Blinds To Go

Do yourself a favor and think of this place as a showroom: once you decide, go home and order online. The staff are courteous enough, and the blinds are decently made. And yet two stars, because of the mind-​boggling inefficiency and near-​absent customer service surrounding the actual ordering of the blinds. Read on for gory details.
We went in and picked out blinds in almost no time at all. To make sure they had what we wanted, we filled out a form by hand, with measurements for each of our windows. Fine. Everything seemed OK, we just wanted to check another place before committing. We came back a few hours later to say «yes, please put the order through». That took over an hour (no notion of «triage»), and required us filling out the exact same form again. Can they ship the blinds to us? No, they don’t ship. But I could have ordered it online to my address? Yes, but the stores don’t ship, except to other stores. Gotcha.
(At this point, we made the tragic mistake of going ahead with our order anyway, and requested they deliver to a Blinds To Go store near my work. That’s when the fun started.)
After we got home, we emailed a representative (who wrote down his address in pen, old school) to confirm our measurements. No confirmation for a few days, so we called the store. Here’s where the two stars really get earned. There’s an automated menu, which after navigating to «representative», puts us on hold for a few minutes, and then explains they’re too busy to take our call, and we should try again later. (Which, if you’re a sucker like me, you will do on six different occasions with the same result). No option to even leave a message– just goodbye.
Many days after receiving an email response, I get a text message saying that my blinds have arrived. Happy day! I text back to confirm that it’s my desired location (my first smart move), and get an auto-​reply that is basically jumbled text, complete with greek symbols and such. I call the Garden City store for clarification, see above for results. The «desired» Westchester location by contrast picks up right away, and explains they have no record of my order.
I get a call from the Garden City location *nine* days later– they had our blinds. I had to send someone to pick it up for us. All told, this process took a month.

We chose roman shades. In order not to mess up the installation ourselves, we called a contractor recommended by the store. Blinds cut properly and installed properly. No problem. Over the first 3 years, many of the clips simply fell out. We called this location multiple times over several months, and finally someone told us they changed the manufacture design of these shades, and the new clips would not fit. Our only recourse was to take all 6 shades down, but we could not even tell how the installer got them up in the first place. Plus, they said they would «try to find a way» to make the repairs needed; «could not guarantee» that the repair would work! The result, it is now 4 years later, and due to the lopsided way the shades hang, our home looks more like a flophouse. If they say the blinds are guaranteed, and then discontinue the product less than 3 years later, what kind of a warranty is that? They never even suggested any other way to help us. I would not recommend them to anyone.

Friendly staff and great service!

Very knowledgeable staff helped in choosing blinds.
Have had free repairs done after several years of use.
They look great! … easily installed myself.
Staff is always pleasant.

Our purchasing experience at this location was a pleasure thanks to our sales associate Michelle and installer Tony. Both were very insightful and helpful in all aspects of the process. Buying a new home and moving has a myriad of stresses but thanks to them, blinds were not one of them.

RATHER THAN RE-​TYPE MY ENTIRE EMAIL I AM REPOSTING WHAT I TYPED WHEN ASKED TO «REVIEW MY PURCHASE».
I note that the installer we used has been FABULOUS — a pleasure to work with and prompt/​courteous. The blinds themselves, however, a clearly faulty. Whether this is a one-​time thing or not it should have been handled differently.
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Hi Joe Calvao and others,
Although you are no longer affiliated with this store you were extremely helpful in getting our order together and you provided great customer service when we plated the order.
That said, we are having a LOT OF TROUBLE with this order. Everything has been installed and looked gorgeous —– for less than 24 hours.
The Pleated Standard blinds in the master bedroom have separated from the frame and are no longer «hanging» but are sitting on the window sill. One is officially sitting on the sill, with the fabric having completely separated from the bracket, and two others are «peeling away» from the frame itself.
We called customer service as soon as it happened on Saturday night (they were installed by John on Friday at 4pm), and the store was closed. We called back on Saturday at noon when the store opened and we were transferred to a customer service rep that claimed he was not «on site» and that he would have someone «from the store» email me ASAP.
We waited.
When I didn’t hear back within a few hours I stopped in the store in person (really NOT how I wanted to spend my Sunday). I was told to sign in, waited a little while longer and realized I would be there until CLOSING if I didn’t speak to someone about this issue in person sooner than that. I (unfortunately for the client) interrupted a sales rep that was with a client and he informed me that there was no «customer service rep» IN the store and my only solution was to wait (per the waiting list, I have attached a copy), until a sales rep could assist me OR I «could call the number and speak to someone», which I had ALREADY done.
I chose not to spend the entire afternoon in the store and left.
Still waiting for a call back OR email from Customer Service, and still nothing.
I just called the store AGAIN (1:30pm Monday) and spoke to a gentleman by the name of June.
He informed me that I am entitled to ONE return visit from the installer. So if I have the installer come this week to take down the three blinds in the master bedroom I have essentially «burned» my one «return visit» that I am entitled to. This seems LUDICROUS to me since it is a manufacturing issue. Someone from Blinds to Go should be coming out to remove these, not the installer that offers a one return visit policy, this is not an installation issue and I should not be forced to waste that warranty b/​c I was given a faulty product.
I just spoke to John Corrao (the installer we used) who has been extremely professional from the first moment we met and he informed me that I can, if I would prefer, take the blinds off the brackets myself and bring them into the store, so that his warranty would still be available going forward.
I’m going to ask my husband to look at the brackets tonight and we’ll decide if this is what we want to do. I’m only writing to this email address b/​c I thought you should be aware of the situation and I also hoped that you MIGHT have another solution for me. Shouldn’t someone from BTG be coming to pick these blinds up and have them repaired, so I don’t have to go through the major inconvenience of taking them down myself, bringing them to the store, and SURELY being asked to «sign in» and wait my turn to speak to someone?
What are your thoughts?
I recently received an email asking me to rate my customer satisfaction and I can tell you that if I respond to it right now it will NOT be pretty.
I realize «things happen» and I am willing to not make a fuss over this, assuming we are made whole. I will NOT be whole if I am forced to «use» my one return visit on this — I am left with NO warranty re: installation from 24 hours after install going forward. That doesn’t seem right, does it???
I am almost always accused of «letting things go» too easily, or being too accommodating. That said, when something is NOT being handled properly, I know when to stand my ground. I’m an extremely successful corporate attorney and although I often «play nice» I won’t be taken advantage of — not professionally and not in my personal life either. If I DO choose to have John come take these blinds down and something else comes up in the next few weeks or months, (and we «wasted» our warranty on this manufacturing defect that arose less than 24 hours after install) you can be sure that every executive in the Blinds to Go office will be made aware of the situation.
Before I take action I would appreciate hearing back from you.
Thank you.
Regards.

