Dry Cleaners ruined my dress

Makeup_Jeans

Hi all

I'm sorry you have probably heard this a million times at this stage but here is my story.

I left a dress in on Sat to be cleaned as I am going to a wedding this weekend. Sent a friend in to collect it yesterday only to be told the dress is ruined. The cleaners are blaming the manufacturer for attaching the incorrect label on the dress. They said I had to go back to the shopI purchased it from.

When I heard this I was extremely annoyed as the dress cost me €295 and it was purchased for my brothers wedding so it means alot to me.

I called up myself. I explained that I purchased the dress from a boutique not a highstreet store and that the dress has previously been cleaned once before. The response and attitude of the lady I spoke to was just appalling.
She then said she would contact the shop and get back to me.

She called me back yesterday afternoon to say she called the shop and the owner explained that the manufacturer had gone into liquidation and ceased trading, therefore there was nothing they could do.

I decided to call the shop myself only to be told a completely different story. The manufactirer is still trading and when the ownder called they informed her that they had that particular dress in four different stlyes and they received no complaints or had any issues with the labels / dry cleaning and said the cleaner is at fault.

Im am just wondering where do I go from here?

Any advice would be greatful.

Nody

Send in writing a request for full compensation to the dry cleaner and include that the botique (named) has confirmed on date X that it had replacements available.

Your contract is with the dry cleaner and hence there is were you direct your complaint.

jor el

Also, confirm with the manufacturer that the dry cleaning details on the dress are correct. This will put the blame firmly with the dry cleaners. If they refuse to compensate you, go to the Small Claims Court.

Makeup_Jeans

Thank you very much for your replies guys. I really appreciate your help.

I'm waiting on the Cleaners to get back to me.

How would I go about contacting the small claims court, if I do need to take this route?

jor el

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/small_claims_court.html

It's a simple process, and can be applied for online. There is a fee of €15, but that's all it will cost.

http://www.courts.ie/courts.ie/Library3.nsf/PageCurrentWebLookUpTopNav/Small%20Claims%20Procedure

Makeup_Jeans

Okay so the cleaners contacted me saying they are willing to offer me €125 for damages.

Is this a good offer?

Finishing work a little earlier to hit the shops tonight to find a replacement.

keithclancy

Makeup_Jeans wrote: »

Okay so the cleaners contacted me saying they are willing to offer me €125 for damages.

Is this a good offer?

Finishing work a little earlier to hit the shops tonight to find a replacement.

No

Is 125 euros a like for like replacement ?

This is an offer to see if you'll go away.

Stick to your guns and get a like for like replacement, the dress was new i'm assuming.

jor el

Can you get the damage repaired for that amount? If not, then no, it's not a good offer. If you can get it fixed for that much, then it's a reasonable offer.

Makeup_Jeans

I'm leaving work now shortly so I will pop into them and say I'm still not happy with their offer.

I bought the dress for my brothers wedding last summer and that is the only time i had it on and it was an expensive dress - €295 so offering me €125 + no charge for cleaning the dress (I actually laughed when she said that) isnt quite enough. As it was for my brothers wedding it does mean alot to me and I was hoping to get a few wears out of it.
The dress cannot be repaired as it has white patches/ stains all down the back and some of the material actually looks burnt.

I will post tomorrow to let you know how I get on.

Makeup_Jeans

Hi all

I refused to accept the €125. The lady I was speaking to attitude really was shocking. I informed them I would be going to the small claims court. I will get the ball in motion now on Monday.

Cabaal

Makeup_Jeans wrote: »

Hi all

I refused to accept the €125. The lady I was speaking to attitude really was shocking. I informed them I would be going to the small claims court. I will get the ball in motion now on Monday.

In my books they accepted a level of liability by offering you £125 (though did they say they offered it as goodwill with no admission of liability?) so that goes against them now and is a positive thing for you and should help you win any small claims case.

Get a written confirmation from the shop that you bought the dress from that the company that sold it is still in business and also get confirmation that the labels are correct.

All in all with all of the above you completely kill off any of the false claims made by the dry cleaners and make them look like liers

It would be reasonable to include any costs for calls you made to shop/dry cleaners to sort out the issue (make sure to have evidence to support it) in your small claim as well, I wouldn't look for anything else though personally.

maxer68

Makeup_Jeans wrote: »

Hi all

I refused to accept the €125. The lady I was speaking to attitude really was shocking. I informed them I would be going to the small claims court. I will get the ball in motion now on Monday.

