Customer, dry cleaner are at odds

By NANCY PARADIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 26, 2000

On March 29, I took an off-white jacket to Value Cleaners in St. Petersburg to be cleaned. It only needed to be refreshed and cleaned around the collar. When I went to pick the jacket up, it was still dirty around the collar and there was a stain on the shoulder. I was made to pay to have it recleaned.

The second time I went to pick up the jacket, it had two stains in the back but the collar was clean. After the fourth attempt at cleaning the jacket, the cleaners tried to give me a different jacket. It was white, not eggshell. I was told it had faded because it had to be soaked. I still maintain it is not my jacket. Domenick Calarco

Response: Michael Grubbs, owner of Value Cleaners in St. Petersburg, said the jacket was badly stained when it was brought in. Stains come in three types, he said. The first is insoluble and can only be removed with scissors. The second type of stain is solvent-soluble. Such stains typically can be removed with the interaction of cleaning solvent and stain removing agents. The final type of stain is water-soluble. These stains are typically protein in nature.

Your jacket was wet cleaned with the verbal authorization of your wife, he said. The stains came out, but during the process, the light beige jacket became a white jacket. You now deny ownership of this particular jacket. Grubbs said the stains were removed in the only manner possible and there is nothing else that can be done.

Warranty woe

We purchased a lounge chair from Matter Bros. Furniture in Tarpon Springs. At the time, we were urged to purchased a five-year guarantee on our chair for more than $80.

We noticed the leather cracking on the arm and called Matter Bros. We were well within the five-year coverage period. We found out that the warranty company that Matter Bros. put us with had gone bankrupt and wasn't responsible for honoring our claim. Neither was Matter Bros.

I am outraged that I paid for coverage that turned out to be non-existent. Any help you can give us would be greatly appreciated. Robert Cohen

Response: Tom Matter of Matter Bros. in Tarpon Springs said the store has contacted you and provided you with the correct number to call to submit your claim. He said that when you first called regarding your warranty claim, you were not specific about when you purchased the chair and so you were given the store's current warranty provider number. You didn't call back when a problem arose. Matter said he hopes the store's past warranty provider will be able to take care of your problem.

Lost negatives

I sent a set of negatives to Clark Color Lab in Tampa on Nov. 3 to have reprints made of 10 pictures. I submitted a check with the order in the amount of $3.90 which cleared my bank on Nov. 10. I have still not received my order or a refund with either my negatives or film replacement.

I sent a letter to Clark on Dec. 3 requesting either my order or my negatives with a refund of my money. I received a form letter response postmarked Dec. 8, asking that I fill out and return a tracer form, which I did. I sent a second request on Dec. 22, and a third on Jan. 24. I have received no further responses from Clark even though the one form letter sent to me indicated that I would receive a written response within 45 days. At this point I believe that Clark probably lost my negatives, so I would like to receive a refund of my money and replacement film. I am not interested in any film development credits since I will never use this lab again. Thank you for your help. Ron Bell

Response: You're welcome. A refund of $5.90, which includes the $2 you had to spent on copies of your canceled check, and three rolls of film are being sent to you. If you change your mind and decide to let Clark develop them, it will do so at no charge. It has also offered to make new negatives from your photos to replace those that were apparently lost.

Reaction

All I can say is thank you. In one month's time, you took care of my First USA Bank credit card dilemma that I had been unable to resolve in more than two years of letters and phone calls to the company. As you can see on the enclosed copy of the corrected statement, there was a balance of 5 cents. I immediately sent in a check for 5 cents so I could end this once and for all, and not have to start all over again with finance charges, late fees and so on. John Cox Jr.

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