Smith+Noble LLC

A retired professional drapery installer and I followed the website directions precisely for ordering 3 architectural cornices. The cornice "size & mount" website screen does not ask for total width. The customer is instructed to enter "face width" which in their illustration is the window's actual width, mount (outside or inside), and then clearance (shown as a line extending beyond the width on either side). As a result, we entered the windows actual width (46") plus 3 inches in the clearance box. We double checked by asking via chat whether an entry of 3 inches in the box on the screen marked clearance would give me 1-1/2 inches in addition to the window width. I received 3 cornices that are slightly less than 46" total width. Had they asked for total width, I would have entered 49". Their response? They will give me what I had originally ordered if I pay another 50% of the original price. Furthermore, the hardware brackets (to be installed above the cornices) are so large that there will be too little length for the cornices to cover the shade roller, something that is not indicated on the website. Note: I recently saw where their employees posted that Smith and (Un)-Noble engages in unethical business practices. No surprise there!!! STAY AWAY! They do not honor the language of their “Satisfaction Guarantee.” I 'm on a fixed retirement income and lost over $300.00 on cornices that can't be used and look like they are made of about $10.00 worth of materials.

They came for consultation and then later they came in and finished the work quickly.

I had Polina come out two times for about 14 windows. I was trying to shave off money from the total cost of the job (at the time of the consultation, I could have gotten a 30% off deal) by having her come back and run different window treatment options from the first time she came by. She was amenable, even though I'm sure she could tell I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  She also said I could still get the 30% discount. I ultimately decided not to go with Smith & Noble based on price. But if I were making my decision based on Polina's expert consultation, I would have definitely used them.

Original order was faulty and had to return all blinds

I have used Smith + Noble  for years. At least 25 years ago I purchased Hunter Douglas Duets from a company in back of one of my decorating magazines. I think one company purchased another and changed names along the way.  Although an individual person will call them Duets, they are knockoffs. Some are fine. Some manufacturers did such a bad job that the strings break and the plastic pulls crack.
I got in touch with Ken Onoda, their Customer Advocate, in 2009. He promised to fix situations in AZ and CA with their shades. I finally gave up on AZ. A man came out to see the state of the blinds. Juan told them what to reorder. The new blinds came on 11/11/11. I called and called to have them installed. I called Kelly (951.818.5132) and after many, many calls (over 10) I managed to get Juan out to hang them. Approximately one year later!  In the meantime, more of the defective shades had broken. He told the company how many they needed to replace. More calls. No response.  
This company has no one that responds to company complaints. They simply do not care.
Addresses where there were problems:
1503 S. Crescent Heights, 90035
1505 S. Crescent Heights L.A. CA 90035
20261 N. 63rd Dr. Glendale, AZ 85308

I made an appointment via the S&N web site for a designer to come  the following week. Lori, the designer, called me the day before the appointment  to confirm it and she arrived right on time. We discussed various options for the windows that I wanted to purchase treatments for (family room & adjoining breakfast area, master bathroom). I had previously ordered free swatches from S&N and Lori showed me some new swatches that she thought would work well in the spaces. She helped me select drapery rods & rings for my very tall family room windows (about 18 ft tall). I wanted soft roman fabric shade valances for the rest of the windows and Lori pointed out that type of valance didn't provide fabric on the sides and suggested using hobbled fabric valances (without the ties) to achieve the look I wanted. That was great advice that saved me from making a costly mistake. The drapery rods & rings arrived within 2-3 days and the fabric window treatments arrive within two weeks of the order input. I contacted S&N to set up an installation appointment and was told that an installer would contact me within 2 days. On the 2nd day an installer contacted me but since she didn't have the necessary ladder to install the 17.5 ft drapes in the family room, she had another installer call me later that day. On the day of the installation, the installer, Derrick, called me to say that he would be late due to heavy traffic. He arrived (with a helper due to the very long family room curtains) about an hour late but went right to work installing the window treatments. Derrick did a fantastic job.
Smith and Noble window treatments are quite expensive but good quality. (I had ordered some window treatments from S&N for my previous home several years ago but that time had ordered them and installed them myself.) I wouldn't have ordered them without the 40% discount. I'm very pleased with my experience with S&N.

