Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the dry cleaners lent out my shoes?!

335 replies

crispysausagerolls · 24/09/2019 19:19

Finally got round, two years later, to dropping my wedding shoes at the dry cleaners to be cleaned. Not sure if relevant to the story but they are a fancy pants designer shoe (for context, nice and only worn once by me on wedding day). Bit marked so wanted them cleaned. This was 6 weeks ago and I forgot to go and get them. Went in today and the guy looked extremely bloody shifty and said he cleaned them but as I was late he got a special whitener which arrived yesterday which he will use on them for a special touch so I can’t get them until next week. I did not see my shoes. I felt he was lying to me somehow but accepted the story, relayed it to DH who says I’m an idiot and they have clearly lent them to a friend or something similar and I should’ve said it’s fine I want them now.

Is this a thing?! Do dry cleaners do this?!

OP posts:
Funghi · 25/09/2019 11:24

But he said he’s already cleaned them, why are they grubby?

Aderyn19 · 25/09/2019 11:27

I hope he's not going to skank you by refusing to hand them over without the ticket. I don't buy that he would have forgotten a conversation you had yesterday where he said you didn't need it because he had your phone number!

doublesheesh · 25/09/2019 11:29

Why are they grubby after 6 weeks? They have scheduled and systems. Are you sure someone else hasn't worn them?

GinDaddy · 25/09/2019 11:30

@crispysausagerolls

Thank you for updating us, a few thoughts:

  1. He previously said he'd cleaned them. They are now grubby. I would pull him up on this, why are they not clean?

  2. Why does he claim you have the ticket, is that important to collection when both parties know the shoes are yours; why make a point of this?

  3. Has he given a clear date when you'll be able to pick them up after his "second go"?

Manicpixiedreambitch · 25/09/2019 11:34

I'd just get them back.

Whoops75 · 25/09/2019 11:38

I would take them as they are OP

He hasn’t cleaned them and/or they have been worn.

AnneKipanki · 25/09/2019 11:40

I would just take them as they are .

AnneKipanki · 25/09/2019 11:40

Thanks for the update .

wibbletooth · 25/09/2019 11:49

Glad to see that your mum has seen the shoes - does she remember how grubby they were when they went in? Did she manage to get a picture of the shoes in their grubby state? And did she manage to see/photo the soles of the shoes to know how bad they were to see if they were more worn?

Not good that he had lied about the ticket. Particularly as he refused to give it to you yesterday. Did your mum notice if there was a ticket on the shoes or was it missing suggesting they had been worn? Not sure how they attach tickets to shoes to know if this is relevant.

These days I have found that if there’s anything important that I need to sort out or keep that I might need to refer to again, I tend to take a photo of it on my phone - so something like a dry cleaning ticket would be a perfect candidate for that - so you’d always have it with you (and if you didn’t have your phone with you chances are there would be other issues too!).

Depending on how happy you are when the shoes come back I would maybe report them to local trading standards or professional standards body they belong to.

And well done to your mum for going in - definitely sounds like they have something to hide and have been caught out.

BlueBilledBeatboxingBird · 25/09/2019 11:53

Chuckling at Pravda shoes.

OP, don't let them keep the shoes any longer. Get them back and find someone else to clean them.

runoutofnamechanges · 25/09/2019 11:58

I suspect he forgot to order the whitener, and it didn't really "arrive yesterday", otherwise he could have done it straightaway, hence the wait for another week to get them back. His crazy story was just a made up on the spot excuse to make it seem like he was doing you a favour and shift blame for them not being ready to you for being late.

halloumi2019 · 25/09/2019 12:03

They are grubby so he is giving them a second go.

Err what? I thought they weren’t grubby when you handed them in, as they were only ‘worn once with a few marks’. If the shoes are dirtier now then before, it’s a clear admission that they were worn surely?

What are the T&Cs regarding collection? You said you were late to collect, when were you supposed to collect them by? If you are late to collect them, the dry cleaner becomes an involuntary bailee of your shoes. This doesn’t mean that the shoes become their property to sell/dispose/give away as they see fit, they have to give you a reasonable amount of time (eg 30 days) for you to collect beforehand whilst stating their intention to dispose of the property if it isn’t collected. If they didn’t contact you within those 6 weeks they are on very shaky ground if they did give away your shoes.

