Sheepskin jacket is ruined by the dry cleaner, who refuses to compensate.Please HELP!

SavingMonkey_3

I've taken my 1.5 year old sheepskin jacket to the American Dry Cleaning Company early in February. The lady who served me encouraged me to bring as many items as I could to take advantage of the discount they had in the shop. She also offered to become the member of the dry cleaners so i could get a further discount on dry cleaning service, which I did. She could not find the classification for my jacket leather type in the system and put the normal leather jacket instead of sheepskin in the system and on the receipt. There was a lot of other paper work and she filled in a lot of different forms and asked me to sign lots of them. She said it was just some formality and she needed me to sign it so she can send the items to the specialist for dry-cleaning. When I raised a question about the quality of their service for sheepskin type of leather she said that they send it off to the specialist and he is really good and they never had any issues with him and I should not worry. I've taken her word on that and left my jacket with them.

Few weeks later it came back shrunk few sizes, lost color and shine, with disintegrated belt hooks and faded trimming on the button holes and around the edges. It looked horrible! I've refused to accept it and it was sent back to the specialist for investigation and repair. When it was returned few weeks later, it was in not much better condition and I've decided to file for the compensation. The shop assistant filled in the form and sent it to the head office. After not hearing from them for few weeks I called them and was told that it’s being assessed by the specialist and they will come back to me in few days time. I called a week later and was told that it's been repaired again and apparently looks amazing and I should go and collect it from the local shop in the next day. This is not what I was expecting as the jacket was already repaired once and I didn't accept it. Anyway, when I went to the shop to take a look, it turned out they forgot to send it. It's been 2 months since I've left my jacket for cleaning and it's almost April now, the timing it completely unreasonable and the jacket is ruined as far as I am concerned.

I had a chat with the customer service person and also with the shop manager who completely refused to compensate me and said that he will only refund the cost of the cleaning, nothing else. He said that I've signed the form where I was warned about the risks and this relieves them of any responsibility for compensation. I've tried to explain that I was not given any copies of such document, and the shop assistant didn't explain in full detail what the forms I was signing were for. I was left under impression it was just to describe what type jacket it was as they had no sheepskin classification in their system and to describe the condition of the item. I feel like complete idiot for being duped like this as the lady who served me seemed so genuine and told me that I have nothing to worry about and the leather specialist they are working with is really good and never had any issues.

Today I called the TSA (trading association) for help and they said that this particular company is not their member hence they can't help me. It's very strange as the company's website mentioned that they follow TSA service guidelines, etc...

To make things worse, I also don't have a receipt for the jacket as it was bought for cash in a boutique shop abroad almost 1.5 years ago. I paid almost 1500 pounds for it but it never crossed my mind to keep the receipt for such long time.

Please help me with some advice; I really don't know what to do now! Shall I go to the small claims court or try to write or talk to any other consumer rights organizations. I don't really know what my rights are in this case. Can I get at least some of the cost of the jacket? My heart bleeds to see that so much money was wasted. I've been saving for a year to buy a jacket like this and didn't get much time to wear it, and now I'll have to buy a new jacket (not as nice and definitely not as expensive) for the next winter.

Thank you,
SavingMonkey
PS. sorry for such a long message!

marliepanda

No

Seems you signed the risk forms without reading them. Its now going to come down to your word against theirs, and they have your signature on a form to back them up.

hollydays

No

A company can legally say they are following someone's guidelines

unholyangel

It all depends on whether they have been negligent or have failed to carry out the service with reasonable care and skill.

If they have (been negligent or failed to carry out the service with reasonable care and skill) they cannot rely on any disclaimer - and indeed their disclaimer may well break the law.

from unfair contract terms guidance:

2.2.1 A business that supplies services to consumers accepts certain contractual
obligations as a matter of law. In particular, consumers can normally expect
services to be carried out to a reasonable standard. That applies not just to
the main tasks the supplier agrees to perform, but to everything that is
done, or should be done, as part of the transaction.
2.2.2 See paragraphs 1.1 to 1.9 for an explanation of the OFT's objections to
disclaimers generally. A term which could – whether or not that is the
intention – serve to relieve a supplier of services of the obligation to take
reasonable care in any of its dealings with consumers is particularly liable to
be considered unfair. Where goods or materials are supplied along with a
service, the same requirements as to description and quality apply as are
described in paragraph 2.1.1.
2.2.3 As already explained, mere addition of a statement that statutory rights are
unaffected, without explanation, cannot make such a term acceptable –
see paragraph 1.5.
2.2.4 A more fruitful approach is to narrow the scope of the disclaimer, so that it
excludes liability only for losses where the supplier is not at fault, or which
were not foreseeable when the contract was entered into.

under the heading "exclusion of liability for poor service".

doverswot

The T&C's on their website state the following for dispute resolution. If you're confident they are at fault, inform them you wish to invoke this.

http://www.americandrycleaningcompany.com/about-us/service-terms-and-conditions.html

If there is doubt as to the cause of damage to any item then an independent third party will be appointed by the Laundry Technology Centre. The result of such analysis will be final and will form the basis for any compensation due. The costs of any such analysis shall be paid for by the party which the Laundry Technology Centre determines is liable.

paddyrg

I suspect the Laundry Technology Centre is their preferred expert witness http://www.ltcworldwide.com/testing/#two_content_colmun1 who will produce an (independent?) report of his opinion. It's doesn't prevent you from finding your own expert witness and going to court.

You were silly to sign waivers unseen, this is why you don't do that. If you hadn't signed, though, you'd still have a dirty coat - nobody (especially a low cost provider) will take unlimited liability.

You don't seem to have seen the re-repaired coat yet? Maybe wait for that before anything else. Not sure how you repair it shrinking, but that's for them to sort out!

hollydays

No

All leather products will age after cleaning

hollydays

No

You had £1500 cash on you while on holiday ?

vuvuzela

hollydays wrote: »

You had £1500 cash on you while on holiday ?

I don't entirely buy this story either, however I could withdraw £1500 while I am abroad and I suspect this would be the same for many people.

d70cw6

£1500 for a coat? holy !!!! sticks!

paddyrg

Not necessarily a holiday, I know I've worked and received local currency in some countries. Also, not necessarily good value