Beijing Evening News: Can afford high-end clothing but not the cleaning
Release Time:
2011-03-29 20:43
Source:
Beijing Evening News
Beijing Evening News (Reporter Dou Huanhuan) "It's almost time to wear this trench coat, but I still haven't found a reliable place to clean it." Yesterday, while tidying her wardrobe at home, Ms. Dong was troubled by her long Burberry raincoat. The reporter found that luxury bags and clothing face difficulties in cleaning and repairs; sending them back to the original factory abroad is too costly, and finding a particularly reliable cleaning shop in Beijing is even harder.
Branded suede clothes shrunk after washing
"Now I don't even care about brand names; I basically just put everything in the washing machine myself," said Ms. Xiong, a citizen, who mentioned that several of her branded clothes were ruined after being sent to chain laundries.
Ms. Xiong told reporters that what she regrets most are two suede jackets. She spent a lot of money buying them; the colors and textures were very beautiful, and the styles were classic and timeless. But after wearing them for one season, she started worrying about cleaning. Because she couldn't find a cleaning shop in Beijing with both suitable technology and price, she finally sent them to a well-known chain laundry near her home. "As a result, due to unprofessional detergents, the clothes were damaged, shrunk, discolored, and basically unwearable."
"Later, I learned a lesson: don't buy clothes that are too expensive. If a handbag gets dirty, I can wipe it myself and use a more expensive care product to fix it; but if clothes are not cleaned properly, they're completely ruined," said Ms. Xiong.
Trench coats even need to be sent back to Hong Kong for cleaning
Ms. Dong's most beloved spring outfit is a Burberry raincoat she bought last year in Hong Kong. "I spent about 8,700 yuan RMB when buying it, and after returning to Beijing, I saw the retail price in the specialty store was over 13,000 yuan, so I felt like I made a profit." But Ms. Dong did not expect that cleaning this light beige raincoat would be so costly. "When purchasing, the staff suggested I send it back to Hong Kong for cleaning or find a hotel laundry in Beijing." Ms. Dong calculated that sending it back to Hong Kong for cleaning would cost over 1,000 yuan, which was unacceptable.
However, there are very few shops in Beijing specializing in cleaning luxury clothing. Ms. Dong finally found a professional cleaning shop located in Jianwai SOHO through Baidu search. The staff quoted her a cleaning fee ranging from 480 to 800 yuan, with a pickup time of up to half a month. Ms. Dong said, "It's too expensive and too slow," but was told by the staff that "this is already a discounted price," and that there are very few professional shops in Beijing that can clean luxury clothing; cheaper quotes are from "handicraft workshops."
Hotel laundries mostly do not accept external orders
Moreover, the "hotel laundry" route is also unreliable. Ms. Dong called several old star-rated hotels such as Beijing Hotel and VIP Building, only to be told that "the laundry only serves hotel guests" and does not accept external orders. A staff member from the China Hotel laundry patiently explained, "We don't have special detergents for this kind of raincoat, so we can't accept the order." The Jianguo Hotel laundry, which claims to "serve external customers," quoted 160 yuan, a reasonable price, but since they do not promise compensation for damage, Ms. Dong could not accept it.
Although chain laundries quote lower prices than hotels, if washing damage occurs, compensation is only a few times the cleaning fee. For example, if Ms. Dong spends 85 yuan to clean her raincoat at a chain shop, if it gets damaged, the laundry can only compensate up to 850 yuan.
Market "explosion" leaves after-sales service lagging behind
"The luxury goods market in China is experiencing explosive growth, but the follow-up services and related laws and regulations for supervising these services are lagging, bringing some risks and troubles to consumers," industry insiders said. "Difficulty in cleaning" is just the tip of the iceberg of service deficiencies in the industry. Issues such as exorbitant repair costs for luxury bags and watches after warranty expiration and difficulties in rights protection due to quality problems have gradually surfaced as the market opens up.
"A recent case reported by Shanghai media: a consumer spent 40,000 yuan on a high-end mobile phone, and a key fell off. The original factory's repair quote was nearly 7,000 yuan. In the end, the consumer bought a simple repair kit and fixed it himself following online tutorials, spending only 30 yuan," the insider said. Consumers must try to negotiate after-sales issues with merchants when purchasing luxury goods; otherwise, they have to "pay the price themselves" if problems arise. At the same time, it is hoped that relevant after-sales service management regulations for such products will be introduced soon to fundamentally ensure healthy market growth.
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