I made an in home consultation appointment with S&N for Sunday March 18th and was to meet with Paulina. Paulina never arrived on Sunday, never called me and didn't answer my call to confirm that she was going to arrive. Obviously S&N apologized and offered to create a new appointment for today, March 23 at 10am with a new consultant Zeinab. She never called to confirm the appointment so  I again called the appointment center. They apologized and said they couldn't find the appointment anywhere in the system and that they were sure she was going to arrive and to just give her a call to confirm she was coming. I called her and left a message and again no one called me or arrived at my house. This is two days I have wasted at home waiting for a company who cannot keep their appointments or make time to call a customer. I would highly encourage customers to try any other company but S&N.

I would NOT recommend using Smith and Noble. BAD value and AWFUL customer service for the price they are charging.
The in home design consultant was very underwhelming, really didn't provide any suggestions or inspiration. When the blinds finally came (after 2 weeks), one of the top-down components was broken. The installer said he's asked for them just to give him extra parts to have on hand, but they won't. So that meant a whole new shade had to be ordered, made and sent. Another 2-3 week wait. Then the WRONG shade arrives! When I call they said oh we'll send you a new one in two weeks. Make a mistake once, ok, but twice at nearly $200 a shade you better really go out of your way to fix it QUICK - but NOPE! And they were very unwilling to accomodate me. They did  credit me $50 (still to be seen if they do), but I think at the price they are charging the full shade should have been comped. The 3rd replacement shade took not 2 but 3 weeks to arrive. Not impressed at the prices they are charging their customer service is AWFUL!

Easy.  I spent hours online looking at colors and patterns.  Then I requested swatches.  My husband measured, measured, measured.  I ordered.  The shades and hardware came in the mail.  Husband installed them.  That's it.  Exactly what I wanted.  I hated to leave them when we sold that house.

I have ordered from Smith & Noble multiple times over the last 10 years and have never encountered anything but the best service and product. I find the less than outstanding ratings puzzling.

With this particular order, I called the 800 number and requested the measure service. I was contacted within the 48 hour window that was promised and had an installer out to take the measurements. After that Smith & Noble notified me via email that they had the installer's data and were ready to take my order. Since I had already discussed material and color with several of their customer service agents the order process took about 10 minutes.

The blinds arrived about a week earlier that promised. I contacted S & N to set up an install date which was arranged within 48 hours.
The installer arrived on time, installed blinds and removed all packing material.
Smooth process, and the blinds look great.

I ordered the sheer elegance vertical blinds to replace a Hunter Douglas Luminette blind in which my dog chewed a hole. I'll admit I didn't want to spend too much money. I had ordered from Smith and Noble several years ago and was pleased with the valances I bought. I was impressed with their quality. When I was ready to order these blinds, they were offering the "room darkening" feature for free. I called customer service to find out what the difference was and if they would be heavier with this feature. The representative I spoke with told me they wouldn't be heavier and that I could order a sample if I wasn't sure. That didn't make sense to me because the sample would just be the fabric -- which would be the same in either case. In the meantime, I looked to see if there were any online installation instructions that would give me an idea if I could use the same mounting brackets I used with the Luminette blinds. There were no instructions. If there had been, I would have realized the quality of these blinds and I would not have placed my order. Also, the picture online and in their catelog made the blinds look very similar to the Luminette blinds I had. So anyhow, I decided to order the blinds with the room-darkening feature. The order arrived quickly, so I can't complain about that. But the quality shocked me. These blinds came in 8 separate pieces, so they don't hang very nicely. The room darkening feature is simply PVC vanes that can be attached between the pleats in the shades -- very cheap and very ugly. (The customer service rep should have told me that when I inquired about the room-darkening, but apparently she was not at all familiar with their product.) They also did not send the vane hangers necessary to use the room-darkening vanes. I sent an e-mail to ask them to send them (even though I'm not going to use them), but I haven't heard anything back. I realize this was a special order and therefore unreturnable, so I'm using the blinds. They look ok, but certainly not worth the money. They might be worth $200.00. I won't order from Smith and Noble again.

After looking at the website, and ordering fabric about fifty fabric samples, we finally decided on a window treatment for the one window in the laundry room. The web based software program that S&N uses is overly complicated and somewhat cumbersome, and you must know all of the factors front to back, side to side, and top to bottom in order to get the order completed correctly. I had to make no less than five phone calls and wait three weeks for the correct extension brackets to arrive so I could install the roller shade. To their credit, they called me back several times to tell me that the brackets were coming. This was not a particularly large window, and I later decided to run an estimate for another set of larger windows using a different fabric. After getting the show stopping estimate for these other windows--about ten times the cost of this window treatment--I decided to look elsewhere for other window treatment options.

