

By the way ETHo , good suggestion about asking the second dry cleaners if they could put something in writing. I told the lady there all about the incident yesterday and she was gobsmacked!

Not me personally. BUT I know others who have had "dealings" with this crowd!

Larak

It kind of makes me mad that they're getting away with it. I don't even think there's a dry cleaning association to report them to, is there?