Holiday Cleaners

If I could give 0 stars I would. I brought a 300 dollar shirt in that I’d received as a gift on my first (ever) day of work from my parents — days after wearing it — and they ripped the back. Shit happens.
But instead of apologizing, offering a discount, or even treating me nicely. They simply kept yelling that «They didn’t clean it.» So I must have ripped it.
Incidentally, I would have remembered tearing a shirt straight down the back that I was wearing. If they had apologized I would have forgiven them.

I had gone to this local cleaners for years, despite that whatever I gave to them was consistently not ready on the promise date. I was buying local and «being green.» Back in the day when I brought in items to be dry cleaned regularly (I no longer do, another part of my «being green»), the cleaners could indeed be quasi-​perfectionists, in the sense that they would take a look at the garment after it was «completed» (after the promise date), and then clean it again (and the garment again would typically not be ready on the promise date). I now dry clean much less frequently, and find that the «perfectionist» tendencies are completely gone. I get the impression from the lady at the store, that I am no longer worth her time. To the point, the item I last took in came back with stains and was not pressed (and therefore full of wrinkles). The lady who works there indicated that it was not worth her time to remove the stains, saying, «I make no money…» and «You got $ 6.00 worth» (It was actually $ 6.95 to LAUNDER the shirt.) Hmm… I guess it was also not worth her time to press the shirt? So, now I will take my «green» and go elsewhere, as the service and customer service, and the relatively high prices just make no sense!

I’ve now officially been coming here for 5 years or maybe it’s been longer! I like the fact that they are perfectionists in getting my stains out and they do a damn good job at making my clothes look awesome! I’ll be coming back for some more.

This is perhaps the worst customer service interaction I’ve ever had, though the catharsis of writing this and growing as a person probably makes the overall experience two stars, not one.
The cleaners made an error that was inconvenient but forgivable. It was the response and the attitude that were comically, fantastically bad.
The story:
I dropped off seven shirts (a rush job) and got a receipt for seven shirts. When I came to pick them up, The Lady (who I presume is the owner) clearly remembered having taken only six — the six which she was now returning to me.
She knew there had been only six — this she explained to me in some detail, although at great speed — because of something about tags, something about the girls who clean, something about rush, and something about my having dropped one on the floor during the handoff. «You drop one! Six!»
At this point it is useful to know something about me: I lose stuff. Usually, when something is lost in anything with which I’m connected, the reasonable inference is that I lost it.
This bit of self-​knowledge made The Lady’s declamatory style of confident exasperation highly compelling. The receipt was mistaken. There were six. There were definitely six. I paid for seven anyway. She didn’t correct the receipt, and since she had nicely packed the shirts to travel, I thought it was fair to pay for an extra shirt as the packing fee.
I went and looked through my car. I remembered now what the missing shirt looked like. I clearly remembered bringing it into the shop. I came back to The Lady to describe it to her, and this time she spoke with something like forbearance, reminding me of tags, girls, rush, and the floor. «I remember very clearly, because you dropped one. OK? You bring only six.»
The Lady is busy. She is curt. She is always going into the back of the shop, even during conversation. She is no-​nonsense. One feels very acutely when talking to her that the clock is ticking. I had taken my fair share of her day. She told me she would look around for my shirt (as a favor, I understood) but she was almost sure she didn’t have it. I had dropped one. There were six.
I went home, searched high and low. No luck. I called The Lady. I peacefully remonstrated with her on the phone and tried gently to suggest that, as a general matter, if you give me a receipt for seven shirts your establishment is responsible for seven, even if there really were six.
«I trust customer! You tell me seven, I type seven. If I type hundred shirt accident I have to pay for hundred shirt?»
«Well, one might argue that it’s your responsibility to get the receipt right…»
«Good customer never do this. Good customer understand!»
At this point I had to get to the airport, so I made peace with the fact that I was a bad customer, and that when I returned, I would find my beloved shirt with the pale green vertical stripes in some distant recess of my closet and feel sheepish. She told me she would check for it. I thanked The Lady, but she had hung up.
Fast forward to yesterday, about a month after the initial incident. Walking by the shop, on a whim, I walked in. «Did you ever find that shirt?»
She had the irked look of having lost a minor bet on a technicality — because of a bad ref call, perhaps. Silently, she rotated one of those cool automatic dry cleaning rotating thingies and showed me the shirt. «This one?»
I took it and stood in the front of the shop. She gave me a few exasperated glances. She spoke on the phone. She talked to her friend who was visiting the shop. She declined eye contact.
«Do you remember our conversations about this shirt?» I finally asked in the lightest, most conciliatory tone I could muster.
«Yes. You have shirt now. No charge, okay.»
«But I recall your saying it was my mistake.» My words failed me. She had been so sharp. She had made me question my short-​term memory. My decency. I mumbled things about these wrongs.
«I’m very busy, okay?» She disappeared into the back of the shop.
When she emerged again, I said, «You know I’m going to write a pretty bad Unilocal review about this, right? But if you said ‘I’m sorry’, then it would be different for me.»
We went back and forth a few more times. She signaled not the slightest inclination to express contrition or make amends.
The last sentence she spoke to me, an instant before she vanished into the back and from my life for the last time, was perhaps the most declarative one I have ever heard.
«I’m sorry you’re not happy.»

