OOH LA LA HOME FURNISHINGS/EXPRESS BLINDS & DRAP

In January the designer and her associate visited our home, discussed dining room ideas with me and took photos. For this they charged an upfront fee of $100. Despite the fact that many other designers provide free initial consultations, I agreed. At the end of our meeting, they informed me that she would be out of town for a week or so, and would contact me in late January when she returned. She did not. It wasn't until I stopped into their store a week after she was supposed to call, and found her there, that she said she had been "meaning to call." I said that was fine, and we scheduled a time for her meet with me. I rearranged my work schedule for the meeting, but she didn't show. While I have come to expect this lack of professionalism from contractors, I expected more (erroneously) from a store and service that bills itself as "high end." I have since given her several weeks to contact me with a reason she didn't show, and to make amends. Nothing. So, I paid $100 for absolutely no services. Not a lot of money, but if my wife and I had known there were jobs where you can make $100 an hour just for talking with people and providing absolutely no product or service (with little to no training), it would have saved us the trouble of getting advanced degrees. By the way, I had also met with her daughter-in-law to discuss installing blinds, which I likely would have bought. However, because of my experience with the designer (the mother-in-law), I will not buy their blinds now, either. As a small business owner (assuming she is the owner), she should understand the lifetime value of a customer, and conversely, the lifetime cost of losing a customer. Furthermore, she should know that a happy customer might tell a few people about his or her good experience, but an unhappy customer is sure to tell a LOT of people about their bad experience. Apparently, she never learned these business lessons. Hopefully, if she reads this, she will.

Dee and Elaine came to my home, made suggestions, came back(several times), brought lots of accessories and transformed my 1st floor into the fresh, but warm look and feeling I've been wanting to achieve for years. I also liked how they re-arranged many of my own items to add to the new look. Not everything had to be new. However, I did get rid of several old items too. They pay attention to detail. Both were pleasant to work with. They take as much time as necessary to do the job properly. That being said, it's best to be the first appointment of the day. If you're interested in getting the job done this is the way to go. Be prepared to splurge.

The price on the blinds was the best we could find. Installation was accurate and timely. Did have a scratch on one of the blinds. It was replaced with no problems.

SALESWOMAN WAS YOUNG, INEXPERIENCED DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF OWNER. MEASUREMENTS WERE WRONG. MISINFORMATION RE: OPERATION AND USE OF BLINDS GIVEN. UNABLE TO ADD VALANCES BECAUSE OF POOR PLANNING. INSTALLATION WAS POOR. OWNER REFUSED TO MAKE ANY ACCOMMODATIONS OR ADJUSTMENTS EVEN AFTER ADMITTING RESPONSIBILITY.