Dry Cleaner Lost a $950 Shirt

[tommy20]

What is the name of your state? MS

I have no idea what their terms of service are, nothing is printed on the receipt nor do I see anything on their website (mylapels.com, seems like a national company.

Took 24 shirts to get dry cleaned, missing one of my shirts, but I was given a shirt from someone else's order. Employee said she would look for my shirt and call me the next day but never did. I returned the wrong shirt a week later and the same employee she didn't look for my shirt but will look for my shirt today and call me, again, never called me..

A week later I called and a second employee said they will replace it and tried to get me off the phone, but knew nothing about the shirt. I asked if she knew the brand and she said "uh no, give me that.... OK thanks, bye now", I did the same with the size and color.

Two weeks later I hear nothing and call and ask to speak to an manager (who was the first employee) she knows who I am and knows about the shirt. She seemed to talk to an owner(?) who agreed to replace it and she asks me some details of shirt and tells me to give her a week. It's been two weeks since, and I've not heard anything back. At the time of the call I asked if she'd pay me if she can't find a replacement, she seems to agree to it, but seemed determined to replace it.

I've already looked and it's not cheap, Shirt is Brunello Cucinelli blue dot shirt, size is Large. Only the retail store has it in my size and it's $950. Cheapest is an used one on eBay for $80 but it's size small. A retail outlet has a new one on sale $239, but it's size medium. I don't remember what I paid, I think around $500.

Question is What amount should I request to be compensated? Not sure if the same rules of auto accidents apply...they are responsible to fix it back to original, in this case the $950 would be the price to get another size Large. Saw a reddit thread on an $80 shirt, the guy was offered $50 and everyone told him to take it. This isn't a $30 loss though.

 

[AlmostThere]

Does the dry cleaner have a lost item policy?

 

[Taxing Matters]

Did you look for any signs when you took your stuff in if there were any policies posted about lost goods? Did you alert the dry cleaner of the value of the shirt when you took it in?

What is the name of your state? M

Question is What amount should I request to be compensated?

You may ask for whatever you want. The owner may or may not agree, and if the owner doesn't agree, the owner may or may not be willing bargain over it. You don't know until you ask. Normally if you took it to court what you'd be entitled to receive is the value of the item at the time you took it in to the cleaner. That's going to be a used price, not a new one. You have the further problem that if you didn't alert the cleaner as to the value of the item so they could take extra precautions with it to avoid loss/damage that you may be awarded less than that, perhaps considerably less.

 

[Zigner]

...they are responsible to fix it back to original, in this case the $950 would be the price to get another size Large. Saw a reddit thread on an $80 shirt, the guy was offered $50 and everyone told him to take it. This isn't a $30 loss though.

Assuming there are no terms limiting their liability (as you indicated), then they would be responsible for the actual value of the shirt at the time it was lost, not the replacement value. So, how much is a used shirt of that brand, etc., worth?

 

[Zigner]

Did you look for any signs when you took your stuff in if there were any policies posted about lost goods? Did you alert the dry cleaner of the value of the shirt when you took it in?



You may ask for whatever you want. The owner may or may not agree, and if the owner doesn't agree, the owner may or may not be willing bargain over it. You don't know until you ask. Normally if you took it to court what you'd be entitled to receive is the value of the item at the time you took it in to the cleaner. That's going to be a used price, not a new one. You have the further problem that if you didn't alert the cleaner as to the value of the item so they could take extra precautions with it to avoid loss/damage that you may be awarded less than that, perhaps considerably less.

Yeah, that

 

[tommy20]

Does the dry cleaner have a lost item policy?

I'm sure there is, but I don't see anything on my receipt or on their website. Doesn't seem like it's publicly posted.

Did you look for any signs when you took your stuff in if there were any policies posted about lost goods? Did you alert the dry cleaner of the value of the shirt when you took it in?



You may ask for whatever you want. The owner may or may not agree, and if the owner doesn't agree, the owner may or may not be willing bargain over it. You don't know until you ask. Normally if you took it to court what you'd be entitled to receive is the value of the item at the time you took it in to the cleaner. That's going to be a used price, not a new one. You have the further problem that if you didn't alert the cleaner as to the value of the item so they could take extra precautions with it to avoid loss/damage that you may be awarded less than that, perhaps considerably less.

Everything I've taken to them was expensive. The dry cleaner seems to be aware of the brand "yeah I know the brand, we see it a lot here". If the dry cleaners didn't want the liability, they should have refused service.

Assuming there are no terms limiting their liability (as you indicated), then they would be responsible for the actual value of the shirt at the time it was lost, not the replacement value. So, how much is a used shirt of that brand, etc., worth?

Seems like they are liable. If the item was damaged, and they followed the care instructions, then I can see some gray area there. But if an item is lost, it seems like they would be liable.

My guess it they gave the shirt to someone else. That someone else realized it was a lot better than their own shirt so they just kept it.

Seems like the place wanted to replace it or give me a payout. I'm sure they looked up the price and went into hiding mode. I guess the question is what is a used shirt of that brand worth, there are several used shirts of the brand that sold for $400+ on eBay, some listed around $100 that haven't sold.

 

[Zigner]

Seems like they are liable. If the item was damaged, and they followed the care instructions, then I can see some gray area there. But if an item is lost, it seems like they would be liable.

Absent a waiver or limitation within your contract, I agree.

My guess it they gave the shirt to someone else. That someone else realized it was a lot better than their own shirt so they just kept it.

Irrelevant. All that matters is that you didn't get it back. Maybe it got stuck in the dryer like half my socks. Maybe it fell behind the machine...who knows? It simply doesn't matter.

 

[adjusterjack]

Question is What amount should I request to be compensated? Not sure if the same rules of auto accidents apply...they are responsible to fix it back to original, in this case the $950 would be the price to get another size Large.

No. As already noted you would be entitled only to the used value.

It's possible that your local store is a franchise as there are franchise options at the bottom of the webpage.

Dry Cleaning Services | Pickup & Delivery | Lapels Dry Cleaning (mylapels.com)

You can check the ownership at the MS Scty of State:

Mississippi Secretary of State | Business Entity Search - Secretary of State

The people at the store may not be the owners. It's the owner you want to deal with. The people at the store will just give you the run-around hoping you will go away. Delay is the deadliest form of denial.

If it comes to it, fill out a small claims complaint form and attach it to a demand letter to the actual owner.

 

[Taxing Matters]

If it comes to it, fill out a small claims complaint form and attach it to a demand letter to the actual owner.

The lawsuit needs to be filed against the business which is the owner if it's a sole proprietorship But if the business is an artificial entity (e.g. LLC, LLP, LP, partnership, corporation, etc) then you sue the business entity with service on the registered agent and any demand letter would be sent to the highest company official (CEO, president, managing member, etc).

 

[adjusterjack]

In appropriate circumstances, an attempt may be made to "pierce the LLC veil) and include the managing member as defendant along with the LLC.

Piercing the corporate veil: Limits of LLC protection (legalzoom.com)