I took two double duvets for cleaning into my local branch of Johnsons dry cleaners but when I went to collect them I was only given one. It had to be re-cleaned as it was given to me with stains – but the staff did this obligingly.
After several calls chasing the second – and being told to wait another week – they said they thought it had been given to another customer in error. It did not turn up.
At this point I said human error happens, and I was reassured that I would be reimbursed.
After chasing again I was told I would be offered £80 towards the £120 duvet. It was from The White Company, and bought in October last year. Unfortunately, I do not have the receipt.
It seems very unfair that I am having to pay the difference to buy the same duvet when they lost it. SN, Haslemere, Surrey
What bad luck. You have been let down by the company over two relatively high-value items, although you were happy with the first duvet once it was cleaned again.
Looking at the law, a dry cleaner is providing a service, which means that, under the Supply of Goods and Services Act, it must clean your items with reasonable care and skill and within a reasonable time. That also means that if a dry cleaner loses an item, or fails to clean it properly, then it has not taken enough care and it should compensate you. The compensation should be based on the value of the item, with a deduction for the use you have had of it.
If your belongings need to be replaced you might not get back what you paid for them, nor enough to pay for a new one. But the law states that the cleaner only needs to pay you what the belongings were worth when you left them, which inevitably may be hard to calculate.
We got in touch with Johnsons, which said it would investigate directly with the branch, and later admitted that the shop was at fault for failing to offer you sufficient compensation.
It has since contacted you directly and offered its “unreserved apologies”. In addition to a generous full refund for the original £120 cost of the lost duvet, it has also sent you £20 worth of vouchers as a gesture of goodwill.
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