Branster · 25/09/2019 12:03

That’s great news, phew!
And thank you for updating OP

starduster · 25/09/2019 12:11

What can a dry cleaner do with a pair of shoes that you can't do yourself? Genuine question! But glad they are still there OP Smile

MRex · 25/09/2019 12:16

I must be very naive, I would have just assumed they'd forgotten to clean the shoes. Go and get a new handwritten ticket from him though while he remembers you, rather than risk issues next week. I hate anyone wearing my shoes, other people's feet make shoes stretch in different places, so they're never as comfortable again.

As we're doing side stories: I once had a dry cleaner who closed up shop with a badly handwritten note stuck on the inside of the door "emergency closed, death in the family". After 4 weeks, a neighbour found someone who knew the family and they'd gone back to Portugal to sort things out after a bereavement, but were coming back. They finally reopened more than 2 months later. Luckily I'd collected my coats before the extended closure, one of my neighbours had 3 of his suits in there and had had to buy more; another one had to buy a new dress for going to a wedding because she couldn't collect it. I don't think any of us used them again, it was crazy. Shame, though, they were very good and cheap.

raviolidreaming · 25/09/2019 12:20

Err what? I thought they weren’t grubby when you handed them in, as they were only ‘worn once with a few marks’. If the shoes are dirtier now then before, it’s a clear admission that they were worn surely?

Exactly. I don't understand how this is a pleasing result.

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 25/09/2019 12:36

Grubby or grubbier than when you handed them over. Still suspicious as hell.

What can a dry cleaner do with a pair of shoes that you can't do yourself?

If shoes are real silk/satin you can easily damage the fabric/leave ugly bullseye watermarks.

LissieJess · 25/09/2019 12:45

Ohhhh they've been worn. Sorry OP, but you don't have shoes that are still grubby ready for collection - as they would have been in the beginning.

I'd leave an honest review on their website.

PuppyMonkey · 25/09/2019 13:10

What an enjoyable thread. My best bit was: “You sound very young.” GrinGrin

I hope you solve the mystery. FWIW I think he just forgot to clean them and was telling porkies when you went in yesterday having only then been alerted to the error.

Nevertheless I am thoroughly enjoying the other more interesting theories.Grin

Mousetolioness · 25/09/2019 13:31

I am intrigued what method they were going to use to clean up your shoes. I may have missed it - but were the shoes satin or silk satin?

Mousetolioness · 25/09/2019 13:35

A 'special whitener' sounds like BS to me... (I used to sell bridal shoes - but stopped in 1993 - so maybe there is a product...)

NumbersStation · 25/09/2019 13:39

I would be getting them now. If they are that precious to you and you now don’t have a ticket, leaving it longer may make it difficult to get them back. They don’t seem entirely professional and may turn round and say no ticket no shoes.

With your conversation and your mum’s visit fresh in their mind, I would just go down and ask for them back.

Original poster
crispysausagerolls · 25/09/2019 14:17

My mother got them back (haven’t spoken to her since so not sure what transpired beyond her calling me whilst there to tell me what I posted above). To be honest it’s extremely difficult for me to know if they are better/worse than before as they are still marked and i didn’t take a photo before I sent them in/they are some sort of silk or satin so mark very easily.

I would like to be generous and say they have probably improved and I can’t see that anyone could do a better job with the material and colour?

I feel really mean now in case they were actually just trying to offer excellent customer service, I just find the whole thing fishy/I mean did he really wait 6 weeks then suddenly decide to try a different whitener? Why did he lie about having taking my ticket?! It happened just yesterday so surely he didn’t forget!

Thank you everyone for being assistant Inspector Clouseaus...

To think the dry cleaners lent out my shoes?!
OP posts:
ArgumentativeAardvaark · 25/09/2019 14:21

Did they charge you?

Original poster
crispysausagerolls · 25/09/2019 14:22

I paid when I dropped them off like the 🤡 I apparently am

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread