Thomas Sanderson

mykw

I've had a call today to say I'd won a £250 voucher from a radio times competition. Agreed to an appointment but then promptly came here to research.
My fault for never reading comps t&c's but this one does say "all other entrants will be contacted to claim their £250 voucher......redeemable against a minimum order of £1000".
So I called them back on their freephone number to cancel the appointment as there's no point in wasting their time and ours. No pressure from them to cancel it, so all is fine.

periwinkle1984

I had TS all singing, all dancing blinds fitted in my conservatory nearly 9 years ago and have had endless problems with them... first,the electrics got stuck so in the end I kept the roof blinds shut all the time...£50 call out fee every time someone sent "to fix". The blinds started to fall down one by one about 3 years ago, and so had to cough up the fee. They were supposedly secured permanently but I now have two hanging down, draped across the floor I have no idea what to do...they cost nearly £3500 and I am sooo disappointed. I suspect if I call the firm they will want more money and I am not prepared to throw any more their direction..PLEASE BEWARE folks

Tydeides

We had Appeal fit 34 blinds in our Conservatory 3 years ago, and I think the cost was about £6k. We love them; the light in the room makes it a very pleasant environment. Also we have air-con and oil heating in there, so we can adjust the temperature as required, though generally we find the blinds keep the room cool enough in the summer. I guess I'm saying I'd recommend Appeal for blinds, their service was fantastic, the sales woman was lovely, and the fitter was a really nice guy too.

But that's not what I'm posting about.

We want Shutters for the front of the house. We had a very nice guy round, and he spent two hours doing his patter. I was frankly surprised at the cost (I think we got to £5k), but my wife really liked the Laura Ashley colour option (cotton white?) and I thought the quality really was very good.

Despite pushing the credit quite hard, I said I would think about it, but as far as I was concerned he'd made a sale and I'd get back in a week or so.

I realise blinds are expensive, and the Thomas Sanderson ones look really nice. Has anyone actually had these fitted and been pleased; should I give Appeal a chance or are the costs about the same?

Thanks
(By the way I don't work for Thomas Sanderson or Appeal, I found this website by searching for Thomas Sanderson review on Google!)

[Deleted User]

Anyone wishing to buy shutters would be well advised to use a company that is actually regulated by a trade association. Many little local firms are and they take more time and care to ensure that you are happy and the product is working. For your local registered blinds and shutter company look up bbsa.org.uk - the British Blind & Shutter Association.

Good luck to everyone.

kitkat1982

It's such a shame to hear all this. I had a lovely young lady come to my house and I bought shutters downstairs and these cool fabric ones upstairs. She couldn't have been nicer. No pushy "phone my manager" rubbish or price drops here there and everywhere. The rapport was great - I think we talked more about everything else than we did about the blinds.

I did have Hilary's in and I didn't like the fact the salesman was in and out in 10 mins, showed me MDF when I said I wanted wood, didn't suggest configurations or anything. When I asked about moisture and mdf he brushed it off. Not impressed.

Thomas Sanderson were expensive but I preferred the product and the lady who visited. The shutters are amazing. Really completes the room.

And no - I don't work for them - I am an events manager!

Sales

Welcome to the forum KitKat. Great to see that of all the thousands of subjects on here, the most important one to comment on was your wonderful experience with Thomas Sanderson.

I also am delighted that you managed to pick up so much information from your visit. Amazing how you know that the method used to provide a fictitious discount is referred to by the company as a "price drop" close. It seems very odd that your commission-only visitor would pass such precious secrets to you. I am sure you spent £20,000 without any hesitation and found writing the cheque a pleasure because they deserved the order for having such wonderful products. We all look forward to hearing from you on a wide range of subjects. Your first posting is very insightful indeed and it is always lovely to hear from a customer who is so satisfied with service that they feel COMPELLED to write wonderful positive things in response to another's complaint. How wrong we all are eh? ROFL

I am also devastated to read how you deplored your terrible unprofessional visit from Thomas Sanderson's main competitor. How distressing for you.

