Newlywed taken to the cleaners

What do you do when the dry cleaner loses a shirt? How about a wedding dress? One
metro-area bride said it happened to her and she was devestated.

"I'm heartbroken," said Mendy Athony, who was married May 13, 2006. "All I have are pictures. It has so much sentimental value. I will never see it again."

Mendy Anthony was hoping her wedding dress would be a family heirloom. Shortly after she got married, Mendy took her dress to C and S Cleaners in Paul's Valley to get some stains down at the bottom of her dress removed. The cleaners said the dress would be ready in three weeks, but Mendy said every time she called, no one knew anything about her wedding dress.

Mendy said her mom finally tracked down the owner.

"He said he would try to get it taken care of that week and that was the last we heard from him," said Mendy Anthony. "Maybe it wouldn't be important to him, because to a man it's just a piece of material. But I was just so upset."

It has now been more than a year since Mendy left her dress with the cleaners. NEWS 9's Amanda Taylor and the Consumer Watch Team decided to step in and help Mendy get some answers.

"Evidentially something did happen to it," admitted co-owner of C and S Cleaners, Rusty Bromigen. "We are the type of business who will stand behind anything that does happen."

Bromigen said the family did send him a receipt for the missing dress. The owner was confused though, because the receipt was about half the amount of what it should have been.

"That's when I was like, ‘Well maybe she didn't get me the right receipt. Maybe it was the wrong receipt and I don't want to right a check and she (Mendy) say, ‘Oh they're not going to pay the full amount.'"

So he said he was waiting on the family to call him back. Regardless of which story is true, C and S Cleaners said they will send Mendy $600 to cover the cost of her dress. Mendy did receive the check.

If you drop off your clothes at a cleaner, it's a good idea to always ask for a receipt and then check the receipt. This way just in case something happens, the receipt will help you in your case against the dry cleaner.

If there's something Amanda Taylor and the Consumer Watch team can help you with call
841-9921.

Original Aired: 11-19-07