Kirkland Cleaners

The laundromat was recently re-​done and new machines were installed. It looks better and may in fact be better but I haven’t been able to use it because both coin machines have been broken for the past two weekends. Unacceptable.

Almost all the washers are out of order. There are signs that they’re getting new ones, but I won’t be back to confirm that. For the second time a big double load washer didn’t spin AT ALL. I had to re wash in two separate washers. This happened another time and I left a note at the cleaners for a refund but never heard anything. Now I’ve wasted over $ 10 and a couple of hours on their unreliable machines. No thanks.
Too bad, because it’s a good location and if you’re driving and have a Cambridge permit there’s always parking. Oh well!

I wanted to like this place given its convenient location, but I’m finally done. I dropped off some sweaters for dry cleaning and I swear they came back with more pils. Furthermore, I just noticed that one still has stains all over it after wearing it to school! Now I’m stuck wearing a dirty sweater all day! I don’t see how they can fail at the most basic part of their job.

I arrived on a Sunday morning at 8:00 am and found the laundrymat in a shambles. Trash strewn everywhere, mounds of dryer lint on top of over flowing trash bins. This is the impression you want for the first customer of the day? Hire a cleaning service!

I will echo everyone’s comments here. What a bunch of fools. The staff turn over so quickly that NOBODY knows what they are doing in this place. For example, me: «What is the code for the after-​hours drop off box», Store person «The what… There is a drop box?» Sure, once or twice this is fair enough, but I have rarely been to this place without being shocked by their incompetence. Avoid if you can.

I used Kirkland for nearly six years as my regular shirt laundry and dry cleaners. [I never used the coin-​op facility] I went there weekly. Location and hours are excellent; prices are high; cleaning is average at best; problem resolution varies.
The two things Kirkland has going for it are location and hours. Okay — it was right around the corner from my house for six years — but in general, the «Kirkland Village» location is really good for a lot of people. Parking in the street is usually easy to find if you need it, and there is a loading zone right off to the side. I’m not sure if that is technically for customer parking, but I have used it more than once without hassle. They are open seven days, including weekday evenings until 7:00. They have an after-​hours drop-​box.
Their prices for cleaning are high. I wouldn’t necessarily mind the high prices for an excellent dry-​cleaning experience. Unfortunately, that’s not to be found here. I guess the convenience comes at a price.
Kirkland’s cleaning is only average. The first problem is that they are a drop-​off location for an off-​site facility. So, the people working there don’t have any particular expertise in cleaning or clothes. If you point out a spot, they will mark it – but they don’t know enough to ask what caused it, they aren’t able to envision what a cleaner might or might not do with a particular problem — and their expertise is generally limited to operating a remote service facility, as opposed to cleaning clothes.
Keep in mind that I have used them a LOT: I probably launder 200 shirts a year… One shirt got ruined (they pressed a bit of plastic into the linen — my fault, apparently, for not cleaning the pockets first). I think they lost a shirt once, but I’m not sure because someone else picked up the clothes for me. Other shirts would go missing from time to time, and would be found with varying efficiency. Sometimes clothes didn’t arrive on-​time. At one point, buttons started breaking on my shirts right and left. It took a long time to diagnose… Eventually, we figured out that asking them to «hand-​press» would solve this issue. Overall, this isn’t a disastrous track record, though it also doesn’t suggest a culture that values zero errors.
Importantly, ability of the cleaners to deal with these sorts of issues are highly variable (probably due to high staff turnover). For example, if a button is missing on a shirt, sometimes they will take it to fix, and sometimes they say they can’t do that, and other times they say to check with the seamstress or owner to see about it. Note to Kirkland: Replacing buttons for regular laundry customers is a service every other cleaner I have ever used has offered.
Given the numerous times they didn’t damage my clothes, their track record is probably not as terrible as some of the reviews on Unilocal might lead you to believe. I continue to occasionally use Kirkland because it is super-​convenient and open seven days. But I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to have my clothes cleaned here.

I’ve never had an issue with my clothes, but the front desk people are hostile. I don’t appreciate employees giving me annoyed looks when I drop stuff off. There are a couple of people there that are very nice, but there are a few who frighten me.

