DESIGNER WINDOW COVERINGS

A bit of a "long" story, but the bottom line is that after this experience, this couple should get out of the business unless they can learn from their poor handling of our potential business. Gary was rude, condescending, and insulting. We tried to give them many opportunities to "save face" and at least make a bid, smooth things over, etc. But, he seemed to have that corporate banker attitude snobbishness and made assumptions about our ability to pay. He either forgot or never really learned that business is about building relationships first and then making money. IN the story, I tried to be as fair as possible, while being true to our experience. Some of the details were left out, but this is basically how OUR experience was. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY! If you need BLIND REPAIRS, there are at least 3 companies in town (Gary told me that there's only one). You don't need these guys, and plus, they are not in it for the long haul. They come across as bored retirees who could take it or leave it. Maybe that's not who they are as people, but that's the IMPRESSION they gave to us. Story below: The initial visit started out fine. Gary and his wife were friendly and professional, but made me feel a bit like they were friendly neighbors. They arrived on time the first visit, and early for the second visit. When I was scheduling the visit, I wanted to get an estimate with my wife present, but also to get the two broken blinds repaired. (I read a review from another Angie's list customer for whom they repaired the blinds for about $40 or something.) They said they could come over that day (Thursday or Friday 3/27 or 28/2013) and would come back on Monday when my wife was off. They removed the blinds, put up temporary blinds made of paper (accordion folds with sticky adhesive to hold them up - very temporary), and said they would call me with an estimate on the repairs. I called on Monday a few hours before the appointment for the estimate to reschedule for the following week. Gary was on his way to drop off the blinds and seemed to be annoyed that I wanted to reschedule. He told me in addition to the blind repairs, that there would be a charge for his time to pick them up, take them to the shop, bring them back and install them. Taken aback by this, I asked how much THAT would be. He said that they charge $75 per visit to a home. I expressed my surprise with that and asked why not give me the whole price (It started sounding like he was adding in charges or something because maybe he thought he lost a sale.) He became defensive, argumentative, and insulting. I stated that it sounded like he was getting angry, and he admitted that he was because he prepared this presentation for the estimate. I told him that I wasn't cancelling, but just calling to reschedule. He still seemed annoyed and asked what I wanted to do about the blinds because he was already on his way there for another customer. I stated that I wanted them repaired, but we started arguing about the additional costs. I took exception to the fact that he wasn't upfront about these extra costs, and he insinuated that I didn't want to pay him for his time. He had me on speaker phone with the repair and continued to insinuate that I was trying not to pay him for his services. (I just took exception that he was not upfront about the costs, or at least straightforward about sending them out and HIS CHARGES for doing that for me.) I told him repeatedly that we were intent upon getting shutters and/or blinds for the whole house. Finally, he got an estimate from the blinds repair company: the cost to restring $60 for the large ones (94" wide x 58" long approx) and $50 for the smaller one (59" wide x 58" long approx), plus his cost of making a visit to the house, dropping them off, and coming back to install them. He also said that he could just leave them and have me pick them up. After a back and forth, we agreed to leave them there to be fixed and he would call me when they were done and we'd proceed from there. I didn't hear from him all week (he said he'd call me by Thursday or when they were ready). I called Friday and he said he forgot to call me because he was "busy with handling a bunch of repairs", but that he already had them or something after going for another customer. So we arranged for him to come over that following Monday (over a week at this point) when my wife was home so that they could also give their "presentation" and perhaps get an estimate for shutters and blinds. Still giving these guys a chance because they got such decent reviews. He and his wife arrived. They installed the repaired blinds and fixed the broken one in my daughter's room. The price was lower because the actual repair was not as extensive as they expected. The blinds worked great except the restringing on the repaired blinds were a little crooked. I pointed it out and he said I could retie them myself. Then, we moved to the kitchen table where I expected that after the installation of the repaired blinds that we'd get a "presentation" (the one he had "prepared" in the first place). The started right away into writing up the invoice for the total bill and Gary started discussing the total. He wrote a "reduced" price stating that it was lower than what they "normally charge" (which was NOT mentioned during initial negotiations of service). I told him again that that wasn't the issue rather, I wanted to know this UPFRONT and I didn't understand why this was so complicated. He mentioned that he's never had as complicated problem with other customers (then talked about how his "higher-end" customers never had issue with money). So, we just gave them the full amount in cash and told them we'd pay their "full rate". He gave back change anyway. After that, irritated but still wanting to get some new freakin' blinds, we asked about the "presentation". They had nothing ready and Gary gave a snarky reply stating that we didn't ask for one. I told him that we still did wanted an estimate, and he said he'd have to go to his truck to "get the book" of samples as if it was an inconvenience. So, he returned with one of his sample slatted blinds which was basically like ours but with light blocking improvements. I told him we weren't interested in that, but he ignored me and continued the demonstration. My wife ask why they got into the business, and they shared their cute little story of him being a former banker and her some elected official in Minnesota or Michigan, but he added that they were tired of the business and thinking about selling it or letting it die. Gary's wife contradicted that saying they weren't going to let it die. He continued on talking about the "glory days" during the bubble of working with customers in higher end communities who didn't care about price. (Guess we weren't good enough, or something even though we were planning on doing an upgrade in window treatments to our 15+ windows - at least a few grand.) Of course, by then it was clear that they were not interested in making a sale as they labored through the pitiful sales pitch of the low-end blinds. Still giving them a chance to the end, I stated that we wanted to see what they had to offer, and he basically said customers already know what they want by looking online. After that, my wife and I were done. They finally left. The rude and condescending attitude, blaming us (the CUSTOMER), and so forth was just too much. Perhaps they were nicer to some others, but this was out-of-hand. My wife (who is Chinese) was flabbergasted by their behavior and stated that Chinese business owners would NEVER squabble over such a small matter and use that opportunity to make a bigger sale. What ever happened to building relationships in business to make good business?

The continous loop cord on a vey large roman shade in my master bedroom broke, leaving the shade half way down. This window faces a golf course, so this was a big problem privacy wise. I called this company at 12:30 in the afternoon and Gary and his wife were there about 3:00 the same day. Gary replaced the cord, showed me how to do it and left me another cord to use should it happen again. He did not charge me for the additional cord. I was very pleased with the whole experience and would definitely use them again.

First visit was to assess the issue, take measurements, etc. Two headrails needed to be ordered. The quote was very good given the nature of the job. The company was going to call when the parts came in and schedule an appointment to install. I ended up contacting them 2 1/2 weeks later as I had not heard back. They had the parts and came that evening to install. The owner and his wife are very nice people, but at times one would talk over the other making it hard to understand what was going on.

GREAT

EVERYTHING WENT WELL, THE BLINDS LOOK GREAT!!!! THEY INSTALLED IT THEMSELVES ACTUALLY THEY DO IT ALL,.WE GOT KNOW EACH OTHER AND HAD A GOOD TIME WITH THEM VERY SOCIALBLE PEOPLE. WE FOUND THEM IN THE YELLOW PAGES NOT KNOWING THEY WERE ON ANGIES LIST. WE FULLY RECOMMEND THEM HIGHLY.