I had been using pinfolds dry cleaners for several years (never had major problems with their service other than noticing several buttons being melted or deformed when they would dry clean a few of my shirts but I never fussed about it) until I entrusted them for the 4th time, to clean a very expensive Alexander McQueen coat that I had . After being notified the garment was ready and collected it from their store ,I noticed that it seemed to have shrunk a bit when I tried it on later that day. After speaking to them, I was advised to leave it with them for a few more days( they claimed they would try and reshape the heavily knitted cashmere fabric while it was still wet ,by putting it through the cleaning process again. They also claimed they had always followed that process in the past with this particular coat as they had cleaned it several times before and that they had just forgotten to follow the same process in this particular instance). They reassured me I had nothing to worry about regarding further shrinkage and that everything would be sorted out as they were very aware how much I loved that piece. I decided that the best option I had at the time was to trust what they were suggesting and i ended up leaving it with them for a further few days.
I was notified again a week later, that the coat was ready for collection. When I went to pick it up, I decided it would be a good idea to try the coat on, while being it their store. At that point it was evident the coat had shrunk even more and would no longer fit me ( the cashmere fabric felt rather coarse, very dry and had a faint smell or burning, almost like it had been washed in very high temperature and tumble dried afterwards. The size due to the shrinkage had also gone from a size medium to a size extra small)
Immediately I had a chat with the manager that happens to be the owner of the business and although she couldn't avoid acknowledging that the garment had been damaged and shrunk, her body language and attitude showed me clearly that she didn't seem happy to take responsibility for what had just happened. I felt highly disappointed with her attitude as I didn't feel a valued customer ( they very pleasant all the years I had been spending my hard earned money in their store but they seemed to have a change of heart as soon as something went wrong and I asked for an explanation). I found their attitude, lack of professionalism and appalling customer service very upsetting as they could have at least offered to refund me the dry cleaning cost after they had clearly caused all that mess. It is also needless to say that they've made no efforts ever since, to try to contact me in order to find some resolution for this matter. BE AWARE! If you do trust them with high value garments and something goes horribly wrong due to their lack of care, they won't want to know and they will refuse to take responsibility. You have been warned!!! read more