Randolph Towers Valet

I. Hate. Doing. Laundry.
That being said… this dry cleaner is in my building, so if I can go here for relatively cheap and get my work clothes cleaned and pressed… I’m all for it because I HATE doing that stuff.
Dishes? Fine. Vacuuming? Fine. Ironing? Ughhhhh.
I think shirts are around ~1.50 each and they come back on cheap metal hangers that I bring back every once in a while (I believe that is expected).
Drop it off Friday night, get it back saturday afternoon… bingo… bango no ironing for me!
I’ve never gone here for anything other than dry cleaning so I can’t comment on that.

I have a love-​hate relationship going on. Mostly hate.
I live in Arlington (ducks!) and by some sort of legislative fiat, all apartments have to open up the first floor of their buildings to businesses. So that’s why every apartment in Arlington has a deli/​convenience store, dry cleaners etc. in it. Now you know.
Now I don’t have overly-​high expectations from a dry cleaner. I want my clothes to come back clean and pressed, that’s all. Up until a few months ago, they kept their end of the bargain. But that’s beginning to change. A recent batch of shirts came back with buttons cracked (some of the shirts were brand new and hadn’t been worn yet). I know modern craftsmanship (craftspersonship?) sucks and all, but come on.
And you need to be. Very. Clear. When. You. Explain. What. You. Want. to the woman behind the counter. Do NOT have a special need when she’s on the phone or her mind is clearly not on her work. Snafus have included:
Having a knot sewn into one of my suit pants. I was pointing out a small stain on one of the legs, and for some reason she was transfixed on a stray fiber that had come loose. Guess she took it upon herself to «fix» it. I could have «fixed» it just as badly.
Getting charged $ 20 for drycleaning a peacoat when I explained ahead of time I just wanted a button sewn on and nothing else.
The tipping point was when I took in a pair of pants to have some stains removed. It was an old suit my dad had that he hasn’t worn in years. I explained as such and she immediately demanded to know why I wasn’t getting it tailored by her (because I don’t want it to come back with three legs probably). So then she said she’d wait to clean the pants until after I brought the jacket in. She said you get better results when you dry clean garments together. What? Do my pants get lonely or something? «Boy that Jason. Leaving me all alone while his buddy Mr. Suitcoat gets tailored? I’m gonna rip the crotch out, that’ll show him!»
Unfortunately, when you bring any of this to the clerk’s attention, her English all of a sudden gets not-​so-​good (whereas it was just fine before). Just admit you made a mistake, tell me how you’re gonna rectify it, and then do it. I’m cool like that.
The verdict: it’s a dilemma. I’d take my clothes to one of the numerous other dry cleaners around, but I’ve heard they pretty much all suck too! But I think you can probably do at least a little better. In fact, I’m taking my next batch of laundry across the street, so hopefully I’ll have a positive review to post later.