Bee Tailors & Cleaners Downtown

Went in for a simple alteration. Hem the sleeves of my sport coat. It cost me 45 $, took longer than expected and turned out terrible. My jacket is ruined.
I should have known better when I walked in to drop it off.

I took two pairs of rare selvedged Japanese jeans in to have the lower leg tapered. I chose Bees because I was told they were the best. Rather than taking the tapper out of the interior leg seam, they completely cut out the red line selvedged edge on the outside seam! They didn’t call or ask which seam to cut. I thought they were the tailor experts?! $ 40 for the tapper + $ 30 more to try to fix the situation (yes, they actually charged me to fix their mistake) + $ 500 for the two pairs of jeans. I’m out $ 570 now and will not be going back. Completely inexcusable.

I would recommend Bee Cleaners to anyone who needs a suit pressed or bridal gown cleaned (especially if you need a bridal gown spot cleaned). They have amazing customer service, and I use them on a regular basis because they pick up and drop off dry cleaning at my place of business.
My first tailoring experience with them was a tricky one — I needed a zipper replaced on a tea length bridal dress that I had purchased from China. The dress was returned to me without a new zipper. I called them promptly to let them know that I had needed the zipper completely replaced, and they did not do that. I spoke with the manager who offered to come pick up the dress the exact same day and have it back to me the following day. He picked it up at my home the following day, and had it back to me that afternoon with the new zipper on it, and it looked great and worked well.
Their free delivery has been a life saver for me. I had them clean my bridal gown, which they picked up at my home and brought in, and we kept in touch via phone throughout the spot cleaning process (I bought my gown secondhand). They felt that they couldn’t get the dress as clean as they wanted, so they did not charge me — but my wedding dress was spotless.
They have also done an excellent job cleaning the many coats/​jackets I have sent their way.
However, when I had my husband’s dress shirts recently laundered, the shirts were wrinkled when they were returned to me. I did not have time to have them dropped off and ironed again by Bee because we needed them for an event a day later, so I had to iron the shirts myself. The person I spoke with at Bee assured me they would refund the cost of laundering the shirts to me. They refunded the charge to me as a credit onto my account.
Again — I highly recommend them for wedding gown cleaning, they are the best in Portland from what I have heard, and my experience with them definitely reflected that sentiment.

3 day turnaround on dress shirts. when they do come back, they’ve pressed them on «hotter than the sun» — any cloth that contacts a button comes back with a permanent burn. collar tips are burnt beyond wear.
would be better off throwing shirts out & buying new.
avoid.

Worst problem resolution ever! I spend over $ 500 a month on dry cleaning with this company, or did. I came by on Tuesday and said I would need a rush cleaning on Thursday, and would that be ok? The staff said yes. I brought the clothes in on Thursday and asked for Friday after 4:00. They said they they would have them done. I told them I would pick up Saturday. Saturday morning I went to pick them up no clothes. They said they had been mistagged. I explain I leave for a 10 day trip Monday morning, and needed the clothes. I said could I have them uncleaned. They said yes if I went to the downtown location. Said I should know it is challenging for them to do this. I said I know that’s why I asked first. When I got to the downtown location, they informed me to be prepared to wait a while why they found them, and were irritated that I had come so quickly. I asked if they could pay for a courier since I will now have to have them cleaned on the road. Seems like the least they could do. No, I was yelled at, «who’s going to do that?» I said a courier service. They said they don’t have the authority to spend $ 30.00 on a courier. This is insane. Only the owner can make that kind of call. I asked if the owner had a cell phone. Not going to bother him in LA. Mean while my time and frustration is of no value. They do good work, but customer service makes it impossible to continue to use them.

