Soapy Joe’s Laundry Service

Lost the first order I placed with them, completely impossible to get a hold of anyone at the business, despite multiple phone calls, at multiple times of day, and emails. When I asked my building for a more direct line, they gave me a number for a completely unrelated company (not even Revolt, aka Fetch Cleaners, which supposedly acquired them). Basically a corporate shell game– stay away.

If I didn’t really need the extra help cleaning my stuff, I wouldn’t use them!
They almost NEVER turnaround to me in the 2 days they promise. Sometimes it’s delayed pickup. Sometimes delayed drop off.
Don’t send anything you actually care about. They send me everything back completely wrinkled, or damaged or sometimes things don’t come back at all (like my two towels and bathmat, my good Athleta corduroys)
Customer service… good luck getting anyone to talk to. When I was actually able to get someone, I was promised a refund, but never saw it. They make me all kinds of promises and don’t deliver on any of it.
If you haven’t gotten started with them… don’t!

They charged our card four times for the same transaction and then three times for an order we did not place. No follow up or accountability from the business — we noticed on our bank statement and had to call our bank to settle the issue. In addition to stealing $ 274.47 from us, they take a long time to turn around laundry orders.

WARNING: NEVER USE THIS SERVICE. Soapy Joes services our apartment building in Alexandria, so we started using it this winter. We sent in 3 mens work shirts to be cleaned and hemmed by ¼ of an inch. They came back dirty, and had been hemmed at least 4 inches, rendering the shirts absolutely useless and we had to throw them away. It was hundreds of dollars in nice mens button downs. We called three weeks ago to have the charges removed and to be reimbursed for the hundreds of dollars of ruined shirts. The person on the phone said they would happily send a check to replace the shirts that were ruined. We never received the check so we called again this week, and got a message saying that they had been purchased by another company (the name of which is inaudible in the recording). We called the number for the other company, and never got through to anyone. We have tried emailing them as well, and the emails are now getting returned, their email address is no longer valid. We have told our building to cease all business with them immediately. We will be filing with the Better Business Bureau, we are missing hundreds of dollars in shirts and this company is no longer in existence. This is by far the WORST experience we have ever had with a dry cleaner. I cannot believe they have gotten away with swindling so many people out of so much money. I wish we had read all the Unilocal reviews first. NEVER USE THIS BUSINESS.

After currently missing two pairs of dress slacks (one of them for a $ 500 suit), I’m getting the run around from customer service. I doubt the person I talked to was the manager even though she claimed to be. I asked about their tracking system for picking up and dropping off. She said the concierge signs for the drop off and a copy is left with the concierge, thus Soapy Joes never keeps a copy of the receipt. I don’t understand how this is an adequate tracking system. Also, customer service says they will call me back after talking to the driver, but they don’t actually call, I have to always initiate the dialogue.

Well, I’ve heard they’ve been sold and the service is sliding. Shirts aren’t good again and now you don’t always get your cleaning back in the promised 48 hours. I tried emailing last week and got no response. I guess it’s time to say adiós to Soapy Joes.

If you would have asked my last year, I would have said a 4. NOT NOW.
YOU ARE WARNED! USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
1) Laundry gets back a few days later. Never had a problem with how it came out.
2) I prepaid so I received 50% credit. BUT they continued to charge my card and refused to answer emails regarding this issue. I went back to my credit card company and provided emails to them disputing all charges and sent an email to Soapy Joes to request a full accounting of my account.
Last year I prepaid and it went fine. NOT THIS YEAR. I marked them as extra high priced since they are making me pay twice for the same service.

I signed up for the semester laundry plan in January, but I noticed in February that my card was charged a second time a few weeks after the initial charge. Since this was clearly an error, I called Soapy Joe’s and requested to be refunded; however, after being assured that the refund would be completed in 3 – 5 business days, the money was not returned to my bank account. Since the beginning of February, I have called at least 5 times with the same request, and each time I’ve been told that it was a mistake and the refund will be processed again, but it never is. I’m extremely confused as to why this mistake isn’t being taken more seriously; it’s now March and they’ve held onto almost $ 400 of mine for over a month now.
It’s one thing to make an error, but it’s an entirely different issue if the people I speak with are dishonest about returning my money, and do nothing to fix it. I will absolutely not use this service again, and I do not recommend it to anyone else.

