Hillarys Blinds review: What's happened to good service? 35

This is an almost identical experience to mine; is there anything more we can do to make them more accountable? There service is simply unnacceptable.

I too have had terrible service from Hillarys blinds. I ordered 5 blinds 8 weeks ago and after much chasing on my behalf arranged to have them fitted 3 weeks ago.
The sales rep (aka fitter) turned up in his driving instructors car and spent 3 hours on a Friday afternoon fitting 2 blinds (2 of the 5 were 'misplaced' and the other was completely the wrong size).
On inspecting the blinds after he left we discovered that one was manufactured incorrectly (mechanism not cabled correctly).
The fitter tried to resolve the fault on the blinds by cutting the string / cable on site but to no avail and advised he would fit the remaining blinds within a week or so. This was 3 weeks ago and have not heard anything.
Eventually I got tired of waiting and rang them and told them we would not be paying and for them to collect their product from our home. I was told the advisor would ring me within the hour (I rang the next day to chase this up AGAIN) and he showed up unannounced. He did not utter a word to me, simply removed the blinds and exited leaving the front door wide open - not a word of apology even though I was more than courteous in our dealings with him throughout this affair.

My opinion is - if you want blinds professionally manufactured and fitted, go to a specialist company, not franchised part-timers!

Hillarys are an awful company. After having some verticals fitted incorrectly and finally giving up I contacted another local company called Bob The Blindman which incidently is run by a bloke called Bob. He sent a fitter called Alan out the next day, who sorted the problem out in 20 minutes and charged me nothing. I ordered more blinds there and then with the fitter. They arrived in 10 days were fitted perfectly and the blinds were cheaper too!.
If you want good blinds try www.bobtheblindman.co.uk they are brilliant

Hilarys blinds fitted me a conservatory roof blind. Not only was the blind fitted shoddily by the so called advisor/fitter, it was by their own admission measured wrongly and fitted in the wrong order .
Trying to get Hilarys to rectify the problems was a complete and utter waste of time and energy.
Customer services not retuning calls, adisors not turning up for appointments with no notification time after time, having waited in up to 4 hours on more than one occasion.
The final straw came after requesting to speak to area manager, and guess what, yeh you got it, true to form, no response.
Anybody looking for blinds would be well advised to use your local blind shop and give this shower a miss.
Once they've got your money you'r ...ered

Totally agree with the comments here.

We placed and order and hilarys took a deposit of £80 on the 10th of Novemeber. Since then we've heard nothing and have no blinds.

Phone calls are unreturned. shabby and shoddy beyond belief. This company really smacks of being a spiv organisation. The total absence of any means of complaining on there web site speaks volumes.

No directors or customer service managers names are listed anywhere on the site.

I am relieved to hear that I am not the only person who has had a bad experience.

I ordered 2 velux blinds last August. They have both been replaced twice and I am waiting for them to be replaced again. They either have the wrong tension or they just snap and the material just hangs.

I have experienced all that has been described above. I have had advisors not turning up or returning my call, head office saying they would call back and one advisor shouting at me in my own home saying it was my fault that the blinds kept breaking and that he refused to help me.

Regardless of the bad after care that I have received ( I ordered the blinds in August 2008 and it is now May 2009) there must be something basically wrong with this specific velux blind fitting.

The advisor I am dealing with now is has been very helpful but even he can see that there is no point fitting new blinds if they are just going to fall apart after a month.

This whole experience has been very frustrating, and I really don`t know how to proceed. At the very least I should be offered a refund so that I can get decent blind elsewhere.

I too have just experienced the 'customer service experience' of Hilary's blinds.
I order a roman blind for my lounge and one for my kitchen. I paid a deposit and sat back to wait the 2 weeks needed to make etc.
On the day of the fitting...noone arrived! I rang Hilary's and explained I wasnt happy, they transfered me to the fitter. He apologised and arranged another date a week later. So I wait in another full day only to have a no show!
I ring again! Lots of apologies but I want to cancel my order...turns out I can't! So I said I want some kind of discount for my inconveinance! I was given £13 off and told they weren't going to 'throw money at me'.
Excuse me?! I am a customer and when I asked to speak to the advisor's manager he refused!
Is it me but when you're paying nearly £300 and have been messed about shouldn't there be some sense of customer care. A sense of being a valued customer! I was made to feel money grabbing and the advisor's tone was so awful that after the phone call I was really upset.
The advisor made me feel horrible and it was like talking to a brick wall. As yet no blinds!
I would not recommend Hilary's blinds EVER and as yet my issue with them is not resolved.

