You took your favorite dress to your Dry Cleaner for a professional clean and when you got it back, it was damaged.
Should your dry cleaner reimburse you for the damage?
Yes, he should if it was the Dry Cleaner’s error. Every garment comes with a care label. The care label is placed in a garment by the manufacture of the garment advising on how the item should be washed. Following the manufature’s cleaning instructions is imperative to maintaining the garment’s integrity and ensuring it looks “like new” after a cleaning.
All dry cleaners are required to launder or dry clean the item according to the care label. If the dry cleaner did not follow the care label then most certainly your cleaner should reimburse you the value of an item if it’s returned damaged. But be prepared, the value of the item, and what you will be reimbursed, is not what you paid for it years ago.
Think of your clothing as cars with speedometers. Dry cleaners use the National Fair Claims Adjustment Guide to determine the value based on the garment’s original price, age and condition when they must pay a claim. It’s impossible to be reimbursed for exactly what you paid for an item.
Classic Cleaners will always yield to the care label instructions when cleaning a garment. There have been very few instances in which a customer requests that we detour from the care label. If that happens, we consult with the customer to explain possible outcomes and we ask the customer to sign a release.
There’s been many general articles written trying to convince the consumer that dry cleaners are out to get you and your money. In reality, if that were true, no dry cleaner would be in business for long. Once the entire neighborhood/town/city found out a Dry Cleaner’s customer service was bad and the cleaning was of poor quality, they would refuse to patronize that Dry Cleaner and the company could not sustain.
Classic Cleaners has been in business 28 years. Our #1 job -and objective – is to help you maintain your wardrobe in like new condition for as long as possible. It’s in our best interest to provide the highest quality care to your garments, households, and specialty items; as well as provide the highest level of communication and customer service to our customers. Our focus is to professionally clean your items the way the manufacturer has advised so they look great year after year.
If you’re ever in doubt or have questions regarding our cleaning methods, please ask the manager at the store you frequent or contact us anytime. And, check out our post the truth about professional dry cleaning for more information.
-S.O.
Unfortunately a larger percent of care labels are not accurate and the we cleaners are left holding the bag.
In 1986 The care label law was changed. Previously to 86 the care label must show the precise way the garment was to be cleaned. After 86 all that is required is one method. Also about this time manufactures found it was cheaper to not test garments before they made them and just put them out in the “field” and adjust components and dyes from there.
I have cleaned countless garments according to the care labels and the garments have failed. I contact the manufacture and have had pretty good success in resolving the issue. But there are times when I pay for the garments even when it is not my fault just to keep “my” customer happy
Thank you for the comment. We have had the opposite experience. When we clean a garment in accordance to the care label, we encounter an issue about .01% of the time. Very, very rarely. Usually in that .01% situation, it is color loss of the fabric.
Also, some stains in relation to the material of a garment can determine how we must clean something. For example, blood on a silk shirt cannot be removed just by dry cleaning. We will need to use a spotting agent, a mechanical action and possibly steam in an attempt to remove the stain. Doing this may cause the garment to lose some of its lustrous properties.
Prior to attempting this type of stain removal, we will discuss options with the customer before trying the methods.
The FTC Care Label Requirements (http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus50-clothes-captioning-complying-care-labeling-rule) “requires manufacturers and importers to attach care instructions to garments. Updates to the Rule became effective on September 1, 2000. The Rule’s section requiring a “reasonable basis” for care instructions has been changed to clarify what is required, and the definitions of “hot,” “warm,” and “cold” water have been changed to harmonize with the definitions used by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC).”
I took a black pair of slacks to get dry cleaned , I was to pick them up to wear Christmas Eve , I knew I was not going to have time to pick them up so I bought another exact pair , Well today almost a week later I pick up my slacks , and get home take them
out of the plastic and was horrified to see they ruined my pants!! They had shiny marks that show the lining from the pockets , zipper , and hems , I had just wore them ONCE for Thanksgiving Day!
what should the cleaner do if the item losses colour? i took in a black jacket and it came back grey. can i claim a full refund for the cost of the jacket?
Many times color loss and fading is due to a manufacturer error. It’s rare that the cleaning process would cause a black item to turn grey. You could submit a claim and the dry cleaner would submit the item for an eval to determine if it was manufacture’s error.