They damaged my daughters Monique Lhuillie wedding gown!! \r
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They can’t dry clean on site since they are not licensed by the City of Benicia to do so.\r
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My mom found Heritage Garment Preservation on line and thought their website well done and educational. The site suggests that they do their own work and manage each gown step by step. They seemed experienced and knowledgeable in cleaning & preserving wedding gowns. so my mom sends the gown to them and the service cost was $320.00 to clean and press the gown. This didn't include preservation.\r
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The customer service up front was good. The problems started once I opened the shipping box and immediately noticed that my gown was dark and dingy and the bodice was pressed so hard that there were creases on the bodice where before these were rolled soft folds. This detail was one of the reasons we bought the gown. I took a piece of fabric that wasn’t cleaned and compared that to the gown. It was clear the gowns color had changed and was no longer the same.\r
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Recognizing that the gown was damaged my mom contact Heritage Garment for follow up. Here’s how it went:\r
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4/16 My mom emailed their customer service agent Carmina explaining the gowns condition and expressing how disappointed we were. \r
4/17 Carmina responds saying that she will “consult with her associates” on how they were going to solve the problem and she would get back to us. \r
4/I7 Carmina ask to contact me directly. Mom replies saying she will handle this since she lives locally and I now live in NYC. \r
4/26 Heritage Garment sends a request to review them on Yelp and The Knot. Obviously, they have an automatic system that they do not monitor carefully. Do they really think my review would be positive after they damaged the gown and we were unhappy?\r
5/17 Mom sends Carmina a message saying that she took the gown to 3 different dry cleaners in the local San Jose area including the gown cleaner I was referred to first, and each cleaner confirmed that the gowns color was damaged. We decided to ask Heritage Garment to reimburse us for the damages and the cost of the service. Carmina then ask to have the gown returned to them to fix. She claims that those other cleaners are not experienced to fix the gown. But we should trust them.\r
5/20 Carmina emails my mom the following: \r
Dear Roberta, just a quick note to let you know that we've received your mail and the copy of your daughter's mail. I'm consulting with my partners and with our lawyer right now. We will have the answer for you tomorrow or the day after. Thank you for your patience. \r
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11/25/13 As of today, Carmina has had well over 5 months to seek legal advice but still no response to our messages or any refund. Maybe this was a stall tactic or perhaps a way to try to intimidate us? \r
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We have filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau and I am now considering filing a formal complaint with the Contra Costa DA’s office for fraud since this company led us to believe that they were personally cleaning our gown on site however, they can’t dry clean on site since they are not licensed by the City of Benicia to do so. Their permit only allows them to wash gowns in the two bathtubs in the back room of their establishment. Any gowns requiring to be dry cleaned MUST be sent away to clean. So, we paid $320.00 to have Heritage Garment send the gown to the local Benicia dry cleaner who cleans gown for $125.00. Yep, that’s what I got for $320.00 and don’t forget a damaged gown too! \r
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Thinking of using this company? Consider my experience as a warning…this could happen to you too.\r
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