Terms & Conditions - Elite Dry Cleaners

Terms and Conditions

By using the services of Elite Drycleaners, hereafter referred to as ‘we’ you, the customer, hereafter referred to as ‘you’ are entering into the below agreement with the business.

All payments need to be made in full before any cleaning or repairs are made.
Your items will pass through our quality control but on collection you must check your order is complete. We cannot be held responsible for any missing or damaged items that we have not been made aware of within 1 hour of collection.

Stain Removal

We inspect every item before returning it to you to ensure that it meets our strict quality standards. We will make every attempt to remove stains without damage to your item, but it should be noted however, that we do not guarantee the removal of any stains. In any case, the cleaning charge will apply regardless of whether the stain has been removed. Stain removal is often made easier if the stain is identified before cleaning and our ability to remove it will depend on several factors (including but not limited to age of the stain, composition, previous attempts to clean, nature of the fabric and dye).

It is important that you tell us if there are unusual stains and any information which could help us remove them as we can treat them before cleaning your item.

Care Labels

It is your responsibility to ensure that all items that you send to us for cleaning have proper care labels. We do not accept responsibility for items that have missing, unreadable or removed care labels and you accept that all such items are cleaned “at owners risk”.

All items taken in by us are done so at the owner’s risk. When items are taken in, they will be inspected. If any items appear to be of particular risk, or special cleaning required associated with risk, you will be informed and may be asked to sign a note giving your consent and understanding of the risk involved. We cannot be liable for items that we have treated following verbal consent or a completed consent form.

Collecting Items

When taking in items, an agreed collection date for the items will be arranged. You are not obliged to collect your items on that exact date. However, we cannot offer long-term storage. Therefore, you are to be aware that we will hold your items up to the term of 90 days following the due collection date. After this period, we can no longer store the items and therefore hold the right to withdraw the items from the store accordingly. If items are disposed after this 90 day period and you attempt to collect the items in question, we are not obliged to offer any compensation for any items removed from the store after this 90 day period.

Service Wash

We will accept no responsibility to items in a service wash becoming subjective to colour run in the washing process. We will wash lights and darks separately upon your request; however this will need to be separated by you.

We will accept no responsibility for any individual items claiming to have been lost from a service wash. As a service wash is accepted in bulk, individual items are not inventoried or itemised and therefore we, are not obliged to offer any compensation for claiming loss for an individual item.

We take the utmost care with your items however, responsibility will not be accepted by us when damage has occurred to your items when the article was damaged prior to the cleaning process from general wear and tear, or negligence on your part.

General exclusions

Unfortunately, we cannot be liable for:

Any item which suffers colour loss / shrinkage/ damage, during the cleaning process, whereby the manufacturer’s care label instructions have been adhered to.
Any item that does not show cleaning instructions.
Any accessory attached to or contained within any item. An “accessory” means (but is not limited to) belts, buckles, buttons, broaches, beading, painted logos, leather trims, furs, signs, zips, hoods, collars and inner linings.
Any item which is damaged by any accessory on that item. e.g. zips, belts, buttons, beading, broaches, leather strips and patches during the cleaning or drying process.
Any shirt processed by us (cleaned, laundered, or pressed only) that gets ripped or damaged, shrunk, experiences colour loss/change and or suffers button or attachment loss following our shirt cleaning procedures.
Any synthetic /feather and or down filled item e.g., ski wear, all household (duvets, mattress toppers, pillows), puffa /Down jackets, and coats that shrinks, clumps, or loses texture.
Any fur or faux fur on the cuffs, waist, hem or hood of a coat which suffers damage due to the cleaning process where it has become weakened due to natural wear and tear.
Any item that has deliberate crinkles or creased effects on the fabric which are removed during our cleaning process, including all types of pleating as well as sun ray pleating.
Any item which, due to wear and tear or due to its integral nature, is unable to withstand a laundry or drycleaning process, including but not limited to shirt cuffs, collars, and body, any abrasions on garments from friction marks from handbags and belts and accessories to garment stress areas, such as crotches, seats, knees and all hems.
Any item with faulty adhesives or interfacing which leave a mark after cleaning.
In the event that any garment / item is lost / damaged by us and is part of a set e.g. two piece suit / furnishings / curtains / upholstery / laundry, We will only compensate for that lost / damaged item that is documented on the customers ticket. We will not compensate for retrospective value of set loss / damage.
Household items (duvets, bedspreads, cushion/sofa/upholstery covers, rugs, curtains) can demonstrate up to 25% shrinkage and fabric texture change, including but not limited to leather and suede items that shrink, lose colour. Melted buttons/zips/Velcro, in addition can also demonstrate shrinkage.
Any items of knitwear that suffers damage due to the cleaning process where the knitwear has been moth damaged or may have holes due to natural wear and tear.