I have had much the same experiance. I refuse to give up and this letter is STEP 1 TO MY MASTER PLAN! THE CUSTOMER MUST BE TREATED RIGHT AND FAIRLY!

Hilarys Blinds
Colwick Business Park
Private Road No 2
Colwick
Nottinghamshire
NG4 2JR

Cc: The Trading Standards Institute
1 Sylvan Court
Sylvan Way
Southfields Business Park
Basildon
Essex
SS15 6TH

To whom it may concern,

RE: Account number _______ Complaint

This is a letter of complaint. My compliant is not with the product itself, I am incredibly impressed with the quality of the blinds, my qualm is with the installation and your Hilary blind fitter. In summary, the blinds are currently not fitted to the length of the windows; they are uneven with one another and blinds which are lopsided.

Your Hilary blind adviser arrived on 7th August 2009 to provide us with a quote of our 5 bay window. He showed us an array of different blinds, measured up and inspected the bay. We agreed to the wooden Venetian and paid a £200 deposit from my debit card given his assurance that would be no problems with the installation. An appointment was made and the blinds were fitted on 17th August 2009. The fitter arrived at 9am. After he fitted the blinds, I paid the remaining £210.

Unfortunately, by inspection, both close and far, the blinds were not in line with one another, they were uneven with the windows and did not look like ‘custom fitted’ blinds. The fitter returned the next day (18th August 2009) and I expressed my concerns regarding the length of the blinds (they sit on the window sill with too many slats) and the fact that the blinds “look wonky”. He dismissed the issue regarding the fit of the blinds saying they should look like that and dismissed the fact the blinds were not level. I naively believed what your ‘experienced’ fitter deemed correct in terms of fit, but could not accept the latter. I reiterated that they were uneven, but he continued to disbelieve it. When I opened the blinds to reveal the horizontal (and level) window panes he finally agreed that they were not level and said “you won’t notice it in two weeks time”. This was an insensitive and unprofessional response, given that I am the one living day-in-day-out with this unacceptable installation. The fitter then continued to say it was due to my uneven ceiling that the blinds “look wonky”. This infuriated me. It was not brought to my attention during the quote nor during/before the installation that my ceiling is uneven. Your advisor inspected the bay for a lengthy period of time, measuring and inspecting, before giving his assurance that there would be no problem with installation. If I was told prior to the, I would have rectified the ceiling level before getting the blinds fitted. I now have paid £400 for 5 bay blinds which all out of line with one another and look unacceptable.
On 18th August 2009 at approximately 5pm, I contacted your customer services on [protected] and eventually spoke to a customer relations advisor, Sylvia . I explained the situation. I had checked images of Venetian blinds from Hilarys websites, brochures and leaflets (and compared with other reputable companies) and found that the length of the blinds are incorrect. During the conversation, I was told: it is not the fitters responsibility to ensure the ceiling is level; the length of the blinds are correct and it is upto the customer if additional slats would like to be removed (at an extra charge of £20 per blind); and finally, she would speak to her manager and the fitter and call me back.

Approximately 30 minutes later she called me back, whereby she said there is nothing the company can do. I could not get a refund with a return of the product; the length of the blinds are correct and if I wanted them ‘fitted’ then that would be at a charge; and finally repeated that it is not the responsibility of the fitter to check if the ceiling is level.
During the conversation, I regularly posed the questions “What is the point of paying £400 for fitted blinds which are not fitted (I will have to pay extra for that!)? What is the point of paying for blinds which are not straight (because your experienced and trained fitter does not ensure that the surface at which the product is attached is appropriate)?” In response, I was told “it’s not our fault that the blinds don’t meet your expectations!”. This was outrageous! I simply expect “quality, value and outstanding service, all in the comfort of my own home” (sound familiar? ) and, of course, blinds that sit straight with one another.

To quote the Sales of Goods act 1979:-
“Satisfactory quality is defined as what a ‘reasonable person’ would regard as acceptable, and takes into account factors such as price paid, fitness for purpose specified, appearance and finish, freedom from minor blemishes, safety and durability. If it becomes apparent that an item is not of the quality you were led to expect, you were not aware of any such defect when you bought it, and you bought from a seller acting ‘in the course of a business”, you are quite within your rights to go back to the retailer, even after some months of use.”

I hope to hear from you within the next 14 days regarding this matter with offers of reconciliation, whether it be in the form of rectifying, refunding (with a full return of your product), replacement or reduction.

