My husband wears dress shirts and slacks every day for work. Having just moved to the area, we were surprised at how much more cleaning costs here. When in Apple Cleaners, he picked up a brochure for free pick-up and delivery saying it was $2.15 a shirt. We figured that we'd feel better about the price increase we were experiencing in the area by taking advantage of this nifty service. We got set up and were off and running.
Our bill was suddenly for $2.85 per shirt!!!
When I called the store to discuss this, I was told to reach out to the delivery director. I was also told that the brochure was no longer accurate and oops, sorry about that. Then she added, "Our competitor increased their prices, so we did too."
Seriously? Wrong answer.
As directed, I tried the delivery route director's number. His voice mail was full.
My husband then called the store in the hopes that they would honor the price on the brochure. No dice. They again directed him to call the route director.
Guess what? Full voice mail!
We came across a coupon for "a competitor" for $1.99 a shirt, as well as a better price for slacks than Apple Cleaners. We jumped on it, loaded up the car and drove a whopping 10 minutes. There was no surprise price hike and the customer service was far better. It was worth the drive.
We're still on the delivery route because I haven't bothered to cancel it. Heck, they can't bother to call us, so we'll take their lead and use the same approach. Who knows? Maybe we'll need to pay 40% than their competitor to have our items collected and delivered.
Or maybe we won't.
Too bad for Apple Cleaners. They lost a heavy-use customer. read more