Chris French Cleaners

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Pros: None

Cons: What are the drawbacks?

Posted 04/13/09

Hi! Do not go there!!! Just wasting your money and they will ruin your clothes. They made the stain on my cotton blouse BIGGER and also in more places. It also went through from the front to the back.
Then the guy told me that they also couldn't "dry clean" it. That it was only washed because the label said it was washed only. So it was good they follow instructions but they charged me the full price for dry cleaning and not for washing. Then the guy told me that the stain exist because I picked up the laundry one month late??? Made no sense at all... PLEASE DO NOT HELP THIS BUSINESS MAKE PROFITS BY GOING TO THEM.

Posted 12/11/08

I told the manager that I didn't have my receipt for a wool coat that I was a late in picking up. In fact, the receipt was at home but I happened to be walking by so decided to not delay any further. I thought the price had been $25, so took out at $20 and $10 bill, which he saw. As he was getting the coat I started to pull out some singles since I thought I might have the $5, and he ripped the receipt off the coat and said $30. Since I didn't have my copy, and also thinking that perhaps they had a late fee charge, I paid it and went home to check my original receipt, which said $25. Nothing in the fine print on the back mentioned a late fee!

Aside from that, the quality of the cleaning was extremely poor. The wool (new coat) was pressed down and flat and there was a superficial stain on the front that I was able to easily remove with water and a towel.

I highly discourage people who care about their clothes to go to Chris French. There's a superior cleaner for fine clothing on University Place, around 6th or 7th street. Even though I live in the East Village I will take my precious items there from now on.

Pros: Good location.

Cons: Pricing, quality of cleaning, dishonest with clients.

Posted 12/05/08

I just moved to the city and used these guys for about two weeks. Their manager is unbelievable. I walked in to pick up some stuff. He was having an obviously personal phone call, telling jokes about some chick, and I kept waiting for him to help me. Finally, after about 10 minutes, I said "excuse me," and this moron had the nerve to get testy with me. When he finally got off the damn phone, he told me I wasn't going to get anywhere in this world by interrupting people. I asked to speak to the manager, only to find out that this idiot was the manager. He continued to mutter profanities to himself and take an extra long time to process my order. Never have I encountered such appalling service for absolutely no reason!

Posted 10/02/08

I had high hopes for Chris French. The review below this one and a few others think Chris French is good. But after THREE awful encounters in a row, I cannot help but believe that Chris French is the WORST in all of Manhattan and that those positive reviews had to have been written by CF staff.

I first took some stuff to CF about a year ago. They lost my stuff, and I didn't go back for few months. Then, thinking they couldn't possibly f up again, they did. They made my clothes starchy, didn't even clean one piece, and delivered them days late. Most recently, for a third (and now final) time, I went back. I needed some stuff same-day, which CF does. I told them the pieces had to be delivered by the end of the day. Not only did they NOT deliver it, they never cleaned them! Seriously, WORST DRY CLEANERS EVER!

Posted 09/30/08

I like chris french, i trust them for my most expensive clothes that I don't want going to my usual east village stoner dry cleaner. They have never been anything but very nice to me in the past 5 years....theyre eco which is a plus, and they are expensive however. The tailor by the way is AMAZING. I tailor almost everything and he always comes through...they will even rush stuff for me no charge. A star off for being very expensive.

Posted 07/09/08

I'm a fashion editor. I know how to look after clothes, and I practice what I preach. I'm paranoid about dry cleaning after one too many disasters here & in London. I liked the idea that Chris French take an eco stance.

I took in a cream wool princess coat, a huge grey cashmere shawl and a tan light cotton mini trench. I asked quite specifically for the trench to be washed. Not dry cleaned. Washed.

I didn?t look at the ticket until I got home, when I discovered that not only had the guy behind the counter totally ignored my request and put my lightweight trench in for dry cleaning, but he?d charged me $25, $5 more than my super heavy, quite grubby cream wool coat.

The cost wasn?t really the issue however, it was the fact that he had adopted a stupid woman, clever me knows best attitude.

