Capitol Cleaners and Tailors

Yesterday, I finally came back to get the slacks they didn’t have on my first trip. It’s been almost 1 month and I received a total of zero calls from them notifying me they had found my pants and they were ready (even though they said they would when located). As usual, the pompous lady who was unhelpful the first round about was there when I picked up the pants. I was helped by a different person, but when I locked eyes with the impolite employee, she had a smirk on her face that will haunt me for weeks. Yes, I STILL had to pay for the pants. No accountability, horrible customer service and an uneasy environment… I’ll happily take my business elsewhere.

I usually go to Ace downtown but this place was a lot closer to my house. I brought in three shirts to be tailored. One shirt came out half way ok; It’s still wearable. The other two are completely ruined. I should have known she didn’t know what she was doing when she just started sticking pins in instead of taking measurements. I had $ 340 worth of shirts are now trash.

I use capitol cleaners and tailors mostly because it is around the corner and in my neighborhood. I have had them do many services for me from hemming pants, sewing a buttons, replace/​fix pearl snaps and of course dry cleaning. I have found that every time the job is done well and to my satisfaction. The one thing I have been curious about is the inconsistency with the pricing. For instance I have had pearl snaps replaced/​fixed multiple times and every time the price is different. I have not asked about it yet because I need to pay closer attention to it. I will try to do this going forward.
Capitol Cleaners and Tailors does a great job and is reliable. Their staff is always friendly too.

This place is great! I love the service. They’re really nice folks who always take a second to greet me as I walk in the door, even if they’re busy with other customers.
My clothes come back exactly as I request, and they do rush orders. I came in on my way to work because my suit button fell off and they fixed it on the spot for less than a dollar.
Their prices are great and they have specials every day of the week.
If you’re looking for a good dry cleaners, this is the place!

I’ve only had good experiences with Capitol Cleaners, and I’ve had garments both dry cleaned and altered. They have taken care with my clothing, and have been pleasant to deal with and easy to get ahold of. Parking is always available in their lot, and it’s in a nice, easy to find location. My alterations have routinely cost $ 18 – 20 and taken about a week, yet dry cleaning has varied. No complaints here!

One dress I brought in came out ok, but they seriously screwed up a simple hem on denim pants that even my teenage brother could have whipped out in home ec class. I guess I should have asked him to do the job instead.
Won’t be going back.

I BROUGHT IN MY BRAND NEW 500CT. EGYPTIAN COTTON COMFORTER TO BE DRY CLEANED (William Cannon location) When I picked up the comforter a week later, I got it home & went to put it on the bed & noticed pink (bleach-​like) stains strewn across the top of one side of my DARK PURPLE comforter. The filling was also all lumpy & uneven. I immediately called & spoke to Cheryl, to whom I explained the situation. She then told me to bring it in. I immediately brought it into the store, which is 5 min from my house, & was given a load of excuses & she took absolutely no responsibility for either issue. The clerk behind the counter jumped in & said the stains were there when it was brought in, which is impossible… Again, it was a day old… & I don’t appreciate the dishonesty… that makes it even worse. Cheryl then went on to tell me that I should take it back to the store where I bought it… that it may have had something on it (while still in the pkg… yeah right) that interacted w their cleaning chemicals & try to get my money back. Concerning the lumpy filling/​stuffing, she told me that, again, it was the manufacturer’s problem… some of the stitches had come undone, which caused this to happen. I would have done better had I washed this myself, although it said DRY CLEAN ONLY… The fluff may have been uneven, but at least it wouldn’t have had stains on it. I am VERY UNSATISFIED with their lack of customer service & shady attitudes/​excuses. I WILL NEVER EVER USE THIS BUSINESS AGAIN!

The people that work here are usually related or friends of the employees. One thing to warn all people thinking about using this company: CHECK THE POCKETS!!! Whatever you leave in the pockeyt of your clothing, goes to the employee who found it. They have bags set aside that they put the items into, but if they aren’t picked up in a day or so, the employees get it. This includes: money, jewelry, watches, anything that fits in your pocket.

