Barry Regent Cleaners

04/02/2008 Posted by chambanagrad

Most of the time our clothes come back looking good. However, recently I have been fairly unhappy with their service. I went to pick up a bunch of sweaters that I had taken there and 3 of them went missing. They were all cashmere, 2 were Prada and 1 was Theory. Needless to say, these sweaters cost a small fortune. They were able to find out what happened a few days later, which was that they gave my sweaters to someone else! Luckily, a week later the person to whom my sweaters were given had returned them. A few days later, I took 5 pairs of brand new jeans to be shortened with the original hem. The seamstress said she wouldn't shorten 3 of them because it was to "hard." This really annoyed me because I had gotten this service done there before on jeans of the same exact type of hem. So, it wasn't that she couldn't do it, but that it was too hard for her and she didn't want to do it. I assumed they would do it because they had done it before and now I can't wear my very expensive jeans. Honestly, if I still had my sewing machine, I would be able to do this myself. I'm gonna find a different cleaners even though Barry Regent is a couple blocks from me.

Cons: Difficult parking, spotty service

12/31/2007 Posted by j19191

oh? where to start??? first of all, the place always reeks of smoke inside but here is my story: i went there because i needed stuff back next day (between travels) and brought in a bunch of stuff, including 3 dress shirts. the purpose of bringing in dress shirts that can be washed is so that the collars are pressed nicely. they FLATTENED my collar, BAD. i can't get them dry cleaned again to fix the collars before i leave. if i am being overcharged for dry cleaning, i'd expect at least decent service. they look terrible, all my clothes look terrible. oh, i am SO ANGRY WITH THEM. in high school, i worked at a dry cleaners, and next day service there was just as high quality as any other kind. how is this place still open? PLUS MY CLOTHES SMELL BAD DON'T EVER EVER EVER GO THERE.

Pros: same day service

Cons: TERRIBLE work

12/19/2007 Posted by misssssy

They ruined my coat. Melted the buttons and tore the lining and will take no responsibility. The manager told me to take it the manufacturer. They will not provide and compensation for a jacket I can no longer wear. Please do not give them your business.

12/14/2007 Posted by lzs

Very professional, efficient and attentive service. -----Someone had spilled some tea on my shearling coat. I took it over to the Barry Regent where they immediately went into action to insure that my coat would be worked on. -----The coat now is as good as new and I couldn't be happier. ------This cleaners was recommended to me by a saleperson at Saks, ---- and also by my hairdresser on Rush Street (they do alot of fashion shows.....)----- as the only place to go to for a quality job . Esp. if you have something of value. --------------Have been going there for about 5yrs. now and last year brought in a silk vintage dress for a wedding that was extremely fragile. It came out perfectly. -------- If you have something delicate, you can always call first, and ask to talk to a manager. -----They are more than willing to discuss in detail what you want over the phone. ---- I also try to give them more than a week too. -------If in doubt, ask for Paul. He really knows his stuff and is extremely professional.

Pros: Consistent ---- high quality job

Cons: parking is not always available -- it's near Belmont & Broadway -- dense area

09/25/2007 Posted by zakp

A week before our wedding, my wife dropped off her wedding dress at Barry Regent Cleaners to be steamed. The dress, an original design purchased at Silver Moon, is a 1930's slip-style dress with a beaded appliqué hip detail made from pieces of a 1920's era dress. A Barry Regent manager accepted the wedding dress and was instructed by my wife not to steam near or over the beaded appliqué hip detail of the dress. The manager assured my wife that he would personally take care of the dress and that her request would be no problem. Several day later, I picked the dress up and immediately noticed the beading had been severely damaged: ultimately three of the appliqués had to be replaced. We were left scrambling around three days before our wedding. Thankfully, Silver Moon was able to make the repairs the night before our wedding. Silver Moon examined the dress and concluded that it was damaged while being steamed. We have been asking Barry Regent to reimburse us for the damages ($100) for five weeks now. They REFUSE to accept any responsibility, though the dress was damaged while in their care. The two managers of the store have verbally insulted the dress, the makers of the dress, as well as my wife and I. When we finally had a chance to meet with the owner, he was equally as abusive and unwilling to accept any responsibility for damage to the dress while in their care. After our meeting, the owner told my wife and I that he would call us the following week. Three weeks have passed and he has yet to return our call. I will under no circumstances ever return to Barry Regent to conduct business and strongly urge you to find a more reputable dry cleaning company too. My claims are documented with all Chicago-area consumer advocacy organizations.

Pros: None

Cons: They will damage your garment and then refuse to be responsible.

09/05/2007 Posted by mmollygirl

I took in my wedding dress to have some minor stains removed. I was told at the time that they may not be able to remove the stains, but I told them to give it a try. When I picked up the dress, there were MORE stains on the train of the dress, and they STILL charged me $125 for their labor! When I called to complain to the owner, he actually hung up on me! AVOID and tell everyone you know to avoid!

Cons: Awful customer service, overpriced, rude!

