We got Duraclean services through our insurance company. The problem is major water damage from a bathroom pipe in the third floor. The water ran through 3 floors and down all the way to the basement.
The basement is 900 sq ft and had several cabinets to store rarely used serving dishes, cleaning supplies, sports equipment - and importantly, 3 closets full of my best clothing: gala gowns, 100% silk blouses, European national costumes (each about 3000 USD as they have hand-made fabrics), expensive leather suit etc. etc.
When assessing the damage I went to the basement with Duraclean workers and we all agreed that the particleboard closets in the basement had been damaged beyond repair.
The clothes were not wet and did not even feel very damp when I checked them. I said that it did not seem to me that they needed to be carried to cleaner's. However, Duraclean workers assured me that it was best to take everything to dry cleaning as they were probably damp /musty.
I said that I was worried about the cleaning process for these very special dresses, but they reassured that the dry cleaning company was excellent and experienced. I said that I wanted all my gowns and dresses back on hangers, as all my clothing was neatly hanging on hangers in the cabinets and I did not want them get wrinkled. I was assured that I would get them on hangers.
Our basement had been piled from top to bottom and from door to wall with card board moving boxes, where Duraclean workers had packed all possible items which had been stored in the basement cabinets, which were now discarded. These items were, of course, OK, when I unpacked them.
When we got new cabinets in and I started unpacking the big boxes, I found - to my HORROR- all my best clothing from the 3 cabinets been stuffed into the last 3 boxes, all the way back behind multiple other boxes. And I mean STUFFED. Imagine 3 cabinets full of gowns and formal dresses being stuffed into 3 cardboard boxes!
The silk blouses were as wrinkled as if they had been squeezed in somebody's fist. The national costumes and some other wool-fabric clothes had mold especially in the creases after being packed when obviously moist. Imagine the gala gowns. They cannot even be ironed.
Nobody had told me that the company changed the agreed plan and decided not take the clothes to dry cleaning, after all. In that case I would have hung them in our multiple empty bedrooms on hangers to air them out and without them getting wrinkled or growing mold.
When I called the company manager, what I got in response was excuses, in monotone, explanations etc. But NO empathy, no apology!!! I was furious and said that he should at least apologize. He kept repeating that "things happen", "we have been doing this for a long time", "I will find out what happened". He was not able to utter "I am extremely sorry and I apologize" even when I asked him to repeat these words!
I would have not bothered to write this review if he had been able to express true remorse, apologize and have some empathy in his voice. None of that!
Medical malpractice suits are more likely to happen when doctors do not express empathy and don't apologize after things did not go well. I bet customers - like me- are more likely to write this kind of review when after an unprofessional mistake the company owner is not able to express apology or empathic regret.
Review written on 12/9/2016 read more
