Windsor Cleaners

Please read Monique S’s story. It’s pretty much the same thing that happened to me. Do not go here — no matter how well you clean clothes it doesn’t justify a price of nearly three times what the cleaners across the street charges. I’ve been to Tony’s (on the west side of 7^th) and I can’t tell a difference in how the clothes turned out. They aren’t cheap either but, they’re not crazy exorbitant like Windsor. The worst part is the attempt to hide how much your bill will be – it’s comes off really scammy and I should have left.

Windsor Cleaners is not your average dry cleaners. Not only will they dry clean your clothes, but they will also clean YOU out. Wanna know more? Please read about my experience below.
I went there on a Monday to drop off 11 items, with the concern of how much each item was to dry clean because they do not advertise their prices (not like a $ 2.25 per garment cleaners). I thought this was the dry cleaners my husband always went to, and the owner even said that she knew him so she would «give me a good price, a discounted price.» The way she spoke to me should have been a red-​flag but I carried on. I am 100% positive that I clearly expressed my concern for the price of each item. She responded with «$ 5 something. Don’t worry. I’ll give you a good deal.» I said, «Wow. $ 5 something PER item?» Her response, «You get what you pay for. You want it cheaper, you go down the street to my other store.» I made sure to ask, «So $ 5 something for EVERYTHING?» She responded with, «Yes, don’t worry.»
After going back and forth for awhile, she handed me my ticket, didn’t even count the items, grabbed the clothes and went in the other direction. I said, «When will these be done?» She left me with, «Come on Wednesday! No, come on Thursday so I could get all of the stains out.» My thought: stains? She better not charge me for removing non-​existent stains. I feel like an idiot for leaving that place without my clothes, but I felt that with the way she was doing business, I would negotiate the price with her because she couldn’t give me a price when I initially asked for one.
I felt uneasy about this whole transaction. A couple of hours later, I told my husband about it and he said that this was NOT his cleaners. I immediately called them in hopes to pick up my clothes and take them elsewhere, and spoke to the other owner (husband) who informed me that it was too late to pick up my items (I found out later he lied, surprise, surprise). So, at $ 5 something for 11 items, I braced myself for a $ 55-​$ 60 bill.
As it turned out, the owner told me to come in on Thursday because SHE WASN’T GOING TO BE IN ON THURSDAY. I spoke to one of her employees. She was very nice and completely disagreed with everything I was told. When I went to pick up the items, the total came to $ 82.08. That’s right! I said $ 82. I’ve never paid THAT much for dry cleaning in my life. Let me break this down: $ 11 for ONE DRESS, $ 9.25 for ONE scarf, and $ 6.50 for ONE PILLOW CASE. The rest were my husband’s shirts, not at $ 5 something per shirt but $ 5 something PLUS $ 1.20 (according to my math and the employee).
My husband and I returned to the store after I picked up our clothes and paid the $ 82.08, so that he could see for himself how rediculous this was. I felt forced to pick up the clothes and pay the «fine» because we were going out of town and needed these items. The employee said there was nothing she could do because the owner was out of town. She never offered to try and contact the owner, which I would think any reasonable business owner would be availble for a situation such as this one. She kept apologizing, saying this was all wrong, and that even SHE could not afford to get her clothes dry cleaned there with her employee discount. The employee also mentioned that it is not part of their procedure to count the items in front of the customer, but if a customer is conveying a concern for the price, SHE will provide an estimate. The owner would not do that for me.
This was so appauling I straight-​out asked the employee how they were still in business. She informed me that that store was doing poorly and was only around because their two other (cheaper) stores were supporting it. They also get their business from lawyers and doctors who drop off their clothes and pay the total that they get on their bill at the end of the each month. I don’t know about you, but even if I had a ton of disposable income, I still would not pay a crazy amount for my dry cleaning.
My last question to the employee was, what do I get here in comparison to your other (cheaper) stores? Her response, «Less wrinkles.»
Due to the fact that my husband and I were extremely unhappy (an understatement), the employee took his email address down so that she could give the information to the owners and they could help fix this. We have yet to hear from the owners, but they have not seen or heard the last of this transaction.