topic Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat in Fashion

Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

RinaRina — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 13:45:25 GMT

I am so annoyed. This happeed when I had the coat cleaned in JUNE. The woman said she'd call me if she found the belt.

Well, now it's October.

I've already googled Jones of New York images .....

I don't know what to do.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

SeaMaiden — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 13:49:23 GMT

I am surprised you would dry clean a belt?

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

sweetee2 — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 13:51:35 GMT

I'm so sorry. That's a major bummer. That's the whole look of your coat. I wish I had a answer.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

bri20 — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 13:56:17 GMT

Can you find a coordinating fabric or a similar fabric? Maybe they can make you a belt.

That really stinks...

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

Gram W — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 14:02:17 GMT

I have used the same family owned cleaners for 50+ years, even went there with my father. They have never lost anything or damaged it. We go over my items together marking anything needing special attention and they ask me to take the belts home. The belts generally do not get soiled. If they needed a gentle pressing I can do that at home.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

RinaRina — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 14:13:33 GMT

@SeaMaiden wrote:
I am surprised you would dry clean a belt?

The belt was in the belt hooks.

It never occured to me to remove the belt from the coat.

I just didn't think about it.

I was running errands that day -- went into the closet, pulled the coat off the hanger and off I went.

What's amazing is, she wanted to charge me EXTRA because the coat had chocolate on the front, which she said was difficult to remove.

I was so livid, I was speechless!

Let's see, you lose the belt to my trench coat, which can't be replaced and now you want to charge me extra for chocolate?

I feel like going over there with the coat on, and saying, "Hi, do you remember me? Did you ever find my belt"?

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

RinaRina — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 14:18:49 GMT

@bri20 wrote:
Can you find a coordinating fabric or a similar fabric? Maybe they can make you a belt.

That really stinks...

Yes, it does "stink" because I can't sew. And the entire coat is lined on the outside with faux leather (sleeves w/ belt buckle cuffs, buttonholes, & collar) . So was the belt.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

bri20 — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 14:34:26 GMT

@RinaRina, maybe the cleaners can make the belt for you Have they offered a solution?

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

ValuSkr — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:10:11 GMT

Did the cleaner offer some sort of compensation? I think that's the least they could do.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

sidsmom — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:12:20 GMT

I know this is waaaay 'outside the box'...

how about scouring resell shops for a similar coat?

Chances are the belt will be in good shape.

You can wear your Jones NY coat, which fits perfectly,

but with a different belt from a different designer.

Yeah, you might have to spend $20-40 for a resell coat,

but at least you'll be able to wear your Jones NY coat.

The design will be basically the same for all manufacturers,

but key is to get the exact color match.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

Fressa — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:30:49 GMT

The same thing happend to me years ago. They never "found" the belt. I tried using a leather belt and did not like that look with the coat. I findally had the cleaner take the belt loops off the coat so at least it would look "finished". I wore it until I found a new one and donated the old one. It sucks!

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

mima — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:46:30 GMT

I have only used the cleaners a handfull of times and that was years ago. I don't buy anything that needs dry cleaned anymore. So I don't have much experience in this, so I might be totally wrong in saying this.

Shouldn't the dry cleaners owe the OP some money? Of course the issue should have been discussed at the time the coat was picked up. No one has mentioned this. What if they lost the whole coat? Is the customer just "out"?

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

cerb — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:59:52 GMT

I'm surprised that someone would think it strange to dry clean the belt along with the coat. If you're tying and untying the belt frequently, then your hands would eventually soil the belt and it might need to be cleaned. You were given several good options in this thread. Hope you can find something that works for you.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

insomniac2 — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 16:44:08 GMT

The cleaners should cover the cost of someone making a nice substitute belt for the coat.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

RinaRina — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 17:29:13 GMT

@cerb wrote:
I'm surprised that someone would think it strange to dry clean the belt along with the coat.

I think maybe she misread my original post, which said "coat". I answered their question because maybe she thought I took the belt to be dry cleaned. LOL!

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

RinaRina — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 17:37:38 GMT

@insomniac2 wrote:
The cleaners should cover the cost of someone making a nice substitute belt for the coat.

During the summer, I went back 3x. The first time, she told me to "come back" and she'd look for the belt. I returned a few days later, but she didn't find the belt.

The 2nd time I returned, she had a trenchcoat belt, be it didn't belong with my coat.

The 3rd time, SHE BLAMED ME, and said, the coat didn't have a belt, because had I brought the coat in with a belt, she would've written it on the ticket.

At that point, we ended things amicably and she said she'd call me if she found the belt.

Anyway, it's now Fall, and I have no belt.

I AM going to go over there with the coat on and ask her if she ever found the belt.

BTW, she has a seamstress there, but it would be difficult for her to duplicate the exact color of the fabric and the color of the faux leather.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

Trix — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 18:32:35 GMT

@RinaRina, this doesn't help recover or replace your belt, but for future reference, most cleaners remove the belts from coats (and other clothing) during the cleaning process. It doesn't matter if the item is brought in with the belt attached through the loops. We have some cleaners here which won't accept belts. The cleaners I used for decades (before the ownership changed hands), always pinned belts to collars. This was done as part of the process of writing the ticket. A note was also made on the ticket that the specific garment came in with a belt attached to it.

A trench is useless without its belt. Hopefully, the cleaners will offer you some kind of restitution. They should have liability insurance and they can file a claim. They may not offer you the full value of what it would cost to replace your coat (in the same brand), but a reasonable amount would go a long way in showing they practice good customer service. To do nothing is an extreme so what attitude.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

depglass — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 19:05:09 GMT

Ask to go through their lost and found. I worked for a chain cleaners many years ago when I went back to school. Each piece was counted and ticketed, that would include the trench coat belt and the sleeve belts, if there were any. So a trench coat alone would have noted 4 pieces. In spite of this "fool-proof" system, the lost and found was full of loose belts, etc. Also items not picked up for years. Ask for a belt off a similar coat if there is one. They CAN fix this to your satisfaction if they try.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

Iwantcoffee — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 19:38:32 GMT

@Trix wrote:
@RinaRina, this doesn't help recover or replace your belt, but for future reference, most cleaners remove the belts from coats (and other clothing) during the cleaning process. It doesn't matter if the item is brought in with the belt attached through the loops. We have some cleaners here which won't accept belts. The cleaners I used for decades (before the ownership changed hands), always pinned belts to collars. This was done as part of the process of writing the ticket. A note was also made on the ticket that the specific garment came in with a belt attached to it.

A trench is useless without its belt. Hopefully, the cleaners will offer you some kind of restitution. They should have liability insurance and they can file a claim. They may not offer you the full value of what it would cost to replace your coat (in the same brand), but a reasonable amount would go a long way in showing they practice good customer service. To do nothing is an extreme so what attitude.

I do not agree that a trench is useless without a belt. You can wear a trench coat without a belt and it will keep you warm and dry.

Re: Cleaners LOST belt to my Trechcoat

SeaMaiden — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 20:19:38 GMT

@ValuSkr wrote:
Did the cleaner offer some sort of compensation? I think that's the least they could do.

@RinaRina This seems to me to be a good solution suggested by ValuSkr.....I am so sorry you lost your belt...I would be livid as well.