After I called the company's 800 number, they made an appointment for the consultant to come to my house. I had to wait a couple of weeks for the appointment which was in September. The consultant called me to find out what I had in mind, and when she arrived, she brought appropriate fabric samples in the color palate and styles I had described. She was very helpful and together we zeroed in on the color and styles for the items. As the next step, she placed the order for the items and explained that once everything was delivered, they would schedule the installation. I was having new windows installed so we had to have the installer come out and measure once the new window was in, which slightly delayed the process; also, the drapery rod I wanted was on back order and that created a further delay. [my own schedule added somewhat to the delays because I made several trips during this period]. When the installer came, he was able to put up the shades but not the drapes because we didn't have the right rings; another delay. However, the final project is completed and it looks amazing. They were good at communicating the status; my consultant kept me informed, and the installer showed up each time exactly when he said he would. I would use them again, but bear in mind that this is a big company with many products and if something is out of stock it will delay things.

Ordered 2 blinds on March 11, 2009. Today is July 20, 2009 and the job is still not complete. The 1st visit I was told the installer would be here between 3 - 5. At 5:15, I called the saleswoman to find out what the problem was. The installer called me and told me he would be here in 30 mintues. He arrived at 5:55 p.m. He and his helpers were here aprox 45 mintues and he said they had to fashion a part to fit so would have to come back. On his 2nd visit he told me that he had a $28,000 job to do in Anacortes on Thurs & Fri and would call me on Tues. I wondered what was wrong with finishing our job on Mon if the $28,000 job was going to be just Thurs & Fri. As it turns out he never did get back to me, I had to call the saleswoman to get his phone number so I could follow up with him. This company appears to have a policy of hiring intellectually challenged individulas from Labor Ready or similar company. It is painful to listen to the lead installer talk to his helpers as they are still in kindergarten while he tells them what needs to be done, how to do it and that the, "philips screwdriver is the one with the yellow handle." No kidding!!!!! I couldn't make this up. Today, the installer told me he couldn't complete the job because it would take 2 people to remove the panels (it took my husband 20 seconds to do it by himself). He also said he didn't have the pins he needed and that I would need to box up the panels and rings and send them to the company in CA so they could sew the rings into the panels. After 4 months and 5 visits, I am so disgusted, I want to throw them at him!! Don't walk from this company, RUN!!!!!!!!

Our experience was miserable. It still drags on today and we started the process 6-7 months ago. Our dealings with S&N have been horrible. They have lousy customer service, the quality of their work is erratic, their responsiveness after the sale is almost non-existent, and their satisfaction guarantee from the president of the company is nothing more than a ruse. Just try emailing the president. Trust me; you don't get to the president. Thanks to some emails that were not meant to be CCed to us, we got to see a thread of conversation about our letter to the president regarding their satisfaction guarantee and poor service. It was infuriating. How could I describe our experience? There isn't enough room here. Suffice it to say, when our order arrived, NOTHING was right. Literally, not one thing was what it was supposed to be. The quality of many of the blinds/curtains was poor, the dimensions on several were inaccurate, the hardware was VERY CHEAP, the pull string on one set of blinds was installed on the opposite side we requested, the black out shades for our nursery had large holes that let in a lot of light, the threaded hole that is part of the connection between two pieces of one of the curtain rods was stripped so that the two pieces could not be connected, and the material selection recommended for one set of shades was almost see through. We requested a second more experienced rep to come out and assess the order and remeasure. The second, "more experienced" rep that contacted us had a whopping 2 months on the job! We demanded someone with several years experience. The third rep seemed knowledgeable. She scoffed at the advice of the first rep and agreed with all the problems in the order. She remeasured and suggested some changes to our order. Everything was remade. It took months to get remake order processed, and we had to call constantly. They couldn't track their own progress. One set of blinds was delayed several months because the fabric was on backorder. Actually, those blinds arrived two days BEFORE we were told they couldn't be made because they were out of the fabric. Some of the blinds that were remade were again cut wrong and the replacement curtain rod didn't come close to matching our order. The blinds were remade again and a third curtain rod was shipped. The third curtain rod came and again did not match our order at all. No where near what we ordered. We still have the first curtain rod held in place with tape. Now we finally gotten a fourth curtain rod. To be honest, it is still in the box. We haven't had time, to look at it. We are too worn down after dealing with this for so many months. We will NEVER user S&N again and will recommend the same to anyone who asks our advice, at least as regards fabric blinds. I hear they are ok at wood blinds assuming they get your order right.

