Dry Cleaner Rant

[Calamity Kris]

As more people will be coming back to campus, my company has started asking us to go back to "Business Casual" attire.  I imagine customer visits will be returning soon as well.  Considering that, I took a number of my cotton dress shirts to the cleaners this morning.  WELL, between CV-19 and all the other things going on, prices have risen dramatically.  It now costs me $5.00 each to have a woman's cotton shirt cleaned.  {If it were a men's shirt, it would only be $2.50 however they do check which side the buttons are on so I'm screwed.}  I've called all the local cleaners and they all use the same charging practices so either I pay it or don't wear cotton shirts.  It really chaps me to get screwed like this.  Does anyone else have to deal with this?

 

Rant off....

[Subdeacon Joe]

1.) I don't understand how it can be more difficult to clean a woman's shirt than a man's shirt.

2.) Tell them you identify as a cross-dressing male, so that is technically a man's shirt even though a woman is aring it.

 

[DocWard]

I'm curious also. What is the justification? 

[Calamity Kris]

16 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

1.) I don't understand how it can be more difficult to clean a woman's shirt than a man's shirt.

2.) Tell them you identify as a cross-dressing male, so that is technically a man's shirt even though a woman is aring it.

 

 

11 minutes ago, DocWard said:

I'm curious also. What is the justification? 

 

The three primary reasons I receive are:

 

1) Women's shirts don't fit on their pressing form so they have to be pressed by hand.  {Malarkey!!!!  If I were a size zero, I might buy that but I'm sure they clean and press men's shirts that are smaller than mine, especially with the current men's fashion trend of wearing much more fitted shirts.}

2) Women's shirts are more delicate so they must be finished by hand.  {Malarkey again.  Same weight fabric as men's shirts, only buttons on other side.}

3) All the ruffles and lace make them more difficult to handle so they must be done by hand.  {Malarkey also.  99 % of my shirts have no lace or ruffles.  I have a couple of company logo shirts I wear that are made of EXACTLY the same fabric and cut as the men's but button on the other side.}

 

I complained to one store manager and she told me that's what management told her she has to charge.  It seems to be a systemic problem here.  I have visited or contacted at least a dozen cleaners and all of them tell me the same story.  Simply put, they are making money off the backs (literally) of women. There aren't enough hours in a day for me to iron them myself.  If synthetic fabric didn't bother me so much, especially in the humidity we have here, I would buy synthetic shirts and be done with the cleaners.  Unfortunately, when I wear synthetic shits, I'm scratching like a crazy person by noon. 

 

I would love to tell them I'm cross dressing, however, I don't think they would care..........

 

[J-BAR #18287]

Go ahead and beat them at their own game.
 

Start wearing men’s shirts.

 

Nothing more appealing than a pretty woman wearing a man’s shirt!

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

16 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Nothing more appealing than a pretty woman wearing a man’s shirt!

 

Nothing?

[DocWard]

30 minutes ago, Calamity Kris said:

 

 

The three primary reasons I receive are:

 

1) Women's shirts don't fit on their pressing form so they have to be pressed by hand.  {Malarkey!!!!  If I were a size zero, I might buy that but I'm sure they clean and press men's shirts that are smaller than mine, especially with the current men's fashion trend of wearing much more fitted shirts.}

2) Women's shirts are more delicate so they must be finished by hand.  {Malarkey again.  Same weight fabric as men's shirts, only buttons on other side.}

3) All the ruffles and lace make them more difficult to handle so they must be done by hand.  {Malarkey also.  99 % of my shirts have no lace or ruffles.  I have a couple of company logo shirts I wear that are made of EXACTLY the same fabric and cut as the men's but button on the other side.}

 

I complained to one store manager and she told me that's what management told her she has to charge.  It seems to be a systemic problem here.  I have visited or contacted at least a dozen cleaners and all of them tell me the same story.  Simply put, they are making money off the backs (literally) of women. There aren't enough hours in a day for me to iron them myself.  If synthetic fabric didn't bother me so much, especially in the humidity we have here, I would buy synthetic shirts and be done with the cleaners.  Unfortunately, when I wear synthetic shits, I'm scratching like a crazy person by noon. 

 

I would love to tell them I'm cross dressing, however, I don't think they would care..........

 

 

Have you tried wrinkle free/non-iron cotton shirts? I own them from L.L. Bean and Brooks Brothers and have been happy with both. A bit pricey, but with what you're paying in laundry bills...

[DocWard]

1 minute ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Nothing?

