Top Hat

I had an unfortunate experience with Top Hat.
A stain appeared on a garment after the cleaning. Although I was frustrated, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and brought it back to be re cleaned. When I brought it back the first thing the manager told me was, ‘We don’t put stains on clothes.’ He was very defensive and borderline rude and accusatory.
Ok, this stain was not there upon drop off to Top Hat, and the manager explained some stains can appear (white wine, champagne etc.) after the cleaning solution comes into contact. Sure, I said, ‘could you try cleaning it again with particular attention to the stain?’ And they did, free of charge.
However, when I picked it up, the stains remained. I asked to see the manager again, and though it was a different manager the first thing he said when I pointed it out was, ‘We do not put stains on clothes.’ Honestly, those stains were not there when the garment was dropped off, and either way they weren’t removed. It was a tough garment to clean, I’ll admit, and they didn’t want to do any damage by trying more intense treatments.
What really made me upset was how defensive and rude they were to me. They spoke down to me, and though didn’t accuse me of lying they took absolutely no responsibility for how the garment turned out.
Respectfully, I asked for my £9.75 back for the cleaning. And to their credit they complied and returned a £10 note to me, and offered to help with a different garment issue I was having.
Overall, I’m sure for regular cleaning needs they are perfectly acceptable, and their pick up system can not be beat for busy professionals. However, I was turned off by the attitude of the staff and lack of accountability.

There’s an old saying; pay peanuts, and you get monkeys doing the job. It baffles me that people will take expensive ‘dry clean only’ clothes and then shop around for a dry clean based almost solely on price. I’ve taken my stuff to Top Hat for years now. They’re not the cheapest, but it’s reasonable. First I went because I was lazy, and lived a few doors down. Now, after I’ve moved, it’s because I know the job gets done (and I’ve had a few tough staines over the years…). Top Hat also has a carousel that will dispatch your dry cleaned stuff 247 by sliding a card into the ATM like machine on the outside. Very handy if you’re like me & only remember late at night that the trousers you need for the morning were never picked up during business hours…