Outstanding customer service! I gave it a low rating because of they charge me more than what expected. But they followed up and tried to fix it. I appreciate their efforts!!! Clothes they cleaned for
us were in good shape and clean too.

Thank you, Soapy Joe’s for lying to me all these months. I think I’m finally ready to break up with you. You’ve promised to be open when in fact you’re closed. You’ve held so many of my shirts hostage. I was trying so hard to give you a chance but those Korean ladies and gents on 14^th Street have won my heart. I’m going to go out of my way but at least they will have my clothes ready for pick up at the promised hours of operation.

I have been a Soapy Joe’s customer for about 1.5 years. On Tuesday, January 20^th I responded to an email that I would like to take part in the pay $ 100 for $ 200 worth of credits. On Friday evening, January 23^rd, I noticed that Soapy Joe’s charged my credit card $ 22,203. I immediately called my credit card company to dispute the charge, but because the amount is over $ 20,000, it can take them up to 30 days to remove the charge from my account as they do a full investigation (due to the high amount). I emailed Soapy Joe’s three times to no response, spoke with customer service twice, and was told from customer service that my zip code was charged by accident and that the individual who did the charge reversed it the same day or the day after. In my emails I have asked that a supervisor call me (to no luck). The individual that allegedly handled my credit card has been out of the office both days that I called. There was no charge reversal and still is no charge reversal. Additionally, the alleged zip code charge does not make sense as the amount charged is not my zip code.
This morning, January 27^th, I receive an email from Soapy Joes that I have an account balance and that they need a new credit card for me (as my credit card company cancelled my current card when I reported the disputed charge). The company can contact me asking for another credit card to put on file, but cannot contact me regarding a $ 20,000 + charge they erroneously put on my card.
I assume this balance is for clothes I dropped off with my building on Friday morning, before I saw this crazy charge. In my previous emails I asked that my clothes just be returned without even dry cleaning them because I am no longer interested in being a customer. I also requested they ignore my original request of the $ 100 for credits as they clearly messed up that charge and I am not interested in being a customer anymore. My clothes were due yesterday to my building (January 26) and did not show up. Customer service today was unable to tell me where my clothes are.
Terrible customer service to not contact me if this mistake did in fact happen. My clothes have now not been returned in addition to a $ 20,000+ erroneous charge.
I would strongly recommend using another dry cleaning company if you can. I will be switching to my building’s other dry cleaning option.

I really like Soapy Joe’s. I have been using them for over 1.5 years and found them to be excellent. I live in an apartment building that Soapy Joe’s picks up from. Typically I receive my clothes back 2 – 3 business days after I drop them off at the concierge desk in my lobby. Soapy Joe’s is reasonably priced when you consider it picks up and drops off your clothes. They have repaired a shirt pocket in a timely manner and did a great job. I recommend this service, especially if you live in a high rise. Also, I have used the advance purchased plan sent via email to save money and found they have calculated my credits correctly.

If you want your clothes in a timely fashion, I advise shipping your laundry to Europe and you will receive it faster. Three times now, against my better judgment, my clothes have gone MIA. It took me 2 weeks to get my items back the first two times, and now after calling Soapy Joes 4 times with messages and 3 times in person, no one can locate my laundry and they state «They never received a call from me.» This is unacceptable and given I am paying premium fees I expect premium service. I want my clothes back. now.

After voicing my initial issues with Soapy Joes, they made a considerable effort to improve their service. Since the first several weeks, the service has been good; the wash and fold is great and dry cleaning spot on.
I will say that sometimes the drivers call and only give you 5 minutes to pick up your dry cleaning which can be a hassle: I think drivers should definitely give customers a heads up at least an hour to a half hour before they drop off the dry cleaning.
Other that this minor inconvenience, Soapy Joes has definitely made a solid and successful effort to enhance their service.

Upon our first time using this service (we have pick-​up/​drop-​off service in our building) we encountered numerous issues.
After two separate calls and emails to customer service and a review here to reach the company’s owner, our issues were resolved within 24 hours.
We’ve been refunded and given a credit on our account.
I appreciate the actions taken to resolve our issues and the encouragement to keep us as customers. However, we will wait until reviews here begin to improve because dry cleaning should not be such an ordeal.

