TL; DR: Shoe repair more than twice the estimate given. Clerk then accused customer of "misunderstanding."
I have been a customer of Leff Marvins Cleaners since I moved to the Brighton Heights neighborhood in 2009. I will not be returning after the experience I had today.
I called about two weeks ago to inquire about having my favorite pair of shoes re-soled and re-heeled. I spoke with one of the clerks over the phone, and was told that, while an exact estimate could not be given, the estimate would be about $45 for the pair. I was further told that repairs are not done in-house, but are shopped out to an unidentified third party (that should, perhaps, have set off some alarm bells). In any case, the estimate seemed reasonable (a new pair of the exact same shoes would cost about $15 more) and I dropped them off for repair on Saturday, January 14. I was told they would be back on or around Friday, January 20, and that I would be called when they came in.
January 20 comes and goes with no contact. I figure this isn't a big deal, as I can wait another few days. I'm finally contacted today, January 25, and I'm told that the repairs now total $100! That is more than twice the estimate I was quoted and almost twice what it would cost to purchase a brand new pair. When I raised this issue with the clerk, I was told that I was never given an exact estimate (while technically true, it was this exact same clerk who told me when I first called that the price would be around $45) and that the fault was mine for "misunderstanding." This clerk then had the gall to claim that the $45 estimate was never discussed.
I would warn anyone against going to this place for anything other than dry cleaning, and after the experience I had I won't even be using them for that purpose any longer. Why pay a company that does not stand by its word and that accuses its customers of being either dishonest or stupid? read more