Their change machines are always broken int he laundromat, and the dry cleaners (who own the entire facility) refuse to give you change when you ask! Either get it fixed, or be willing to give change at the counter. Very rude.
Their dryers are ineffective (you have to dry the clothes forever to get any results), and it’s quite expensive for a laundromat too. Their drycleaner isn’t much better.
There’s a cleaner not too far away on Washington Street near Calvin/​Dane. I would recommend going to that cleaner instead.

I can safely say I never plan to go back to this laundromat. The prices were load/​drying time is cheaper, and for a reason. I probably spent the same amount of money I would have somewhere else to dry my clothes in 15 minutes than I did to spend an hour drying my clothes still to have them come out soaking wet and smelling horrible.
There is no attendant on site (at least when I was in there) and when I was in there, someone was using the sink to take a bath, which wasn’t exactly pleasant.
After going here, I safely feel comfortable paying a little more somewhere else to make sure my clothing comes back clean, dry and not smelling like some combination of mildew and rust.

this place is expensive and crappy. my clothing comes back dirty and i keep going here cause its the only close one to my house. i have exactly, Shakti R., «never paid so much for NOT having my clothes drycleaned.» wtf.

If you want to pay through the nose to be laughed at and have your clothes worse off than how they come in, then by all means use this place.
Clothes cleaning is very expensive for what you get, and mending is horrible. It took two months to get a coat back, and a button is about to fall off, and a button hole is broken. Never ever come here.

Kirkland Cleaners ruins clothes. Two dresses came back with the elastic completely stretched out. One sweater came back spotted with blue ink, with a blue pen lodged in the knitting. An employee explained that a bunch of other customers’ clothes came back spotted with blue ink, thanks to said pen.
Thankfully, the woman at the desk was kind enough to send the sweater back and made sure that all the ink was removed. She also offered to have their seamstress fix my now-​baggy dresses.
However, enough is enough. I’ve been using Kirkland Cleaners for two years because it’s close by, but they’ve messed up too many times. I’d rather walk an extra few blocks for my dry cleaning than continue to risk my clothes getting ruined. I just dropped off a bunch of clothes at Golden Touch in Central, which seems a bit cheaper and gets better reviews. Really though, any place has got be better than Kirkland Cleaners.

I have no idea where the positive ratings come from, but please don’t be fooled. I don’t even know where to begin. A couple of month ago, I dropped off my very expensive item at this place to be cleaned in a week. I came back to pick it up on a scheduled day and was told it has not arrived yet and it might be «lost». The person working at the front desk then tells me she would give me a call later after she follows up on this issue. A day passes and noone calls me. I call back to find out the item has not been returned and it is now likely to be lost. I come back in a week, ask the front desk about the sweater — at which point something even more ridiculous happens. The front desk person turns to the girl talking on the phone, who looks up with an attitude and goes something to the effect of «What? No!». I was pissed. Excuse me? Is this how you deal with a customer when it’s your responsibility for losing an item? Was I a bit too imposing about inquiring about MY LOST ITEM? She then tells me — we searched and searched and it’s not here, you can search for it yourself. I was like OK, so she went through the items — I try to see if I can spot it — and no it was not there. At this point I contact the manager, the manager promises to search for it. He is not successful and in about a week he asks me to tell him how much the item was worth, so that I can be properly compensated. After I inform him how much the item was worth, he tells me to hang on a second. Later that day I receive a call saying that «a customer brought it in» (it was apparently erroneously delivered to someone else). Very fishy story. So a customer magically brought it in when I named the price? I still do not know what to make it out of it (did they only bother to actually search for it when they realized that it was not a $ 20 item that can be easily compensated?), except for the fact that I will not recommend this place to anyone.
TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE.

I have never paid so much for NOT having my clothes cleaned and dry! I can walk to this location. It’s too bad I will need to take my clothes to a better place.
The washing machine just kept eating my quarters, and when I went to find someone to help, they said oh, you just need to keep putting in quarters until it starts and then didn’t offer to pay me back all the quarters I put in. The driers didn’t dry my clothes either, too bad, it’s such a great location!

