Marina Cleaners

Review: Recently, I dropped off my son's favorite shirt to be cleaned at the Marina Cleaners in Laguna Niguel, CA and pointed out a few stains on the front of the shirt. They placed tape on the stains and indicated that the shirt needed to be dry cleaned (not laundered) due to the delicate fabric.When I went to pick up the shirt, the attendant told me that the shirt had not been cleaned because it was originally damaged when they received it. When I had dropped the shirt off and went over the stains with the attendant, there was no mention of damage because there was none.Now, there were several holes on the shirt where the stains had previously been located, obviously caused by some harsh stain-removal chemical. When I pointed out the damage caused by their treatment they initially attempted to say that the holes were already there. Now, why on earth would I be paying for dry-cleaning for a shirt that had several, clearly visible large holes on the front of it? The owner told me to get a price of the shirt and that she would reimburse me. When I went back with the information, she offered me $20.00 because she said that the shirt was not new???!!!At that point, I left with my shirt and no reimbursement whatsoever. The shirt was valued at $59.99 + tax. It is a shame that for this amount, this business would lose a customer and behave so unprofessionally and unethically.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund.

Business

Response:

Dear Ms. [redacted],

I am writing in response to the Revdex.com complaint ID [redacted]. I am the manager of Marina Dry Cleaners in Laguna Niguel. First I would like to state I am sorry the customer did not have a good experience at our store. Here is my response to the customer's complaint. The shirt that was originally brought in did have several stains on the front. Initially, the customer wanted to wash the shirt and not dry clean. We explained that the stains would not come out with water and soap, but instead would need to be pre-treated with chemicals in order to remove the stains. The shirt appeared somewhat worn as the material around the pockets were thinner than the rest of the fabric. Given the combination of the delicate fabric and the chemicals used to pre-treat the stains, the shirt actually had parts that disintegrated once dry cleaned. Now I know this is the not the fault of the customer, and I can honestly say we as dry cleaners cannot always predict which type of materials will or won't get damaged during the process. What we can say is that a lot of the times clothes that are old and worn to begin with are usually the ones that have problems. The shirt was allegedly valued at $60. We told the customer that since the shirt appeared several years old, we would be willing to reimburse her a portion of the cost at $20 which seemed more than fair given the wear and tear of the shirt. The customer stated it was her son's favorite shirt and she wanted a full reimbursement. As a business, it is impossible to reimburse everyone 100% for all damages unless the customer can produce a legitimate receipt and show proof the purchase was new. We take into account the general condition of the shirt prior to cleaning as well as the length of year(s) the customer has had the item of clothing. We use an eco-friendly hydrocarbon machine to dry clean all of our clothes, and is considered the safest and most gentle of all chemical solutions. If this customer would like, we can go through our insurance company and have them estimate what the shirt would be worth today. I can guarantee it will not be anywhere near $20 which is what we offered to the customer. I am sorry the customer did not have a good experience, but I believe this customer is quite unreasonable and unrealistic in believing that clothes will last forever, and it will always be the responsibility of the dry cleaners to reimburse 100% of the cost despite the condition it was brought to us in.

I thank you for listening to our side of the story. Anytime the customer would like to return to our store, we would be happy to have her back.

Sincerely,

Marina Cleaners

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

Dear Mrs [redacted]

I do not accept the response of the Marina Cleaners' manager.

At no time did she warn me that the harshness of the dry cleaning chemicals they use at Marina Cleaners would cause the shirt to disintegrate. In fact, as she corroborates, I originally wanted the shirt washed rather than dry cleaned. Had I been informed that there was a chance that the harsh chemicals would cause the shirt's fibers to break away and create large holes; I never would have relied on her expert opinion that the shirt should be dry cleaned rather than washed.

The shirt was less than 6 months old not "several years old." The cost of the new shirt was $64.94. Marina Cleaners has admitted that they were at fault. Therefore their offer to reimburse me less than a third of the shirt's value is unreasonable.

I await a fair resolution of this matter. Thank you for your attention.

Very truly yours

[redacted].