I just want my suit back
August 16, 2011 6:17 AM Subscribe
My dry cleaner appears to have gone out of business with my clothes in their possession. What can I do to get my stuff back?
Last Tuesday I went to my small local dry cleaners to pick up my clothes, and was a bit miffed when they told me they weren't ready yet. "I'll come back tomorrow," I said -- but the place has been closed every day since then. I am concerned that they have suddenly gone out of business.
They have about $300 worth of my clothes -- it could be worse, but this is not an amount I can afford to casually lose. I assume that the clothes may actually be sitting in some centralized dry cleaning depot. If you were in my situation, what actions would you take to try recovering your property?
Last Tuesday I went to my small local dry cleaners to pick up my clothes, and was a bit miffed when they told me they weren't ready yet. "I'll come back tomorrow," I said -- but the place has been closed every day since then. I am concerned that they have suddenly gone out of business.
They have about $300 worth of my clothes -- it could be worse, but this is not an amount I can afford to casually lose. I assume that the clothes may actually be sitting in some centralized dry cleaning depot. If you were in my situation, what actions would you take to try recovering your property?
Just checking -- but have you phoned them? There may be information on their outgoing answering machine message that tells you what's going on. If it's a small, family operated business it may be a temporary emergency of some kind.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:46 AM on August 16, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 6:46 AM on August 16, 2011 [3 favorites]
Yes. If they don't do the clothes onsite, try to find out who their vendor is.
I like the idea of filing a police report, not sure how the police might feel about that, though.
Does your city have a 311 information line? You might start by calling there. I know that dry cleaners are regulated or inspected in some fashion because their equipment is toxic to the environment. Call back if the first operator can't help you and try rephrasing the situation to a different operator.
Good luck.
posted by jbenben at 7:41 AM on August 16, 2011
I like the idea of filing a police report, not sure how the police might feel about that, though.
Does your city have a 311 information line? You might start by calling there. I know that dry cleaners are regulated or inspected in some fashion because their equipment is toxic to the environment. Call back if the first operator can't help you and try rephrasing the situation to a different operator.
Good luck.
posted by jbenben at 7:41 AM on August 16, 2011
Do they have any other locations you could contact? I'd check that first.
On the environmental front, whether they get inspected, how often, etc. will vary a great deal based on (a) whether they actually conduct drycleaning on-site, (b) what state/province/municipality they are in, (c) the type of drycleaning solvent they use, and (d) their compliance history. I don't think any environmental inspectors would be able to advise you of the best way to reclaim your clothing.
If you were in the US, you could look up their regulatory status in an online database and possibly find contact info for the operators that way, but I see you're in Canada. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment adminsters the hazardous waste regulations applicable to dry cleaners in your jurisdiction. I don't see any obvious online databases on their website (although I don't do a huge amount of work in Canada and I might be missing the link). I have been advised that Freedom of Information Requests to that agency take several weeks, but it might be one way to get contact info for the operators. (Assuming they do cleaning onsite. Many smaller places do.)
posted by pie ninja at 8:54 AM on August 16, 2011
On the environmental front, whether they get inspected, how often, etc. will vary a great deal based on (a) whether they actually conduct drycleaning on-site, (b) what state/province/municipality they are in, (c) the type of drycleaning solvent they use, and (d) their compliance history. I don't think any environmental inspectors would be able to advise you of the best way to reclaim your clothing.
If you were in the US, you could look up their regulatory status in an online database and possibly find contact info for the operators that way, but I see you're in Canada. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment adminsters the hazardous waste regulations applicable to dry cleaners in your jurisdiction. I don't see any obvious online databases on their website (although I don't do a huge amount of work in Canada and I might be missing the link). I have been advised that Freedom of Information Requests to that agency take several weeks, but it might be one way to get contact info for the operators. (Assuming they do cleaning onsite. Many smaller places do.)
posted by pie ninja at 8:54 AM on August 16, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks very much for your advice so far. This is a small storefront shop (in Toronto) -- I'm certain they are not doing any cleaning on site. I have been calling daily to no avail; they have no voicemail. Peering in the windows, it doesn't look like anyone has been in there all week.
I may try 311 -- perhaps they can help me find the name of the owners. I'm also going to deliver a note, and I'll try speaking to the owners of the shop next door to see if they know anything. Then I'll try filing a complaint with the Ministry of Consumer Services. Sigh.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 11:59 AM on August 16, 2011
I may try 311 -- perhaps they can help me find the name of the owners. I'm also going to deliver a note, and I'll try speaking to the owners of the shop next door to see if they know anything. Then I'll try filing a complaint with the Ministry of Consumer Services. Sigh.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 11:59 AM on August 16, 2011
Tape a note on the door (lots of tape) explaining the situation and including your contact information -- I bet there are lots of other customers of this shop that also have stranded clothing. Either you'll get a group of customers together, or the note will come off the door. In which case you will get an idea that someone is monitoring the place and possibly even reading the note.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:21 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:21 PM on August 16, 2011
I wonder if the BIA for whatever area your drycleaner is in would be able to help you? Or, if not actually help you, at least be up on the gossip of what's going on. The BIAs tend to be fully of busybodies who keep track of everything so they might be able to give you a sense of what's happened to your drycleaner.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:27 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by jacquilynne at 12:27 PM on August 16, 2011
This basically happened to me once. The dry-cleaner at the bottom of my street suddenly went out of business with a passel of my clothes. I didn't realize they had gone out of business by the door being locked and the place being...closed. I noticed because when I went to pick up my clothes there were piles all over the place and different people there, and the lights were kinda off. Apparently the previous owner had a gambling problem or something, lost the place, and I'm not sure if they were the landlords or the people who wound up running the place, but they they let me rummage through the piles for my stuff. Luckily mine were pretty much all together and ISTR getting everything back, but you're probably goign to have to wait until someone, anyone, shows up. The note idea is probably the best you have now, besides property tax records to find the owner of the buidling or whatever.
posted by rhizome at 2:54 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by rhizome at 2:54 PM on August 16, 2011
Is there a local news outlet that could help?
I'm wondering what all of the other customers are doing--have you come across others when you've visited the store?
Surely, one of them is a lawyer!
I remember seeing a story of a business that closed with WEDDING GOWNS inside.
This might be an interesting consumer story for the tv or radio news stations.
posted by calgirl at 9:23 PM on August 16, 2011
I'm wondering what all of the other customers are doing--have you come across others when you've visited the store?
Surely, one of them is a lawyer!
I remember seeing a story of a business that closed with WEDDING GOWNS inside.
This might be an interesting consumer story for the tv or radio news stations.
posted by calgirl at 9:23 PM on August 16, 2011
Response by poster: Update -- I dropped off a note yesterday, and spoke to the owner of the restaurant next door. They said it was a family emergency type situation and the dry cleaners had just forgotten to put a note on the door. I'm not sure if they actually knew this for a fact or were just guessing, but I'm going to choose to be optimistic for now.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 8:31 AM on August 17, 2011
posted by sevenyearlurk at 8:31 AM on August 17, 2011
Response by poster: Let the bells ring out and the banners fly!
They have reopened -- possibly under new ownership. I had to go behind the counter to help them find my clothes, but they were there, and clean. Just in time for my business trip tomorrow!
Thank you all for your advice.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:53 AM on August 23, 2011
They have reopened -- possibly under new ownership. I had to go behind the counter to help them find my clothes, but they were there, and clean. Just in time for my business trip tomorrow!
Thank you all for your advice.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:53 AM on August 23, 2011
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This sounds very frustrating.
posted by Lieber Frau at 6:37 AM on August 16, 2011 [1 favorite]