Article co-written with Maître Mollard, Arcane Juris firm
The general terms and conditions of sale, as well as prices’ display and service quality offered, are among the dry cleaners’ common issues. Dry cleaners often consider these general terms and conditions as optional, or even as a pointless administrative constraint.
However, you shouldn’t underestimate this essential point as part of a responsible point of sale management. You have probably already displayed the general terms and conditions in your store, next to your counter for example. But did you fulfill all the constraints and obligations related to this display?
We wrote this article to help you answer this question!
Overall, the display obligation doesn’t apply only to your general terms and conditions, but also to:
The service quality you offer
The main prices (for a regulated selection of standard articles)
To clarify this topic, we will address three major points:
Legal and regulatory aspect
Why were these obligations implemented?
How can my IT tool help me?
Concerning the prices display, the following articles selection must be displayed on the window and be visible from the outside, and must include the prices including taxes and the quality of services offered:
Laundry part
White bed sheet
Colour bed sheet
Fitted sheet
Man shirt
Laundry cleaning by weight
(no drying, 4kg minimum, price by weight)
Dry cleaning part
Trousers
Jacket
Skirt
Dress
Coat or raincoat
Economical service
The garment is cleaned with a solvent, wringed out, then the solvent evaporates. The garment is then ironed mechanically.
Meticulous service
In addition to the solvent cleaning, this service offers a stain-removing pretreatment and a meticulous mechanical ironing.
High quality service
This service includes a specialized stain-removing pretreatment before the solvent cleaning, then a manual ironing.
And of course, you must display the general terms and conditions with your up to date reimbursement scale.
You are also obliged to inform your customers about the risks related to the services you offer. Indeed, you do not have any obligation to produce a specific result, but only an obligation of means. Consequently, you may be held responsible for damages only when you make a mistake or don’t comply with the professional standards.
Don’t forget the crucial role of the receipt handed over at drop-off. It may be very helpful in the event of a litigation, especially if it includes specific comments such as reservations.
I remind you that the profession unions are able to help you.
They put several tools at your disposal: displays of prices, services’ quality definition, standard general terms and conditions, and also applicable reimbursement scales.
| Institut national de la consommation (national consumer council) | https://www.inc-conso.fr/content/les-teinturiers-et-pressings |
| FFPB Fédération Française des Pressings et Blanchisseries (French federation for dry cleaners and laundries) | https://www.ffpb.fr/ |
| CFET Île de France | https://cfet.fr/ |
| CET Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | https://cet-aura.com/ |
Inforum’s proposition with GestiClean...
In order to address some of the key issues explained above, GestiClean offers today the following features:
“Message” feature
The users can overwrite the receipts with a chosen text. For instance, you could add your complete general terms and conditions. But be careful with the final size of the receipt. Here is an example we recommend:
“Litigation” feature
You can register a conciliatory report with the customer.
If equipped with complementary software GestiClean Back Office, users are able to follow the case file progress.
“Prices printing” feature
You can print:
- The whole price list to keep behind the counter, available for any customer request.
- The window price list of an article selection (box to check on each item). This price list with big letters is meant to be displayed on the window.
Dry cleaning: General Terms and Conditions