The Laundry Basket & Dry Cleaners

I tried them once and foolishly didn't check the prices. I got charged nearly $50 to clean a sweater. I'll never go back; I felt like they were trying to soak me for whatever they could.

When I first chose this cleaner, I had come based on the Yelp reviews.
My first experience here was decent. I had borrowed my sister's wedding gown for a pre-wedding photo shoot last fall and brought it in for cleaning afterwards. The man at the counter was very pleasant and understood that I was very concerned about the outcome considering it's not my gown. He assured me that all wedding gowns are cleaned by hand. When I went back to pick it up, the gown was clean and everything went well.

Now comes the horror.

Last January, I went to an annual sample sale by Blush Bridal (reputable bridal shop). I'm a DIY bride so I wanted my gown to be unique. I didn't want to make my own gown (just in case I screw it up) but I thought it'll be nice to start with a simple base and have a professional work on the gown based on my design.

I purchased the Lea Ann Belter Mathia gown. It was a size too big, there was a small tear near a seam (easy fix). Most of the dirtiness was at the back zipper area - no problem because I was going to remove that section to put in a corset anyways.
I didn't want to go to my seamstress too early since brides' weight fluctuates so I held onto the gown for 1 year 4 months - 2 months before wedding. The seamstress told me to get the dress cleaned first so she can see what she's working with.

I didn't have time so I told my mom to help me to drop it off at The Laundry Basket. She told me it was done and then she she had to go out of town.

When I went to pick up the gown, there were two ladies there. The man I originally dealt with was not there. She unzipped the garment bag and I was absolutely horrified. The dupioni silk, which was ivory turned yellow - like aged paper. There were so many wrinkles in the gown that cannot be ironed out - it literally looks/feels like crumpled up wax paper that someone tried to smooth out.

I asked them what happened and a crazy amount of excuses came out.

Initial excuses:
"The material was too old to be cleaned properly"
"No one uses this material for wedding gowns anymore"
"The fabric must be over ten years old"

First of all, as a drycleaner, they should not accept dresses they are not confident in cleaning.
Secondly, drycleaners should be able to clean and preserve vintage clothing, which makes their claims very unprofessional.
Thirdly, in their profession, they should know quality and fabrics. The designer would be utterly insulted at this.
And fourthly, they are blaming the gown and the customer for the problem!

Fast forward 20 minutes, they claimed that THEY TOLD ME when I dropped it off the dress that it cannot be cleaned properly. (I didn't drop it off -_-)
They then claimed that they may not remember the customer, but they remember the bill. They swore that my mom pushed them to clean the gown even when they said it cannot be done properly.
I wasn't able to do anything at that point because my mom was out of town and could not be easily reached. At the back of my mind, I knew they were lying because my mom would not give my wedding gown to people who weren't confident in cleaning it.

Finally, I told them I didn't even understand how this could have happened if they were careful and this was all done by hand. She laughed in my face and said they could never clean a dress entirely by hand and said she ran it through this giant machine twice.

They decided that their apology was to discount me 20% for the cleaning of the gown. I was so stressed by this situation that I just wanted to get out of there so I paid anyways.

After leaving, I headed straight out to find a replacement (which I did THANK THE LORD!) but my wedding gown budget more than doubled.

After a few days, I was able to reach my mom. I asked her about the situation and she confirmed the lie. She brought it in, they quoted her the price and took in the dress. She did not barter nor convince them to take the job.

Furthermore, when I finally went to the seamstress to alter my evening gown, she says their claims are absolutely ridiculous. In the industry, their company should NOT accept anything they are not guaranteed to clean. And if such things happen, their insurance should cover and compensated me for the price of the dress.

The only reason why I haventt stomped back into the store demanding compensation was because in my anger, I threw away my cleaning receipt, and I threw away the gown receipt awhile ago since it was a no refunds/exchanges type thing. So no physical proof means they'll probably say they never served me.

They may not have had to compensate me, but dishonest service will yield larger costs in the future.

Despite that they seem to do decent work for past customers, their dishonesty and lack of responsibility lost my and all my friends & familys' business for good.

Friendly service, prompt, excellent prices all with a smile. This family run business, mother & son have never failed me yet.
Just going to say hi to the owner is a delight in itself because she remembers you each and every time and is a real hoot to talk to!

On top of being a dry cleaner this gem also does a kick-ass job on alterations. Again prices with tailoring aim to please. Best part is there is no stain this wonder woman cannot take out, she is genius!

Traditional asian customs greeting every customer that walks in and ensuring they are happy when they walk out. As long I get my clothes dirty you have my business.

Service here is par excellence. I drive all the way from Coquitlam to Burnaby to have my dry cleaning and alterations done, simply because I don't think anyone can come close to the kind of attention and service I get at this place. They're very straightforward, get in and get your business done but you always leave knowing your fabrics are in good hands.

