AZ Alteration & Cleaners

Tina and her staff (her hubby and seamstress) earn top marks! My wardrobe has been enhanced many times by her skillful use of tape measure and soapstone.
MY HISTORY AT AZ
I’ve had them customize slacks, cargo pants, button up shirts, coats, and my most precious suit for my wedding. Each piece AZ usually got perfect the first time, and fixed the second time without increasing the price.
THEIR PRICING IS FAIR
Tina always offers a cheap solution first that would please most customers but I usually want all kinds of extra details done as well, because my eye tends to catch a little more.
AN EYE FOR DETAIL
Speaking of an eye for detail, Tina always catches the subtle scoliosis of my torso and fits my clothes accordingly. Most people are surprised when I tell them my wiggly spine makes me a little asymmetrical, but Tina catches it every time.
HONESTY
Tina is also very honest and has asked me a few times, «Are you sure you want to spend what it will take to alter this coat the way you want?», or «Why don’t you just buy a new shirt in your size?»
And my response is always, «Because Tina, yours will always be better because it’s customized just for me!» And then I come back the next week and love what’s hanging for me on the pick-​up rack!

Service was very good. Only isdue was that if you need less than $ 30 (maybe it was 20) worth of stuff you need cash. Otherwise they did a great job getting my stains out.

Well run business. The gentlemen there is always pleasant and professional. I feel their prices are fair and the quality of their service is consistent. This is important to me. Some dry cleaners can ruin your clothes.

I have been using AZ Alterations/​Tina since my previous post 5 years ago. Not only for alterations, but for my dry cleaning as well. After my experience yesterday, I will never return here under any circumstance.
Last week I dropped off a cotton sundress that I had recently purchased. It was a little see-​through, so I asked Tina if she could add some simple lining to it to make it less sheer. She had somebody in the fitting room at the time, so I just left the dress and told her I needed it by the following week as I was taking it on vacation. She then told me I needed to go get the fabric myself if I needed it that soon. I had never been asked this before, but said I wouldn’t mind if she told me what to get for the fabric. She then said «nevermind, the last two people I have sent to the fabric store (assuming she meant the one up the street) have never returned. I don’t know what they are telling people there.» I found this odd, but was happy to not have to get the fabric myself– so I left the dress with her.
I called yesterday to see if it was ready and the man said he would check and call me back at 11am. At 2pm I still hadn’t heard anything, so I called back to check-​in. I heard him speaking with someone and then he said come after 5pm to get it. So, 5pm rolls around and I go in to pick up the dress. Tina says she needs to go check and «see if she is finished» (I thought Tina did all the alts, but that’s neither here nor there). She brings the dress out a bit later and says she hasn’t had time to steam it. I didnt have time to wait any longer so I said that was fine since I was packing it anyway. She then says, «$ 70 ok for you?” — I thought I heard her wrong so I asked again. She repeated the $ 70 figure.
Now– I have had many items altered here. One bridesmaid dress had to be taken out and had material added, and that didnt even cost that much. This was a $ 56 cheap short dress (tag still on) that just needed a simple layer added to it. She asked me what I had expected the cost to be and I told her I expected $ 30/​$ 40max. She laughed at me and said that is what she charges for hemming (which isn’t true, since she has hemmed dresses for me for MUCH less). I felt like I was on candid camera. I told her I didn’t even want the dress anymore if it cost more to alter it than I origially paid for it. It is a simple, cotton summer dress! She got very upset and said I needed to «respect peoples work» and a lot of time went in to the alterations. This may be true, but it seemed to me like they had just started it when I called that morning. Had she told me in advance it would be close to $ 70, I never would have changed the dress to begin with. Clearly by her asking me if $ 70 was «ok with me» she knew it was ridiculous too. After some back and forth she said she would lower it to $ 65 only – a whopping $ 5 off. As a longtime customer, you would think she would honor a lower price this time and then in the future be sure we are on the same page before doing anything. I think other people would have fought this more, but I am not very confrontational so I paid the $ 65 and left.
Moral of the story-​the work here may be good, but get a quote in WRITING before you do any alterations. Otherwise it seems they just arbitrarily charge what they feel and you may be shocked at the sticker price. My sister just had 3 alterations done with a private seamstress down the way and the total for all 3 was $ 54. I will be bringing my business elsewhere from here on out!

I have a sweater made of 100% viscose, and after wearing it 4 times I got a hole in the shoulder!?! I dunno how that happened. there must’ve been loose thread I didn’t see when I bought it. For a year I didn’t wear it, but kept it because I loved that sweater! Anyway, I came here last week and Tina said because the weave was tight it may be a little difficult but she’d do it for $ 10. She also said it won’t look exactly like it did brand new, but most people are satisfied w/​her work and it was my decision. I said «Ok, you can do it.»
When I picked up the sweater I was impressed. At first I couldn’t find the hole, but once I looked extremely hard I saw where she fixed it. Now, after a whole year I’ll wear it because you can’t tell that there was a hole to begin with!

This shop is to the alterations and cleaners industry what Patagonia and REI are to the outdoor gear industry; this is not the absolute cheapest place to have your clothes laundered or altered, but Tina and her staff do excellent work, in a timely manner and standby that work.
I have been bringing my cleaning and alterations to AZ every week for over two years and have had only two issues. Each time, Tina investigated the issue to determine what she could do in the future to make sure it didn’t happen again, made each issue right, then comped me the cost of the service. I wish every business stood by their work like that.
Tina can seem cool on your first visit, but that «coolness» is actually her thinking about what your needs are and how best to service them. For the hippies out there, AZ uses environmentally-​friendly dry cleaning practices too. All in all a great service.