Please note that adhesives, defects, and faults which were previously camouflaged in manufacture may become more apparent after the cleaning process, and although every care is taken, we cannot always disguise natural flaws or totally remove adhesives, or stretching techniques employed by the manufacturer. These items may “age” after cleaning. All items are therefore only accepted by us for cleaning at your own risk.

Curtain, Blinds (venetian,roman) Upholster and Sofa Cover Cleaning

Whilst all reasonable care will be taken, we can not be held responsible for:-

Wear/tear problems – Curtains, Upholstery and Sofa Covers material and linings can be extremely weak due to the atmospheric conditions they find themselves in and the constant use of the items. Often the cotton material has weakened due to the sunlight, it can be rotten. The mechanical action of the cleaning process can cause this material to rip.
Fading – Sunlight, atmospheric conditions, heat, damp and cold can react on colours, both changing and fading some fabrics. Once surface soil is removed these differences may be highlighted.
Stains – Conditions prevailing during use can cause stains to set and be highlighted after cleaning.
Linings – Taking the brunt of sunlight and other conditions will in time weaken and may shred linings after cleaning. It is not always possible to foresee this except in a very weak state. It is usually possible to arrange a relining service if the need arises, we will not be responsible to pay for the relining of the curtains. Thermal linings can present problems of delamination, once degraded.
Weakened main curtain fabric as a result of ultra violet light exposure – May only be noticeable after they are taken down. Any weak fabric may be damaged during cleaning
Glued-on trims – many adhesives will not withstand the solvents used in cleaning, especially if affected by exposure to light or if more than one year old
Tassels – these may have been weakened by the effects of light
Watermarks contained within the fabric – May not be possible to be removed during cleaning.
Old or Poor Stitching – May loosen during cleaning.
Flocked velvet may change in nature and become hardened
Tie-backs – many of these are not designed to be dry-cleaned. Some are stiffened with plastic liners and often glued during make-up for ease of manufacture.
Weights in the bottoms of curtains – these can be small, round, lead weights or chains that can do untold damage during cleaning as they are smashed against the cage sides during the tumbling action.
Customer must remove if possible.
Swags and tails – these are often cut on the cross (bias) to aid the drape. They can be pulled out of shape during cleaning.
Silver and gold painted designs – most pigments only adhere lightly to the surface of the fabric and can be lost during cleaning. Some may survive the first or second clean, but loss can be progressive over each clean, depending on the amount of mechanical action they are subjected to. Please be aware we are not responsible for this loss.
Relaxation shrinkage – Can be seen by the release of spinning and weaving tension, particularly during a first clean (British standards does allow for 3-5% relaxation shrinkage). When material is made, it is stretched to maximise yield. When material is cleaned/washed first, it relaxes. This will cause the material to shrink, sometimes more than 10% of the original size. It is crucial that when Curtains, Upholstery and Sofa Covers are made, the material is preshrunk/relaxed before being made into curtains. If this hasn’t been done with your Curtains, Upholstery and Sofa Covers, you can expect shrinkage of more than 10%. If your curtains have been handmade, it is important to ask if the manufacturer has shrunk the material before you clean your curtains.

If your Curtains, Upholstery and Sofa Covers are handmade, you must ensure that the material has been pre-shrunk before we clean your garments. It is highly likely that the material hasn’t been pre-shrunk. Therefore, your Curtains, Upholstery and Sofa Covers will shrink/fibres will relax once they have been processed by us. It is highly unlikely, that we will be able to stretch these garments after the cleaning process if they haven’t been pre-shrunk.

