Hillarys Blinds Rubbish Customer Service

kangoora

If you've got the blind mechanism and it's still OK (vertical blinds) then you can pick them up on ebay for £1 a slat. We just paid £30 for 30 slats and fitted them ourselves in 20 minutes, that includes the plastic 'chain' at the bottom also......

LOUISEJOANNE

I've purchased many fitted blinds from Hillarys over the years, well we have bought and sold many houses and I do love the smart look of fitted window blinds. Anyway worst and most shocking experience for us was when we called a rep round from Hillarsy to measure up and fit for a total of 15 cream wooden venetian blinds, for a three storey town house, and conservatory roof blinds. We paid quite a hefty deposit and were expected to wait for a delivery date, within approximately 3 weeks. We did not hear back from the fitter, so after three weeks I chased up Hillarys, to be told there were no available fitters in the area. The whole customer services response seemed unprofessional. Turned out the original fitter and rep had quit his job and so they were desperately searching to hire another local fitter for our large order. Eight weeks after we paid our deposit I received a call from a fitter advising me he could fit my blinds in five days time, he was just waiting for delivery of them apparently. Anyway the fitter arrived bright and early 8am on a Monday morning in his battered old estate car with our blinds sticking out the rear window. Not a good first impression I can tell you. The fitter seemed friendly enough to start with, but by lunch time he was still struggling to fit our conservatory roof blinds and he hadn't even started on the venetian window blinds. His temper was clearly frayed and we could hear him swearing with frustration as we sat down to eat our lunch in the kitchen, with our young children present we decided it best to leave the fitter to it and so we left the house to eat out. We returned at 2 only to find the fitter still hadn't begun work on our venetians. The fitter finally finished fitting all the blinds at 9.30 pm. I had never felt so uncomfortable in my own home in all my life, he was swearing the whole time, and boy was I glad when he finally finished!!! The blinds did look lovely, but such a nightmare for the Hillarys fitter to install.

Glenys_T

What an unprofessional and uncaring company.
Don't order anything from Hillarys whatever you do. They told me on the morning they were meant to be fitting carpet at my Mum's house that they were out of stock of the carpet. I'm self employed, had taken a day off (if I don't work I don't get paid) and had driven for an hour to get to Mum's. The fact they didn't know they were out of stock until the morning of the fitting wasn't their fault. Apparently, it's in their T&Cs that nothing is their responsibility and anything that goes wrong can always be blamed on someone else so that they don't have to compensate you for loss of earnings or travel expenses. It took another 4 weeks to get the carpet fitted (so, obviously, it was a significant stock issue) during which time Hillarys benefited from having my Mum's money which will have improved their cash flow position. Hillarys aren't remotely bothered about their customers, just their profits. Don't pay any notice to their corporate values e.g. "Customer focus: We put customers at the heart of our business. That means listening, understanding their needs and exceeding their expectations with quality products and excellent service - always." because they don't,

hollydays

Glenys_T wrote: »

What an unprofessional and uncaring company.
Don't order anything from Hillarys whatever you do. They told me on the morning they were meant to be fitting carpet at my Mum's house that they were out of stock of the carpet. I'm self employed, had taken a day off (if I don't work I don't get paid) and had driven for an hour to get to Mum's. The fact they didn't know they were out of stock until the morning of the fitting wasn't their fault. Apparently, it's in their T&Cs that nothing is their responsibility and anything that goes wrong can always be blamed on someone else so that they don't have to compensate you for loss of earnings or travel expenses. It took another 4 weeks to get the carpet fitted (so, obviously, it was a significant stock issue) during which time Hillarys benefited from having my Mum's money which will have improved their cash flow position. Hillarys aren't remotely bothered about their customers, just their profits. Don't pay any notice to their corporate values e.g. "Customer focus: We put customers at the heart of our business. That means listening, understanding their needs and exceeding their expectations with quality products and excellent service - always." because they don't,

But just because a company states something in writing doesn't necessarily make it legally enforceable .

ajnasir

I ordered some curtains which were wrong. Got the sales rep to send these back. Waited over 2 weeks only to be told that these had been lost. I was told that the company does not provide refunds as this had to be authorised by senior management which was a joke. All in all it took me 3 months to get the matter resolved. The sales rep Derek was as useful as pair of glasses on a bloke with one ear. When things went wrong, he did not respond to my text messages or phone calls. I would suggest you shop around and not use this company. The prices they charge are extortionate backed up with dismal customer service.

ajnasir

Terrible company to deal with! I ordered some curtains which were wrong. Got the sales rep to send these back. Waited over 2 weeks only to be told that these had been lost. I was told that the company does not provide refunds as this had to be authorised by senior management which was a joke. All in all it took me 3 months to get the matter resolved. The sales rep Derek was as useful as pair of glasses on a bloke with one ear. When things went wrong, he did not respond to my text messages or phone calls. I would suggest you shop around and not use this company. The prices they charge are extortionate backed up with dismal customer service.

louise135135

I made an appointment, had to wait 6 weeks for the privilege. On the day of the appointment I was 10 minutes late. Came home to a note through the door he had been and gone no phone call to ask where I was so I called the number I received a text regarding the covid rules. A man answered who was extremely rude. Rang to complain got offered 10% off my order if I book another appointment. Made another appointment for 3 weeks later with the understanding I was to be the first in that time slot because of the school run, I was assured I would be. Booked the day off work waited in an hour after they should have been here had a phone call they would be here for 3 (just in time for school run). Rang to complain again to be offered another appointment for the following week. Rubbish customers service would not recommend Hillarys blinds to anyone who lives a busy life. 

[Deleted User]

I’m glad I cancelled my second appointment after reading this thread. 

My first appointment did not happen, no call, no text and the rep said he had tried my door twice and I had been in all day, so lies straight away. 

Contacted customer services and complained, a manager rang me and offered me 10% off my order. 

Rebooked, but still had a strange feeling so just cancelled altogether. 

After reading all this I’m pleased I cancelled. 

November2

What most of the comments show is a lack of understanding of how Hillarys work.  They employ 'agents', these are people just like you and me  who want a part time job.  They are given selling, measuring and fitting training.   Hillarys advertise the agent's phone number in local newspapers, you phone for a quote, they come to your house, measure and quote you for blinds.  They order from the factory, blinds are manufactured and delivered  back to agent, and then fitted for you.  The reason many appointments are in the evening is because the agents work at their full time job in the daytime.   I used to work at the head office and even then there were a lot of problems as many things can go wrong with this process, mis-measuring, delay in delivery, agents leaving, etc.   What people don't realise is nearly all the blind companies listed in their local paper are Hillary's agent's under different names, there are also free lance agents - separate blind companies who send their orders to Hillary's for manufacture.  There are a lot of hard working agents who do an extremely good job but it is inevitable there will always be incompetent agents who don't really give a fig for their customers or are unfortunately just not cut out for fitting blinds!  Its the very nature of using this system of agents.  Many agents wouldn't even last a week when I worked there, they were useless from the beginning, yet others were extremely successful and built up a good reputable business.  They've been taken over since I worked there and Customer Service sounds like its gone down hill!   
Chances are when you phone the 'other' number in your local paper, its still a Hillarys agent!