DRY CLEAN CITY

I dropped my daughter's wedding gown off to be cleaned after it had been taken for alterations. I purchased the dress in May 2013. The alterations where completed in March 2014. The dress had a small stain under the left arm and some light soiling at the top of the zipper and on the bottom of the dress. These stains were a result of normal handling, and we're not a concern. When I dropped the dress off, I inquired about the cleaning process and let the employee know that the fabric was 100 % dupioni silk and should be handled very carefully. I was assured that the utmost care would be used in the cleaning of the dress. The employee commented that the garment would not leave the building, as all cleaning was completed in house. I was further assured by the fact that the woman cleaning the gown had 20 years of experience. I returned the following week to pick up the dress. It had been stored in the black bag that was given to us when the dress was purchased. I did not look at the dress until I got home from the cleaners. When I unzipped the bag, I was horrified to see that the dress had been discolored (from a beautiful ivory to a brownish yellow). In addition, the integrity of the fabric had been altered from a high quality silk to a thin chiffon like texture and pressed totally flat. It appeared that a combination of heat and chemicals were used on the dress. I immediately called the establishment, but they were closed. We took took the dress back to the cleaners the next day. They stated that they would clean it again in an attempt to get the brown-yellow stain out. They expressed absolutely no remorse over the condition of the dress. I felt that we had nothing to loose at this point, so I allowed them to try to clean it again. I returned one week later to find that the brown-yellow stains had been removed, however the lace had been bleached from ivory to bright white. The texture of the fabric remained ruined. We then began the process of contacting the owner of the cleaners. We were told by the manager that she would give the owner a message, but stated that he worked a full time job during the day at another company. We waited several days and attempted to contact him at least 3 additional times without success. My husband had to find him through a search online through the Better Business Bureau before we were finally able to get him to respond. We set up a meeting with him on 4/9. The dress shop owner was kind enough to let us borrow an identical dress to take with us to demonstrate the difference in the original condition of the dress and the irreversible damage that had been done to out daughter's dress. The owner acknowledged that the garment had been damaged. He even stated "something in the chemical process has obviously changed the fabric" and compared the feeling "of a cheap tablecloth". Those were his words. The manager, who was the person who had cleaned the dress, became defensive during the meeting and made ridiculous statements such as "that can happen to fabric when it is tried on by people wearing perfume". The owner, Keith Mijeski, seemed reasonable during this meeting and even commented that we should not worry and that "this is why he had insurance". I even sent him am email that night thanking him for meeting with us and helping us solve this problem. I felt very hopeful when we left, bet was very disappointed the next day when we received a cold email from him stating that he denied any responsibility for the damage to the dress. He implied that the dress was brought to his establishment in the damaged condition. Since that time, we have contacted him via email and respectfully urged him to reconsider. He has not changed his decision, unfortunately. In our last contact with him, we advised him that we would be seeking legal action against his business.
This has been a heartbreaking ordeal for our family. We are out $1100 ( the cost of the dress, alterations and cleaning) and are now faced with having to find a new dress. The wedding is in July, so we are fortunate that we have enough time to do this. I would urge anyone considering dry cleaning a wedding dress to send the dress to the Wedding Gown Preservation Company in New York.