On April 3, 2026, I received a brand new dress from Amazon that I purchased for an upcoming event…read more The dress was red, black, and white, and still had the original tags attached. Because it arrived tightly packaged and wrinkled, I took it to the ZIPS Dry Cleaners on Saint Barnabas Road simply to have it cleaned and pressed before wearing it for the first time.
When I picked up my clothing order, I did not immediately realize that the belt to my dress was missing. Unfortunately, I discovered this while getting dressed to attend an event, therefore I was unable to return to the store right away. During my next visit to ZIPS, I brought the issue to the attention of the manager. To her credit, she initially appeared concerned. She searched for the belt personally, reviewed camera footage, and informed me that she had seen the belt on the footage but would have to look at the various cameras to try to trace it, but believed it may have accidentally been picked up by another store that also processes garments through their location. She assured me she would call me back with an update.
That call never came.
When I returned again to pick up the order I had dropped off when I initially spoke to her, I followed up with the manager myself. Once again, I was told that she had not yet heard back from the other stores but promised she would contact me. Again, there was no follow-up communication whatsoever.
Yesterday, while dropping off another load of clothes, I asked about the status of my belt yet again. This time, the manager admitted that it appeared my belt had likely been given to another customer. The solution offered to me for losing part of my brand new dress was a $15 credit on my ZIPS account.
The issue is not simply about the monetary value. The dress cost me $40.99 plus shipping and handling, was brand new, and is essentially unwearable without the matching belt. I cannot return it to Amazon after this amount of time and claim it arrived incomplete because it did not. ZIPS lost part of my garment through negligence.
What has made this experience even more upsetting is the complete lack of accountability, urgency, professionalism, and communication throughout the process. I had to repeatedly initiate every follow-up conversation myself. No one ever proactively contacted me despite multiple promises to do so.
Before leaving the store yesterday, I requested the corporate office information because I felt this matter deserved escalation. I was told the information was listed on the receipt. However, as someone who works in technology, I could clearly see that the email provided was simply the local store email with the store number parsed within the email address, not actual corporate contact information.
I purchased a home in this area a little over a year ago and truly hoped I had found a reliable, affordable dry cleaner that I could continue supporting long term. Instead, this experience has left me deeply disappointed and honestly concerned about trusting ZIPS with higher-value garments in the future. If a simple missing belt is handled with this level of indifference and poor communication, it raises serious concerns about how customer property is valued and protected overall.
This entire experience has been frustrating, disheartening, and unacceptable. I hope that corporate sees my review and reach out to me. If I would have seen that bad communication and losing or destroying things were a trend of this location (per the reviews I just read) I would have NEVER trusted them.
