I brought my precious silk satin wedding gown to Nob Hill Cleaners in Dublin California to have it cleaned after my wedding. As this was my second marriage and the first time I married was seventeen years ago at City Hall and I was in street clothes, the dress meant a lot to me. It was a treasure, not only because it was part of my very special day, but because, being a little older and with two 18 year old daughters, I and they expected that one of them would one day wear my wedding gown. Unfortunately, because of the incompetance of Nob Hill Cleaners, that dream is now out of the question.
When I went to pick up my dress I noticed serious flaws in the fabric; the entire look and feel of the garment had changed drastically. The once gorgeous, smooth silk was now limp, dull and riddled with tiny hard creases and pin prick like bumps. I immediately pointed out the problem to the clerk, who acted as though nothing was wrong, when it looked clearly damaged to the naked eye. She only commented that she "didn't know a lot about dry cleaning" and suggested that I speak with the owner. I left the gown at the cleaners and went home to later contact the owner when he was in. I was distraught, to say the least.
The first time I spoke to the owner, I believe his name is Manu, he was immediately abrupt, defensive and rude, claiming that he did not ruin my dress and that they "would fix it". I told him not to touch the gown until I got advice from a professional on how to repair the damage. He was extrememly offputting and behaved as though I was out of line to be perturbed that my wedding dress looked like an old slip.
After speaking to a gown preservation specialist, who was shocked that Nob Hill used a process with a product called Green Earth on my silk gown, I learned that the sizing had likely been taken out of my gown due to the incorrect cleaning process and that there was essentially no way to repair the damage. I was told that Green Earth should NEVER be used on silk.
After numerous back and forth calls to Nob Hill I had an offer by the owner's wife (who was actually nice, unlike her husband) to remake my dress from scratch. She felt terrible and admitted that Nob Hill Cleaners damaged my dress permanently. Although remaking the dress was a thoughtful gesture, it was pointless to me. Who needs two wedding dresses in their closet that one will never wear again? Neither of my daughters was interested in wearing a gown made to look like the one I wore since it would have absolutely zero sentimental significance. I explained this to Francis, the owners wife, and told her that what I really wanted was my dress the way it was, but since that was impossible we would need to come to a financial settlement...
That was the end of my nice conversations with Francis.
I next spoke with Manu on the phone who told me in no uncertain terms that he was NOT going to pay for my dress, not even for half the cost. He was only going to offer to remake the dress (something I told him repeatedly was a waste of time and money since I was not intersted in a copy) and if I did not want to accept his offer that was too bad because that was all HE was willing to do. Now remember, his company is the one that ruined MY priceless heirloom! He treated me as though I was at fault. When I told him I would only accept financial compensation he told me "Oh, all you care about is money." I was appalled. What I cared about was my dress. He also said, "What difference does it make, you already got your use out of the dress." and "how do you know what your daughters want to wear? How old are they anyway?", and "why does this matter so much, you have already been married before." Not only were his comments insensitive and inappropriate, what does the fact that I have been married before or my daughters ages have to do with him repaying me for the damage to my property?
I could care less about the money. The worst part of all this is that he never apologized for ruining my dress. When I pointed this out to him he said, "what difference does it make for me to apologize. I don't have to say I am sorry." What a jerk!
The way I left it is that he is going to decide how much money he is going to give me for the dress. I doubt he will come through with this offer. This man definitely only want to take your money. If he does come up with an offer I have already decided that when I go to pick up my dress and the money (which I have asked for in cash) I am going to take the dress and tear the money to pieces right in front of him. I would rather eat broken glass than take a dime of this crook's money...
DON'T patronize Nob Hill Cleaners! The best Karma for this insensitive, uncaring, greedy man would be for his company to go out of business.
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