Rather than going for the full €295 (it has been worn before), try negiotiating and look for €200 with bottom line €180.

With sales on, there's some superb dresses to be had at €180.

My guess is the cleaners will go for this and everyone will be happy. - Also, the small claims may make allowances for the fact the dress had already been worn and was a year old.

cast_iron

maxer68 wrote: »

Rather than going for the full €295 (it has been worn before), try negiotiating and look for €200 with bottom line €180.

A court won't be interested about whether another dress can be found in the sales that will make do.

To rectify the problem, the compensation offered must be to the value that will either fully restore the dress to its original form, or (if that's not possible) cover the cost of replacingit with the same dress.

maxer68

cast_iron wrote: »

A court won't be interested about whether another dress can be found in the sales that will make do.

To rectify the problem, the compensation offered must be to the value that will either fully restore the dress to its original form, or (if that's not possible) cover the cost of replacingit with the same dress.

A court can adjust for wear and age of the item. Hence my advice is to settle at a price where the OP knows that they can get an equivalent replacement and not have the hassle of a small claims procedure. - Sometimes a negotiated settlement is the better option even if its a lower value.

emeldc

Ahem! resident specialist dry cleaner here. As the dry cleaner has already made you an offer, it does sound like he has screwed up somewhere. It happens. I think €170 plus a voucher for €50 worth of dry cleaning would be fair, that is if you think this was a one off and that you might use him again. The dress is a year old and second hand so it's not really fair to stick him with the full amount.

On another note, at the moment I'm in discussions with a serious player in ladies fashion where I have noticed alot of their dresses are labeled wrong, ie 'dry clean only' when in fact washing is required and visa versa. I didn't get caught out myself (i'm too long at this game for that) but it just goes to show the dry cleaner might not always be at fault.

wmpdd3

Yeah I agree with the post above, in the last 15 years working in clothing stores about 6 styles a year would be labeled wrong. (most labels are attached in Asian countries).

And like that up to 2 year later you could get a call from a dry cleaner who has discovered the issue. The stores I worked in would usually look after the customer handsomely.

Cabaal

emeldc wrote: »

Ahem! resident specialist dry cleaner here. As the dry cleaner has already made you an offer, it does sound like he has screwed up somewhere. It happens. I think €170 plus a voucher for €50 worth of dry cleaning would be fair,

I see where your coming from, but I think the OP may have an issue using the company again given the lie's they've told them,

irishtexsoc

On the basis that the Dry Cleaner has made an offer for the dress and you have rejected this offer the question becomes what is a "fair value" for the compensation. There is a widely accepted method for Dry Cleaners (and others) to calculate the "fair Value" under the INTERNATIONAL FAIR CLAIMS GUIDE
FOR CONSUMER TEXTILES PRODUCTS see http://www.drycleaningcomplaints.com/Fair%20Claims%20Guide=DIA.pdf

This method was developed in Australia but is accepted internationally.

The calculation is as follows:

High fashion dress - One Year old

Original cost – €295.00

Life Expectancy – 3 Years (See the above document)

Actual Age – 12 months

Condition – Excellent

"fair Value" – 70% or €206.50

This can be done for any garment including upholstery and carpets.

dudara

irishtexsoc Your username would suggest that you represent the Irish Textile Care Society. While we appreciate your educational response, Boards asks that all commercial representatives declare themselves as such if they intend to post regularly on Boards.

dudara

irishtexsoc

Would love to do that. So how do I go about it as I thought I am restricted as to what I can do until I have posted 25 times??? is there another way?

On a second note I do not see my contribution to this discussion as anything by educational and informative. I am very willing to have the Irish textile Care Society as advisor to such discussions. Our society has the interests of the consumer at it heart as they are the lifeblood of our business.

I have tried in my post to highlight the calculation of the Fair Value.

Your members can make of it what they want to.

dudara

irishtexsoc wrote: »

Would love to do that. So how do I go about it as I thought I am restricted as to what I can do until I have posted 25 times??? is there another way?

Just send an email to reps@boards.ie to get in touch with the admins. They'll take you through the options available.

UglyBolloxFace

dudara wrote: »

Just send an email to reps@boards.ie to get in touch with the admins. They'll take you through the options available.

Just out of interest, how much does it cost for a company to register a Boards account?

dudara

I genuinely don't know as I'm not involved with the financial running of Boards. Get in touch at the email above if you want to know more.