When I returned to pick up my pieces, I asked why I had been ignored and he went into a riff on how it was the same price to dry clean as to wash anyway. I tried to point out that price wasn?t the problem, it was the fact they listened to a customer make a specific request and then decided to completely ignore her black & white, specific instructions. After trying to give me a lecture on textile care, I pointed out that I work in textiles, so he could give it a rest. He then said, "Have you lost weight? Because I am wondering if that is why you wanted your trench washed. You know it would shrink a little. ? Completely irrelevant. And bloody rude too.

Listen Chris French Cleaners. You employ two staff members who clearly should never, ever be front of house. Rude, offensive and arrogant.

And your service is really, really expensive. I come from London, possibly the most expensive city in the world. Combined with the weak dollar, most services here are 50% cheaper. But not at Chris French. For their shoddy service I paid double, yes DOUBLE what I pay in London.

Pros: Eco cleaning

Cons: Staggeringly expensive. Appalling customer service. Can't handle special requests

Posted 06/26/08

Called, gave them all of my personal information, then they never picked up the cleaning and never called to follow up.

Cons: not service oriented

Posted 12/16/07

Since moving to the EV, I've been a loyal customer and even had to walk pass several cleaners just to get to them. BUT for my continued patronage this morning instead of a "thank you," I received an "eff you."

I usually pick up my cleaning on my way home from work, so I'm never in a big rush, however, on this particular morning, I needed a shirt for after work so I picked up my cleaning on the way to rather than from work. Big mistake.

When I walked in, there were no other customers in the store and only one employee at the registers even though there were several other employees milling about.

I explained to the cashier that I was trying to catch a bus because I was on my way to work. He responded that he was in the middle of something. Long story short, when he did eventually, very slowly finish his task, he walked away to start doing something else. When I repeated my request to pick up my clothing, he said that he couldn't help me. Clearly trying to make a point. My question is what point was that? That people shouldn't be in a rush or have jobs? That Chris French's exaggerated prices don't include service?

Upon complaining to the manager, I was advised that Chris French has a lot of "demanding" customers and they really don't care if you're in a rush.

Meanwhile, a week ago, I actually didn't have time to drop off a dress to them, so I ended up going to a very nice cleaner in midtown called METHINKS. I almost felt guilty about it, the way you do when one changes hairdressers. But not only was this gentleman incredibly polite, professional, and very quick, he pointed out that my last cleaner hadn't done the job properly. Apparently, the little numbered tags cleaners clip on to your clothing are supposed to be removed by them (I'll assume the same goes for the aluminum on the buttons, Chris French leaves on as well). He simply said, "It's part of the service."

Pros: "Environmentally sound" (supposedly)

Cons: Slow service, not meticulous, overpriced, rude

Posted 12/11/07

Way over-priced. $70 for a suit and 3 cotton button-up blouses. Plus, they (1) knocked buttons off, (2) were rude when I commented upon it, and (3) didn't get simple stains out. I had to re-wash one item by hand.
There are much better deals to be had at better dry cleaners.

Posted 06/26/07

This place is unbelivable--as in unbelievably BAD. I went in there to have a vest cleaned--totally standard. When I went in to pick it up, they had steamed and ironed it at too high temperatures leaving seam marks, creases, and discoloration on the front of my beautiful Parisian vest. When I showed this to them THEY DIDN'T EVEN CARE--didn't bat an eye--and charged me $7 for a vest I can have cleaned for half that anywhere else in the city. I came back after seeing how bad it was in the sunlight and again they were SO RUDE. They totally dismissed any claim to them having messed up and didn't even look at me. I asked for a refund and they said it was too late. ALL THEY WANT IS YOUR MONEY AND THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE SERVICE THEY GIVE YOU. (and my vest sill reeks of the coffee stain they were supposed to get out.)

