Thomas Sanderson

marleyboy

No thanks.

bod1467

:spam: button?

hollydays

Don't buy from Thomas Sanderson, they are ridiculously expensive .

hollydays

Paid well compared to what though?

November2

It's a bit pointless criticising a Company like TS as they rely on 'agents' to represent them. These agents sell, measure and fit the blinds. I used to work for Hillarys and agents were just untrained couples who received a couple hours training on how to measure and fit a blind. They worked on commission not a wage. It's pure luck if you get a good or a bad agent. What used to make me laugh was people calling other blind sellers when they were all Hillarys manufactured blinds under different 'seller names'. All the ads you used to see in your local papers were Hillarys agents using their own selling names!! I'm sure it's not much different now.

Martinjones10

Our friends used TS and told us horror stories about them and the costs involved.
Being as silly as we are we got them out to do a quote and nearly fell off our seats.
It confirmed that we defo didnt like blinds and wouldn't be choosing that type of solution

exemploy

I was selling TS products for a while and left once I realised what I was doing - lining the pockets of my upline manager and extracting as much cash out of unsuspecting buyers to do so.
They snagged all processed orders to reduce payments to me and delayed Hitachi bonus payments for months - even though they were paid straight away by the finance house.
The Hitachi finance deals offered included an offer of further discount which we told customers was provided by Hitachi themselves - that's a lie and is just not true.

The training was toe curling to say the least.

I'd come from a salaried and significantly more professional selling environment but needed a job due to redundancy.
I was stupidly blinded by the levels of earnings they claimed and by the Mercedes cars all over the car park ( the trainers and managers cars btw )

We were forced to ring managers during the presentation to see if there were any ' batch ends ' of customer chosen fabrics that had to be reserved and bought on the night - otherwise they'd be lost to other salesmen - this was another lie - a stage managed method of forcing a deal on the night.
I absolutely hated doing this and was in trouble regularly for not doing so - threatened with an agency termination if I did not comply.

At national sales meetings and awards events there were the usual suspects picking up free holidays, cash payments and prizes for most sales, most deals without discounts and most rip off deals. They all seemed like spray tanned !!!!!! heads that were trained in a double glazing, used car salesman way. Weird loud personalities who...once together at the bar competed over their cars and the biggest deals they'd done at ' full money ' ( non discounted - full rip off deals )

Vomit worthy to say the least.

OK...there is only one good bit and this is where the Thomas Sanderson hierarchy miss the point....the products are good and worthy of better marketing and presentation.
I'm sorry but that is correct - it's the business model that is wrong.

They should :

Get rid of the dozens of greedy commission only salesmen.
Recruit creditable professional sellers and offer them a living salary plus commission.
Provide assistance with car fuel payments to the new recruits.
REDUCE the stupid price of the products
Be significantly more honest and stop treating potential customers like idiots with ridiculous offers and blatant selling tricks.

The truth :

The products are inherently better than competitor offerings ( period ) customers spot that straight away and understand that better quality not only looks better, lasts longer but costs more too.
That's why a lot of them buy BMW, Mercedes etc etc

The IDIOT who attempted to defend them a few posts back and whom admitted to being a TS zombie will soon be demoralised like most become.
There's a massive staff turn over for that reason alone.
The fools straight off the training course who are earning reasonable money have had a run of good luck...it does NOT last too long.
The quality of leads varies markedly. The telesales people get £10 for making an appointment - irrespective of a deal being closed on the day. So....when they're desperate and are earning little money themselves arrange and force crap appts that should never have been made.
The salesman MUST turn up and pressure these people just the same - offer finance and push for a sale.
The salesman...erm.. designer also has to cover cost of transport to these dross appts. Now that IS annoying believe me.
Not being a snob but...a single lady in her 50's or 60's in a one bedroom flat who clearly smokes 60 a day, has s drink problem and no money will not be interested in a deal of £3000 for blinds or shutters now will she ?
Telesales get their money though...briliiant !!

It's all wrong, they'll never change and potential buyers must be on their guard at all times - point to the door and take total control.

Oh...one more thing.... The fabulous brochure with the pictures of lovely looking rooms full of TS products are.......pictures of Thomas Sanderson Directors houses.....and that IS THE TRUTH btw

exemploy

November2 wrote: »

It's a bit pointless criticising a Company like TS as they rely on 'agents' to represent them. These agents sell, measure and fit the blinds. I used to work for Hillarys and agents were just untrained couples who received a couple hours training on how to measure and fit a blind. They worked on commission not a wage. It's pure luck if you get a good or a bad agent. What used to make me laugh was people calling other blind sellers when they were all Hillarys manufactured blinds under different 'seller names'. All the ads you used to see in your local papers were Hillarys agents using their own selling names!! I'm sure it's not much different now.

WRONG - rubbish post

Designers present and persuade people to buy
THEY DO NOT FIT
There is a separate team of fitters who also get a commission on the overall sales invoice
DON'T POST if you do not know what you are talking about
TS blinds are not made by Hillary's or the other way round....another load of rubbish......

exemploy

exemploy wrote: »

WRONG - rubbish post

Designers present and persuade people to buy
THEY DO NOT FIT
There is a separate team of fitters who also get a commission on the overall sales invoice
DON'T POST if you do not know what you are talking about
TS blinds are not made by Hillary's or the other way round....another load of rubbish......

and finally......Hilllary's stuff is more Aldi than Harrods - NO comparison.
Do not buy the shutters from Hillary's.
They are a cheap generic product from China, are made from inferior materials and will break.
Thomas Sanderson's shutters are made here in England, are fabulous and are stupidly overpriced - total madness.

Did you just see me do that ?
After all this time.....I still believe there's so much going for TS products but the sad reality is TS just don't know how to sell or market their products because of the terrible mentality of the people at the top.

RANT OVER...I promise...because I'm back to work in my old career, salaried, company car etc....thank you God !! :-)

exemploy

bod1467 wrote: »

Oh look. The one-post-positive newbie,



Waiting, waiting ....

OK here it is above and some more below - sorry for the delay !!
...and if you are the MD of TS...go and f... ....self...you owe me money still.....
However....I no longer need it and have a car like yours hahahahha

Right....here we go :

The furniture is not free it's.....paid for by......the customer !!! hahahahahahaha !!
It ramps up the invoice value and pays everyone a few more quid in commission.

If you don't want it the designer takes it off and low and behold...the price drops....watch the wording of the designer when you refuse it.
ASK to see the laptop as it's being done.

In fact here's a handy tip for everyone....

Once you get to the end of the process and the designer has his figures.....ask for the ' CTRL H ' ( control H ) price and ask to see it....it's the lowest price the designer can offer and he can even ring the manager and have this reduced still further.
Designer earns no money at ' CTRL H ' btw....if your feeling sorry for him !!! Surely not....so once again then....point to the door and take control.
The manager may be eating into his own commission below CTRL H too - try that...should be funny and worthy of a You Tube post.
The designer will empty the contents of his bowel on the sofa if you mention it.....and I may need to emigrate

Put Polythene sheeting on the sofa before he or she arrives then....

WARNINGS.....

For the men.....don't be mesmerised by the cleavage or thigh flashes of the female designers...wives be aware of this possibility too please.
For the single men.....this could be a very expensive evening with little reward...lolololol