07/02/2007 Posted by trader1500

I brought an expensive leather jacket into Barry Regents with a tear. They told me honestly that I has two options. One was to replace the entire sleeve and the other was to patch the tear by inserting a pad under the tear and using a leather glue to 'mate' the leather to the inserted cloth. They also told me that there would be a slight noticable line where the origibal tear was. I left the jacket to be repaired by the latter method and packed it up after my vacation. I really had to look hard to find the original tear. I thought they did a great mending job and I thanked them even more when I received a reasonable bill. I found the management and other people behind the counter helpful, friendly and absolutely direct and honest. I would recommend Barry Regents for all my cleaning and clothes repairs. The a few cents more really doesn't matter when you get a professional cleaning and repair with a 'smile to boot'.

Pros: friendly service - great cleaners - great repairs

Cons: Its a little far from me BUT worth the trip

08/15/2006 Posted by criticalyettruthful

I gave this place a try once and told the owner he would never see another nickle from my me. I dropped off 10 shirts (2 weeks worth for me) they were done on time but that was all that was right with my experience. When I arrived to pick up my shirts 2 days later I had a coupon I wanted to use. The man at the register said oh we cant honor that. I asked "why" he stated "that coupon is only for dry cleaning". I said yes that is precisely what I had done. He said no they were laundered. I said well when I dropped off the shirts I asked for them to be dry cleaned I am sorry if the lady writing down my info put something else down but I wanted them dry cleaned. After a couple of go arounds with him he finally said ok I will just take the off the coupon but I need to ring it up a different way. I said whatever, shouldn't be as hard to pick up laundry. But after doing his quick reringing and subtracting the coupon, it ended up being only a dime less. I was very dissapointed had enough of the B.S. (bait & switch) and said if he operates his business that way and will not honor his coupons, I will take my business elsewhere. I have and continue to be satisfied.

Pros: They accept all the cash in your pocket

Cons: They offer coupons to get you in the door then do not honor them, bad business

08/14/2006 Posted by kelgar

SMPeters and Suzn10 are spot on with their assessment of this loser establishment. I took two pairs of Juicy pants in to be shortened. They told me I would have to wait two weeks before I could pick them up. I agreed. When I picked up the pants, the employee told me that if there were any problems, I should bring them back. I thought that was an odd statement. Why would I need to bring them back? I soon found out. I was appalled when I picked them up and discovered both pants had one leg shorter than the other! This was such a basic error that I could not believe a tailor in business as long as Barry Regent could make such an obvious mistake. To make matters worse, the woman who pinned up the pants prior to sending them out did not speak English, so I did not want to get sent back to her again if I could not even communicate with her. The manager on duty kept saying there was nothing he could do-He would not even admit the pants were messed up. He said talk to the woman who pinned the pants. I told him I didn't feel confident leaving my pants there after they were returned to me in such a ridiculous state. My husband asked for a refund. I was charged $12.50 per pant (other tailors charge much less) and was told absolutely not. The conversation went downhill from there, as this employee seemed to think there was nothing wrong with the pants. He told me I had to try them on again, because maybe they looked all right once I was wearing them. I told him that wasn't the point-the pants were returned to me with one leg shorter than the other and it didn't matter how they looked when I had them on-they were out of alignment! He ended up telling us to get out of his store. Messing up two pairs of expensive pants and then telling me to get out of the store. Is this what passes for customer service at this place? We went to Perfect Cleaners on Surf and they fixed Barry Regent's sloppy work within two days. Stay away if you value your clothes!

Pros: None-this place is a joke.

Cons: Rude. Received Pants Back with one leg shorter than the other.

08/10/2006 Posted by smpeters

I tried Barry Regent because of their; Quality comes from a commitment to providing the best service mantra. Of the three times I tried Barry Regent, twice blouses came back with stains from their equipment. The stains are VERY apparent and have ruined the garments. The best part is that they included a tag on the hanger of the "cleaned and pressed" shirts that said something to the extent of "The stains in this garment have been evaluated and due to safety we can assure you that the garment has received the best dry cleaning we can offer." After confronting them about the ruined shirt, not only did they try to tell me that I had brought the shirt in that way and it was my fault, but that the guy that cleans spots is at lunch and he can look at it when he gets back. After returning later to find my garment no further treated, they claimed that I would not be able to speak with the same manager that I'd spoke with earlier because he had gone to lunch. While speaking to another manager he tried to slough me off saying I'd have to come back and speak to the manager I had my original conversation with and there was nothing more he could. Simply wanting the money for the ruined garments, I asked that they compensate me. The manager told me they cant make those decisions that Id have to speak with the owner. As livid as I could be at this point, I asked for the owner to which I get varying responses over the extent of the conversation saying "he'll be in an hour, he's not coming in today, he works from 10-4, he's out of town right now". In the end I left with nothing more than ruined clothes and a chip on my shoulder. If you cant trust a dry cleaner to press a button down shirt, quite possibly the most often dry cleaned item ever, how can you expect them to handle any other kind of garment? PLEASE, DO NOT GIVE THESE IDIOTS YOUR BUSINESS!