The two stars is because I’ve always had fine service with them as a dry cleaner, and the people who work behind the counter are awesome, but I’ve never had more trouble with a laundromat, in my life.
Dry cleaning can be a tough business, I imagine; the logistics of keeping track of clothes, and working with different cleaning companies can be a pain. I imagine that the Wash/​Dry/​Fold side of things can be tough, too. But I mean, a laundromat… difficulty-​wise, it is maybe one short step up from owning a parking lot.
–I’ve lugged all of my crap down there, probably about half-​a-​dozen times, only to find out that the change machine is out of quarters. Could ya, maybe, fix the broken change machine that’s been sitting there, doing nothing, for years, if you keep running out of quarters? This was the final straw for me.
–The change machine still wont take the new 5s.
–The machines are poorly maintained. I’ve had 2 machines break while I’ve been using them, and probably 3 or 4 of the coin acceptors jam after I already put 4 or 5 quarters in, and since there isn’t anyone on duty after the dry cleaner closes, there’s nothing you can do about it.
–Different machines, which are identical models, take different amounts of time for the same amount of money on the same cycles.
–The vending machine jams.
–Make sure you don’t use the older washing machines in the far back that don’t get used much. They’re rusty, and your clothes will be, too.
–At least 10%, and up to 30% of the machines in this place are out of order at any given time.
–You can get newer and better maintained machines, at the same, or lower prices, at most other laundromats in the area.
–No wi-​fi.
–They taped up the bill slot on the soda machine, obviously because they don’t want to have to go to the bank to get quarters any more than they absolutely have to.
— When I’ve complained to the manager/​owner, when there’s anybody around, he’s seemed more annoyed at being bothered than interested in helping.
It’s literally right down the block from my apartment, but I’m willing to lug my laundry TWICE as far, to Sweet Laundry, just to avoid using them. That’s sad.

Damaged clothing, broke buttons, ruined shirts, and then when I finally complained and pointed out a shirts they damaged, they denied responsibility after holding it for weeks.
It seems that the fate of every Kirkland customer is to eventually get burned. Even if they are really close to your home, you will save yourself quite a bit of aggravation and ruined property by finding a different service provider. It is a shame Unilocal’s lowest rating is one star, this place deserves less.

Great location with limited competition in the area. This may be why the owners continue to provide such lackluster service. There is nothing special about the service or the prices. The counter help, for the most part, takes on the same «I like this job if it wasn’t for the customers» attitude as the owners. Everything seems like a chore.
This week I called and left a message with the owners on a Thursday asking why my credit card information had been misplaced and asking that they call me ASAP. When I called late Friday, I was told the owners might pick up the messages on Saturday and might or might not call me. Yikes. Business must be too good.

Update: manager finally called about the buttons missing, early closings without warning and poor service. He raised his voice at me and told me I was wrong and couldn’t have been telling the truth and refused to listen by arguing with me. I hung up. My husband found two more broken buttons on shirts today which brings our count to 14 broken buttons in less than 2 months. We have begun using Mid-​Cambridge Cleaners on Cambridge St. I can’t believe how nice, affordable and accommodating they are! They treat you like a customer should be treated! Go to Mid-​Cambridge Cleaners and see Charlie, you don’t have time for these people.

Not sure what all the negativity is about. This is my go to spot for getting shirts and pants cleaned and pressed. Staff has always been courteous, and the manager was there the last two times I’ve been.
Never lost anything. Never ruined anything. Clothes are ready on time. Get stains out. AND have rush service.
Might be more expensive than other places, but I haven’t noticed. Maybe I don’t dry clean enough.

I’ve brought a few things in to get cleaned here but this latest experience warrants a review.
I brought my coat in — to have the buttons sewed on tighter — all of them. Not just one or two. All the buttons.
Then I wanted the coat dry cleaned.
Pretty simple? You’d think so.
I go to pick it up a week later — one of the buttons is missing. Now… how confident can I be that the other buttons are sewed on tightly? Not very at all.
I’ll pay for the dry cleaning (since that was done correctly) but I’d like my money back for the buttons. Now I have to go BUY a NEW button since one is lost.
Did they give me my money back? No. I’m not happy. They argued with me telling me that if they found the button, that they would sew it on for free. How about you give me the money back so i can use it go buy a new button.
Not cool. Not cool at all.