Do not go to the William Cannon location! I dropped off a pair of pants to have the hem let out, and when I brought them home, they were uneven. When I brought them back, I tried them on to show the girl up front. She agreed that they were about half an inch different. The next day, I received a message on my phone saying that they measured them, and they were even. When I went in, I explained that when I put them on, they were not even, as they were when I dropped them off. The manager/​seamstress came out and told me that they were even. I explained to her that they were not. She rudely asked me to put them on. When I came out to show her, they were clearly uneven, but she kept arguing that they were fine. She said it was because I was looking down, and even asked if me legs/​body was uneven!!! I will NEVER go back!

When I called Capitol Cleaners late on a Friday and asked if they could have a new suit tailored by Sunday before I left on a business trip, I didn’t expect them to say yes. However, they told me that their tailor at the William Cannon location might be able to do it. I raced there from downtown, and the clerk took my measurements and insured me that it would be ready the next day at noon. The next day I called to ask when they closed. The clerk told me that they were already closed (it was 1:00 PM). I was ready to beg and offer her money. But before I had the chance, the clerk told me that she’d stay late to let me pick my suit up. I cannot thank you enough! Thank you Esmerelda!

I was a patient & loyal customer here for six months, but have recently come to the conclusion that I cannot continue doing business with Capitol Cleaners. After you drop off your clothes, you need to be careful to ask for your ticket with the price on it; they will often not give you one. If an item is lost, you technically do not have any basis to recover damages for it without a ticket. Capitol Cleaners lost one of my favorite sweaters and I did not have a ticket — luckily, they were able to pull it up in their system, but I wouldn’t count on them to be so nice next time.
In addition to losing this item of mine, Capitol Cleaners has not had orders ready on time, taking up to a week to clean a normal order of just 5 items. In contrast, the turnaround time for normal, non-​rush orders at Reid’s Cleaners on N. Lamar is one day. Because clothes are shipped from satellite locations to Capitol’s central cleaning facility off S. 1^st, this extra logistical step uses up more time, causes delays and creates room for items to get misplaced. Dry cleaners that have their cleaning facilities onsite allow communication between the people in the front that deal with customers and the people in the back that do the cleaning. In contrast, there is a communication gap between these folks at Capitol Cleaners where the people doing the cleaning are somewhat removed from a customer base scattered all throughout Austin. There is a reason why the only positive reviews of this place are written by customers who drop off their clothes at the S. 1^st location.
Capitol misplaced an expensive pair of Banana Republic slacks of mine and presented me with a cheap-​ass pair of pants from Express that were the same color and size. When I told them that this pair was of inferior quality, they insisted that they were mine and questioned my memory. Fortunately, a nice girl who worked there went through every item one-​by-​one and recovered my pants, but it took days and caused me some amount of anxiety.
The quality of their cleaning sucks; my clothing comes back smelling worse than when I dropped them off — like musty, stale body odor. They use the same steam press for starch and non-​starch orders, so unless you pay extra for a «soft dry,» your clothes will come back as stiff as cardboard. I’ve almost gotten cuts from the edges they were so crisp! They also fail to remove stains and there were times I really wondered if my clothes were even cleaned at all.
You may wonder why I continued to go back for six months. The girls at the counter at the Stassney location were very pleasant and sweet, and I like to give people second chances for mistakes. However, it seems to me that the mistakes of Capitol Cleaners are not exceptions but the norm. There are many other places with smoother-​running operations that I can choose from, and it’s time to say goodbye.

This place is terrible. There were two incidents that are truly unforgivable and warrant a call to the better business bureau. First, I brought a suit to be altered. They took the measurements and said it would be ready in about 7 days. I was given a ticket totaling about $ 30.
I returned on the agreed upon day, and the store wanted to charge me over $ 70. The girl indicated that I «did not take the second ticket» for the pants. I only had a ticket for the jacket. I said, «I did not take it, or you did not give it to me?» The latter was definitely the case. And, no one called me to clarify. I mean, if I «left» the ticket, then they surely knew I had no idea that I was being charged for the two garments. Shouldn’t they have called?
I was going to leave this alone and not Unilocal it, but something happened this week that was related to this incident. I received a call in my OFFICE from a personal financial planner who wanted my business. He indicated that he got my number from the «nice people at Capitol Cleaners over on Manchaca.» I was livid. These people sold my information to the highest bidder (for a cut of the loot, I imagine).
I have not faith in these people, and neither should you. Stay away!