 

I will say very little, depending on the situation... And I will leave it at that.

[J-BAR #18287]

15 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Nothing?

Poetic/dramatic license, if you please.  

[Pat Riot]

That is pure Bull Shtuff!  The cleaners I used to use tried that crap with people. They also started charging double for long sleeves versus short sleeves for men’s shirts. They changed their practices when me and many others quit patronizing them. 
Joke was on them though. We found how easy it was to do our own. I never went back. 
It also dawned on me that no one noticed that I stopped having my shirts and pants professionally pressed. 
I am at a point in my career that I really don’t care about impressing a bunch of pinheads anyway. 

[Blackwater 53393]

I think that if some enterprising attorney were to challenge this on the grounds of sexual discrimination, you might find yourself ab;e to afford any shirt you chose to wear!!

 

   

[Subdeacon Joe]

41 minutes ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

I think that if some enterprising attorney were to challenge this on the grounds of sexual discrimination, you might find yourself ab;e to afford any shirt you chose to wear!!

 

   

 

I think it has been done in a few places already. 

[John Kloehr]

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/battle-of-the-prices-is-it-ever-fair-to-charge-one-sex-more/381546/

 

Quote

 

Gender price discrimination is illegal in many states but it can be quite tricky to determine when two products are really the same and when they are different. For example, Miami-Dade County has ordinances that prohibit gender pricing for dry cleaning. The gray area is this: "A business is permitted to charge a different price if the goods or services involve more time, difficulty or cost. In other words, consideration must be given to the quality and complexity of the goods or services to determine whether or not you have been discriminated against."

 

New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has stricter ordinances. Inherently biased gender terms, such as shirts and blouses, are not enough—prices can differentiate for shirts with and without ruffles, but not between shirts and blouses. In recent years, the New York DCA has cracked down on gender pricing violations in the city. Inspectors patrol businesses regularly, and in 2012 they handed out 361 notices. Last year, there were 195 violations, and this year’s violation count is already over 200.

...

So do women always pay more? Not always. Often, nightclubs charge women less for entry, a practice California has banned.

 

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

6 hours ago, Calamity Kris said:

As more people will be coming back to campus, my company has started to ask us to go back to "Business Casual" attire.  I imagine customer visits will be returning soon as well.  Considering that, I took a number of my cotton dress shirts to the cleaners this morning.  WELL, between CV-19 and all the other things going on, prices have risen dramatically.  It now costs me $5.00 each to have a woman's cotton shirt cleaned.  {If it were a men's shirt, it would only be $2.50 however they do check which side the buttons are on so I'm screwed.}  I've called all the local cleaners and they all use the same charging practices so either I pay it or don't wear cotton shirts.  It really chaps me to get screwed like this.  Does anyone else have to deal with this?

 

Rant off....

Why can't you wash and dry them yourself? Excuse me if I'm uneducated on cleaning cotton shirts but I know I have some and I haven'y been to the cleaners in years.

 

When I played in a wedding band 20 years ago, I'd have to take in my suit and also we had a tux for the fancier affairs.

[Calamity Kris]

1 hour ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Why can't you wash and dry them yourself? Excuse me if I'm uneducated on cleaning cotton shirts but I know I have some and I haven'y been to the cleaners in years.

 

When I played in a wedding band 20 years ago, I'd have to take in my suit and also we had a tux for the fancier affairs.

 

Most of the cotton shirts I wear I can wash myself.  However, in order to get that nice, crisp professional look, they should be pressed.  If I had enough time in a week, I would do it myself.  I don't so it's easier to take them to the cleaners and let them do it. 

[Calamity Kris]

@John Kloehr great article.  It clearly states what I'm talking about.

 

Quote

New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has stricter ordinances. Inherently biased gender terms, such as shirts and blouses, are not enough—prices can differentiate for shirts with and without ruffles, but not between shirts and blouses. In recent years, the New York DCA has cracked down on gender pricing violations in the city. Inspectors patrol businesses regularly, and in 2012 they handed out 361 notices. Last year, there were 195 violations, and this year’s violation count is already over 200.

 

As I stated above, my shirts are very plain.  No ruffles, lace or other items that would cause a dry cleaner to expend any extra effort, time or cost in processing them.

 

@Blackwater 53393 I might have to find an enterprising, hungry attorney willing to take this on. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I use a profession cleaner about once a year for suits and sports coats.