I love pickup dry cleaning services. Makes my life much easier. I live in an apartment building that contracts with two dry cleaning services in DC. I used the other one for almost a year, and then Soapy Joe’s began also offering services to our building. I decided to give them a try, mostly because there was a $ 10 credit for new customers. We sent them some shirts (mens and womens) and, after talking to a representative who came to our building, realized they also could fix shoes! My wife had a pair of shoes that needed some work (the sole was coming undone). The rep said to go ahead and drop it into our laundry bag and it would be fixed and returned.
Within a few days, our laundry was back and I had no complaints about the quality, timeliness or cost of the service. However, there were no shoes in the bag — not even a note or indication that they had received and were working on the shoes. I presumed that the shoes would take a couple of extra days so I thought nothing much of it. A week passed, so I decided to give them a call. Three calls later and I find out that the shoe was never logged in to their system, so was somewhere in their building (the rep on the phone had to literally go searching for it). Also, customer service never called back with updates, I had to call every couple of days to get an update. The shoes eventually made it back to us (not fixed very well), but they took the charges off so we didn’t have to pay for that service (still paid for dry cleaning).
Anyway, moral of the story — dry cleaning service of Soapy Joe’s was fine, but customer service and process leaves a lot to desire. Needless to say, I went back to my original dry cleaner and haven’t had any problems.
Update: The owner, Matt, reached out almost immediately after my initial Unilocal review (2 stars). He was considerate and understanding and offered to try and rectify the situation by offering credit and having me use them again. For that level of customer service (even if it is after the fact), I think I can give an extra star. I did not, however, try the service again. That is mostly because I really like my current dry cleaning service, and less because I am unwilling to try Soapy Joe’s again. If, in the future, I decide to give it another try, I will update this review.

I am updating my review at the request of Matt, Soapy Joe’s owner, to include the additional information of what has happened since my last review.
This week, I received a check in the mail, ostensibly for the cost of the third party dry cleaning I used to clean the smell Soapy Joe’s installed in my clothes. The check was not for the amount Matt and I had agreed upon. As the difference was a mere seven dollars, and I would prefer to just move on from this unnecessary dry cleaning saga, I have deposited the check to my account. While I appreciate the effort Matt put into refunding me for the third party dry cleaning, which he certainly did not have to do, I did not appreciate his continual pressure to alter or delete my Unilocal review.
In sum, I am relieved the two months of my summer this tale encompassed is finally over, and that Matt stepped up toward the end. However, I will not be using their services again. If you live in the Columbia Heights/​Petworth area, I highly recommend French’s Dry Cleaners — they got the smells out that Soapy Joe’s put in.
Matt, thank you for working with me to resolve this issue. Best of luck with your business.

Matt, the owner, got in touch with me after my first Unilocal review. He was super nice and went out of his way to follow up and correct the situation. He assured me that they are making all kinds of improvements. Without having used the service again since the incidents I described in my prior review I can’t speak to what that means for a regular transaction, but I can say that Soapy Joe’s rectified the problems with my prior order by taking my clothing back free of charge and returning it with much better results. I’d also like to reiterate that my negative experience did not involve any lost items, damages or delays. I was simply dissatisfied with the quality of the clean, and with the fact that some items were returned that were clearly uncleaned as they had been marked with little tags indicating they needed wet cleaning. The second time Soapy Joe’s cleaned those items no problem.
So this experience showed me that Soapy Joe’s is totally capable of providing a decent service, just that for whatever reason that didn’t happen when I sent my clothes in the first time.

I would give it negative stars if possible. I cannot agree more with the disappointing comments left by other disgruntled customers. Expensive. Lost articles of clothes. Late on delivery.
They were once a pretty decent service, but something must’ve happened. All my wife and I got were excuses. Seriously, what’s up with not refunding when they promised?
I rarely post here (really shame on me) and I usually hate to say bad things about small businesses, but they deserve the negative feedback. Never again.

I was contacted by Matt (The owner) and one of his representatives apologising about the service that I received. They explained to me that this does occasionally happen when someone signs up for the first time and has a mixed laundry/​dry cleaning order. They promised to make it right, and they honestly did. They had me grab my shirts and drop them immediately off in the lobby for pickup on Monday, and they were apparently rush dropped back off at my place on Tuesday. I just got them back tonight and I’m extremely pleased with the way that they went out of their way to make things right.
At the end of the day, mistakes can happen, but a company that will own up to the mistakes is worth it in my mind.