Why do you make the comment about NOT working for the company - I don't understand where this idea might possibly have come from, yawn yawn................................................. kerching ...................

Sales

By the way, the terms "configurations", "fabric" and "shutters complete the customer's room" are not industry standard terms - these are Thomas Sanderson expressions. You might want to avoid these terms if trying to appear like a genuine customer. Maybe delete your posting, rethink the words you use and try again?

Customers use terms like "options" - not "configuration"
Customer use terms like "material" - not "fabric" - in fact, customers are usually confused by our use of the word fabric
Customer use terms like "look really nice" - not "complete the room"

Also FYI the Hillarys guys can now offer wood as well as MDF, so be careful with that line if you decide to re-write your posting with a more plausible wording. The Thomas Sanderson propaganda is a little out of date there I'm afraid. Also, MDF is only more absorbent than natural wood when in an untreated condition. The only difference is cost and sustainability of resources; not performance. Lazy Thomas Sanderson Managers are failing you with their out of date information - or rather, hoping you will unquestioningly bring this bilge in to their customer's homes in blind ignorance.

It is infuriating to think about the hoodwinking which you employ with your customers, but even more infuriating to think that an agent thinks they can con their way on to this forum to justify their outrageous commission-obsessed lifestyle with another list of half-truths.

the_blind_man

what is it with you people, you head for a company that has a name with a big advertising budget, spends lots on training there sales reps to get the highest price possible that's right they are sales reps trained to get what they can get of you at the highest price possible and you still sign up. now if you were to go to your small local blind manufacture you will find that your paying half the price for the same product from the same supplier from abroad the difference is 1 price 2 you get a personal touch from the local company and 3 your not getting ripped of by Thomas sandersons, Hillarys, or any other high advertising company's out there people check out your local company's all over Britain they will help you out better than the bigger ones

jxt767

Some very interesting reading - thanks all for the information. Unfortunately I hadn't read the forum before having T.Sandersons in to give a "No Obligation, Free Quotation". The guy arrived promptly at 6, but I was still trying to get rid of him at 9:45!! The price (blinds for one bay window) came down from over £7000 to around £2500 - still too much - and yes, I had the "I'll just call my manager speech." He left without leaving a written quote - still waiting for that. Got a real hard sell - despite letting him know at the start of the evening that I would be getting quotes from some other companies too and wouldn't be making any decisions that evening. Pretty sure I won't be inviting them back into my home despite the product being very good - it's the hard sell, and treating their customers like idiots that is letting them down.

fabhead

These people are parasites. And also very stupid.

I want to spend money on shutter. As you would normally do, I made appointments with 3 companies to come out and give me quotes. Thomas Sanderson were one on them. As I will be spending a lot of money I wanted a week or two to think about the quotes and my options, and I told the so-called designer this. Obviously I gave him my mobile number like an idiot as this is normal practice when you are contacting a company. From the very next day they starting calling me 3, 4, 5, 6 times - now up to 7 0r 8 times a day, early in the morning and late at night - despite me telling them we were going on holiday the next week, had 2 more companies yet to come in and quote and wouldn't be making a decision for 2 or 3 weeks (I refuse to be rushed by these salespeople). Today (Saturday) they called at 9.00 exactly and woke everyone up (I was working all night). I am angry.

They are stupid because I would now not even consider buying from them, under any circumstances, even if they weren't vastly overpriced. I shall also be telling everyone I know not to touch them with a barge pole.

Compare with the company I have decided to use - a local company. Great visit, no hard sell, none of the usual "you have to decide quick the sale could end anytime BS" and followed up with a polite LETTER thanking me for considering them and to CALL THEM if I needed anymore infomation. Guess who gets my business. Not, in fact, because they offered me a better product and service for LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE, budget is not my top concern, but because they don't engage in this type of shoddy, unethical and irritating "business practice".

Why do they do it? It surely can't work and, as I am a prime example of, it loses them business. To those of you on here saying it is our own fault for giving out numbers, who work for Thomas Sanderson or other similar companies - I pity you. What a pathetic and soul-destroying way to make a living.