The customer must understand and accept that whilst we will use our best endeavours to process your Curtains, Upholstery and Sofa Covers safely, we cannot be held responsible for any deterioration or damage caused to the areas/components indicated above for the reasons outlined.

Leather, Suede and Fur Cleaning
(including but not limited to: garments, handbags, shoes, footwear and household items)

The following possible risks are associated with the treatment of specialist items, we cannot be liable for these and can only accept items for treatment under these terms:

We are unable to accept responsibility for colour uniformity if your item is part of a matching suit / outfit / costume and left for cleaning and/or treatment without the other matching part(s).
Due to the delicate cleaning / treatment methods that are necessary, not all marks, dirt or stains (including, but not limited to: ink, blood, milk, egg, mud, water, soot) can always be completely removed, especially if too deeply ingrained.
Dyes from darker colours may ‘run/bleed’ onto lighter coloured skins, materials or linings which may cause discolouration and / or staining.
Dyes used during the tanning process may not be colour fast, and some degree of colour loss / colour run may occur.
The first time an item is cleaned may result in change of colour / shade / texture / finish.
The use of adhesives during your item(s) manufacture may result in staining on the surface of the item(s) after treatment.
Bonded garments may be subject to damage – the backing fabric may separate from the leather / suede during cleaning which may cause the garment to lose shape and become unwearable.
Treatment of skin items (such as leathers, suedes, furs) may result in slight colour differences which only become apparent after treatment. This can be due to the use of different skins from different animals during the manufacturing process, or in some cases due to the type of dyes used in the tanning and manufacturing process.
Scar tissue may become more apparent following treatment.
Leather, suede or fur items manufactured using weak skins may be liable to break up or tear during treatment.
Worn and/or aged items may become damaged during treatment. Some items may have weak or thin areas that can be chafed during cleaning.
Worn, aged or weak linings may come apart during treatment.
Fine skin items may lose shape during or after treatment.
Prior exposure to heat and or moisture can cause some leathers, suedes, furs or materials to become tender, stiff or brittle during or after treatment.
New garments may appear ‘aged’ following treatment.
Some items may be subject to shape loss or shrinkage following treatment.
Any items without clear care instructions are only accepted on an ‘owners risk / best results’ basis. · We are unable to accept responsibility for trimmings, buckles, zips, buttons, beads or sequins.

Leather handbags with age can become worn and discoloured, the dirt on the bag can sometimes hide this wear & tear and our cleaning process will expose it. In the event of this happening, we will notify you offer to upgrade your service to restore the colour to these areas. (It is not our cleaning process that has caused this damage and so we will not be liable for it.)

After applying some of our services to your handbag, the texture may slightly change from the original. The worse the damage is, the more of our products need to be applied and so the more the texture might change, during our processes we make every effort possible to restore an item to how it originally was.

Leather becomes dirty, it can develop a shine. After cleaning leather and removing the dirt this shine is also removed which restores the leather to how it originally was. We accept no liability for a complaint in such circumstances. The shine can be increased on leather with additional services if required.

When restoring a full item of leather, we will endeavour to match the colour to the most original part of the item, this is usually found on the inside of a pocket, the inside of the item or in any area that has not been or had little exposure to sunlight and wear & tear. We will match to such an area unless a different area is documented at the booking in stage.

When restoring the colour to only part of an item we will match the colour to the surrounding area to help it blend in better. We will always clean the full item before doing this to help equalise the colour as best as possible. However, if some leathers are also worn in other areas our process may highlight these areas further.

Suede/Nubuck – some types of stains may not be removable and stains already present may become more obvious with cleaning. Because of the nature of the material, significant improvements are not always possible. In some cases, colours can become faded with cleaning, and any embossed print can be affected.
All items are therefore only accepted by us for work at your own risk.

Customer Service

In the unlikely event that you are unhappy with our service, we require that you notify us, within 48hours from collecting your item and return the item to our shop, with the label attached and item ensuring that it is returned unworn/unused within our original packaging.
Please be advised that we will not accept back any item that has been worn or accept complaints after a 48 hour period. For missing or lost items, we have 14 working days to investigate the matter.

