BUDGET BLINDS OF SEATTLE

communication and service was great, would highly recommend!

.

Our service provider, Nick, was fantastic! He was extremely professional, punctual and fast. He was very easy to work with, and we will definitely be a returning customer. I would recommend Budget Blinds and Nick to anyone.

I strongly advise fellow Angie?s List members to avoid this company. Budget Blinds has deep problems that start on the customer-service level and extend through its ownership and corporate policies.
Not only was I subjected to an incredibly poor customer experience, but they also exposed other customers? personal identifiable
information (PII). Worst yet, they clearly didn?t care or recognize the severity of the error. When I attempted to work through my complaints with the owner (Tommy Jones) and still complete my purchase with another Budget Blinds office, the owner refused.
I could write a book about how horrible the entire Budget Blinds experience was, but here?s a summary:
- Customer service representative was 30+ minutes late and did not call me to let me know.
- Rep provided poor consultation, offered few new ideas or creative solutions; he left before I was through with my questions ? but he left behind his customer portfolio.
- Rep did not call about his missing portfolio; when I attempted to return it to the showroom to which he directed me for additional
service and samples, the showroom personnel did not know who the rep was.
- The showrom personnel gave me quotes for the same blinds that was substantially less than those I had received from Mr. Jones' rep. When she learned I was in a different zip code than her showroom, she stopped and cited job security for not doing business with me.
- I called the rep and set a day for him to pick up his portfolio; he was a no-show. He contacted me and set another appointment to
pick up the customer portfolio. Again, he did not come by.
- Local owner, Tommy Jones, was apologetic, but clearly did not understand (or refused to acknowledge) that his lack of training for his reps had endangered other customers? personal identifiable information.
- I offered to complete my transaction with the other Budget Blinds office with the showroom, but Mr. Jones refused to comply with a corporate offer (via email) to have another franchise serve me. He also failed to ask for his rep's customer portfolio back.
- I contacted Ms. Fleshman at corporate headquarters one last time, and while she, too, was apologetic, she confirmed that a franchise owner has the right to deny my business with a different Budget Blinds franchise outside my zip code. In summary, if a Budget Blinds franchise gives poor service and attempts to rip off its customers, there's nothing corporate will do about it.
I hope this review will save you from considering a truly bad company!

Overall, it has been a disaster and I am heartbroken. I have tried to talk myself into accepting these problems because I don't like to complain. But this has not worked. We are seniors in our last home before the nursing home or the funeral home. We have never had this experience with three other blinds' vendors in our last homes. We did not have this experience with painters or movers in this residence. They were angels.
From start to finish:
 1.  The installer did not read the specs  he measured for and then drilled incorrectly to hang the verticals' frame. When I pointed out the error, he corrected it, but we were left with more a dozen holes in our freshly painted walls.
2.      This installer said there was no such thing as a matching valance clip for the center. That was standard in other blinds we have had done.
3.      After the fact, this installer stated that a complete center close was not possible with these blinds. Again, standard in previous purchases. And why was this not communicated in advance? Why would anyone want blinds that do not close off the light? See an online example which is far wider than our blinds--there is  no gap in the middle:   https://www.google.com/search?q=vertical+blinds+on+wide+windows&rlz=1C1RNRA_en-INUS497US497&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=NTOEUdDuLIGliQKe54GoCA&ved=0CGIQsAQ&biw=1092&bih=514#imgrc=QhKttaozdmEy9M%3A%3BBShNiZs6YpCwCM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.windowproductsmanagement.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252FPage-4-Vertical-Blind.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.windowproductsmanagement.com%252Fproducts%252Fvertical-blinds%252F%3B1024%3B683
5.      The vanes still do not hang properly. They lack uniformity and I have to fiddle with them. My guess is the manufacturer skimps on the number of vanes, such that there is insufficient overlap to prevent this problem. Again, never happened before.
6.      These are the lowest quality blinds I have ever had, and it is especially annoying given the price we paid (far higher than any others).
7.      My email to the sales person requesting corrections was ignored, despite the fact that their warranty indicated " 5 year NO QUESTIONS ASKED replacement; lifetime installation GUARANTEE AND 5 year REPAIR." (Caps are hers.)
8.      The owner/installer now insists the blinds are correct as is and no correction is necessary. 
9.      I would never recommend this vendor to anyone. The neighbors on my floor agree and are steering away from him.
10.   A vendor's warranty/guarantee is a meaningless piece of paper if he/she lacks integrity.


UPDATE 5/16/13:
In summary, despite two weeks of attempts at mediation, resolution with this vendor was unsuccessful. When he submitted the required AL paperwork, he paid lip service to satisfying my complaint. Then, in subsequent emails to me, and despite his "Five year-no-questions-asked-warranty," he wanted more money, accepted no responsibility, and berated me. All trust has been broken. I have moved on with a lesson learned.