AIRLIGHT VENETIAN BLIND CO

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The owner is an "interesting" old hippie who works out of his small apartment in Wallingford and will talk your ear off, including telling lengthy jokes. When you call, there is often just a beep on the answering machine which doesn't record messages. So you may have to keep calling to catch him on the phone. He does make house calls, though that will cost at least $75 per trip. The job went reasonably well. Just beware of small last-minute charges that can add up. Each of my blinds required "additional fixes" that added about $30 to the bill. When you go to pick up your blinds, he makes a big deal about wanting you to wait outside the property and NOT knocking on the door, in case you bother his neighbors. He is very quirky. There are not many people who repair blinds anymore, so he has plenty of business and can take a month before getting to your job.

Previously, over a period of several years, I had Airlight Venetian Blinds restring eight honeycomb blinds that had been up for at least twenty years. Because I was happy with the work they had done I chose to order new bedroom blinds from Airlight. The owner was very helpful in selecting a style that fit the situation and I am very satisfied with the results. Because the order was placed just before the business had to move out of their building I was not surprised when the order did not arrive on time, but there was a lack of communication during the interim. I did not shop around or compare prices, so I did not rate for price.

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I took a broken roller shade for service to Sam (Airlight Venetian Blind Company). He gave good info on how the roller shades perform and how the internal spring is broken in this case and that he would replace the broken spring. I got the call back within the time specified for service and he also went over the different scenarios and how to install the roller shade properly. I was happy with the service and will use them in future as well.

He finished the repair when he said he would, did an excellent job, was very informative about our repair/replace options going in, and I felt the price was reasonable for what he had to do to fix the shade. He also gave us tips for prolonging the life of the shade, though he was also clear in his preference for Hunter Douglas products, feeling the quality was better than the big-box brands such as Bali. A slight ding on responsiveness in that his voicemail box was full whenever we called, so we had to reach him directly on the phone in order to communicate.

Did the job at a reasonable price. Store smells of cigarette smoke. Blinds smelled initially, but not now.

The first shade took almost two weeks, the second one took just a few days.

Staff/owner was super friendly and gave us a discount since the blinds were for a business.Prompt friendly service and the work was excellent.

First of all, the most important thing about Sam is that he knows blinds better than anyone else we met. He is involved in the entire process from the initial discussion about ideas all the way through installation. Many other people selling blinds are just sales people. They know very little about the actual installation and the little nuances that are sometimes important when trying to choose the right blind for a specifid application. As with any project there will always be something unexpected that happens along the way. It is great working with someone like Sam who has so much experience and knowledge because it is easier to deal with those unexpected bumps. We first met wtih Sam at his shop. He is very knowledgable and spent alot of time educating us on the options - manufacturers, materials, assemblies, and use. Sam knows everything there is about blinds. When making choices, he can tell you everything about the blind from the materials it is made from to the details of how the blind is manufactured including the full assembly to how the installation could be customized to what it takes to clean the blind. He later came to our home to help us with thinking through the choices in each room and window. It was a great experience. Sam provided enough information to help us make the decision while making sure that the decision remained ours. He did not try to rush us. He allowed us to make hte decision at our own pace and ask as many as questions as we liked. In the end, we chose several different types of blinds because there were several different areas where they were to be installed. Sam came out to do the installation and it was another great experience. He does not rush the work and pays attention to the details. It is fantastic that he is involved in the entire process from end to end. Many other people selling blinds are not involved in the installation and subcontract to installers. Sam had to remove some existing blinds and he even suggested how the blinds could be reused for other windows saving us a lot of money. This was possible because he was involved with us through the entire process. I highly recommend Sam and Airlight Venetian Blind.

Sam Abbott is a Master Installer for Hunter Douglas Blinds and definitely was very technically knowledgeable of blinds.He performed and completed a professional installation and offered information and tips on the operation and care of blinds per Hunter Douglas requirements. Manufacturers paperwork was completed and a care brochure was left for reference. Sam was slightly late for his appointments due to limited staffing of his new store in Ballard.