I was referred to Bee’s Cleaners through Leialoha Kaula, through The Bridal Loft/​Custom Fit 2 You, where I had my alterations done on my wedding gown. I had again done endless research of emailing and calling vendors for pricing, but Lei assured me that Bee’s Cleaners was excellent. (It was very reassuring knowing that the cleaners I was taking my gown to were familiar with the alterations work I had done previously.) There are 3 locations for Bee’s Cleaners, all in Portland, OR., but the one with the best reviews on Unilocal won for me; the one in Downtown, on SW Salmon Street. I believe Lei recommended me to that location as well.
I was interested in a steam & press as well as a cleaning, but had questions concerning the cleaning and preservation prices for after the wedding. Obviously price was a large benefactor for me, but also location and services. After several back and forth emails to Chelci & Jay, with pictures attached, they reassured me that cleaning my dress, with all of its beaded details, would be no problem. Of course, without seeing the dress in person, I knew the pricing they were offering me were just estimates. Looking back through my comparisons, they ended up being the cheapest of the bunch and my dress looked fantastic.
One thing to keep in mind: Be aware of what you’re doing with your gown after it’s cleaned. I brought my dress to their location in the pink gown bag I had purchased at the charity even I got it at, only to realize when I picked it up, they hadn’t shoved it back in there. That made sense; after cleaning it and pressing it, the last thing they wanted to do was stuff it back into a gown bag that was too small and get it all wrinkly again. But I was distraught — I had no idea how I was going to transport it home without being exposed to the inside of my car! They offered to keep my dress there until the morning of my wedding but I just couldn’t trust that. The «what if’s» ate me alive and I kept thinking something would for surely make me late to my wedding because I wouldn’t be able to get my dress in time. Instead, I ended up laying it across the back seat and trunk-​area of my Dad’s Rav 4. Had I of known this in advance though, I would’ve brought something to cover the seats with. The people at Bee’s frowned upon me transporting it home this way, but I assured them I wouldn’t be upset when wrinkles appeared. (It actually worked out just fine. Once I arrived at the hotel with my Matron of Honor, we hung the gown in the walk-​in closet and draped the dress and train over the luggage rack/​seat. No wrinkles present in the morning!)
I’ve yet to take my wedding gown back to Bee’s Cleaners for the cleaning and preservation of it, but I will do it at some point.
Would I use them again? Yes. Would I recommend them to a friend? Yes.

I went there because it was close to my work and got decent reviews online. I brought in a dress shirt and tie that had a stain from a drink being spilled on them. Both items were returned to me looking exactly the same. I know some stains are tough to remove, but I was disappointed with the results.
Price — average
Customer service — low/​average
On time? — Yes
Will I go back? — probably not

Bee’s was recommended to me by a co-​worker who had gotten some pants tailored. I needed my bridesmaid dress for my sister’s wedding altered — it needed to be taken in a little and have the length cut off some. I stopped in with the dress around 3:30PM on a Friday and the alterations lady had me change into it right away and proceeded to pin away. She was friendly and chit-​chatted with me through the whole fitting. She told me it would be ready in two weeks and it pick it up between 5PM and 6PM. I took the little slip and left. The day she told me to come pick it up, I arrived at the shop around 5:15PM. I gave the guy at the front desk my info and he proceeded to look around for my dress — to which he couldn’t find. EEK. Then we look over on the alterations table and there it is — unfinished and still pinned with the lady already gone home for the day. I left pretty frustrated that I didn’t receive a call any time that day to let me know that my dress would not be done on the day it was said it would be. Pretty unprofessional IMO. I called the next morning and spoke to the alterations lady who said my dress would be done «in 20 minutes.» Why did it need to be at your shop for 2 weeks if it was able to be done in what I assume is about an hour total? Arg. I went back to the shop that evening to pick it up. The good news is, the dress was tailored to my exact specifications. The length was perfect and it body fit perfectly. The seams were straight and it was an all around good job. I just wish someone had called to let me know it wouldn’t be ready.

terrific! i took in some minor mending that needed doing. the service was fast and friendly, and the repairs to my items were high quality and exactly what i asked for. i also thought the cost was extremely reasonable. i’ll be a regular customer!

hmm, not sure why others weren’t able to get a price out of them. they listed all the prices on my ticket. i knew what to expect.
they did a great job with starching and pressing my dress shirts, getting the bike grease stain out of my pants, and getting stains out of a silk blouse.
i asked if they could remove pills on my sweater and they said yes, but they didn’t. it’s a stupid cheap sweater so i don’t know whose fault that is. my pants weren’t perfectly pressed, which i expect if i’m spending money on them.
customer service is ok. it’s nice that they have saturday hours.
i might go back. i’m having a hard time finding a good dry cleaner in this town.
one of the reviews said something about it being an eco cleaner or whatever but i didn’t notice anything about that when i was in the store.
kbye

I brought a suede coat in to be re-​lined in August. I was assured their «experts» would do a great job. A month later, the coat came back with so much glue in the sleeves, they could stand on their own. I asked if this could be fixed. No problem! Two months go by, I get it back and this time the lining has been completely replaced, but the label is sewn in crooked, and there is so much fabric bunched under the sleeves, I would have to wear only t-​shirts to get my arms in. And they conceded that it looked like their «expert» had used leather thread by mistake. I asked if I could just get my money back, and I would take it somewhere else. No! We’ll fix it! So, now it’s January. I get it back, lining is hanging below one sleeve, which I guess is how they reduced the amount of excess fabric under the sleeves. Stitching is still a mess. I had to press for a partial refund.
If you want to have a coat re-​lined, steer clear of Bee Cleaners.