Two weeks ago, one of the straps of my tank top became unstitched. I took the garment in immediately for alterations. The owner said that it would be ready within 5 days, by Friday. It was not ready. I then came back three times (twice in 1 day) and my partner came back once. Each time, the owner either said that she had forgotten about the alteration or that she had misplaced the garment. Although she was very friendly, she asked me to return on four separate occasions due to her «forgetting» or «misplacing» the garment. I informed her that my partner and I would no longer be frequenting her business.

Very bad and rude customer service by the owner (the lady)
I Will take my dry cleaning elsewhere!

I had left a brand new dress (with tags attached) for alteration and after I picked up my dress and brought it home I noticed that the bow in from of my dress and some beads are missing. I called up the store and instead of appologizing and trying to accomodate me, the owner VERY RUDELY told me that she will leave the parts in the restaurant next door for me to pick up later that night. I told her that I was about to leave the country and I leave 15 miles away but she said she didn’t care and it’s not her fault!!! She was extremely RUDE and unhelpful. I am detemined to pursue this to consumer reports and make sure she gets a good lesson out of this. She not only ruined my $ 495 dress but also would not take responsibilty for it. I understand that accidents happen and if she would have been polite and would take responsibilty I would have let it go. But in stead she kept repeating that it is not her fault and she can’t do anything about it!!! She didn’t even refund me back for the service!!!

This is the worst cleaners I’ve ever been to… The lady there was rude and unresponsive and charges an arm and a leg… I would never go there again!

I brought in a pleated shirt to be cleaned on Monday, and it was promised to me on Thursday by 5pm. For the record, my shirt was not particularly dirty and did not have any stains — it was just a bit wrinkled.
I go to pick up my shirt on Thursday at 5:30pm. It’s not ready.
Me: «Uhh…what do you mean?»
Her: «I can give it to you now, but it’s not cleaned.»
Isn’t that the whole goddamned point of taking a shirt to the cleaners? To get it cleaned?!
She promises me the shirt by opening Friday morning (around 8am, I believe).
So I go there at 8:15am, thinking that it would be all ready to go — you know, on the hanger, in the plastic baggie. Five minutes in and out.
Only, it’s not.
I have a meeting to get to at 8:30am, so I leave. I return around 10 or 11am — again, it’s still not completely ready. She still has to put it on a hanger and in the bag.
I mean, really, if you say you’re going to have a shirt ready by some time, have the fucking thing ready. Otherwise, pad your times a little bit. I don’t mind waiting longer, but I do expect something to be there when you promise that it will be there!

This is my first Unilocal review, and I’m motivated to do it because this place sucks that much. I went in with a huge tablecloth and explained that I wanted it shortened and the remainder turned into place mats — as many as could be made. I was quoted $ 20. When I went to pick it up, they hadn’t made any place mats and just gave me the remainder fabric and still charged me the $ 20. The cashier (who was not the person there when I dropped the stuff off) said it was $ 20 just for the table cloth and place mats would be more. Total rip off. Also, they claim to charge $ 20 to hem pants. There’s a place nearby on El Camino that charges $ 10. Skip Holiday Cleaners.

