Dry cleaner asked to pay `2,000 for damaged blouse

A dry cleaning company has been directed by a redressal forum to pay Rs2,000 to a woman for damaging a blouse she had given them for dry cleaning last November.

A dry cleaning company has been directed by a redressal forum to pay Rs2,000 to a woman for damaging a blouse she had given them for dry cleaning last November.

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Sardar Washing Company in Amravati was asked to pay the complainant, Sonali Panchal, Rs500 for damaging the blouse, Rs500 for the mental agony caused and Rs1,000 as reimbursement towards the cost of filing the complaint.

According to Panchal’s complaint, she had given a sari, a blouse and a pair of trousers to Sardar Washing Company for dry cleaning on November 23, 2010.

Panchal alleged that when she went to collect the clothes on November 30, she found the blouse in a damaged condition. When she pointed this out to the staff, they asked her to come back after ten days.

Panchal alleged that when she went back to the dry cleaning company after around ten days, they denied having received the blouse for dry cleaning.

Sardar Washing Company refuted all the allegations and claimed that there was no mention of her blouse in its sales register.

The company also claimed that a staff member had told Panchal that dry cleaning her sari would take some time and thereafter, Panchal left with the trousers saying that she would return later to collect the sari.

The company claimed that Panchal never returned to

collect her sari and instead they received a legal notice from her.

The consumer forum dismissed the argument put forth by Sardar Washing Company, observing that it had not been able to provide a satisfactory answer to why Panchal

would choose to lie about the blouse.

“Accordingly, it can be assumed that the blouse was given for dry cleaning and the same was spoilt by the dry cleaners,” observed the consumer forum.