Don’t use them! They should not be trusted with anything of any value, particularly wedding dresses. They lost my custom wedding dress (which is short and poofy and very unique, i.e. not easily mistaken for another). Yet they gave it to another customer, or so they say. Within hours of my learning it was ready. However, days later when I went to pick it up it took them quite a long time to figure that out, and they offered little in the way of compassion about any of it. In fact, one employee joked that «it was so cute, if I were a bad employee I’d steal it.» Not comforting. I stood around while they may or may not have bothered to do much about it (how was I to know when they didn’t bother to update me unless I asked what was going on). I know that a few calls were made, including calls to their other locations (you know, because «maybe the driver thought it was so cute it should go to the uptown location.» These people clearly do not know how to treat their customers. I found the owner to be unapologetically demeaning and nonchalant about the whole thing, giving me multiple stories while acting as though I was inconveniencing his day by demanding that they do something about their mistake. Not only did they clearly handle my dress poorly, the handled the situation horribly.

After I took my couch cushion covers to Bee Cleaners, I pointed out some oil spots and they reassured me that they would be pretreated. When they came back they were worse, with big rings where they had left the solvent. They sent it back through and they did not come out. I agreed to let them wash them, as it was a last case scenario. When they came back for the third time, they were very shrunk. They tried to iron them out but didn’t get it. This was an expensive couch and finding a replacement is difficult. However Jay, the owner, had no interest in reimbursing me for my loss. He just refused to return my email. I give this place a negative five stars.

LOVE the alterations dept here. I’ve taken my clothing to others in town and have had less than stellar results (lost or ruined clothing — the place starts with a «d» and ends with a «z»). Not so at Bee Tailors. The woman who does the alterations used to sew for Nau and her work is impeccable. I’m always impressed. The only down side is that they’re so busy that sometimes the scheduled pick-​up date is farther out than I’d like, but having said that — it’s always worth the wait and always done on time. Thanks, Bee Cleaners!

In my efforts to drive less, I have recently turned to Bee for my dry cleaning service. Their downtown location is a very convenient short walk from my office.
All of the employees that I have come in contact with have been cheerful and friendly and I am always pleased with their cleaning and tailoring.
Their prices seem slightly high, but are in line with other environmentally friendly cleaners that I have visited.
The turn around time on regular dry cleaning is around 3 — 4 business days; it’s possible they have rush service as I have not asked.
All-​in-​all, Bee is a great environmentally responsible, family owned business and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

I have used this location for over 2 years now and I have to say they are great in what they do. I used the cleaning service and the tailoring as well. They did a great job at it and they definitely have good pricing as well.
Most of my clothe are designer clothe and I can leave them my clothe knowing they will not deteriorate it which is great. The service is excellent and fast. You usually have to wait 2 – 3 days until your order is complete. I am not sure if they’re doing 24hrs turn-​a-​round but it might be worth asking them.
And the best of all, they’re environmental friendly.
Thank you BEE!

I have used this location for dry cleaning and alterations.
In my opinion, they have a great alterations department. However, I have only had basic alterations done, primarily the fixing of buttons and clasps, as well as replacement of zippers. They are reasonably priced in this area and do good work.
Everything I have altered has been cleaned, and everything came out great and done around time. Pricing here is reasonable as well.
Everyone is also pleasant at this location, a definite plus working in a hot sticky environment.

I have used this Bee’s location for dry-​cleaning on numerous occasions; mostly with vintage clothing (i.e. fine and delicate fabrics) and never had a problem. Items are always ready when promised, excellent condition, and beautiful. Pricing is very reasonable — dresses are usually around $ 9, a little more if they are more fancy & frilly. They can also «deodorize» garments and it actually works! Trust me — if you’ve ever tried to get stale cigarette smoke out of a 60’s blazer it’s worth the few bucks to make it go away!
Recently I took a dress in that needed to be altered and decided to give that part of this business a try as well. So impressed!!! The seamstress is not only a pro, she is very sweet too. A complete joy to work with :)