Hillarys Blinds repair guarentee

PeteCu

Hi all,

I have a mixture of Vent, Warning, and advice request regarding Hillarys Blinds.

I had conservatory blinds installed in Feb 2020 and opted for the automatic control for the ceiling blinds. At the time of installation I was warned they would most likely need a six-month service and pretty much to the day this was the case.

Obviously, the pandemic occurred, and expecting a quick resolution was out of the question, however, to date and despite repeated calls to their customer service, I am no closer to getting the repair performed.

The whole story has become a complete farse but to give you the highlights:

• September 2020: Issue reported, told to expect a call back to book an engineer.
• Sept-Dec 2020: Received multiple calls asking me how the repair went, each time informing them that I had yet to receive any communication regarding a repair and certainly not had anyone visit.
• Dec 2020: Another call to customer service, it turned out they had been emailing my request to a member of staff that didn't work for the company any longer.
• March 2021: Finally an engineer was booked!
• March 2021: The engineer missed the appointment!
• March/April 2021: The appointment was fulfilled and to complete the repair a couple of parts would be needed. I was told to expect a call back in a few weeks once he had received the bits.
• June 2021: I contacted Customer service having not had any further information. The engineer no longer worked for the company and my case had been closed. Back to the beginning, another engineer was needed and I would get a call back within 48 hours to get this sorted.
• July 2021: I logged a complaint through Resolver, and got a call back - apparently they would escalate my case and contact me within 48 hours...
  
• August 2021: Over the last 6/7 weeks I've contacted them approximately twice a week to get an update and the message is exactly the same each time with a few variations: My case is being escalated to the area manager and I will be contacted regarding the booking. Occasionally I get told the area manager is on holiday, busy catching up, or just unavailable with customer service unwilling to send a reminder.
  

Having made no progress in 11 months I'm at a bit of a loss of what to do next. The customer service team is polite but completely ineffective, and likewise I've always been polite with them, even stating that I do not expect an immediate resolve (the world does still need to get back to normal), however, again they are assuring me of quick return contact each time.

Complaining beyond the emails I have already sent seems pointless, they either consider the process is functioning or it's a deliberate attempt to annoy me into leaving them alone. I pretty much have no idea if I'm dealing with a scammy company being scammy or just complete incompetence.

At this point I would absolutely warn anyone off Hillarys, they have no interest in their after-sales commitments and would absolutely welcome any suggestions as to what to do next? Realistically I'm a the point where getting a local filter to perform the repairs then pursuing HIllaries through the money-claims court seems like the most likely outcome.

JJ_Egan

Advice would be best asked in Consumer Rights section .