What to do if a dry cleaner is wrongly accused of ruining a garment?
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What to do if a dry cleaner is wrongly accused of ruining a garment?
A customer brought an already existing problem garment to our facility. We called her after inspecting the garment with the problem and she accused us of messing up the blouse. A few days later, her lawyer sent us a letter wanting money for the garment. What would be the best way to resolve this problem?
Asked on September 2, 2011 under Business Law, Georgia
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The best way for you as an owner of a small business is to respond to the letter with a written letter setting forth why you did not damage the customer's garment in that it had a pre-existing problem when it came in. Keep a copy of the response for future reference.
Hopefully you took photographs of the blouse that is the problem in your situation.
As a business owner you you have a decision to make. Do you fight the claim in that the garment came into your dry cleaning business with the problem, run the risk of losing any small claims action and end up getting negative feedback in the community, or do you pay for the garment knowing you did nothing warranting the payment to hopefully minimize negative feedback from the customer?
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