Cons: over-priced, rude, job not done

Posted 05/18/07

We tried this place in lieu of our normal cleaners because we needed a bunch of cleaning done, and they happened to take credit cards on a day when we had no cash on us. Big mistake. What would have been $60 at our normal cleaners was $140 at Chris French. Had they taken care of our clothes in an exceptional way, this ridiculous price would have been forgiven. However, it was by far the worst cleaning I have gotten since moving to the East Village last April. My wool pants were returned with as much fuzz as when they were dropped off, in addition to a new stain. Our sweaters contained tiny bits of some type of paper that is very difficult to remove. One of my sweaters, a 95% wool/5% cashmere, was charged as being treated for cashmere even when I instructed to treat it as wool for the lower price. My dress shirts were all flimsily placed on the hangers, so they now have creases in various places, and my silk halter dress was carelessly tied to a hanger with no cardboard inside, so that it, too, had a huge crease down the front. I won't be able to wear it without cleaning it again. My regular place charges half the price but treats it well. All in all, these people clearly don't care about the clothes you are entrusting to their care, so the hype and the excessive price are not justified. I wish I hadn't paid so much attention to the positive reviews, because I would be $80 richer and much happier with the state of my clothes.

Pros: Big place

Cons: Overpriced, Careless

Posted 02/04/07

Well... I disagree with the negative critics posted for Chris French Cleaners.
I used them for 10 years when living in the East Village walking several blocs to drop my cloths there for both cleaning and repairs (passing on my way several other cleaners to have Chris Cleaners do my work). 10 years after I still drive from Brooklyn Heights to have all my alterations and fine/challenging cleaning done by them.
John, their taylor, is superb. I like the fact that they are nature conscious. They were the first one's (and the only one's that I know) to offer re-useable garment bags to cut on all these crazy plastic transparent cover bags. They take back hangers and the like.
They deliver to my office mid town.
Bazil does even give me at the end of the year an itemized tab of my yearly expenses so I can keep tack of my cleaning/tayloring cost....and by the way they are no more expensive that the cleaners around your block...
What else to ask from a cleaner... I am not sure ... we are approaching dry-cleaning Nirvana here... Pierre-Yves

Posted 01/08/07

These guys have been great with everything that Ive taken to them, hemming, drycleaning, and several sewing projects. I've even had them correct other work that other places did incorrectly. They are always highly professional, and experts at what they do. I'm sure you can find examples of problems with anyone, but I use these guys for the most difficult and critical work.

Pros: highly professional tailoring

Cons: pricy, but worth it

Posted 01/01/07

I went there because of the signs in the window, claiming they were the "best dry cleaner" in town. I found out very quickly that was FAR FROM THE TRUTH!! I brought a skirt in to get cleaned and hemmed. When I went to pick it up it was not cleaned at all. I refused to pay for the cleaning. Once the BEYOND RUDE cashier informed me that I would have to pay even though it wasnt clean, I gave in and said fine". The cashier then told me I couldnt have it back and he was going to KEEP MY DIANE VON FURSTENBURG SKIRT! I told him I would CALL THE COPS and when I went outside to call they conveniently "closed early". I went back the next morning and he still REFUSED TO GIVE ME MY BELONGINGS! PLEASE DONT RISK LOSING YOUR BELONGINGS!

Cons: very rude staff, prices are SO HIGH

Posted 04/24/06

Recently I went to get my wedding dress cleaned by these hacks. It came back to me REDESIGNED with a major piece of it MISSING. Instead of letting me know what happened they held on to it for months even though I had called to check in. When I confronted the owner, he claimed that I "didn't know what I was talking about" until I showed him the pictures from my wedding. He then said I told him to redesign it. When I showed up to get my credit, he again lied and gave me less of a discount than what we had agreed upon. Never come here to trust them with your precious dress or to get any decent service.

Cons: slimy owner, unbelievably careless, slow

Posted 01/28/05

They have the worst customer service! Hands down. When they ruined my clothes, the owner just argued with me. Not even one apology even. Not worth the price nor anguish. Don't go here.

Cons: , pricey, lying staff

Posted 10/21/04

The prices here are slightly higher than at many other dry cleaners in the Astor Place area, however I have consistently found that Chris French Cleaners takes great care of their customers' pieces. I would highly recommend them.

Pros: Quality, Service

Posted 09/02/04