so it's the day after the wedding, I was looking online for the best place to take my wedding dress in for cleaning. Only the best will suffice for the best dress I can find for my special day. There are really two places I considered, one is recommended by the store I bought the dress and the other is the wedding gown specialist who's 800 number was sewn into my Rivini dress.
I called the number to find out what makes them special, after given the lesson that they 1. know how to clean a Rivini dress 2. does care for museums and have the best techniques 3. perform procedures on dress that other cleaners won't do. They offered me the service to send my dress in through mail or drive to the nearest associate--Vogue Cleaner in Mill Valley, CA, which is one and a half hr away. I called the store, which quoted me a higher price ($500), but I decided to drive there anyway so I can see the dress before they pack it up. It's very important to me that the dress is well taken care of regardless of the price.
I went to Vogue cleaner with my wedding dress, my veil and another dress that had a sugar stain that my regular cleaner couldn't get out of. Vogue cleaner told me they are not sure if they can clean the dress with the sugar stain and wanted me to sign a waiver, which I declined. I left them with the wedding dress and veil.
Vogue cleaner called a couple days later and left me a message saying they got the dress and it'll be ready in two weeks and they'll have to up the charge $17 more. 3 weeks later, I went to pick up the dress, I was....."shocked" was not enough to describe the situation. My heart skipped a beat when first saw it. The fabric was frilled all over like a ball of feather. I asked the store associate, she was like "oh, that's just the fabric" in a very calm tone. I demanded for an answer, so she called the store manager and he said he'd take a look and get back to me the following business day.
Long story short, while not hearing back from the store manager. I called the 800 number to inquire what could've happen to my dress without mentioning the name of the cleaner. The executive director of the association told me the dress was machine washed instead of dry cleaned. I later tracked down the store owner, who said he'd try to repair dress. I don't see how you can do it, but it's been 4 business days now and he hasn't gotten back to me yet.
I've contacted legal advise as to what to do and they are doing some researching. I was advise that I can get full replacement of the dress, but the emotional damage is subjective. How much is enough? I love dresses since I was a kid. I'd be a dress designer like John Galliano if the risk of failure is not that high. I understand some bride aren't obsessed with their dress like me and can settle with less. I'm still thinking this can't be happening, the dress is too important to be ruined. I did everything I could to make sure it wouldn't happen.
Now, question: how much emotional damage is reasonable. I'm not trying to put somebody out of business or drive their family out of town, just want a reasonable settlement.
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
CA
I called the number to find out what makes them special, after given the lesson that they 1. know how to clean a Rivini dress 2. does care for museums and have the best techniques 3. perform procedures on dress that other cleaners won't do. They offered me the service to send my dress in through mail or drive to the nearest associate--Vogue Cleaner in Mill Valley, CA, which is one and a half hr away. I called the store, which quoted me a higher price ($500), but I decided to drive there anyway so I can see the dress before they pack it up. It's very important to me that the dress is well taken care of regardless of the price.
I went to Vogue cleaner with my wedding dress, my veil and another dress that had a sugar stain that my regular cleaner couldn't get out of. Vogue cleaner told me they are not sure if they can clean the dress with the sugar stain and wanted me to sign a waiver, which I declined. I left them with the wedding dress and veil.
Vogue cleaner called a couple days later and left me a message saying they got the dress and it'll be ready in two weeks and they'll have to up the charge $17 more. 3 weeks later, I went to pick up the dress, I was....."shocked" was not enough to describe the situation. My heart skipped a beat when first saw it. The fabric was frilled all over like a ball of feather. I asked the store associate, she was like "oh, that's just the fabric" in a very calm tone. I demanded for an answer, so she called the store manager and he said he'd take a look and get back to me the following business day.
Long story short, while not hearing back from the store manager. I called the 800 number to inquire what could've happen to my dress without mentioning the name of the cleaner. The executive director of the association told me the dress was machine washed instead of dry cleaned. I later tracked down the store owner, who said he'd try to repair dress. I don't see how you can do it, but it's been 4 business days now and he hasn't gotten back to me yet.
I've contacted legal advise as to what to do and they are doing some researching. I was advise that I can get full replacement of the dress, but the emotional damage is subjective. How much is enough? I love dresses since I was a kid. I'd be a dress designer like John Galliano if the risk of failure is not that high. I understand some bride aren't obsessed with their dress like me and can settle with less. I'm still thinking this can't be happening, the dress is too important to be ruined. I did everything I could to make sure it wouldn't happen.
Now, question: how much emotional damage is reasonable. I'm not trying to put somebody out of business or drive their family out of town, just want a reasonable settlement.
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
CA