The owners of a long-established local business are launching Bermuda's first 24-hour automated dry cleaning service.

Kimberley and Eduard Guntl, owner-operators of Blue Ribbon Cleaners, will provide the new service as of next Monday at their Bermudiana Road drop-off location. The custom-designed system combines computer technology with a physical drop off facility and cleaning service that can be accessed by customers around the clock using their credit or debit cards. To celebrate the launch of the new service, a 50 per cent discount will be applied to all clothes dropped for dry-cleaning at the Blue Ribbon Cleaners store on Bermudiana Road from March 14 to 24.

"We're in the business of providing a service and we always want to serve our customers' needs properly," said Mrs. Guntl, who with her husband started Blue Ribbon in 1990. "People don't work nine-to-five anymore and we want to move with the times, and over 75 per cent of our business at the Bermudiana Road location is done on credit or debit cards. So since most of our customers here are already used to dealing with us in that way we won't be taking cash. This system just makes things even more convenient for our customers; they can come in whenever they want to, we'll always be open because everything is automated."

Customers will be able to sign up for the service and be included in the database that drives the system by slotting in their credit or debit card to the ATM-like equipment on the premises.

They will use a computer touch screen to enter their own PIN number in addition to their name or telephone number, and once in the database they will be able to activate the system via their credit or debit card to drop off clothes for cleaning.

"They tick off each item they're dropping off on a slip we provide, just like if you are filling in a laundry sheet for the housekeeping department in a hotel," Mrs. Guntl said. "They keep a copy and put a copy in with the clothes in the drop off chute; the whole transaction takes just a few minutes once you're in the system."

Mr. Guntl said that clothes dropped off at the facility will be ready for pick up 48 hours later through an automated conveyor belt delivery system, activated, again, via the customers PIN number. He also stressed that the database behind the system was fully secure.

"Our links to the banks for card authorisation are secure and it's not linked to the Internet or anything so there's no worry about hacking," he said. "And the customer data, except the name, is bar-coded on the receipts that come with the clothes once they're returned, so everything is kept confidential."

The human element will not be entirely missing from the operation however.

"We will have a staff member on hand three hours a day to receive items that might not fit in the chute, such as comforters and so on, and to deal with any issues that might need face-to-face contact," said Mrs. Guntl. "And we also have a telephone link on site if a customer needs to call in any issues."