Dry Clean Club of America

N.B.: The sign over the physical store states the name as «College Cleaners».
N.B.: I did not get dry cleaning done here, so I can’t offer any opinion on that.
I don’t know why this place has historically gotten so many bad reviews. Maybe a change in ownership. .. The sole employee (who I believe is also the owner) was very nice; I don’t mean the kind-​of ass-​kiss nice as presented by many professional salespersons. Instead, she emits a genuinely friendly and laid-​back vibe.
I took my clothes there for wash-​and-​fold. She does the work herself, and is happy to use whatever clothes detergent you want to bring. The cost is currently $ 1.50/pound, which is pretty good for the area, and real good, considering that she does not send it out to be cleaned by a contractor. She said that it would be done in two days, but called me about 24 hours after I dropped it off, and said that it was done. My clothes ended up being as clean as expected, and beautifully folded. I couldn’t be happier…
Thanks!

I was surprised to see so many poor reviews. I’ve never had a problem here. The prices are fine. The woman working here is nice, knows my name and likes to chat. She’s a very good seamstress. I never see any other employees or the owner in here. My guess is that her customer service is inconsistent because she’s working more than her share.

In contrast to the other reviews, I found the person who works here very friendly and nice. She even remembered me when I picked up my clothes. I didn’t find any problems with service other than that I tried to pick up my huge pile of dry cleaning last Thursday and they were unexpectedly closed for 2 hours.
But otherwise, I’m satisfied with their services. If you pre-​pay in cash beforehand you get a 10% discount.

1. Very rude. She fails to acknowledge you when you come in and takes her time as she plays with her dog or her child or something. This is the one closest to my house so I go here but every single damn time I’ve done, she doesn’t remember my name (I’ve been here almost three years)
2. Expensive. Trust me, I use a lot of cleaners and know the difference between a pair of pants being $ 7 and not… The only «affordable» service is probably their shirts that they advertise like crazy.
3. Non-​timely. It takes at least a week for my one pair of trousers to be done. I don’t argue since I don’t care that much but who takes that long (when I barely see any customers and garments on the rack).
4. Credit card. Okay they’re not the first ones to have a minimum but when I bust out my card for my $ 7 purchase, all she does is point at the sign like I’m a child. She clearly hates what she’s doing.
Please avoid like the plague and half a block for 100x the better service.

If I could give negative stars, this place deserves them.
Both my friend an I took in our suits and dress shirts to have them dry cleaned. They were returned with a horrible smell, damaged buttons, and horribly pressed.
This has got to be the WORST dry-​cleaning place ever. A 5-​year old would have done a better job ironing than they did. Not only did they ruin shirts, but we were told the buttons were «cheap» mind you these were not «cheap» shirts.
We called the owner for a refund. This man has the worst customer service ever. He called my friend and I liars and proceeded to tell us how everything was our fault and we were just trying to blame him for our damaged shirts. These suits and shirts were NEW!
We went as far as asking a customer that walked in to smell our shirts! This man has no tact and will run this business to the ground if allowed any more customer contact.
Also, if you have dealt with him and have been intimidated or made to feel uncomfortable please report the business. This conduct is unacceptable.

Terrible. Horrible. I guess there’s no need to echo all of the previous comments, but I have to throw in another just in case there is any lingering doubt. Got a super expensive suit dry cleaned here, threw it in the closet, and when I took it out for an interview, realized that not ONE stain removed. I don’t think they even cleaned it. I’ll never go here again. Ever.

hmm how to describe dry clean club of america… how about dirty clothes shitty service overpriced sweatshop washroom.
tried to get a shirt dry cleaned, was told it would be done in 2 days, it took three days, got the shirt back with stains that i did not make (and had to argue with the lady to get them to reclean the shirt) upon getting the shirt back the second time she made me pay for the second cleaning or i wouldnt get my shirt back.

I brought in my stuff on Monday and the lady said it would be ready on Thursday. I needed my clothes Friday night and went to pick it up; the lady said it would be ready Thursday. When I got there the lady regretfully informed me that my dress shirt did not arrive because the cleaners had found spots on it while cleaning and were trying to clean it more! She didn’t know the degree of spots or where the spots were.
When I questioned why they didn’t call me about the spots and whether I would want the spots cleaned or that it would take longer, she said that she had just found out that day. How did she just find out when it was supposed to be in Thursday?!
Anyway, don’t go here. C&C Cleaners is right down the street and probably is cheaper and more reliable. That’s where I’ll be going from now on.

High prices + unfriendly service + false advertising = FAIL.
First, she refuses to tell me what prices are and enters in all my info because «that’s the only way I’ll be able to quote prices»
The sign outside advertises dry clean 3 items and get the fourth free! Apparently I didn’t read the fine print — all the items have to be exactly the same. I went in with 1 dress + 3 sweaters and she quoted me $ 30. I asked if I could have one of the sweaters free since «isn’t the fourth item free?» She was adamant that all 4 items have to be exactly the same (which doesn’t make sense b/​c my dress was more expensive than the sweaters — and I was asking for my fourth free item to be a sweater…)
Then she swore up and down that all the prices are exactly the same at dry cleaners.
Even though she’d entered all my info and thrown away my bag already, her rudeness and false advertising convinced me to take my business elsewhere. I went to Arlene’s where the prices are better ($ 22 for the same 4 items) and the owner SO much nicer.