Claims

Liability for any reason including, but not limited to, lost or damaged drycleaning or laundry items is limited to the lesser of 10 times the cleaning cost or the depreciated value of the item as determined by the Textile Service Association (TSA) fair compensation guidelines when a valid proof of purchase is provided. Where proof of purchase cannot be provided, liability will be the lesser of 5 times the cleaning cost or the depreciated value of the item as determined by the Textile Service Association (TSA) fair compensation guidelines less the cleaning cost incurred.
Liability for any reason including, but not limited to, lost or damaged leather, suede or fur items (including garments, handbags, shoes, footwear and household items) is limited to the lesser of 5 times the cleaning cost or the depreciated value of the item and minus the treatment cost incurred.
We will not be liable for any items not collected more than 90 days following the due collection date.
• Any claim settled by us will be on condition that it is accepted by you as full and final settlement. We reserve the right to retain permanent ownership of the damaged items.
• We will not be liable for any damage which is not related to or caused by the cleaning process
• We will not be liable for any claim which is excluded under General Exclusions above. We follow the Textile Service Association (TSA) industry guidelines for fair compensation. From these guidelines we would potentially compensate you once liability is proven by us, only once the age, original value, and proof of purchase from you is clearly established.
• We do not replace old for new and therefore need to establish the age, state, and condition of the item(s) prior to any compensation being paid out.

Collection and Delivery (for local area only)

We will use reasonable efforts to collect and re-deliver Items at the pre-arranged times, but we cannot guarantee to do so. We will try our best to communicate any delay to you by phone or email and to deliver orders to you within the timeslot agreed but exclude any liability for any and all consequential losses which you may suffer as a result of late delivery.
If you are not available to accept redelivery of Items, we will contact you by phone or email to arrange redelivery at your convenience.
If delivery is not possible due to you being unavailable at the designated time, a redelivery charge of £20.00 will be charged foreach consequent attempt of delivery. We will endeavour to find a suitable redelivery time for both parties.

If you have failed to accept or arrange redelivery of an Item for more than 90 days after the redelivery date originally agreed, we may dispose of the Item.
In the event of the driver arriving at the assigned slot and you are not available, you will be charged an undelivered fee of £20. We must be informed 8 hours before the start of the slot if you are not available.

This section of the Terms and conditions are only applicable to Nationwide Collection and Deliveries:

Your Order

Obtaining a quote. To purchase one of our services, please go to our website and fill in the enquiry form on our Handbag Restoration Page. Please provide details of the service you are interested in and use the “Choose File” button to attach a photograph of the items for which the service is intended and press the “Send Enquiry” button.

Placing an order. Once we have been able to review your request, a member of our team will contact you by email to provide you with a preliminary, indicative quote for the services requested. We will also provide, where possible, an estimate of how long it would take us to fulfil your order. If you accept this quote and proceed to place your order via email, a member of our team will confirm details of how you can deliver your item(s) to Elite Drycleaners.

Acknowledging receipt of your order. After you place an order, you will receive an email from us acknowledging that we have received it. Please note that this does not mean that we have accepted your order. Our acceptance of your order will only take place as described in the “Accepting your Order” heading below.

Accepting your order-. When your items arrive with us, we will undertake a further assessment of their condition. This assessment will determine whether we can fulfil your order according to the preliminary quote provided, or whether close inspection of the item(s) has revealed that we can only fulfil your order according to a revised quote. If we can fulfil your order according to the terms of the preliminary quote, we will send you an email acknowledging acceptance of your order, at which stage a binding legal contract will come into force between us.

Accepting your order according to a revised quote. If after assessing your items more closely, we find that we can only fulfil your order according to the basis of an alternative quote and not based on the indicative preliminary quote we previously provided, we will contact you by email as soon as reasonably possible. At this stage, we will offer you the opportunity to cancel or proceed with the order, or a section of it. If you accept the revised quote, we will send you an email acknowledging our acceptance of your order according to the revised quote, at which point a binding legal contract will come into force between us. If you do not accept the revised quote, we will return your items to you subject the charges listed in the “Delivering or Returning your Items heading.” If we do not hear from you within 10 days of tendering the revised quote, we will return your items to you and charge you for any delivery fee.