I called into Smith and Noble after getting a couple of other estimates on blinds. Debra Montana, a rep from the company contacted me, we set up an appointment and she came to my home. She was friendly and showed me a wide variety of window treatments. I selected what I wanted, she measured, wrote out my order and told me they would arrive in 2 weeks, 3 at the latest. I had to call back with a credit card as I was only expecting to pay half, with the balance to be paid upon installation. She said they would not accept the order without complete payment up front. After I paid for the blinds, I never heard from Miss Montana again. During this ordeal, I left 3 messages for her with the Smith and Noble 800# for them to pass on. I did not receive a call back. The window treatments did not arrive in two weeks. I called the company looking for the window treatments. After being on hold for over 10 minutes, they answered the phone and could not locate my order. I was put on hold several more times. Finally with the help of someone else the order was located and I received the information that the treatments would come in two different shipments one 7/12 and the other around the 20th. No reason given for the delay. The orders arrived around the 12th. I called immediately to place an order for installation which I had already paid for and was told I would be contacted within 48 to 72 hours to make arrangements. I was also given the name and phone number of the person doing the install and called and left them two messages. The 72 hour time period went by, no return call from the work order placed by the company or the voice mails left by me. I called the company again. I got the same song and dance. I placed another work order. No call back. I called again and asked for a supervisor; finally got someone named Mario after over 90 minutes on the phone between these last two calls, Mario insisted that he was going to get someone out here for the next day. I travel and would have to pay someone to be here if I was not in town. At the same time, Jason an installation person called possibly off my first order and I set up an appt directly with him. I made arrangements for someone to be here. I called in to reach Mario and leave him that message; no return call from him. He was in a meeting at the time. The blinds were installed on Friday July 25th. I was called by the person at my home to tell me that the window treatments were a full two inches too short. The cord on the single fabric shade was a full 12 too long, is plastic, and looks cheap as does the window treatment. I feel I would have had better quality picking up something from Kmart. Jason, the installer filled out a reconciliation form, noting that the window treatments were wrong. I also called in and was told yes you guessed it; I would be contacted in 48 to 72 hours. Here we are;l it is past the time window yet again and nothing from Smith and Noble.

Summary: Very disappointing experience; currently am disputing charge (with help from AmEx) until corrections are made to my satisfaction. My first clue should have been that it took the designer SIX HOURS to measure and place the order. Speaks to inexperience. I was a chump to allow payment in advance. Never do this!! When materials arrived, there was no master packing list to compare for my order, so I never knew if all the boxes were there or not (my trigger for scheduling the installation, authorization for which takes 48-72 hours). Measurements and product recommendations were wrong for all but the 2 bedroom windows. Second time around was still wrong, and am currently waiting for third set. Most frustrating was cust svc experience. EVERY call had to be generated by me; same person was never available; only once in >12 calls did someone call back when they said they would; and management, which should have been on bended knee begging forgiveness, remained absent. UGH.

It was difficult to do business with them because of their responsiveness. The guy did the installation in the beginning of August and when he did it he forgot some parts to finish the job. It is now almost September he has not come back to finish the job. I am not too pleased with that. Everything is custom made though, but I would not use them again because of the delay.

The window is a set of 3: a large window flanked by 2 smaller ones. They all match and the color is no longer made. I called to see about getting this blind fixed and was told they only repair warrantied work for the initial purchaser. I need to get the blind fixed, but they are unwilling to help me, even if I paid. They were also very unpleasant with me. If you want good customer service, don't order from this company.

HORRIBLE. Out of 20 shades, 2 do not work at all, and 12 you have to manually pull down with your hand.

