that is awful i can't believe they continue to be allowed to distroy people's big days and get away with it. i too had an awful experience with Johnsons dry cleaners and I feel that it is important to let people know of my expereince of using Johnsons dry cleaning
wedding service in order to transport my dress to my
wedding venue in scotland and to ensure this was appropriatley steamed for my big day. If you have already enquired about this service you will be aware that it is not cheap. In order to have my dress steam press and boxed it cost me £130 and the stress that it caused both days before the
wedding and on the day was massive and has in some ways tarnish the memories of my big day. This is because of the following events:
On Saturday 13th October 2007 I brought into the newark branch a wedding dress, veil and bolero Jacket in order to purchase the wedding service. I was informed that these items would be cleaned and placed in a box. I explained to the shop assistant our intention to take the dress to Scotland and she informed me that the dress would be fine and would have no creases in it on the day of the wedding. All 3 items were checked and confirmed.
The difficulties began on Saturday 27th October 2007 when I arrived at the shop and these items were not ready for collection as promised. I informed the manager that we were leaving for our wedding at the end of the week. She informed me that they did not do this service at the shop and that she would contact wherever my items had been sent. This had already begun to increase stress levels for me and my partner with concerns that the dress would not be back on time. I was able to collect these items on Wednesday 31st October 2007.
When receiving the items it was clear there was a number of issues firstly; the veil was in the same condition as it was sent still creased and in need of steaming. When unwrapping the wedding box from its bubble wrap and plastic, the box was damaged. The dress had beading missing from the front and the bolero jacket was missing.
On Thursday 1st November 2007, I contacted the manager at Newark Brach to inform them of the above. The manger informed me that I had not taken in the jacket with the dress. I informed her that two members of staff checked the items before I left the shop. She informed me that the members of staff concerned had stated that this was not so and she believed them.
Totally devastated my partner then rang your head office to discuss the whole situation as this was causing her a great deal of anxiety. She was informed that a member of staff would be sent to the Newark branch in order to check out the situation. They would refund the cost of the wedding service and in the mean time due to time limitation, I was to go and buy a new bridal bolero jacket however, should they find the jacket then she was to return this to the shop she bought it from.
Disgusted with this requested I then rang head office myself and explained that bridal wear is not that easily obtainable nor returnable, the previous matching jacket to the dress had been ordered. They then agreed that I buy a new jacket and the cost would be refunded irrespective of finding the other jacket. I spent the remained of the day visiting bridal shops in Nottinghamshire to find a matching Jacket, luckily finding one.
On Friday 2nd November 2007 I then received a call from the Newark Branch informing me they had found the jacket and they apologised for the stress and anxiety the whole situation had caused. I enquired once again about the possibility that the dressed maybe creased due to the previous difficulties. The manager reassured me that the dress would be fine and crease free. Giving that we was leaving for our wedding on this day I had no option but to trust hat the manager had informed me.
On 12th November 2007 our wedding day i came to put on the wedding dress to discover when removing it from the box, the dress was terribly creased with clear definitions where the dress had been folded. This was more creased than when it had been taken to the shop. I was absolutely devastated and should our guests have not paid a substantial amount of money to attend the wedding she would have cancelled the whole day.
Luckily we were able to iron the dress but all the special-ness a bride is supposed to feel on her wedding day was taken from me when I removed the dress from its box, my dreams of stepping into my dress and feeling a million dollars were shattered. I felt degraded asking guests to help me iron my wedding dress minutes before I was due to walk into the castle. My visions of being a princess in a castle for a day had been taken away from me, which is reflected in my wedding photos and had a knock on affect to the rest of the day. My memories of the most important day of my life are tarnished by my thoughts and feelings of having to iron my dress minutes before the ceremony. I am totally gutted as I will never be able have that day again.
We felt that we could trust this company, as it is a reputable firm providing this service that is not cheap at a £130. We are both totally disappointed and do not feel they provided the service that they have stated on their website;
“Our specialist wedding dress cleaning services ensure that each wedding dress is treated with the care it deserves, and cleaned to the highest possible standards.”
when writing to them about this issuse they were very dismissive about it by not returning my calls and resulting in then just refunding the service. i contacted trading standard and they to was very dismissive about it, all i really hope for now it that they do not do what they did to me to others.
wedding dress disaster 
which they did, they even asked Johnsons to comment.