Fulfilling your order: payment. Our obligation to perform the cleaning, restoration or repair service you contract for will only come into force once we have received payment from you according to the terms stated in the email confirming acceptance of your order.

Your cancellation rights. Cancelling your order does not guarantee that you will receive a refund, whether in full or in part. This will depend on, among other factors, when we receive notice of your cancellation:

Before we have started the services: If we receive notification of your cancellation request prior to commencing the delivery of the requested services, we will provide you with a full refund subject to deductible administrative, delivery and handling charges.
After we have started the services, but while they are still ongoing: If we receive notification of your cancellation request after we have commenced delivering the services but while they are still ongoing, we will provide a pro rata refund where possible. Where we provide a pro rata refund, this will be subject to administrative, delivery, handling and cost of works deductions. It may not be possible to halt the ongoing work depending on the stage of the undergoing process.
After we have finished the services: If we receive notification of your cancellation request after we have finished the works, after the date on which we confirmed our acceptance of your order, you will not be entitled to cancel your order.

Our cancellation rights. We have the right to cancel your order, and terminate with immediate effect any contractual agreement we have with you if:

You do not make any payment to us when it is due, and you still do not make payment within 10 working days of us reminding you that payment is due.
You do not, within a reasonable period of time of us asking for it, provide us with information that we believe is necessary to provide the services.
After starting the services, we discover any latent defects, damage, deterioration or structural disrepair to the items that render it impractical for us to render the contracted services;
After accepting your order but prior to starting the services, changes in our operational, staffing or business capacity means we are no longer able to proceed with your order.
At any time after accepting your order, an event outside our control, such as a labour strike, weather incident, disease outbreak, fire, criminal act, or terrorist act, renders it impractical for us to deliver the services.

If we terminate your order for the reasons set out in (A) to (C) this clause, we reserve the right not to issue any refund, or where we do to deduct a net percentage of the contract cost as compensation for our costs and time, in addition to any administration, delivery and handling charges. If we terminate your order under (D) and (E), we will provide you with a full refund.

Timescales. Our estimated service turnaround time from when the payment has been received is more than 4 weeks, depending on what services have been requested. More complex jobs can take 6-8 weeks or more.

We, however, cannot be held responsible for delays to the service caused by unforeseen circumstances or additional requirements.

Ready for delivery or collection. When we have performed all the contracted services on your Item(s), we will notify you that they are ready for delivery or collection. If you have opted for delivery of your items, we will provide an estimated date as to when they will arrive at your address or with your authorised courier service. If the delivery arrives after this estimated date, we will not be liable to pay you any compensation for any delay, including where you are not able to use or wear the item(s) for a specific event, such as a wedding.

Collection. If you have asked to collect the items from our premises, we will contact you to confirm the working hours and days on which you or your agent (such as a courier) can collect the goods. If an agent is to collect the goods on your behalf, you must, email us a signed notice with the item description and identification number indicating your consent to such a collection.

Delivery. If no one is available at your address to take delivery and the items cannot be posted through the letterbox, or at a nominated “safe place” indicated by you, a courier will leave you a note informing you as to how to rearrange delivery or to collect items from a local depot. If you do not re-arrange delivery or collect them at a local depot, we will contact you for further instructions and may charge you for storage costs and any further delivery costs. As previously mentioned, we reserve the right not to dispatch your item(s) until we have received your full payment for all sums owed.

What happens if no collection or successful delivery is made? If you do not collect or take delivery of the items within six months of the date they were first made available by us for collection or delivery, and we have made reasonable efforts to contact you, legal title in the goods will pass to us, and we will dispose of them as we wish.

Items damaged in transit. We never knowingly dispatch or attempt to deliver damaged goods. Occasionally, however, things do get lost or damaged in transit. Where additional insurance cover has not been taken out for goods in transit – standard cover only will apply.

We reserve the right to amend these Terms & Conditions without notice. New Terms & Conditions will be made available in our shop and on our web site.
These Terms & Conditions do not affect your statutory rights.