Yours sincerely,

I had arranged 2 reps to call at my home for a price on conservatory blinds luckily for me and my wife the Thomas Sanderson rep came first.When I informed her that Hillary blinds were coming the following day all she did was ask me to Google complaints and Im glad I did.I ordered my blinds with Thomas Sanderson 21in all (11 top 11 for bottom)+2 for the French doors). They were fitted as promised 2 weeks after measuring and took approx 1hour 30 minutes.. a wonderful firm to deal with.

I wish I searched for complaint before putting an order with Hilary's! They have no customer service! They get your money and run as fast and as far as they can! Could anyone please tell me how can I get my money back from them as they assured me I have the blinds but nothing have arrived at home so far and when I finally desided to cancel my order I was told I can't!

Oh dear...if only I had read these comments before I went ahead and ordered. Nearly £2, 000 and some very robotic 'can't help you' people at 'Customer Service' later, I'm absolutely regretting this purchase. You can't cancel your order even though it's only company policy that you have 7 days to cancel. They are immoveable. I was told very patronisingly, that it's not as simple as calling the factory in China to modify or cancel orders. Obviously it's MUCH more complicated than that and I just a mere PhD wouldn't be able to understand this!

The message is clear as many have posted above - get a friendly local tradesman to do it for you.

I am a Hillarys advisor, unfortunately not all the "fitters" within the company are competant at doing there jobs, I have even had to sort some of them out myself... I strive on giving good service as this is how I generate most of my work (through recomendation) and it doesn't matter where in the country the problem has happened, it could affect me and my business. This is something I have no contol over. If anyone would like to ask me any questions or get some help please feel free to drop me an e-mail. Paul.Hillarysblinds@hotmail.com if you would like to talk via the telephone attach your contact number and ask me to call you. I am very busy and do find it hard to create time but i will do my best to give back the service you all want and need.

Did anyone contact Paul as requested and did they sort out your problem? They are all very nice human beings and I am sure they are trying to help us. Except that they are totally inefficient or make excuses. 20 months is a long time to fit blinds; yet after more than dozen visits they are still at it. Now the conservatory is damaged and the conservatory company doesnt want to get involved. We regret the day we placed the order. Hillarys must be employing the rejects from other leading companies?

robertm1944

I purchased from hillarys roof blinds after 2 days they fell down could not use my conservatory, until the blinds were refitted.

not sure if any other customers have same problem the weights and the lugs that hold the white plastic chains have become brittle thus leaving the blinds not hangine correctly and unsightly.

We ordered roof blinds for our conservatory in June 2009 - they were fitted in August 2009 and by Sep 2009 the strings were starting to sag. (O/N: CNE281 - Invoice: [protected] - £3, 012.00). We complained by phone and eventually in October (after 5 phone calls) a technician arrived to retension the blinds. He said they would need further retensioning "later". In Jan this year (2010) I noticed that the strings were sagging again and that the connections of ythe blinds to the top of the conservatory walls was pulling the plastic covers away from the ring beam around the top of the conservatory.

We contacted Hillarys again and they eventually (after a further 5 phone calls and an agreement that we would pay the costs of the technician) sent a technician on 4-Mar-11. He said that the installation was very poor and that he would be back to fix it. Nothing materialised and after further calls to Hillarys we were informed that the technicioan had been terminated and that they would be in touch - since then - nothing.

Don't go anywhere near these people - their after sales service is terrible, their installation is shoddy and their customer care is non-exisitent.

I had a Hilarys fitter, he was most abnoxious & poked about asked personal questions & quite upset me, blinds are OK but if I had not been rushed by the fitter to choose I would have had others. The extra price he charged was exhorbitant & he eventually dropped the cost by £1000, it was still very expensve. They were fitted on the wrong top level & now hang too long. There should be a standard charge for fitting which I may add was described as free fitting! The fitter charges at will & fitting is over 10 times the cost of the blind.
Try Tuiss on line & fit your self theres nothing to it! The fitter is independant not Hilary's & my 2 neighbours felt as I do, the fitter made us uncomfortable & is not suited to coming into peoples homes.

Tell Hillarys... For one we DO NOT charge for fitting, the price we give is the price Hillarys give us. If you were charged seperately for fitting then you need to take that up with them, also if you would like a fair, non biased review site, Hillarys are now on feefo.com. What people don't realise is that other competitors also write on here. Go to feefo only our customers can comment.

I have also had poor service from Hillary's Blinds. Also no call back from Complaints - Leane or Kim as yet. Bought expensive shutters still waiting for bits 2 years on and now they tell me i have to pay for the visit to fix them!