I am impressed to see how bad reviews this place has! Okay, here is mine:
I ‘m a procrastinator.
I took here a white down jacket that I bought maybe 5 years ago. I am pretty sure prior to taking it to the dry cleaner’s I have never washed it, not once.
Needless to say, the jacket’s color was less white and more gray, brown and black swirlies all around. Pretty cool combination but not what a white down jacket is supposed to look like.
I took the jacket here and they charged me close to $ 30 (this is where one of the stars gets taken away… that is waaay too expensive. even for a down jacket!). But, due to the condition of my jacket I decided to pay the lady. She tells me to come back on Friday (I think it was a Tuesday)
I ‘m a procrastinator.
Almost four weeks later, I decide to go pick up my jacket. I don’t dry clean very often, but I tend to «forget» to pick my stuff up every time. This is the first dry cleaning place where the person doesn’t give me crap about picking my stuff up late. The jacket is *white*! And the nice lady even told me where to go send a UPS package half a block away (USPS told me I had to go all the way to Alcatraz.).
If this place was cheaper it would probably be my regular dry cleaner’s.

They use an obsolete press-​iron. It cracks and busts the buttons on my shirts. It happened to me once, they did me the «favor» of sewing a new one back on for me. I assumed it was a fluke, and forgave the situation.
Then the next time I took in shirts, it happened again. The lady blamed me for buying shirts with «sensitive buttons,» said she’d sew it back on one more time, but any further occasions of it, I’d have to pay extra.
Obviously, I have since decided to take my «sensitive buttons» shirts elsewhere, and will never return.

i would give them zero stars if that was possible. i used this place because it was on the way home from work and super convenient. however the lady was not very friendly and she seemed to make up prices in her head because she was taking a very long time to charge me.
i got two jackets dry cleaned here. one was cordoroy and the other was wool so i expected them to be a little more expensive than usual… however IT WAS $ 30 bucks! for two jackets! i couldn’t believe it… at first i thought that was normal but i asked around and ALL of my friends said i got ripped since they normally get jackets, even wool, for like 10 bucks max.
i would never go here again and i think the previous reviewer was right when he said that they just take advantage of unsuspecting college students.

If I could give this one star, I would. I dropped off my dry cleaning on a Tuesday and got a call on Wednesday saying a $ 80 wool sweater that I dropped off had a hole in it. They insisted that it had the hole when I dropped it off, despite the fact that the sweater was new and they obviously ripped a hole in the shoulder trying to shove a hanger in it. (It still had dents from the hanger!) They wouldn’t refund my money or give me a discount on other items.
This is for the one on Alcatraz.

This is for the Dry Clean Club of America on College Ave. I’ve used their services twice with sub-​standard results both times.
I’m not really sure how this place stays in business other than feasting on unsuspecting, passive college students. The customer service is atrocious. The woman who works the counter is a nightmare. She seems to arbitrarily make up prices and can’t give any explanation for why that is. For example, ask her why delivery to the same address is $ 10 if it includes dry cleaning and wash and fold, but only $ 5 if it’s just wash and fold. She first claimed that she has to shut the shop down to deliver it. I responded that you have to shut the shop down for the same amount of time regardless of whether it’s all wash and fold or if there’s dry cleaning in the order as well. I told her just to deliver the two parcels at the same time. Then she replied that she didn’t actually deliver it, but somebody else did and they charge more. I asked if there would be two separate deliveries to my address. She said no, implying that only one person would make the delivery at one time. So why is it more expensive if it’s wash and fold AND dry cleaning, versus solely wash and fold or solely dry cleaning? If someone can get an honest answer, I’d be impressed. I suspect that she just jacks up the price because she figures you’ll pay it. Granted, when I actually did get the wash and fold and dry cleaning back on that occasion the clothes and items were clean. But the customer service was such a headache.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. About a month later, I brought in 4 shirts for cleaning. 3 for laundry, one for dry cleaning. I paid in advance and was instructed to return Saturday morning to pick up the shirts. According to the price list I paid for rush service despite the fact that it was not a rush timetable.
I returned Saturday morning and found out that only 3 of them were ready. Disappointing, but these things happen. I get home and notice that the shirts I got back are now DIRTIER than when I sent them in. It’s dubious if they were even ever cleaned or if they were just pressed. For example, there are large black streaks all over a white shirt that I had just purchased and never worn. I bring the shirts back and am told they will be fixed. I ask if they could discount the price or give me a coupon for a future cleaning given the hassle of walking 5 blocks to pick up dirty shirts and then walking 5 blocks back to drop them back off. I am told that that’s not possible as I already received a discounted price (even though I was paying more than the price list).
Following this experience I asked a friend of mine who did his dry cleaning there back in college if he ever experienced things like this. He replied that he had had a shirt destroyed there a few years ago and had quit going following that (I wish I had asked BEFORE I had gone there).
I eventually got all the shirts back in a satisfactory condition, but the headache of dealing with this place isn’t worth it. I would take my stuff anywhere else over the Dry Clean Club of America. Taking all of my experiences into account, I would award this place zero stars if I could.

I go here for all my regular dry cleaning because its close to home, the prices are good, the woman who takes my clothes remembers me and is nice and, best of all for Berkeley, it has a parking lot. There is nothing more frustrating that trying to pick up or drop off your clothes after work and not be able to just because you can’t find a parking space. ARRGHH.

I get my work shirts done for $ 1.75 per, which is worth it since i don’t have to iron those suckers myself. But extra charge for certain materials, compounded with a strict warning from the cleaners to unbutton and unroll my sleeves for each of my shirts sorta ruffled my feathers. Makes me feel i have to do half the work beforehand, which kevy doesn’t like…
Note: This is for DCC of A on Alcatraz (2655 Alcatraz Ave) in Berkeley, not on College (i don’t even know if this still exists)