Back in September, I met with Sam at a condo I was preparing for sale for a client. He seemed very knowledgeable about the blinds and we discussed whether or not the present blinds could be repaired or if it would be more economical to just order new ones. Same took the blinds with him and told me he would get back to me in a week. When I didn't hear from him in the proposed time, I tried to call his shop. On many occasions, there was no answer. Occasionally, someone would answer the phone and said they would give a message to Sam. At one point, there was one email update which provided some prices, but there was no follow up at all. I tried to use email, but the email bounced back for some reason. I left multiple messages with the person answering the phone (when they DID answer the phone...), but never received a phone call back. More than two months later, I contacted another individual about replacing the blinds and it was accomplished in less than a week. Although Sam seemed to be very knowledgeable about what COULD be done with the window treatments, he certainly didn't make any attempt to follow through with this order and I would avoid using him in the future. This was truly the worst service I've had from anyone I've used on Angies List.

We did alot of research when replacing these blinds. There were several issues that we had to solve and Sam was fantastic to work with through all of it. He really knows blinds and that helps when you run into unique details that could derail others who approach things with a cookie cutter attitude. A great thing about Airlight is that they are a full service blind company - they sell, install, service, and clean. Most of the other people we spoke with would sell blinds, but they would subcontract the installation to someone else - then if there is an issue, who is the responsible party. Airlight offered great pricing and were responsible for the end to end delivery through installation. Sam is very considerate and thoughtful about his work. He takes the time to make sure that the customer is satisfied. I highly recommend him to anyone.

As previously mentioned, the windows and door at the rear of the house needed coverage. Sam brought over sample books to show me what was available for the size of windows I have. I stated I did not want mini blinds,and that privacy was important. He suggested I look at the top down/bottom up selection of coverings. I had seen such blinds in several homes and thought the look was stylish and a little "different". In the end I went with that style and loved the choice!

It was a pleasure to work with Sam who is most professional in all his work. We love the blinds we chose with Sam's advice and guidance. He is punctual, courteous and most considerate. He even covered his shoes with little booties to protect our new wood floors whenever he came to the house. I can highly recommend Airlight Venetian Blinds. Thank you Sam!

Work was completed in the 5-10 business day window I was quoted. Threw in a discount for the cord as the color was hard to match. Very happy with the service and will definitely consider them when the opportunity arises to replace all my blinds!

I really enjoyed working with Sam. He is very knowledgeable and patient. An expert installer. I had an opening into my closet area and needed a curtain rod. He threw in one for free and even hung my curtain for me. He's great. I would call Sam again when I need more window treatments. He repaired my Mother-in -law's blinds about a year ago and that's how I found out about him along with recommends on Angie's List.

I took 3 blinds in to his shop for repair. Only one could be repaired, so he took lots of time finding out just what I wanted, showed me all the options, and thoroughly explained the pros and cons of each. I opted to have him do the measurements, which meant the fit was guaranteed. The day he came to measure, he brought his sample books so I could be absolutely sure what I had picked out in the shop was what I wanted. We settled on which system I wanted to use raising and lowering them, and when it turned out the only system actually available for those blinds was a more expensive system, he didn't charge me the extra. When the new blinds arrived, he came back and installed them and the one he had repaired.

We went to the shop to meet and discuss options for new Venetian blinds. He took his time explaining everything to us and set up an appointment to come to the house and give us an estimate. He missed the appointment in the afternoon but called to apologize and came right over, spending a lot of time repairing a couple extra blinds and measuring for the new ones. The price was half of what we expected. He ordered the new blinds and in a little over a week was back to install the new ones and finish repairs on old ones. Everything looks fantastic!

I HAVE USED THIS COMPANY TO REPAIR AND INSTALL BLINDS IN MY HOME FOR OVER 10 YEARS.. ALWAYS PROMPT, PROFESSIONAL AND WELL PREPARED.