Dry cleaner faded my tie - advice?

[harry2quinn]

I got a couple of smears of whipped cream on my Marinella 7-fold the first time I wore it

. They manifested as dark spots and wouldn't go away. I dabbed it with water immediately (without much luck) and took it in to my dry cleaner within a day. She's already called me picky, but I still had to ask if she could be particularly careful with this one. Went back a week later to pick it up, and one spot was gone, but the other was untouched. Thinking that perhaps they hadn't noticed it, I asked if they could try again. "We can do our best" "That's fine - it'll be nice if you could get it out, I won't hold you to it." And when I went in today, the spot had faded a little. I was happy with that. What I was unhappy with was the color in the entire part of the tie had bled away and faded very clearly. When the spot was noticeable from 12 inches away, this was much more obvious. When I asked for a do-over, I assumed that it may not get much better but not that they'd make it unwearable. I didn't ask for the cost of the tie or anything - after all, I had stained it in the first place. But on principle, I asked for the $3.95 I paid to get it cleaned - because I paid for a service which was not rendered. I didn't actually care about the four freaking dollars. She scoffed and offered 50% back because they took out one spot. I stared at her for a second, told her not to worry about it, and walked out. *** Anyway. Any advice on what I can do about it? Let's just say with losing my favorite scarf on a plane a month ago, a ****** New Year's eve, and my boss getting mad at me in early January as well, it was a couple of weeks of rather bad luck.

 

[alliswell]

Let it go. Go to Malford and buy a new tie. Next time send the tie to Tiecrafters.

 

[Mr. Lee]

1. Sue in small claims court.
2. Find a new cleaner.
3. Always assume a dry cleaner will wreck a tie. I have read about an outfit called "Tiecrafters" that is supposed to be good. I think they have a minimum of 3 ties. Personally, I tuck my tie into my shirt whenever I eat. If it gets stained, I assume it's shot.

 

[deveandepot1]

Originally Posted by alliswell

Let it go. Go to Malford and buy a new tie. Next time send the tie to Tiecrafters.

+1

 

[harry2quinn]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lee

1. Sue in small claims court. 2. Find a new cleaner. 3. Always assume a dry cleaner will wreck a tie. I have read about an outfit called "Tiecrafters" that is supposed to be good. I think they have a minimum of 3 ties. Personally, I tuck my tie into my shirt whenever I eat. If it gets stained, I assume it's shot.
My sister told me to do the small claims thing as well. I'm not planning on it because a) I don't want to be that guy who asks the court for $175 for a freaking tie - seems normal in SF-land, but it's outrageous to any normal person, and b) this wouldn't have happened without my stain to begin with and c) I always did consider there to be some small risk in taking something to a 3rd party and d) I feel wrong asking someone who's making a living to pay me back an amount that is much more significant to her than it is to me. Wish I'd known about tiecrafters.com. I'll keep that in mind. And I usually flip the tie over my shoulder... I think it might have slipped off when I was standing up.

 

[k4lnamja]

Originally Posted by alliswell

Let it go. Go to Malford and buy a new tie. Next time send the tie to Tiecrafters.

I dont see how Tiecrafters can do that much of a better job than a good cleaners. Can you share info?

 

[sartorialism]

Originally Posted by k4lnamja

I dont see how Tiecrafters can do that much of a better job than a good cleaners. Can you share info?

Tiecrafters works miracles. Dry cleaners: tie suicide. Tiecrafters: Tie resurrection.

 

[harry2quinn]

Originally Posted by sartorialism

Tiecrafters works miracles. Dry cleaners: tie suicide. Tiecrafters: Tie resurrection.

Think it's worth sending in anyway? I don't wear ties often so the 4-tie minimum might be hard, but I could just stick it in the closet for the time being until I manage to set aside enough ties to send in.

 

[sartorialism]

Originally Posted by harry2quinn

Think it's worth sending in anyway? I don't wear ties often so the 4-tie minimum might be hard, but I could just stick it in the closet for the time being until I manage to set aside enough ties to send in.

It might be too late. Faded is faded"”I doubt they'll redie the ties. But had you sent it in in the first place, they'd have fixed it. I trade with TC all the time"”I send in a few ties, they fix and return them, I send a few more ties, they fix and return them, back and forth forever. God bless them. But it can be costly, so make sure the tie is worth fixing...

 

[SpooPoker]

Originally Posted by alliswell

Let it go. Go to Malford and buy a new tie. Next time send the tie to Tiecrafters.

Yep, this. Throw it on the bay to recoup some losses. List it as a damaged blue Ben Silver tie to get maximum hit rates.