So I went to the Holiday cleaner off of middle field in Palo Alto with coupon in hand and the environment in mind (it’s green).
Well never again, I don’t care if my other choice is labled ‘black’ (get it, green, black?) after paying 7 $ a blouse (woman, discrimination for having smaller shirts) I had to return twice for them to fix the new dirt found on my white shirt and the ‘discoloration’ that they said was there before. By the way the discoloration is still there. So the person who helped me when I went to pick up twice was very unapologetic, they did not reimburse me even though I asked and she saw the dirt on it. Instead in a thick accent which was very hard to understand (I think she makes it thicker with a disgruntled customer) she just mumbled that it’s hard to explain why it’s still dirty like it’s rocket science. She was also stuffing her face behind the counter. gosh I know that’s mean but so is telling a customer who’s rushing by after work to pick up their stuff that they have to come back and tough luck and acting like it’s normal to find your crap dirty. They also do take a long time, even on my second trip for the same blouses she gave me a Tuesday pick up from a Thursday ‘discovery’ that they looked like crap still. Also of the couple shirts that I did take home on the first round they were not ‘so fresh and so clean’ if you know what I mean. Anyways, go to the 1 hour dry cleaner in Mtn view off of rengstorff and middlefield. It’s worth the dirve.

This rating is regarding their tailoring services. I had them modify a few items, including altering the slit on a pencil skirt. I went to pick up my items a week after I first dropped them off, but was told to come back in a few days. I went back the second time a few days later, but was told to come back again in another few days. When the items were finally done, I noticed that loose threads were hanging from the alteration on my skirt. Technically, the work is done, but the finish was definitely sloppy. And they are no where near on time. For the high price they charge, I would expect better service. This is not a place I will use again.

Good local dry cleaners. A little pricey, not always done on time, and always check your order. On the up side they will rush clean for you and they almost remember my name every time. The dry cleaning is good, the alterations are great, and its a convenient location.

My friend raves about this place and totally trusts them
BUT when my assistant went to pick up some drapes here… he was told come back at 3pm, he came at 3pm, come back at 6pm, he came back at 6pm
come back early in the morning. he came back at 11am (not early!)
and then got $ 15 discount for all his effort. so they can’t deliver on time.
then they took the pins out of the drapes and didn’t tell my assistant, so he had to go all the way back when he found the pins were missing!

Rotten service and poor cleaning. I brought a bundle of pants in on two occasions that were badly stained, and each time the stains (a guacamole stain and a punch stain) were not removed. Don’t go here.

I picked Holiday Cleaners pretty much randomly, but I’ve been nothing but happy with the service. Parking is a little tricky, but there are a couple 30 minute parking spots out front, and some city lots nearby.
Mrs. Park is friendly, and the clothes are always clean, ready when I want them, and in good condition.
One way I learned to save money is to go for shirt service (laundry + pressing) vs. dry cleaning, when possible — saves about $ 5 per shirt! I forgot about this after 3 years wearing uniforms in Iraq.
I haven’t tried alterations yet, but have some pants I’d like hemmed. (eBay is my new favorite place to shop for clothes. $ 2000 suits for $ 100…)

I love the dry cleaning service, but hate the fact that Mrs. Park is a little scatter-​brained. She has lost a skirt of mine before, which sucks, but the customer service was great in the situation. They do a fantastic job with my husband’s shirts and also my dry clean clothes. Only word of advice is keep an eye on you clothes. She has misplaced a few things of mine and had I not realized they were missing I may not have ever gotten them back.

went here back in may to get my grad gown pressed and brought a sh*tload of clothes to dry clean, thanks to my brother who can’t seem to take care of his own clothes. Yeah, I’m such a nice sis, well, either i do it or it sits around our laundry room wasting space. They did a great job pressing the gown, I dropped off stuff 2 days before graduation, so I was told the gown will be ready for me to pick up the next day, but everything else would be ready the following week. So fast forward to Tuesday, July 10^th, I remembered I had that sh*tload of drycleaning to pick up. I go there to pick it up and they have all but one jacket ready. The guy there said he’ll call when the jacket is ready. I said fine. I’m just surprised that it would take almost 2 months to clean something, so that’s my reason for the 3stars. I guess they’re great if you aren’t bringing 10 or more items, but go into double digits and expect to wait. Still haven’t gotten that call. At least it’s my brother’s stuff.

I’ve been going to the Parks for over 10 years – I started at their previous location at the Stanford Shopping Center. Pros: Mrs. Park is good at remembering names, cleaning is consistently good, you don’t have to repeat special requests, and problems are resolved without question. Cons: the place is above average price-​wise and sometime clothes aren’t ready on-​time which sucks when you are coming from the South Bay like me (I found them back when I was at Stanford).