This business is efficient and always has provided me perfect services. Tina, the seamstress/​owner of this shop is a very talented, certainly an expert in her craft. I’ve been there a few times now, only for alteration and/​or repairs. Had dropped challenging items such as torn patio umbrella canvas, broken sofa cushion zipper and other miscellaneous alterations for mending.
I will continue to support this business and really appreciate their efficiency and professionalism.

I brought a Valentino dress here that was one size too big for me. Tina tailored it to perfection and the prices were reasonable. I have since brought in three skirts, three pants, and another dress… so glad I finally found a local seamstress who is a master in her craft.

After reading the reviews I was fairly skeptical about dropping off my dry cleaning… however, they did a great job. The lady was able to clean all of my dirty silks. Awesome job. Definitely coming back.

Absolutely great experience. I had expensive, new BMW motorcycle pants that did not fit my expanded waist… nuf said there. Anyway, they took on the job, without taking any measurements — only with her experience eye. She found perfect matching material and let out the seams — sewed it all up exactly as it was. You can not tell any adjustments (almost 2 inches) had been made. Perfect job. Highly recommended.

Blotchy grease stains and red streaks! I brought my boyfriend’s dress shirts in for cleaning and it came back with a red streak and several greasy blotches/​stains. As i was picking up the shirts, I saw the lady turn her back against me and try to hurriedly fix something. When I pointed out the issues, she told me to dry clean it rather than launder, but I would need to pay for it. Pay for something THEY did? No way. Totally unacceptable.

Absolute horrible customer service. They stained my dress shirts 3 times before. Then when I got my shirts back they said it was my fault. Then they said I had to pay to get the stain out that they originally put on my shirt. Avoid this place. Negative stars. If you run into issues with this place and It’s a high dollar amount I would consider suing them.

We had a very expensive suit altered here.
High end tailors in SF wouldn’t touch it.
They did a GREAT job.

Lady in here is an ace.
Repaired some jeans, replaced cuffs on a sweatshirt, fixed hole in wife’s cashmere, tailored a jacket, got squid ink outta my white shirt.
Take your stuff here if you want it looking good as new.

Thanks Unilocalers! I was looking for a place to repair a damaged Muubaa leather jacket (ripped at the seamed). Tina did an excellent job — I can’t even tell where it was ripped. I was so impressed I’ve come back a couple of times now. Once for dry cleaning and another time I brought in a pair of 7forallmandkind skinny jeans for repair — needed to patch a hole (ripped my pants in the inner thigh on my bike). Those came back perfectly as well, the patch work was excellent. I plan on returning again to drop off another Muubaa leather jacket for repair.

I have learned that you have to really be specific when dry cleaning ANY garment at any dry cleaners. I was under the impression that they took in a dirty piece of clothing and before they put the plastic on it they looked it over to see if it was actually clean. Not so much.
You can’t just take in a coat and expect them to find the areas that need cleaning… you have to say, there’s dirt on this sleeve, a stain on the belt and makeup on the collar. Point it out to them when you drop it off.
AZ also required some detailed attention but they ended up doing great work. I took in a silk dress and they said that they cleaned it as well as they could. The tule area was yellow… I had them do it again and said that it didn’t look like it was fully cleaned. They did it again at no charge and I when I went back it was the lovely cream white color as the rest of the dress!
For silk… they do good work. Just look it over before you leave.

Tina is great! Love how my clothes look and smell (not toxic!) after every pick-​up. Moved from Martinizing to her. Tina has magically repaired a lot of my favorite clothes and made them like NEW… again. Highly recommended!

Tina has hemmed jeans for me, patched up tears, even had her take in straps on a couple bras. I plan on coming back to have her take in the bands on a couple more bras and a swimsuit too. She’s amazing.
I also bring my dry cleaning here. I brought a cream colored blouse in recently that had been ruined by color transfer from a pair of dark blue jeans, but they wouldn’t return it to me until they could get the dye out. After all their attempts it was finally wearable.
I won’t go anywhere else.

I went to AZ because of the positive reviews on Unilocal.
I brought in an irreplaceable quilt that is very precious to me.
For some inexplicable reason my cat decided to «pee» on it.
The nice woman there was just so helpful and showed me that I could launder it at home myself !
She showed me how to wash it without harming some old and delicate fabric in the center of the quilt.
I followed her directions, and couldn’t be more pleased.
I will certainly return there when I have cleaning to be done.

I brought in 5 pairs of pants to be hemmed and have the pockets taken out of one. Since I was a first time customer I got a discount (on their website) and paid about $ 60 total-​pretty darn good I thought. Everything was ready within the week.
The staff was sweet and they have a dressing room in the back to try on. The sewing quality is very good. Did a nice job. Just a warning for others though-​they do pull down your pants as they pin, so make sure to adjust as necessary since most people don’t actually wear pants like that. I made sure to tell them what I wanted (yes, even if it took a few tries) and I would say my pants were still hemmed a smidge too short.
My old tailor back east would also press my pants and make sure they were all set to wear after hemming (included in the charge). They don’t do that here, so I had to then iron them when I got home. It might be a nice touch to get them back wearable.
Overall a pretty good job.