 

[NORE]

I see you've^ reached the snark phase. Don't ask what teh next phase is

 

[SpooPoker]

Originally Posted by NORE

I see you've^ reached the snark phase. Don't ask what teh next phase is

Senior members seem to get teh ban or teh disappear at around 10k poasts. tic toc, doc...

 

[harry2quinn]

*As the funeral march plays*

Redmulticolorflakes nee Marinella
He smelled the sweet taste of freedom and glory but once. Alas, the taste of nectar was laced with poison, and when he was rushed to the shaman malpractice prevailed. The good die young, but the best die infants.

In memoriam
Aug 2010 - Jan 2011

 

[stubloom]

Let me make a couple of points: 1. All Marinella seven fold ties are silk. 2. Whipped cream contains oil. 3. All oil-based stains manifest themselves as darker spots relative to the existing background color. 4. Water cannot emulsify an oil-based stain. Water (or any water-based liquid such as club soda, white wine, etc.) just spreads the stain to a wider area. 5. Wiping or rubbing the stain with water will "pull" the color from any dark colored silk tie. The damage caused by wiping or rubbing (i.e., the color loss) may not be noticeable before cleaning but will be after the dark oil-based stain has been emulsified by the dry cleaner's solvent or fluid. 6. Your first encounter with the cleaner should have lead you to the immediate conclusion that you were at the wrong place (you had to ask them to exercise care and they only charge $3.95 for a silk tie). Without knowing anything about the technical skills of that specific cleaner and without hearing that cleaner's version of the "facts", it's not possible to pass judgement as to fault. What is clear is that you bear some responsibility for your own predicament: a. You attempted to remove an oil-based stain with water and you probably "pulled" some of the underlying dye when you wiped or rubbed the stain in the process of applying the water. b. You took your Marinella tie to a cleaner that charges $3.95 for a silk tie. I'll go out on a limb and say that a cleaner whose price structure is such that they only charge $3.95 for a silk tie is unlikely to have the necessary skills to return that tie to you in pristine condition. For further information on this subject.... Blog post: Stain mishaps: Do's and don'ts http://ravefabricare.com/true-quality-cleaning/2010/6/2/stain-mishaps-do's-and-don'ts.aspx Blog post: Cleaning and restoring your silk ties http://ravefabricare.com/true-qualit...silk-ties.aspx

 

[harry2quinn]

Originally Posted by stubloom

Let me make a couple of points: 1. All Marinella seven fold ties are silk. 2. Whipped cream contains oil. 3. All oil-based stains manifest themselves as darker spots relative to the existing background color. 4. Water cannot emulsify an oil-based stain. Water (or any water-based liquid such as club soda, white wine, etc.) just spreads the stain to a wider area. 5. Wiping or rubbing the stain with water will "pull" the color from any dark colored silk tie. The damage caused by wiping or rubbing (i.e., the color loss) may not be noticeable before cleaning but will be after the dark oil-based stain has been emulsified by the dry cleaner's solvent or fluid. 6. Your first encounter with the cleaner should have lead you to the immediate conclusion that you were at the wrong place (you had to ask them to exercise care and they only charge $3.95 for a silk tie). Without knowing anything about the technical skills of that specific cleaner and without hearing that cleaner's version of the "facts", it's not possible to pass judgement as to fault. What is clear is that you bear some responsibility for your own predicament: a. You attempted to remove an oil-based stain with water and you probably "pulled" some of the underlying dye when you wiped or rubbed the stain in the process of applying the water. b. You took your Marinella tie to a cleaner that charges $3.95 for a silk tie. I'll go out on a limb and say that a cleaner whose price structure is such that they only charge $3.95 for a silk tie is unlikely to have the necessary skills to return that tie to you in pristine condition. For further information on this subject.... Blog post: Stain mishaps: Do's and don'ts http://ravefabricare.com/true-quality-cleaning/2010/6/2/stain-mishaps-do's-and-don'ts.aspx Blog post: Cleaning and restoring your silk ties http://ravefabricare.com/true-qualit...silk-ties.aspx
I appreciate the post... but to be frank your positioning is that your points are common sense, and not all of them are. For example, I didn't exactly know that wiping the stain with a damp napkin is a bad thing to do. When there is a stain, this is simply the first reaction. Never said I was free of blame. To the contrary, this is exactly the reason I didn't ask for restitution. I was only pissed about their lack of reason in not stopping to think about the reason behind trying again - that it was supposed to make things better than worse, then acting like they did nothing wrong. Finally, a dry cleaner charging $4-5 for a tie is pretty standard. Of course, if I had known about Tiecrafters at the time, it would have been a different story. Again, a point I agreed with previously. I'll admit I do need to read up on those links. Thanks.