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| - First, the facts:
1. I've been doing my dry-cleaning with them for years. Always liked the product. . .but
2. Always on time. Never rude. But, there were red flags.
I always thought it was odd, during the summer months, there was no air conditioning in the store. They still use a dot-matrix printer to print receipts on. The "paid" stamp was always out of red-ink. The check-in computer monitor is an old PC running a DOS-based program. The backdoor is always open (summer, winter, etc.) The red flag: They're cheap. They don't spend any money on THEIR end of the product. They sure don't spend it on make the customer comfortable. . .old technology. Doesn't cost THAT much to replace. . .laser printer? new "paid" stamp? Flat-screen COLOR monitor. . .
I was still okay with the product. Until. . .
One day, a few weeks ago, a colleague walked by me and said, "Who farted? Smells like poop in here."
I said, "Not me. . ." (I hadn't). . .but I, too, had smelled that same odor off/on for the past year or so. Couldn't figure it out. Did I step in poop? I showered. . .where could it be from.
And, then, it hit me. My dry-cleaning! They haven't been changing cleaning fluid! My shirts would often come back with spots...sure they were pressed...but didn't "smell" clean. They did NOT smell like poop. But they weren't fresh, either.
I re-washed ALL my own clothes. EVERYTHING 3 times. Yes...3 times.
Today, while wearing the very last pair of pants I had cleaned at SK Cleaners. . .yep, there it was. Smell of poo.
I think all along my shirts, pants, clothes, suits have being cleaned with little if any CLEAN dry-cleaning chemicals. . .and probably with watered-down starch.
After 4 years. . .I'm done. Not going back. I was SO stupid. The red flags were there. They scrimped, saved, and didn't spend any money on themselves or their business. . .why would they spend money to change the dry-cleaning chemicals when they could get...just ONE MORE cycle out of them.
Beware. I was fooled for years. Now the problem: I have to find another cleaner. And, not smell like poo.
Oh. . .and one more thing: I took in one shirt (or two)...the price was less than what their credit-card company would accept without passing on that fee to them. She asked for cash...after 4 years every time I walk in...it's like they've never seen me before.
They're nice. They're polite. The hours are good. The price was okay. But. . .
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