0 stars. Negative stars if I could. In fact, let's just call it 'minus 3'…read more
I divide my time between Italy, Canada, and occasionally the UK. Over last Christmas, I took a brand-new, unused winter coat to this dry cleaner to have it taken in--a simple tailoring job for which I pre-paid an additional £50 or so. The tailor measured me in person, and I expected a professional result. Instead, I got what was, in my opinion, the worst hack job I've ever seen. The coat hung awkwardly and was completely botched. I politely asked the owner to fix it, and the owner agreed without issue.
When I went to collect it, they had shuttered for the holidays, leaving me without my new winter coat for my entire stay in London. Upon returning to Italy, I called to ensure my coat would be safe until I could retrieve it. The owner assured me it would be kept securely, and I even asked a friend to stop by, and he did, not more than a few months later. A woman at the shop told my friend the owner was away for a holiday. Another time he went by, and the shop was closed for yet another occasion. Bad luck?
Meanwhile, caught up with work in Italy, I couldn't get back to London. Then seven weeks ago, I called to remind them of my coat. The owner claimed it had been moved "downstairs" but promised to bring it back upstairs and keep it safe until I returned. I told him I'd try to come within three weeks work permitting, but likely I wouldn't be able to collect it until the holidays. He agreed.
Fast-forward to today: I call a number of times since arriving in London for Christmas, and no-one answers. Finally I manage to get through, only for the owner tell me that it turns out they 'gave my coat to charity' -- my brand-new unused $300 coat plus the £50 I paid for tailoring was gone, and had been for months -- even when I had called back in October. He dismissively pointed to their "policy" of only holding items for three months--something that was never communicated to me, but lost all its meaning when he agreed to hold it for me given my circumstances -- a legal fact they don't seem to understand when I told him he owed me for the costs plus repairs..
Regardless, without a winter coat I had intended to wear during my visit, not only did these (in my opinion) utterly contemptible morons fail the tailoring, but either sold the coat or ruined it and may even be using the "gave it to charity" excuse to cover their tracks? Who knows. Naturally I just want my coat back, but that's clearly never going to happen. So if you want to be jerked around with ever-shifting opening times, have your clothes ruined or disappear, given to charity, or just be lied to or given false assurances about looking after your stuff, this is the place for you. Otherwise, I would AVOID at all costs.