Disappointing company - I have similar problems

My mum bought me a lovely pairs of curtains for Christmas from Hillary Blinds as I feel in love with the ones she had done in her front room. I really thought I would have the same services that she did and thought my curtains would like a lovely as my mums. I was wrong they were fitted on Saturday 14th December 2013 and look awful there are creased and have not been hung property at all she was in such a rush to get them done and they are not pulled right on the top and all so bought some man with her and parked on my drive and all so used my step ladder she just did not have a clue I have emailed and phone and just keep getting fob of they said manger would phone me today no one did I am very upset and so is my mum this was my Christmas present been ruled by Hillarys what can I do many thanks Amanda

I too have been let down by this company I think they must have financial problem's why else would they take deposit and not install the blinds

the director is called John Risman

Equally poor service from this company - still in dispute ! An order worth £4, 000 in November on the strict and key promise that they would be installed by Christmas - they were not ! Two fitters arrived 4 days before Christmas but a number of blinds were missing and one damaged. They also could not fully fit the electrically operated roof blinds as they 'were not fully trained'.
The job was only completed 5 weeks later after visits from 4 different fitters and the replacement of the electric motor that had 'burnt out' due to the first two wiring it incorrectly.
After several letters of complaint I was initially offered 1% compensation ! This was later raised to 2% and after challenging the fact that they were in breach of contract and that the ONLY reason they got the order was the promise of a pre Christmas installation I was finally offered 10%
HOWEVER, on checking the invoice - which I had to request - I noted that there was a charge of almost £600 for roller blinds - which the sales representative had told us were FREE !
When challenged the company refused to answer my simple question - were the blinds free or not ? They also declined to put me in touch with the sales rep so that I could ask him directly.
At present they are threatening legal action for the final amount of £600. Their 'debt collection' office now say that they have to put a price on the blinds for audit sake - strange that no one has offered this explanation during the last 5 months of complaint and discussion !
When you look closely at their invoice you very quickly realise that this company just 'makes it up as they go along'. Every one of our 15 roof blinds was priced at EXACTLY the same price - irrespective of the size. It seems they just get the best and biggest price they can, make any promise you need to hear and then deal with the delivery and fitting as and when they like.
A completely and utterly disgraceful company who deserve all the bad publicity they get.
I, like many others, only wish I had researched more diligently before buying. I would never, ever, use them again !

I'm only sorry that I didn't check this forum before. I'm now experiencing the same scenario. There service appalling. All I hear I'm sorry but nothing is done about it. I cant believe they are still in business you would think they would go into administration long ago.
Shipi

I am yet another unhappy customer. Having had several blinds from Hillarys, the blind over my patio door has broken three times. On the last occasion I asked for two separate blinds as I felt the one complete blind that was recommended wasn't robust enough as the door is used several times daily. Hillarys said they would replace the one blind again this time but if the problem occurred again they would fit two separate blinds. About 5 months later the blind broke again, I arranged for an engineer to come and take measurements for two blinds. He was also not very nice, he questioned me on my religious beliefs and was generally offhanded and rude, again personal comments were made. We arranged a fitting date but he didn't arrive, I telephoned customer 'service' and was told he had reported I had misued the blind and was not going to replace them. At no time did he suggest this to me. I was promised a call from a supervisor but 4 days later I'm still waiting. I've e-mailed the managing director but had no response from him either even though I've got a delivery and open receipt. I too wish I'd read this forum.

I am yet another disgruntled customer. I am only sorry that I didn't read all the reviews about this company before I ordered ! Having dealt with them before on 2 occasions ( Roman Blinds & Shutters) I thought I was dealing with a reputable company. I think the measure of good customer service is how they deal with things when something goes wrong. On previous dealings there had been no problems. Previously I had dealt with the sales person and the fitter. Both of whom very Knowledgeable, courteous and professional. I had not had the misfortune of interaction with the customer service team. This time, having placed my order with a different salesman but equally Knowledgeable, courteous and professional I paid just over £1, 000 up front (balance due on fitting) and was told the fitter would be in touch soon (within 72 hours) to take the exact measurements etc. After 3 weeks I had still not heard anything I began to chase it up. That was the start of my experience with the customer service team. They did not ring without being chased up several times and then excuses about the fitters all being on holiday. I said, what for a whole month! No-one had thought it courteous to explain there might be a delay. I was asked ' You do know how long it takes for shutters?' before I'd explained that no-one has yet taken the measurements! I was put through to 3 different people and then put on hold for so long the battery in my phone died. I waited for the person to ring me back but they didn't so I rang back, waited in a queue for a further 15 mins. I was then told someone would ring me back, which they did only to tell me they couldn't get hold of the right person because she 'd gone out for lunch. Just before 3pm I received a call with yet more excuses and was told she couldn't get hold of a fitter and was due to go home for the day so she'd ring back tomorrow. When I commented that Hilary's customer service was diabolical and a shambles, she replied that it was a wonderful company to work for and that she had been there 22 years. Well, I pointed out that Good Companies are also concerned about keeping the customer happy. Then she said I'm sorry you are wound up but I have to go and will ring you tomorrow. We will see if she does indeed ring back.
I have since spoken with the Salesman (Self employed, not an employee of the Company) who has been extremely supportive and helpful and he is trying to sort things out.
I now feel unhappy about dealing with this company, however. They have promised the shutters will be ready by Christmas. I would not bet on it. Hillarys make a big play about reputation etc. and they are not cheap.The Customer Service really lets the Company down.

