Fairview Dry Cleaners

My man said this place lost his pants a couple of years ago, so I was leery of bringing anything here, but I thought I would give them a chance since it receives some good reviews.
I brought a white women’s suit jacket which had a pen stain on it and let him know it was for a job interview. He got the stain out and only charged $ 7.50 for the jacket.
I’m very happy with the service and the price, although I am very turned off by the acrid cat stench in the store.

Armed with a winter down jacket that my usual small-​and-​old and usually trusty neighbourhood dry cleaners won’t handle because its undetachable fur lining scares them, on a whim I gave Fairview a try. My overall first and only impressions of this place is certainly one that they won’t be able to clean off. Seriously, first experiences with a business, big or small, shouldn’t take the form of a rant.
A friendly lady that greeted me was not sure if they can handle such a coat in-​house. She informs me that she’ll check with fellow staff, and if they can’t, they can if I like have it sent off to an industrial service where they send their customers’s rugs and all-​fur coats to, for a higher cost. Fine; maybe she is new or whatnot, what do I know? She took my phone number to follow up.
From there it simply went downhill. The next day a man calls back. Yes we can! We do these types of jackets all the time, I was told. And for $ 29.95, «We do no tax, OK? We do professional.» Certainly not the estimated $ 20 – 25 I was first told, and certainly less than impressed by the way he was speaking, but I’m like, alright. He hung up quickly.
The pickup was the worst. A grumpy old lady was manning the front. And I mean grumpy – service with an attitude! What the hell did I do?! My jacket’s done alright, but as I took a quick look at it (a thorough inspection at home reveal no damage or oddities), she remarked in a snarly condescending tone, «Why, that’s not your jacket? It is, look!»
Then came the bill. $ 33.85, essentially with tax added. That’s okay, except that was not what I was told before. Seems like poor communication is ripe at Fairview, and I quickly realize nothing was going to change the fact that this damned old lady was screaming at me numbers and «THEY DO FIFTY SOMEWHERE!» because she knew nothing of what’s going on. Terrible. Why on earth are people like her even behind the counter?
Professional my ass. It’s butt-​awful customer service is what it is, not so much the bitter finish that made me feel like my presence and business overall is a burden, as it is that I felt like talking to different confused heads of a hydra instead of the whole hydra in union. It is one of the worst kind of customer service and organization/​teamwork when everyone is saying different things, and not everyone knows what the other is saying nor understands nor is doing, nor knows of nor had agreed to. No wonder no one here can give a straight answer or own up to their word. Don’t waste my time; know what your business can do, communicate properly, and get your shit together, because nobody likes to give hard earned money to clueless unprofessional pricks (who would?), regardless of how good your product/​service may be.
Needless to say, being treated this way, I will never return here again and wouldn’t wish it upon others. I guess my frustrating search for a respectable local cleaner that can do more than just the small stuff continues (which honestly should not be so bloody difficult, but apparently it is), as will my frustration with an industry that shows no consistency. Arrrgh! (Or maybe I should just resort to the cheap and preferable DIY approach and stick it in my wet washer and hope nothing bad happens. I’m sure nothing will.)

My go to tailor for a simple hem, very reasonable prices, quality work and good service.