Dry cleaning services not requested

[Fuseina]

Jurisdiction

United Kingdom

I used an online laundry service for the first time. I sent 22 shirts to be washed and ironed - at the advertised price of 5 shirts for £10. So I was expecting to pay £45.However, I have been charged £7 per shirt for dry cleaning – equating to £154. I did not ask for dry cleaning, so that is £109 more than I should have been charged. I have a ticket which clearly shows I asked for wash and iron.

The online laundry company have responded saying they chose to dry clean the shirts because they were silk (half of them were silk, but that is besides the point). Can a company provide you with a service you did not request, and then charge you for it? Is there anything I can do about this?

 

[army judge]

Sorry, this forum focuses on US federal and state laws.
We know NOTHING of the laws in the UK.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

We don't generally focus on international law here however there are many similarities between the U.S. and the U.K. Common sense should also dictate what is right and fair and often that is exactly the purpose of the law - to set expectations for what society would deem reasonable.

I can't speak specifically to U.K. law but it would seem that your argument is sound. If they needed to provided an additional service they should have contacted you immediately and before they performed the work. Was it foreseeable? Did the website have some type of FAQ or terms of service that might have disclosed the possibility of additional charges? We don't know.

What I would do is to review the terms of service and then discuss it with the laundry service / dry cleaner. Make your point and see if you can reason with them. If not, you can mention that you'll call up your credit card company to dispute the charge. Clearly you've got a valid point to make since the bill only shows two services requested and to be performed. I don't think this will end up in any type of small claims court as usually they should be able to be settled. If the dry cleaning was good and the offer is reasonable, you might want to consider the benefit of having had dry cleaned shirts for a very reduced price. Otherwise it's your dispute that will have to be handled either through your credit card company or by taking them to court. I know that in the UK, the civil court system can work quite differently and you should be aware of what may be at stake should you enter a claim. Good luck.