I made a appointment with Hillary a week ago and asked them to come this morning to do measurement for curtains and blinds for the whole house. I specially said that I was in our old house10 minutes away and the rep has to call on his way. However, no call. Saw a note they posted through letterbox and called the rep. He said he is in a nearby town and will text me after doing his current measuresment but he never called. Rubbish service. I told the morning off just for this and I am sorry, they will not have our business.

Never trust any company who have a continuous "sale", there is a reason they are cheap, its because they are "cheap". National companies such as Hillarys and Thomas Sanderson use self employed freelance people many of whom will use awful sales pressure until you order. Get a better product at a good price and great service and keep you high street alive buy buying from a local independent retailer. Shop where you house is not where your mouse is.

I have just had dealings with Hillarys, what a nightmare from start to finish on the day that they were supposed to be fitted nobody turned up and when I called I was told that they were booked in for an evening fitting which was rubbish as the sales person knew that I would not be home in the evening but if I was going out to take my mobile and he would call me, did he heck, phoned Saturday morning to find out what was happening but
( CUSTOMER SERVICE ) go home on Friday at 5pm but you can leave a message on no you can not as the message machine is full, This went on for a few more days and the blinds were booked to be fitted on Wednesday evening ( result ) but no when I got home on TUESDAY evening there he was fitting the blinds, if my grandson had not decided to pop in to see me there would have been nobody there to et him in, so the customers that he should have visited on Tuesday well who knows, AND THEN WEDNESDAY MORNIING A CALL HROM HILLARYS TO ENQUIRE WHEN WOULD I LIKE MY BLINDS FITTED, I rest my case.

Why are people always surprised when they get poor sevice or quality from a firm which has a constant "sale" and farms their work out to regional contractors?

I could not agree more I bought Hillary's shutters that I thought were really expensive they where not fit properly my carpet was damaged( they did give me small refund for that) the shutters look badly fitted everyone asks me why there are gaps all around them, and now 10 months later I have had to get in touch with them because every time I open them wide to clean windows one of them falls off I have to try to lift it back on.The only reason I went to Hillary's is I saw there video that said they have great service fully qualified fitters and great reputation, What a load of rubbish I would never use them again, it is also very hard to get in touch with them.Kay

Took half day off work to see rep, never turned up or called. When I called and was put through, he said he was miles away and could rearrange. I went mad on the phone and ended up hanging up. Dreadful service. Will not recommend at all.

I have also had to complain to Hillary's as my blinds have been fitted incorrectly/they should have been made up to 0.53cm but arrived all at different lengths, they promised to call again on Saturday 22/10/16 with the newly made up ones but never turned up. They cost me £233.00 like a fool I paid in full

I would most certainly not recommend using this company to anyone, as they have had the most appalling and disorganised customer service I have ever experienced. I wanted to order a blackout blind for my 1 year old's bedroom - it has been over two months since I first contacted Hillarys and nothing has been sorted, due to a ridiculous number of confusions with appointments, lack of record keeping, differences between the website and reality and crossed wires between their staff. I have decided to go with a local blind company, even though the blinds are twice as expensive.

Absolutely shocking service! I placed an order for several window and door shutters in June, 2021! Still waiting 17 months later for last door! Windows were made wrong and door shutters apparently lost! Not quite the standard I’d expected for price… some shutters not sprayed aswell as others and few small chips to corners & gaps in framework! Was extremely upset to find that my kitchen shutter was obviously damaged on corner and had been touched in with paint that remained tacky for several days. Wall and furniture damaged… Hillary’s not interested! Not what I’d expected! Customer service terrible. Would never recommend or use again.