So… In case you were wondering which dry-cleaner I use(d), it’s Nathan’s.  Nathan’s on Adetokunbo Ademola Street in VI.

There.  I named and shamed.

I wasn’t going to.  Just as I wasn’t going to write the other post.  But I’m angry.

As I said in the other post, N (Nathan) was meant to get back to me last Friday – and he didn’t.

On Tuesday, LagosDad rang the dad and asked what was going on, etc.  He asked us to go in that afternoon at about 3 pm.

This wasn’t going to be easy as V goes over to Ikoyi Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and in order to get there by 4 pm, he has to leave home at 3pm.  It used to be 3.15 pm, but the traffic has become even more horrific lately!

Anyway, so I decided to take V with me.  We actually couldn’t leave our house because the traffic was so terrible.  I rang N and told him that I wouldn’t be able to make it and would come the following morning at about 11.30.  He said that was fine.

On Wednesday morning I went to Nathan’s on time.  I was kept waiting for a little while.  No problem.  Apparently he was in a meeting with the chairman (his father).

Nathan came downstairs and apologised for keeping me waiting and for all the confusion regarding compensation.  He said his father was ‘around’ and that he’d like me to meet him (I don’t know why as LagosDad already met him the previous week) and could I come back at 3 pm.

I explained that afternoons were absolutely impossible and that I’d come back the next morning.  He said that was fine.

This morning I didn’t make it – my fault.  Or not my fault.  LagosDad had the car.

I texted Nathan and explained and said I’d be there ASAP.

He replied asking me to come in at 3 pm.  What is it with these people and 3 pm???  I replied saying that I’d explained to him yesterday that afternoons were not possible and that I would come at 1 pm or the following morning.

I didn’t hear back but decided I’d just head over there for 1 pm.

When I got there, the manager came down and said that Nathan wasn’t in and wasn’t the meeting at 3 pm?

Jesus Christ.

I told him that I would come back the following morning.  He said to wait.  He was going to ring Nathan again and find out if the morning was suitable.

The manager came back to me and said that the MD was in (Nathan’s mother and the owner) and would see me.

If she had been there all along, why had I been kept waiting for so long???

Anyway, so I met the MD.

She asked me how much compensation I was expecting.  I told her I’d paid $300 for the outfit and only worn it that one time before sending it for dry-cleaning.

She said they couldn’t compensate me for the full amount.  And then went on to say, ‘Anyway, I was reading somewhere that silk really should be hand washed and not dry-cleaned.’  I showed her the ‘Dry-Clean Only’ label on my garment.  She said, ‘Yes, but you know – sometimes they just stick those labels on even if it doesn’t need dry-cleaning.’  I told her that I’d always sent my Indian clothes there and I’d never had any problems before.  Everyone knows you can’t hand wash them unless they’re cotton!

She went on to say that ‘Poor Nathan’ wasn’t even in the dry-cleaning business and that he was just stepping in while she was away.  She also said that she was trying to get hold of her husband to find out what was discussed in his meeting with LagosDad, because ‘whatever he said was final’.  I told her that was funny because no one seemed to be able to make a decision without consulting her first.

I told her that it wasn’t about the money.  If their policy is only to pay X amount, then that is what should have been said to us in the first place.  Whether it was Nathan or her husband.  We should not have been told things like, ‘Ooh, I can see that your clothes are expensive.  You’re definitely entitled to more than that.’  And why was everyone saying something different?

She said she would give me N15000 ($94) as a ‘sorry’.  She then went on about how every business has risks, etc. and I just happened to be unlucky this time.

She said she was sorry and she knew I was disappointed, she knows how she feels about her ‘things’, etc.  Yes.  I’m sure she does.  Sitting across from me in her diamonds.  She asked if that was ok with me.  I said, ‘Does it matter if it’s not ok?’  She said, ‘Of course it matters.  You should say.’  I responded with, ‘Is it going to make a difference?’  She said it wouldn’t.

I told her that although two customers probably wouldn’t make a difference to her business, she had lost us and that I would now look for somewhere else to send my dry-cleaning.  She said it’s always sad to lose customers and that she would think of another way to make it up to me.  How?  I don’t know.  And I don’t want to find out.

I left with my N15000 and told her I wouldn’t be back.

So there you have it.  Our two-week dry-cleaning saga has ended.  Thank God.

I’m not happy with how Nathan’s handled this.  I’m not happy at all.

Who can recommend somewhere else in VI?