 

I fired my DC when they told me they couldn't press my trousers WITHOUT creases as I asked for.  I went home, got my little butane travel iron and a portable board and went back and did one myself on their counter.  Seems the don't have anyone smart enough or un-lazy enough to do that .  Said they could send it out and it would cost $18.00 a pair.  I wrote a letter to their corporate office telling them what I thought, but they were too stupid or lazy to reply.

[Dusty Boots]

19 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

I think that if some enterprising attorney were to challenge this on the grounds of sexual discrimination, you might find yourself ab;e to afford any shirt you chose to wear!!

 

   

Better to let a free market force them to lower their price, than to open that can of worms.

[Calamity Kris]

Please explain your "can of worms" thought.  If everyone in town has the same pricing structure, there is no "free market". 

[Eyesa Horg]

Women's Shirts Matter, time to stop the discrimination. Maybe a protest and burn down our garages, that will teach 'em.

 

 

All that aside; That is pure BS Kris

[Matthew Duncan]

On June 6, 2020 at 1:47 PM, Calamity Kris said:

 

 

The three primary reasons I receive are:

 

1) Women's shirts don't fit on their pressing form so they have to be pressed by hand.  {Malarkey!!!!  If I were a size zero, I might buy that but I'm sure they clean and press men's shirts that are smaller than mine, especially with the current men's fashion trend of wearing much more fitted shirts.}

2) Women's shirts are more delicate so they must be finished by hand.  {Malarkey again.  Same weight fabric as men's shirts, only buttons on other side.}

3) All the ruffles and lace make them more difficult to handle so they must be done by hand.  {Malarkey also.  99 % of my shirts have no lace or ruffles.  I have a couple of company logo shirts I wear that are made of EXACTLY the same fabric and cut as the men's but button on the other side.}

 

I complained to one store manager and she told me that's what management told her she has to charge.  It seems to be a systemic problem here.  I have visited or contacted at least a dozen cleaners and all of them tell me the same story.  Simply put, they are making money off the backs (literally) of women. There aren't enough hours in a day for me to iron them myself.  If synthetic fabric didn't bother me so much, especially in the humidity we have here, I would buy synthetic shirts and be done with the cleaners.  Unfortunately, when I wear synthetic shits, I'm scratching like a crazy person by noon. 

 

I would love to tell them I'm cross dressing, however, I don't think they would care..........

 

 

Women are more fussy about dry cleaning then men?

[Badlands Bob #61228]

Buy an iron.  Problem solved and you save $5.00 a shirt.

[Rye Miles #13621]

22 hours ago, Calamity Kris said:

 

Most of the cotton shirts I wear I can wash myself.  However, in order to get that nice, crisp professional look, they should be pressed.  If I had enough time in a week, I would do it myself.  I don't so it's easier to take them to the cleaners and let them do it. 

It's 2020, forget the "Clean professional look", you'll look just fine and no one will even notice because everyone is too into themselves!

[Bad Bascomb, SASS # 47,494]

  Might be worth wearing men's shirts and have Uno take them in......

[MizPete]

I can believe a woman's shirt won't fit on the pressing board IF it is shaped (curved seams, darts, etc) and agree that ruffles (not necessarily lace) and pintucks may require hand-pressing.  I've got a couple that are real boogers to iron - that's why you don't see them at the range all that often.  But those are the only reasons they should be surcharged. 

And BB, it's a PITA to try to make a man's shoulder fit a woman, and when you take them in, you have that shaping issue again.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

On 6/6/2020 at 5:44 PM, Blackwater 53393 said:

I think that if some enterprising attorney were to challenge this on the grounds of sexual discrimination, you might find yourself ab;e to afford any shirt you chose to wear!!

 

   

 

Or Price Fixing.

In Canada, they could run afoul of the Competitions Act, if someone challenged them.

[South-Eye Ned]

On 6/6/2020 at 11:53 AM, Calamity Kris said:

As more people will be coming back to campus, my company has started asking us to go back to "Business Casual" attire.  I imagine customer visits will be returning soon as well.  Considering that, I took a number of my cotton dress shirts to the cleaners this morning.  WELL, between CV-19 and all the other things going on, prices have risen dramatically.  It now costs me $5.00 each to have a woman's cotton shirt cleaned.  {If it were a men's shirt, it would only be $2.50 however they do check which side the buttons are on so I'm screwed.}  I've called all the local cleaners and they all use the same charging practices so either I pay it or don't wear cotton shirts.  It really chaps me to get screwed like this.  Does anyone else have to deal with this?

 

Rant off....

New World Odor?