Drycleaners Lost my Shirts

Never dealt with anything like that, but I would go with option 2.

 

Is it possible someone stole your shirts in the office ?

Just saying is there is a possibility that it ISNT the drycleaners fault you would be very out of line harassing them over it.

 

I'm assuming there's a label of some kind indicating the custom origin of the shirts? But if you're shirts cost that much, I'd drop them off and pick them up myself. Doesn't sound any less convenient than dragging your laundry to work. How much business does your company represent to them? If it's a lot, then they should gladly cover the cost of the shirts. If not, they'll tell you to take a hike. If you're going to launch a smear campaign, you need to be pretty certain that they lost the shirts and nobody else nabbed them. Do you store the shirts at work? How big is your company? Who has access to the shirts? There are possibilities like disgruntled employees, ambitious cleaning crews, etc.

 

I used to own a dry cleaning business. Anything's possible but with a really uncertain "chain of custody" considering that other people had access, you have no recourse.

Don't be too quick to poison everyone against this vendor unless you are certain it happened there. A "problem solving" approach where you express your dismay to the owner of the business (in a calm friendly way) asking them to be on the lookout for your shirts is about all you can do. If he/she can find them they will likely want to regain your trust. Without some evidence they have no reason to give you money.

In the meantime consider all the other suspects that might have done it (for whatever reason).

 

how you can call them up 3 weeks later and complain, i don't know. You will have to check your local laws as they probably have a limit to what you can claim for a lost shirt. My drycleaner has a big sign saying they will only be responsible for $30 for a lost garment. My advice will be to keep a closer eye on what you give them and what you get back. You will have virtually no chance in small claims, specially without a ticket and how long you waited. Of course threatening to stop your business could result in a settlement, but remember you are essentially asking them to pay you the profit on about 200+ dry cleaned shirts. My experience with dry cleaners is that you don't get very far, even if you are a judge.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3313923&page=1

This guy eventually lost his judgeship over it.

 

Be very careful with "option 2".

What you are saying is you will do everything possible to hit them in the wallet. If you achieve your goal, but are unable to prove you are right, you may find yourself on the receiving end of a slander/libel suit.

 

sue them for $70m.....

 

Unfortunately, it's unlikely you'll recoup any costs. And going through small claims for $350 isn't really worth your time. Figure out about how much your company spends on their dry cleaning services and then call the owner. You've been using them exclusively for 2 years, and I would think a client like that would be worthwhile to them. Ask them for the $175 split, and if they refuse, cancel the service. It sucks, but in the grand scheme you still have 48 other shirts and much more important things to focus on than going to war with a dry cleaner.

 

I doubt they are stolen when still dirty. The return trip is a much higher risk.

Mixups do happen but usually not repeatedly. If they were given to someone else, hope for a miracle (it has happened).

The cleaner may have a problem employee (it's hard to get good help) that he/she is unaware of. This is the reason for my recommendation that you go directly to the owner, no accusations, try: "can you help me". You may get somewhere.

Did you keep a copy of a list of outgoing items compared to those returned? If not only you are sure those shirts ever existed.

Forget suing anyone, you'll lose.

 

My friend took his shirts to the dry cleaners and the next day he showed up and they were closed down, place was empty.

I don't remember exactly, but I believe they left a number so everyone could pick up his clothes. Regardless, if you know you're going to close down why the hell are you accepting laundry?

 

50+ shirts and you can tell when one is missing?

After the first shirt was "lost", I would have started keeping track of what was sent and what was returned. It would be a lot better if you could have said "I sent 12 shirts on Monday - and there were only 11 returned - a blue such and such is missing."

I'd continue to use the service, but keep better track of what you send and what is returned, so if and when it happens again you will have something concrete to report.

I don't think its a good idea to make any threats or requests at this point.

 

WOW! I'd bet that most who read this had PeterS on their mind until they looked to see who actually started the thread! If you are the kind of guy that even thinks about Small Claims Court for two shirts, you have WAY too much time on your hands!

Assuming they are dress shirts, I would think you would have a tough time convincing anybody that the value in which you stated is correct. I have some VERY nice and expensive French Cuff dress shirts, but no way would two of them cost me $350 (Unless I went to a specialty store in a mall to get reamed on an over-price shirt in which upon leaving, I would hear all the sales people laughing their ass off that they screwed another guy by making about $110 profit per shirt**!).

If I were the cleaners, I'd politely tell you to pound sand, i.e.: It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that when you take custody of the garments upon return of them, you do the count at that time.

** I Have dress shirts that I paid about $75 for in the US. I also have shirts of equal or better quality that I purchased from a specific tailor in Hong Kong that cost me $25 each.

 

175.00 PER SHIRT?/

ARE THEY GOLD -LEAFED??

GET OFF THE SAUCE..................

 

Get hairplugs yet ????

 

DID YOU BUY NEW TEETH ??

 

I didn't say reporting them to the BBB would be, but you mentioned you would try to get your company to stop using them, and post bad reviews at various places (google, yellow pages, etc).

So basically you want them to pay you, or you are going to do what you can to hurt their business, including trying to get their account with your company closed, and try to push future customers away from them.

That's where you need to be careful... because you are trying to impose a financial hit in their wallet for your perceived wrong, and if you can't prove it, then you may be in trouble. Let's say your company does discontinue using their service, and that costs them $50k a year in profits. Word gets back that they lost the account because you said they stole shirts or you said they were crappy (or whatever).

What would you do, personally, if someone took $50k from you wrongfully? Would you let it go or try to do something about it?

Also, threatening to do these things if they don't pay $175 is extortion, is it not?

I'm not saying you are wrong or you shouldn't complain if you had a problem, I am just saying to be careful what you say and what you try to do in order to 'get them back' for the problem... if you are successful in steering people away, they may not take that lying down - especially if they really didn't lose your shirt.

 

Do you get a receipt per items when you drop them ? i dont understand how it works. You drop them somewhere in your office , with someone from the cleaning company or just in a bag?

 

Unfortunately without a receipt, how can you prove that you had your shirts cleaned by them ?