Elite Cleaners

I have been a regular customer for nearly 3 years, taking my washed dress shirts in for «press only». Until today, there was never a problem. Today I was told they will charge $ 3.95 per shirt for press only. But! They will charge me $ 1.65 per shirt if I let them launder AND press them. WHAT? First of all, commercial launderers are notorious for ruining good shirts through their laundering process. Thus, I have taken my was shirts to Elite for press only. Well, after today’s even NO MORE. And a letter to MoCo Consumer Affairs is in order.

I went here because it was fairly close to home, and it’s the one my parents have used before. I got some pant length adjustments made, and those were reasonable. But I’m not sure they care too much about pressing your clothes. Every time I’ve asked for no starch, they put starch in anyway. And they pressed weird wrinkles into the inner seams of my pants and into the lining of a suit jacket… and then there’s the time they shrunk some pants that I brought in. I went to a different place in the last month or so and have had a much better experience.

(This story has a happy ending)
Monday: My garments (pants and jacket) were supposed to be ready by 5:00 on Monday. I went around 4:00, and they told me that my clothes weren’t ready yet. No biggie — they said they’d have it ready by 5, so it’s no big deal. I’ll come back tomorrow.
Tuesday: I hand over my ticket and then the lady asks me to describe the items I had cleaned. «Strange,» I think to myself. So I described them, the lady disappeared into the back and then emerged with… my jacket only. She asked if I speak Korean. I said yes, and she proceeded to explain that something happened to my pants and they weren’t ready yet (My Korean is horrible.). After trying to clarify a couple times, I realized that it wasn’t my fault. So I pointed to the price on the ticket and said, «I shouldn’t have to pay for this.» She agreed wholeheartedly, wrote «PAID» on my ticket and told me to come back tomorrow. A thousand apologies.
Wednesday: I picked up my pants, the owner was there to tell me how sorry they are and let me go home without paying a cent. My pants are spotless! Ina is happy.
I was pretty pissed at first, but everyone makes mistakes, and they were so apologetic! I’ve been coming here for years, and this is the first incident I’ve ever had, and they handled it beautifully.
The cleaning is done on-​site, no sketchiness (they accept credit card), and, like John mentioned, it’s pricier than some of the competitors. But it’s right in my neighborhood, so I’m sticking with Elite!

This place used to offer $ 1.10 for shirts, but they jacked up the prices again to $ 1.50. But they do an okay job. Sometimes I lose a button or two, but with the amount of dry cleaning I have to do (wearing a suit everyday for work), I guess it’s expected. Pants are kind of on the pricey side ($ 4 – 5), but I guess I can’t really compare to other dry cleaners.
The only reason I go here is because of the location.