I don't have much experience with dry cleaners, but if it takes 4 extra days to clean something, you need to communicate that to the customer. When I came to pick up my comforter on the day it was supposed to be ready, i got a blank stare. I got blank stares the following 3 days too. On the third day the man working there ignored me for about 5 minutes. He took my slip, got on the phone, had a lengthy conversation in another language, and then never provided any information other than "try again tomorrow". At this point I suspected my comforter was lost in the system. On the fourth day a different guy was there, and alas, so was my comforter. When I calmly explained my frustrations, he took $2.00 off the bill. Eh, not good enough. I will not use them again. read more

do NOT use this dry cleaner service. i have been seriously dissapointed in their service. they are way overpriced and they don't do that good of job. prices are not consistent and if you bring in an unusual item they will find any excuse to UP the charges. ridiculous! read more

I took in an expensive linen sweater for dry cleaning. When I picked it up, it was clear they had washed it and starched it to smooth the linen wrinkles. When I pointed out that they washed it instead of dry cleaning, the man showed me the tag that said cold water wash. The tag also said for best results dry clean. Regardless, I had requested dry cleaning. They offered to redo the sweater, which they did, but really, it was not nearly as nice as it was before. They pretty much ruined it. The least they could have done is admit their mistake. They are not honest people. read more

I just moved to Ballard and took my pants to Sparkle. When I got them, there was still dirty pants but all ironed and looking good. No to Sparkle. read more

I recently moved to Ballard, so was thrilled to have a drycleaner just a short stroll away. The first couple of times I went in were adequate, but nothing to rave about. However, today when I was unwrapping my clothes, I discovered that a dress I had cleaned (which had only been worn three or four times at the most!) had a burn hole on the front. I do not smoke, and I most certainly would have noticed it had the burn been on the dress before I dropped it off. When I brought the garment in, the gentleman behind the counter first pretended he could not see the burn, and upon my physically showing it to him, began to get defensive and accuse me of having burned the dress myself. I understand mistakes happen, and had there been even an ounce of concern for my ruined garment, I would not be writing this. However, not only were the words "I'm sorry" never uttered, but to be accused of ruining my own item was just over the top. I will not return, and will gladly drive the distance to have both my belongings and myself treated properly. read more

I recently upgraded my wardrobe and bought some expensive Italian wool suits. I'd used Sparkle for many years and they were fine. However, when I brought in my expensive suits dry cleaning, they melted the sleeves with the presser and ruined the jackets and refused to admit it was their fault. I told them it was partly my fault as I should have warned them to be careful and asked for a credit to future dry cleaning but they said they didn't do anything wrong. I won't ever go back. read more

I was prompted to join Yelp because I felt the need to warn users of a negative experience we with this business. We hadn't used them before, but my husband left some work trousers with them recently as we needed them same day and they were recommended by other local businesses. It seems to be a husband/wife team. My husband parked in the loading zone out front whilst I ran in to collect them. When I was getting my change, he phoned my cell to tell me he'd already paid this morning when dropping off. Despite my explaining this to them, they denied it. My husband came in from the car to speak to them and remind them about his recollection of the woman writing the amount at the bottom of her white copy and some little symbol in the column (which we then saw when they produced their copy). The woman claimed to have no knowledge of this and denied the symbol she had written meant that he had paid. (I explained that probably not many people pay in advance and didn't this jog her memory?) So for about $6 they were willing to let us leave the store extremely annoyed as we felt totally ripped off. We explained as we left that we would never use the business again and would tell our friends not to either. It seems they did a good job on the dry-cleaning - just make sure you either don't pre-pay or if you do, make sure it is clearly marked as such. read more

BEWARE! This place will destroy your clothes, deny culpability, and to pour salt on the wound treat you with aggression and rudeness. I've gone to this place a handful of times since I live around the corner and prefer supporting smaller local businesses, but the last few times have been really excruciating. The time before last, not sure how this was even possible, but these guys cracked all of the buttons on my italian made suit jacket. When I asked about it, he just repeated the same thing several times "i don't know, i don't know...". The last time was by far the worst customer service experience I've ever had. I walked in, and the same older gentlemen from before was working on an alteration. He didn't greet me, instead continued working on an alteration for about 5-10 minutes silently. When finally done with what he was doing, he found my clothes. The minute i looked at my khakis, there were giant sticky rust stains on the pants (obviously not there before). Once again, i politely and curiously asked about it, and he just repeated "i don't know, i don't know" - this time while trying to pick at the stains with his grubby finger nails. Frustrated I paid and left, vowing not to return. As I was leaving he barked "have a good day". I was far too flustered to respond, so he actually had the audacity to shout back at me "you're not going to say it back?"... Oh yeah, and my shirt tails were still really wrinkled. read more

I took a brand new dress shirt, straight from the box to have pressed along with another 10 shirts or so. Upon picking up, the new dress shirt had multiple "bleach" type stains on the collar. when returning to discuss this problem with the owners and showing them the new stains on the new unworn shirt, they denied any wrongdoing or took any responsibility for ruining the shirt. After several back and forth conversations, they finally tried to tell me that I brought in the shirt that way and that he had seen the stains when pressing the shirt. If this was in fact true, which I do not believe for one second that it was, why would I be the one to have to bring up the stain issue instead of them letting me know when I picked up?! Their lack of standing behind their work and taking any responsibility for their wrongdoing really has left me shocked. This is coming from a customer that has been going there for 3-4 years and spent way too much money on cleaning and pressing shirts. I did have two other issues prior to this event, both not as blatant, but also the same outcome of taking no responsibility or remorse. Buyer beware, I recommend taking your business elsewhere if you want to pick to continue to wear the clothes you bring in. read more