ON THE WHOLE I WOULD HAVE TO FAIL THEM ON ALL FRONTS. ONE ROOM HAS TOP DOWN AND BOTTOM UP BLINDS. IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER THEM IN ADDITION TO THE FACT THAT THEY COME WITH VERY LONG THIN PULLS THAT REST NOT VERY ELEGANTLY ON THE FLOOR. I WOULD HATE TO THINK HOW THESE LONG STRINGS WOULD LOOK TO A CURIOUS TODDLER! AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS DESIGN. WHEN WE COMPLAINED TO THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE REP WE WERE TOLD THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE THEM AND CHARGE US A MERE 50% OF THE ORIGINAL COST. THEY DID A DREADFUL JOB THE FIRST TIME, WHY WOULD WE AGREE TO WAIT WEEKS TO SEE IF THEY CAN POSSIBLY GET IT RIGHT THE SECOND TIME FOR ANOTHER CHUNK OF MONEY? IF THESE PEOPLE CARED ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL, THEY WOULD REFUND OUR FULL PURCHASE PRICE AND THE $200 WE INVESTED TO HAVE THEM INSTALLED. AS FAR AS WE'RE CONCERNED THAT IS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE RESOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM.

Overall - very good. Appointment to measure was made quickly and person was on time. Blinds arrived within 2 weeks and then install was scheduled on a timely basis as well. Person showed up on time and got everything done. One of the blinds didn't work properly upon receipt and Smith & Noble made/sent a brand new one within about 2 weeks. I also had one other blind where the mechanism broke and they replaced the blind at no charge within about 2-3 weeks. I did ask them to send me some little holding clips for our French doors, but they never arrived. We were able to take advantage of a 20% off sale, which was nice. Pricing was already well below similar items at another company.

The shades arrived as ordered, but once installed never folded in neat pleats. Having complained twice, I was told to wait and they would "hang out" properly. They didn't. I gave up, and then a few months later one of the cord mechanisms broke. I called again, and was told to return them. After a month, I was granted a store credit. However, by now the same fabric was discontinued, and a representative said that to get shades to fold neatly, I should have ordered a different fabric, and a different style (I was never told this for my original order.) To create shades thus would cost me double. I requested a refund, which was denied. Stuck with a credit, I placed an order for a replacement style, had to spend an additional $225 above the credit. I asked whether I could postpone the order to take advantage of the periodical 20% promotions S&N offers and was told that promotions were not usable with a credit. Now I am stuck with my second choice shades, at a cost of $554!

I LOVE THE FABRIC SHADES (RELAXED ROMAN STYLE), THEY ARE VERY FASHIONABLE AND SO EASY TO PUT UP. I FIRST ORDERED THE ROLLER SHADES WITH OUT LOOP CONTROL AND WHEN THEY CAME THEY WERE VERY DIFFICULT TO WORK. I WOULD RATE THOSE SHADES AN F ON THE SCALE. BUT I CALLED THE COMPANY AND EXPLAINED THAT I WAS UNHAPPY, SO THEY TOLD ME TO SEND BACK THE ROLLER SHADES AND THEY WOULD RE-MAKE THEM ALL AND ONLY CHARGE ME THE EXTRA COST TO PUT THE LOOP CONTROL ON AND THEY SAID THEY WERE DONATING THE REST OF THE SHADES! SO I WAS VERY HAPPY ABOUT THAT. WHEN THE NEW SHADES CAME IN, THEY WERE GREAT, VERY EASY TO LIFT THEM UP AND DOWN, BUT THE ONLY THING WAS THAT I SPENT A LONG TIME ON THE PHONE WITH THEM TELLING THEM ON WHICH SIDE OF THE WINDOW I WANTED THE LOOP CORD TO BE (SO THAT IN SOME ROOMS FOR EXAMPLE THE LOOPS WOULD BE BEHIND DRAPES). BUT WHEN THE SHADES CAME, THEY HAD MESSED THAT PART UP IN EVERY ROOM EXCEPT FOR ONE. I WASN'T GOING TO SEND THEM BACK AGAIN ($50 S&H), SO I'M JUST DEALING!

I WAS A BIT NERVOUS TAKING MY OWN MEASUREMENTS FOR A CUSTOM ORDER BUT THEY MADE IT REALLY EASY. THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS WERE VERY HELPFUL AND THEIR WEBSITE IS PHENOMENAL. THEY HAVE DIRECTIONS FOR MEASURING AND YOU CAN ORDER A SWATCH OF ALL THE FABRIC CHOICES.