Dry Cleaning Help!

shawman1189

Hi all, some advice would be appreciated!

My wife took her wedding dressed to be cleaned following our wedding and the inner fabric has turned “off white” and slightly greyish. The dry cleaner has given me information on products used and her methodology of cleaning, and refuses to take blame for the discolouration of the dress. I paid via debit card upon collection.

I have since taken it to an upmarket dry cleaners and incurred further costs for their cleaning, however they were unable to rectify the discolouration and have still had to pay the bill.

My wife is devastated that her dress is ruined and am writing to the original dry cleaners for a full refund and to cover the cost of dry cleaners 2.

What more can I do, as the dress is ruined?

Thanks I’m advance!

davidmcn

shawman1189 wrote: »

What more can I do, as the dress is ruined?

Do you have evidence that the dry cleaners have been negligent?

shawman1189

I have many photos of the dress before and after, but the dry cleaner can still say it was received the same way? She verbally accepted that the dress has turned off-white during collection, but won’t admit fault via writing.

Aylesbury_Duck

You say it's ruined, but how visible is the inner fabric when the dress is worn? If not visible, is it something your wife can live with? Does she plan to wear it again?

The trouble with situations like this is that whilst you might be entitled to a refund of the original clean and possibly be able to claim the cost of the attempted rectification, what you actually want - the dress back to its original condition - sounds unattainable. Even if the cleaner changed their mind and made a gesture to do something like replace the dress, it wouldn't be the wedding dress, so I'm not sure what more you can achieve.

It sounds harsh, but it might be one of those things that seems raw now, but after a while is just one of those things. You should at least get back the cost of the original clean if you can show the cleaning company was negligent.

What's your desired outcome?

shawman1189

Thanks for your reply!!

Apologies, I don’t think I made it clear by saying “inner fabric”. It’s a fabric layer under a mesh so very visible unfortunately.

I think you make a good point with regard to outcome, and as this dress is obviously extremely sentimental, we are looking to either rectify the issue or claim compensation for the fact her one and only wedding dress is now ruined, which is extremely upsetting (even though it won’t be worn again).

I think it’s fair to want the outcome to be a full refund for both dry cleaning bills as a minimum?

Thanks again for your help!

Aylesbury_Duck

shawman1189 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply!!

Apologies, I don’t think I made it clear by saying “inner fabric”. It’s a fabric layer under a mesh so very visible unfortunately.

I think you make a good point with regard to outcome, and as this dress is obviously extremely sentimental, we are looking to either rectify the issue or claim compensation for the fact her one and only wedding dress is now ruined, which is extremely upsetting (even though it won’t be worn again).

I think it’s fair to want the outcome to be a full refund for both dry cleaning bills as a minimum?

Thanks again for your help!

Ah, I see the problem then. You can only ask for compensation for your genuine losses, which in this case is the cleaning cost.

Assuming the first cleaning company continues to deny responsibility, you will have to show that the cleaner was negligent, e.g. ignored the care label or used unsuitable methods of cleaning in contravention of the care label.

I'm not sure about the second bill because you elected to get it cleaned again and didn't give the first company the chance to rectify it or have a say in the rectification. Their argument would be that if they had accepted liability for the first cleaning result, they should have been involved in the decision to rectify it.

I think you have some reasonable evidence of the problem with the first clean (before and after photos) but you'll need to back that with some evidence of negligence. I don't think you have a good case for the cost of the second cleaning attempt.

How much are we talking for each clean?

shawman1189

The original dry cleaner has provided me with chemicals used during the clean and methodology, but would not know if they would be harmful to the dress. Maybe I’ll send further details to the manufacturer to confirm?

The dry cleaner did not want to rectify the issue or offer a solution, which is why I chose to send it to a specialised dry cleaner who only clean wedding dresses.

Dry cleaning 1: £80
Dry cleaning 2: £195

If negligence was proven could I claim for the cost of the dress? (Although I don’t think it will be).

Thanks in advance.

pinkshoes

Why did you not send it to dry cleaner 2 in the first place?

Sounds like you sent it to dry cleaner 1 to save yourself some money, but unfortunately their technique wasn’t suitable and has caused damage the dress.

Did you supply dry cleaner 1 with the manufacturers details, fabric details and instructions of how it should be cleaned?

You are owed a refund from dry cleaner 1.

Aylesbury_Duck

If the list of chemicals they have provided or the method of cleaning is not in accordance with the care label, they have been negligent. If they were in accordance with the care label, they weren't negligent. Have a look at the terms and conditions of their service as well - they probably state something about working to the care instructions. They can't reasonably be considered negligent if the care instructions don't provide the right guidance or provided insufficient guidance.

You can try claiming for the cost of the dress but I can't see you succeeding. You bought a wedding dress to be worn (once) at a wedding. It's been worn for that wedding so the dry cleaning result hasn't deprived you of its purpose or cost you any money.

shawman1189

I sent it to dry cleaner 1 as it was recommended by various people who sent their wedding dress to this particular shop, with amazing results, and it’s far cheaper. It’s a shame this happened to us!

I will look in to the care instructions and try to see what went wrong.

Thanks!

shawman1189

I will look in to this further, as they didn’t supply any terms or conditions etc.

Is the best way to proceed for a refund via a letter with as many photos/evidence as possible?

Thanks