Seaside Cleaners, Hudson, FL: They Took US to the Cleaners, Literally

Back home, we had a dry cleaner, let's call them Lupo's Dry Cleaner. The owners, good friends of many people in town, were nice people and standup members of the community. We went to the same church and even had morning coffee at the same luncheonette. When we needed something dry cleaned, it was automatic - we went to Lupo's. And, as friends of ours, they went out of their way to give us good service.

Nowadays, on the western edge of Pasco County, things are a lot different. To tell you the truth, an experience we had several years ago caused us to lose all confidence in local dry cleaners. My wife brought something to the cleaners with pleats and they proceded to press the pleats right out of the garment. She brought the item, a jacket, back, but to no avail. She eventually had to iron in the pleats herself. Right then and there, she swore off Florida dry cleaners.

But, with the passing of several years, her resolve dissipated. We were coming out of our favorite pizzeria, Leo & Joe's, when she notice that next door in the strip mall was a cleaners, Seaside Cleaners. Dare she give them a try, she wondered. Why not, I said. So, a couple days later I brought down three of her jackets.

I picked them up this morning and set them on the bed where my wife could inspect them when she got home. Within seconds of checking them out, she came charging out of the bedroom with her just-cleaned white jacket in hand. Look at this, she said, pointing to a pattern of black marks on the front that covered an area 8 inch square. These weren't on there. Then she pointed out the dirty cuffs which were the reason she wanted to have the jacket cleaned in the first place. They were still dirty. She wanted to bring it back, right then.

So, we hopped in the car and returned to Seaside Cleaners. What would have been nice and, frankly, what we expected, was a promise to have the jacket recleaned for no charge. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen, not without a lot of perseverence, anyway.

The girl who was manning the store was very noncommital. Before a decision could be made on how to handle my wife's jacket, someone else had to inspect it and then call us up at home next week, after the weekend. Pardon me, but the jacket's not just dirty, but dirtier than when we dropped it off. Now, you expect us to suffer through some kind of insane process whereby it is confirmed that there is a problem. Don't be silly, folks, just reclean it.

Out of patience, my wife says, Forgetabout it. Just give me my money back. Not so fast. Once again, before any money can be refunded, the jacket would have to sit there over the weekend until someone in authority arrived on the scene on Monday who would determine if the refund was warranted. Give me a freakin' break! The damn thing's dirty, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that. You had your chance... and failed. Just give us our money. No, she wasn't in a position to do that. Well, call somebody who is! No, she couldn't do that either.

Finally, figuring we had already wasted enough gas, we said the hell with the $5 and took the jacket home swearing, once again, never to go to a local dry cleaner. Upon arriving home, my wife threw all three jackets into the washer because, in truth, none of them had come out very clean and in minutes they came out spotless. If your clothing is washable, I suggest you follow her lead and wash it. If it's dry clean only, then I suggest burning it, or donating it to Good Will. But, please, don't get taken to the cleaners.