Blinds were ready in three days. They cut two of them wrong so that they only come half way down my windows, and they are telling me I have to wait a week for new ones. Shouldn’t correcting their mistake be a priority? Also it was very difficult to get a human on the phone to talk to them about it, and when I did all they did was tell me to bring them into the store.

Great place, many options to choose from. I suggest to pick up at store when ordering online so you don’t have to pay extra. Just make sure to measure accurately!

Very professional and courteous — took the time to show us our options. Ordered the blinds on a Saturday afternoon and they were in the store by Monday. Service, quality, and delivery, were all exceptional. Going back again for one more large window treatment.

Great store… super helpful staff and we love the blinds we got! Kenneth help us and was BEYOND patient and really knew his stuff! Thank you!!!

Bought Blinds for four windows, in my house. In-​store service was friendly and professional. The installation was smooth and painless. Would recommend.

I went to this store on a Tuesday early afternoon. There was no wait. I was approached instantly by Denise. She was very nice and extremely helpful. She provided me with exceptional customer service. She made sure I understood and liked everything I was choosing. I would recommend this store to everyone!!! Just go on a time where they aren’t so busy so you don’t have to wait so long.

Excellent service. Jessica and Ashley made the process easy as pie. Blinds ordered and picked up two days later. Wonderful experience. Just go on a day when you don’t expect much in store traffic. I can see how waiting would be a problem. Luckily we didn’t have that.

They were very helpful in all steps, from choosing the fabric to pick up. I would use them again.

nobody at the front counter to address customers.
you have to sign in and they call you when one of the staff is ready.
I signed in.
Waited almost an hour but still no staff was available because they weren’t finished with their current customer.
Even though I told them that I just wanted to drop off a blind to have it repaired, which would have taken only a minute to have me fill out a paperwork, they still made me wait until one of the staff was available.
This, even after I asked all of the three staff.
Shows how screwed up the management is.
One staff should be reserved or been told to address short visit customers first and then return to the customer that will take HOURS to finish up, yet, it’s first come first served basis, which can be frustrating for customers with short visit issues.

Excellent customer service. Inexpensive blinds that look like they cost a lot more

Good blinds easy to install very well made

Great price installation was easy if there is a possible drawback is store is busy so try to get there as early as possible People can take a while to choose blinds and shades. You have to realize that even if only 1 or 2 people ahead they can take a while. No one would want to be rushed if they were choose what goes into their home. The staff is very helpful with everyone. They are really doing their absolute best. But people have to realize that if you feel going to a designer and they will do everything at your home will cost a lot more. George

I worked with someone there a few weeks ago. I’m ready to place an order and called last night to have the quote emailed to me. The guy promised he would do it before closing. I never received an email. I called again this morning, another guy answered. He said he didn’t know how to do that and would have someone get back to me in 5 – 10 minutes. It is now almost 2 hours later. No call and still no email. I called and spoke to yet another guy and he tells me to wait yet again and he’d call me back when he’s free. This is unacceptable and I don’t know how Blinds To Go can do business like this. He then told me he was doing me a favor in even sending me a quote.
I was ready to place an over $ 1000 order and I’m so annoyed that I will be purchasing it elsewhere. Your Carle Place location in Long Island, NY has the worst service of all establishments I’ve ever seen. Worse than the DMV.

Very mixed experience. First time I went in I walked around for 15 minutes and not one of the three employees spoke to me– they were not busy.
The second time I went in, Cherise was super helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable. She walked me through everything & I placed an order. She recommended using their measurer because any mistakes would be covered. I should have taken that as an indication that measurements are often incorrect or that the factory makes mistakes.
Our blinds were ready on a Friday after the measure & confirmation of order on a Tuesday. Unfortunately, 2 of the 4 blinds were wrong. The 2 that got installed are gorgeous and high quality. (Cellular shades). The installers (same people who measured) said replacements could be 1 – 2 days.
Spoke with Simone on Saturday to try and see what was going on, and get a better date for the replacements so I wouldn’t be waiting around. She never returned my call like she promised would happen within 15 minutes so she could «check on it with the factory.»
Now it’s Monday and I spoke to Megan. She promises that the blinds will be ready tomorrow and that they will be installed tomorrow.
I’m completely in love with the look of the blinds we got, which is why Blinds to Go isn’t getting one star. That said, customer service from start to finish is pretty much a disaster.
We chose Blinds to Go because they pay a decent wage to their employees & because they manufacture here in the USA. I wish shopping according to my conscience didn’t mean that the experience was so stressful.