I dislike posting negative reviews without first talking to management. I did email St. Croix twice about my dissatisfaction, but never got a reply. Either its website is not working properly or it's not monitored. After my neighborhood laundry, Midway Cleaners, recently closed I brought in my usual weekly mix of casual cotton and linen shirts to nearby St. Croix Cleaners and asked about St. Croix's pricing while dropping them off. Michael told me that his prices were comparable to Midway's and was looking forward to my future business. When I picked up my half dozen shirts, the bill was a whopping $97 --- all because, Michael informed me, linen shirts cost three times more than cotton shirts. When I asked why, he gave me some song and dance about linen, being "a very special fabric" requires "special cleaning similar to dry cleaning, and hand pressing," which St. Croix, unlike other, more traditional cleaners, provides. I replied that I'd had my casual linen shirts laundered and steam pressed identical with my cotton shirts for well over fifty years with no undue wear, and always at the same price. He got huffy and said I should have looked at the prices when I dropped them off. I had to remind him they are not posted in his store. He then said, "Well, you should have looked online." I again had to remind him prices are not on the St. Croix website. It would have been nice if Michael had said, at the very least, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I should have told you when you dropped off your shirts and saw that they were a mix of cotton and linen." Or, "Here's a ten percent off coupon for your next order." If St. Croix believes that it must clean and press linen shirts with a special process, fine. That's St. Croix's business. But my business is to give my casual shirts to a laundry that washes and presses them "the old fashioned way." Just as they've been done successfully for over fifty years.
Response from Snelling -017
Thank you, Patrick, for giving us another opportunity to clarify the factual inaccuracies in your statement and address the information that was omitted. After you posted your Yelp review, we contacted you to ask how we could assist. During that conversation, you referred to emails you said you had sent. After reviewing our records, we found no record of receiving them and sincerely apologized. We then listened carefully as you explained your concerns about our process and staff. After allowing you time to speak, I explained that dry cleaning is generally considered the best industry practice for linen shirts. A search for “why is dry cleaning better for linen than laundry” provides additional information about why we dry-clean linen shirts by default. As noted, we will launder linen shirts upon request; however, we advise against this option because of the potential for color loss and shrinkage. Although the conversation became disrespectful toward me and our staff, I still provided you with a $20 in-store credit toward future cleaning. Later that day, you sent a message to our office line stating that you had contacted other dry cleaners in town. You indicated that they recommended laundering rather than dry cleaning, charged substantially less, and made additional critical comments about our staff. Because we take customer concerns seriously, I contacted several competing cleaners from my cell phone as a prospective customer. Each confirmed that linen is dry-cleaned by default because it is generally regarded as the most appropriate cleaning method. I also confirmed that, among high-quality cleaners in town, our pricing is highly competitive and, based on my review, the lowest. We understand your frustration following the closure of your preferred cleaner. Nevertheless, we believe we have communicated with you respectfully and professionally. Our procedures are consistent with established industry practices and with those followed by other local cleaners.