Wedding dress ruined by dry cleaners, can I take action?

[deerod]

What is the name of your state? PA

I was married in 2004, and following the wedding I had my silk dress cleaned by a professional cleaner that advertised it could preserve wedding gowns. I told the cleaner that my dress had had a glass of champagne spilled on the bodice and though you couldn’t see the stain (champagne is clear and the discoloration had not yet shown up), I knew it was there. They marked the bodice as “stained” to be cleaned and preserved.

When I received the gown back it was boxed and appeared to have been cleaned and preserved. A year-and-a-half later, I reopened the box to find a huge yellow stain on the bodice. Clearly the sugar from the champagne had not been properly cleaned.

I took the dress back to the same cleaners, showed them the stain and they agreed to clean the dress again and try to remove it. When we received the dress back, not only was the stain still there, but the entire silk dress had been ‘wet washed.’ There are now cracks in the silk fabric of the entire dress, the material’s lost all of its shine and the dress has been completely destroyed.

I took the dress to another cleaner (this shop is in Manhattan and specializes in preserving gowns to ‘museum quality’). They called me today saying there was nothing they could do for my dress, that the cleaner who previously treated it had ruined it beyond repair. They put this in writing and faxed me the letter.

My question is, do I have legal cause to go back to the cleaner that ruined the gown and ask them to pay for the cost of the gown? I purchased the dress for $2,100 and originally paid the cleaners $200 to preserve it.

 

[seniorjudge]

You have a good case for $200.

(Read the fine print on the ticket you got.)

 

[deerod]

Thank you for the reply. I will look into the fine print when I get home. I do know that we DID NOT sign a waiver when we gave them the dress (which would completely eliminate their responsibility and is the case with some wedding gown cleaners). My husband called anonymously to ask if they had standard practice to cover the cost of a damaged items and he was told that they didn't know b/c they had never had a problem before.

Is there any legal precedence for trying to reclaim the cost of the gown itself or a portion of it?

 

[Zigner]

Is there any legal precedence for trying to reclaim the cost of the gown itself or a portion of it?

Small Claims Court

 

[You Are Guilty]

The ticket will have some sort of waiver on its reverse. However, some dry cleaners 'limit' their liability to 10x the cost of cleaning, so you might not be completely out of luck.

Of course, you're never going to be entitled to the price of a new wedding dress (or at least, the price of your wedding dress, new) as you didn't give the cleaners a new dress to work on. At best, if there is no waiver issue, you are only entitled to the value of your used, stained dress at the time you handed it over to the first set of cleaners. (What that actual value might be is up to you to prove to a judge).

Good luck.


PS: What do you need a clean wedding dress for anyway? Planning on using it again?

 

[deerod]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to do a search on eBay to see what a used dress of the same brand runs for--that was good advice.

As for why I want it cleaned, it's more that I wanted it preserved. I'm sure it's not hard for you to imagine that a woman might have an emotional attachment to her wedding gown. Not to mention, I have a friend who will be wearing her mother's 41-year-old wedding gown at her upcoming wedding. The thought that I no longer have that heirloom to pass down is sad to me. But I realize no amount of money will give me that back, however I would like to prevent this cleaner for doing this to another bride. And if suing them could possibly do that, then it's worth it. At the very least, they’re professional cleaners and should know not to wet silk. I want them held responsible in some way.

 

[seniorjudge]

... I want them held responsible in some way....

You are going to have to convert that to a dollar amount.

"It's the principle of the thing" does not fly in small claims court; only money.

 

[xylene]

Unless the dry cleaner was guest at your wedding and threw deliberatley or negligently champagne on your dress, you have no claim to anything other than the cleaning costs.

The champagne stain wrecked the fabric. The sugar, alcohol, and acidity of the champagne had already caused permanent chemical damage to the delicate silk fibers long before the stain had reached its maximum visibility. You even knew, or at least suspected, this yourself as you admit in your post.

I would suspect most of the chemical damage had occured by the time the champagne was dry.

After the first preservation, the damage to the fabric became undeniably visible... this was over 18 months later correct... They tried to clean it the first time, but the cleaning DOES NOT undo damage to delicate fibers. So you take it back for a second round of cleaing.

You wanted that spot out. What exactly did you want them to do?

Bottom line is, you should get a refund for the second cleaning (only) that worsened the dress.

It was already ruined from the stain, and you don't get dry cleaning justice.

 

[Silverplum]

What makes you think you'll have children at all, much less that you'll have girl/s? What makes you think that the girl/s will get married in a ceremony that requires a fancy dress? What makes you think that the girl/s will be your size? What makes you think the girl/s will want to wear an old dress that's long out of style?

Thanks for the info. I'll have to do a search on eBay to see what a used dress of the same brand runs for--that was good advice.

As for why I want it cleaned, it's more that I wanted it preserved. I'm sure it's not hard for you to imagine that a woman might have an emotional attachment to her wedding gown. Not to mention, I have a friend who will be wearing her mother's 41-year-old wedding gown at her upcoming wedding. The thought that I no longer have that heirloom to pass down is sad to me. But I realize no amount of money will give me that back, however I would like to prevent this cleaner for doing this to another bride. And if suing them could possibly do that, then it's worth it. At the very least, they’re professional cleaners and should know not to wet silk. I want them held responsible in some way.

 

[fairisfair]

What makes you think you'll have children at all, much less that you'll have girl/s? What makes you think that the girl/s will get married in a ceremony that requires a fancy dress? What makes you think that the girl/s will be your size? What makes you think the girl/s will want to wear an old dress that's long out of style?

wow, you are mean. (j/k) I only want to know who threw the champagne on her?

 

[Silverplum]

wow, you are mean. (j/k) I only want to know who threw the champagne on her?

Perhaps I'm mean, but she's obsessing about something that has not happened, and may not happen the way she thinks. Just thought I'd point it out to The Mrs.

Betcha it was her MIL that tossed the champers on her silken gown!

 

[deerod]

First, I'd like to thank those who offered actual legal opinions. I will take them all into account. For clarification, the damage to the dress is not limited to the site of the stain (the bodice). They wet down the entire dress (ballgown skirt and all). All of that damage was caused by the cleaner and had nothing to do with the spill—the damage is to the entire dress, every inch. And the sugar in champagne is something wedding dress cleaners say they can remove, in fact this particular cleaner said they could remove it. It’s a very common stain, like dirt on the hemline. But again, the damage is not limited to the stain or I might be able to understand it.

Second, for those who actually go onto legal forums to offer opinions on strangers’ personal lives clearly don't have one themselves.