November 2023 by Evan S.
I searched locally on Yelp for a laundry place that offered a standard fluff-and-fold pickup service, and chose this place based off proximity. I wanted to get my bedding done, which ended up being 7 items. One comforter, a linen duvet, a regular sheet, a mattress liner, and 3 pillowcases.I lived in Van Nuys during 2020, and didn't have in-unit laundry- so I was used to a normal, weight based system for pricing. Upon arrival, I noticed a board on the left listing the services of Dry Cleaning, Laundry, Etc. It was apparent immediately that there would be a language barrier, but I'm only writing this for documentation for my bank- not to shit on this small business. That being said, the language barrier proved to be the main source of the misunderstanding on both ends.She counted out my items, and asked me when I would like everything ready. We agreed on that Friday, and when I went to pay, she said to wait until pickup. I came in a week after my original pickup time, apologized, and they retrieved my bedding from the back. There was no issue with my lateness, or additional fee factored in, so when the bill came out to be $146.30- I didn't know what to say to them in the moment without there being any added confusion.The reason I've ended up resorting to a Yelp review, is because my bank suggested that I solve this with the merchant in person, before they start a claim for any kind of chargeback/refund/partial refund. This happened on a Holiday weekend, and as of right now, this is the only documentation I have to explain my experience with them, and my bank.After I left, I called a handful people to confirm whether or not I had gotten ripped off- and then spent the evening on the phone with my bank trying to explain that this is the equivalent of me going to get a standard, base package car wash- being told to pay on pickup- and they completely detailed, painted, and repaired my car.The agent's suggestion was for me to go into this business, and gather some form of documentation on their pricing, as they had no website- or anything listed on Yelp. I said I had reservations about going in, and accusing an older couple of fraud, when there was already a language barrier, and I didn't want to create a problem.I stopped by today, and it was the same staff. I noticed the services on the board didn't have any indication of pricing at all. I asked her if they had any kind of pricing guide, or paperwork for their customers. She was very confused by this, and just said it was per item, and repeated that things were on a case by case basis.I said I understood, and that I had come in two weeks ago to drop off bedding, made it clear that I wanted the standard laundry pick-up service that they offer- and ended up having to pay for dry cleaning that they decided to do on their end. I wasn't upset, just mainly trying to figure out if they really didn't have any sort of paperwork for pricing at all. Even for themselves? I asked if there is a weight based system, and she said yes, confirming the service is an option- instead of an item-by-item dry clean only business. She said the price for that is $3.75 a pound, which is what I would have been expecting. She said it was less compared to dry cleaning, which is a case by case basis. She confirmed there is no listing of prices available in-store, or online.The only thing I was trying to accomplish by coming in was to get any kind of documentation to upload for my bank regarding their prices, and that's all they are willing to give verbally. I told the initial agent that I had reservations about coming in, given the circumstances, and any confusion being misinterpreted as accusatory... it's not difficult to picture a situation where I would be called a racist- and kicked out. Which, is precisely what ended up happening. She ended up getting overwhelmed with me trying to provide alternatives, and expressing that I would have been a return customer if there was something we could meet in the middle on. I asked if I could email her instead,
