How frustrating it would be if your beloved clothes were damaged or lost due to poor laundry service!
The Consumer Council received 322 complaints on laundry services in 2012, an increase of 6% as compared with 305 cases in 2011. The cases mainly involved damage to the clothes, poor cleaning or ironing quality, fees and compensation disputes, and lost in clothes.
The February issue of CHOICE magazine (No. 436) lists some common disputes in relation to laundry services:
Mr. Lee sent his leather jacket, worth HK$3,000, to a laundry shop for cleaning. When he collected his jacket two weeks later, he found that the stains remained so he asked the shop to clean it again. On his second return, he found that the stains were not cleaned but even worse, the sleeves were dyed with another colour. Thus, Mr. Lee complained to the shop and requested for a proper clean-up but unfortunately the leather jacket showed no sign of improvement after Mr. Lee made four visits. Feeling the shop had no intention or commitment to resolve the matter, Mr. Lee asked for a compensation but the issue got dragged on. Mr. Lee finally lodged the complaint to the Council and requested the shop to compensate him for a leather jacket of the same style. After several rounds of negotiations, the shop agreed to pay HK$900 to Mr. Lee as compensation.
As a patron customer and a loyalty club member, Ms. Wong enquired her laundry shop on any surcharges for dry cleaning of jackets bearing accessories and the answer was surcharges applied only to clothes embroidered with beads or metal pieces. Therefore, Ms. Wong instructed her maid to take three jackets, which had no beads or metal accessories, to the laundry shop for dry cleaning. However, the laundry shop staff applied a 40% surcharge for each jacket without informing the maid and no receipt was presented. The extra charge was later discovered by Ms. Wong only from her billing account upon collecting the cleaned clothes. Ms. Wong was very displeased with the laundry shop as there were no chargeable accessories on her jackets and the laundry shop did not notify the customer beforehand. She hence lodged the complaint to the Consumer Council.
After reconciliation, the shop agreed to refund the surcharge of one of the coats, and offered a HK$100 coupon for Ms Wong as a gift. Ms. Wong accepted the refund only and with full disappointment, she decided not to use the service of this laundry shop again.
Mr. Ho patronized a laundry shop for washing and 6-month free storage services. Five months later, he requested to collect his clothes but was told he could only do so at the end of the 6-month free storage period. To his surprise, the shop was actually closed down when he collected his clothes one month later, so he suspected that the earlier advice was a deliberate act to stop him from collecting his property. He reported the case to the Police and sought assistance from the Consumer Council.
Laundry shops in Hong Kong could vary in scale and fluctuate in service qualities. They usually include a disclaimer and a clause for a maximum amount of compensation for clothes on the receipts. In the event of clothes damage or lost, consumers can only be compensated with a small sum.
However, the validity of such a clause depends on the clarity of the text printed on the receipt for compensation arrangements, and whether the clause is reasonable and in line with the principles stated in the Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance.
Consumers are advised to take heed of the following when using laundry services so as to avoid disputes:
- Check with the laundry shop the possible problems during the laundry process, and to find out details of the compensation in case of damages.
- Check the washing instructions on the clothes, especially those in special styles or with accessories embroidered, and request the shop to state clearly on the receipt that the clothes require special care. Don't forget to check if surcharges apply.
- If there are stains on the clothes that requires special treatment, remind the laundry shop to take note and state your request on the receipt.
- Keep the receipt properly, and remember the pick-up date. Clothes not collected after expiry of storage time may be disposed of by the shop.
- Examine the clothes on the spot upon pick-up to avoid any disputes with the shop afterwards.
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