My local cleaners: the new REI?

The other night I was picking-up the dry cleaning and a guy in front of me had a problem with a scarf that wasn’t cleaned properly. Long to story short, the conversation devolved into the guy telling Jay, the owner, that he didn’t want it re-cleaned. He wanted the full purchase price refunded to him in the form of a credit towards future dry cleaning bills. Jay said sure, okay, and he wrote the guy a credit for $33.50. After the guy left, Jay told me that the guy’s been in a number of times complaining about bad dry cleaning and wanting dry cleaning credits. Now you could say that Jay should tell this guy now way and risk him telling 100 people never to use the dry cleaners (always two sides to every story) but it’s interesting that people are now looking for ways to save money through returning clothes, Nordstrom style, to companies that don’t even have a return policy. One of my favorite companies REI has a lifetime no-questions-asked return policy, and I’ve returned a few things over the years, but come on. Would it ever occur to you to ask for the purchase price of a piece of clothing at the cleaners? Now that we’re on the subject I bet REI and LL Bean and Land’s End are having a run with people looking for a little extra cash by returning those old ski boots. It’s a slippery slope, returning goods to stores. Instead, take the boots to Play it Again Sports on Irving and Ashland and get your 10 bucks and move on with your life. Part of restoring transparency and trust in this economy applies to the consumer and not taking your ski boots back to REI.