They're very capable with alterations as well. I had a pair of $10 jeans that now fit like it cost $250. The first time I went in, I was armed with a Groupon, expecting to be treated like crap for being a cheap deal lover and got a very warm reception instead. I was even treated to a mini story about how they did tailoring for an Olympics team (or something) in the owner's halting English. This was despite having a middle-aged man there, clearly his first time, who was trying his hardest to bargain down his pants alteration ("Come on...do 2 for $10 and I'll be a loyal customer for life!). He was speaking English so rapidly that he was basically trampling her over verbally, in a bid to pay a third world price for a service in Vancouver. Give me a break. Their prices are very reasonable to begin with. Shame on you, sir. Shame on you. I briefly contemplated ripping him a new one but decided against it, as it was my first time there and the owner seemed to take it in good stride.

The second time I went in was to use the second Groupon that was expiring and the lady owner told me to forget the expiry, she'll take it anyway for as long as I need alterations or dry cleaning done. Awesome. She just bought my repeat business.

Great for both cleaning shirts and tailoring!

1st, I am extremely picky. when I hand press my own stuff I'd spend up to 45min on each shirt and I stain treat my shirts before giving to my other cleaners.

2nd, i know a thing or two a about tailoring skills. i only wear custom made suits because i was fortunate enough to find a world class tailor overseas charging bottom prices who makes suits better fitting and sharper looking than Gucci custom tailors.

when i walk into 5 star hotel wedding banquets, people don't ask me what brands my suits are, they can immediately tell it's custom and ask for my tailor, that's how good my tailor is.

laundry basket is not the cheapest place for regular cleaning and pressing shirts, but for for such quality job they did on cleaning and pressing my shirts, I could not find a cheaper place.

tailoring was extremely fast, with such superb skills. the shirts/pants/blazer they tailored for me fit almost as well as my custom made clothes. and tailoring is very well priced!

bring your stuff here, you won't be disappointed. i'm a huge fan!

(a tip for you seeking great tailors: how to tell an exceptional custom tailor from a mediocre one. if s/he can make you suit blazer that you can wear without buttoning up and still make you look great. if the jacket worn without buttoning up can still stand up upright, holding its overall shape, hugging your body, showing the waste line slimming and NOT flapping open, then you have found a tailor for life! tell us if you have one of those!!! :)

So I had this embarrassing seam rip all the way up on a brand new little black dress that occurred at my work Christmas party and I had no clue where to take it to get fixed. I didn't want to go too far. And lo and behold! Yelp came to my rescue and I discovered the The Laundry Basket!

They did an amazing job fixing the seam on my dress, and email fixed the sleeve stitching on my coat's inner lining. I was also satisfied with their dry cleaning. I will be going back here. And it's so close to my home.

They "cleaned " my girlfriends blazer and turned it from white to some strange off pink colour. When I confronted them with it they claimed I was wrong and that it had always been that colour and there was nothing they used that could have made it change colour. Going back with photos of my gf in her white blazer and pictures from the manufacturer's website just to call them liars to their faces not because I expect them to do anything about it. If u r considering cleaning anything here save your money and just toss it the washing machine (with a red shirt if u want that puke pink tinge to it).

Yelp said The Laundry Basket was open 8 a.m. to 6 a.m. The cleaners was not open for all of those hours! It would help if there was a greeting when I tried to call before driving all the way down there. Also, why was this place under the category of 24 hour laundry if it was not open 24 hours? :P

Looks like they have different prices for different people. I know that because I used it once when a male took my order, however when a female was there she gave completely different price for the same items plus on top she was trying to convince me that my short dress is a long one and she has to charge me as for a long dress. That lady was using her hight as a measurement.. Extremely rude service, complete disregard for customers and to be honest the quality wasn't that great. For me it was convenient just because of the location. But I will definitely take my business elsewhere and would advise everyone do the same.

Omg. This is a crime. I bring my duvet here because i cant clean it probably on my own. They quote me $45 when I bring my duvet in. Then when I come to pick up, they charge me $70 they say $45 is just for the duvet, not for the cover. Excuse me, the duvet came in with cover when i brought it in for a quote. What the h***. The duvet is not even clean so what the point of bring in here. Unprofessional. Don't blame on that the duvet is huge. I dont care how you clean my duvet, you doing service, that is your job to clean stuff. dont tell me that u clean it twice but the duvet is still not clean. Im not even picky but u could see the duvet is not clean straight forward by an eye. Dont try to rip me off as Im just a student. what!!??????? U want me to pay extra so to clean my duvet again???????? oh, please!!! This is not the first time I bring my duvet out to clean. Just because I were in rush and this is really close so that I gave it a try. But seriously, I wish I didn't come here.