This was my go to shirt laundry back when I had to where a tie every day at work. They were inexpensive, fast, and reliable. That is, they were. Over the last five years, service has fallen, items have been lost, prices have increased, and the staff has become surly.
I hate surly. It's a service business; either provide the service or go to work where you don't have to see customers.
The real kicker came after they lost a custom shirt. I don't generally wear anything very expensive, but a client on a trip got me some custom shirts as a gift. They fit very well, wear like iron and just look better than anything I have. And they lost one. From an English tailor in Hong Kong; if I wanted it replaced I'd easily pay $200 per shirt and have to travel halfway around the world.
And they lost it. They admitted they lost it when I picked up the rest of my shirts. The woman at the counter fell all over herself apologizing, but told me that I had to come back to talk to the owner.
I didn't know what to expect, so I brought another shirt from the same collection. I figured they would offer me the price of a shirt, and I didn't want a Walmart clone. But it turns out that would have been good news. I showed the exemplar to the owner, but she didn't care.
She got out her checkbook and said, "I give you five dollars." I argued the point, but she didn't care. I could get a used shirt from the Salvation Army or Goodwill, even more than one, if I just took the $5.
Less than a year later they lost the pants from a two piece suit, and she again offered me $5 for her opening offer, coupled with the same argument about buying a used suit. I've been coming in for almost 20 years and she doesn't even remember the lost shirt argument.
Really? I'm giving you more than $30 a month for dry cleaning and laundry! And I'm trusting you to not lose my stuff and outfit me like a homeless wannabe. I'll pay a little more and get the work done from someone I can trust. read more