What can you do if your dry cleaner ruins or loses the clothing you trusted the business to take care of?

A lot of people are talking about this because of the East Coast judge who's suing his cleaners for more than $50 million over a lost pair of pants.

Robin Sarmento of Seattle says she can can relate to the frustration.

She says she got a stain on the front of her new $250 trench coat after wearing it only six times.

She took it to a local dry cleaner, but instead of removing the stain, she says the cleaner's chemicals faded the fabric, leaving a light bleached-out section around the original stain.

Robin says the cleaners also damaged the leather on her coat's belt buckles.

At first, she says the cleaners offered to help replace the leather buckles, but later, she says the cleaners told her there was nothing they can do.

Most cleaners do their best to do a good job, but mistakes happen.

"There is the risk that they'll lose your clothes, that they'll damage your clothes, that they'll set a stain that'll never come out," said consumer advocate Robert Krughoff.

Krughoff and his staff recently surveyed Puget Sound area consumers about their drycleaning experiences.

The results are in the latest issue of Puget Sound Consumers' Checkbook magazine.

While many customers rate their cleaners adequate or superior, few cleaners got top ratings for both price and quality.

And there were common dry cleaner complaints: failure to remove stains, failure to clean the garment at all, damaged buttons, mismatched replacement buttons, inappropriate creases and lost clothing.

Unfortunately, there is no law or regulation to protect you; just a voluntary dispute resolution process through a trade organization called the International Fabricare Institute.

In a dispute where the cleaner's actions are in question, the cleaner sends your garment in for analysis to determine who's at fault. But consumers complain that process often tends to favor the dry cleaner.

Many cleaners gladly do their best to make things right, and will even pay you in cash for the depreciated value of your garment. But nothing legally holds them accountable for loss or damage.

That's why some people end up taking their dispute to court.

So take time to select a good cleaner that does quality work. And don't just go by price.

"Some of the highest-rated dry cleaners in terms of quality of service they provide had prices that were well below average," Krughoff said of their findings.

So don't just drop off your clothes at the closest dry cleaners in your neighborhood. Ask questions, talk to friends and neighbors and shop around. Ask the cleaners if they do all their own work, or send some of it out to a third party, which is a common practice.

If they send it out, ask about the company and how they handle any problems with customers' garments. And be sure you talk to your cleaner about details of your garments when you bring them in.

Be specific about any stain or concern. Ask about potentially delicate trim or buttons and if possible, removed them yourself beforehand.

Always get a claim stub. Many cleaners don't offer a claim ticket but ask anyway. It not only helps in the event of a dispute, it can serve as a reminder to pick up your clothing in case your forget.
Finally, save the sales receipts for expensive items in case something goes wrong.

According to one study, of more than 13,000 disputes handled by the industry's resolution process, the cleaners were held responsible only 11 percent of the time.

For more information:

10 Things Your Dry Cleaner Won't Tell You

International Fabricare Institute

Consumer Checkbook