Thomas Sanderson

little_miss_spurs · 15 June 2009 at 7:30PM

peediedj wrote: »

got 9 superb quality blinds fitted in my new conservatory at a fraction of ts price,they look ace and cant beleive the quality,and under £500

ooh!! What company was that?

trisontana · 15 June 2009 at 7:30PM

little_miss_spurs wrote: »

So glad I read this. Have had brochures and phone calls from them after I requested a leaflet, Woman said they were NOT AT ALL pushy and it was a free quote without pressure to buy. Wanted shutters or blinds for my front room. Judging by the prices people have mentioned it wouldve been way too expensive anyway!! Will maybe try another company...Any recommendations?

All I can suggest is try a company local to your town with an actual office or showroom. Also ask around you neighbours or friends and find out their experiences with various companies.

Pound · 16 June 2009 at 9:13PM

I once sent off for a broshure from Thomas Sanderson so I could get £10 Quidco. A couple of weeks later I get a phone call asking if I'd chosen anything yet. I told her I'd think about it and call her back. Then I put the number in my phone book and gave it a 'silent' ring tone so I could ignore them.

One day I looked at my phone I had 5 missed calls from them. Then the same happened the next and this went on for about 3-4 weeks. I think in total I may have had about 100 missed calls! They did eventually give up.

ever_the_optimist_2 · 17 June 2009 at 11:48PM

I spent £5000 on Thomas Sanderson blinds in 2001. I thought I was making a good choice as they were sold to me as heat reflective, so they would keep the heat out of my south facing conservatory on a sunny day.

In the last 8 years I haven't been able to use my conservatory in the summer - it gets so hot in there that candles melt and you could fry an egg on anything metal left in there !! It's still unbearable with all the windowns and roof vents open!

YES they look great, YES they have lasted well, YES they will probably still be in use for years to come BUT it's such a shame to have to look at them from another room because the conservatory is out of bounds !

Someone suggested they had installed them backwards - I think the whole idea of blinds being able to keep the heat out is just £5000 worth of baloney !

sunnyboy_2 · 23 July 2009 at 2:43PM

Your blinds will have a "shiny" side which is the solar reflective UV coating that should face the outside! The problem with Thomas Sanderson is they are just too big now and a lot of their people don't know what they are talking about sales people especially but also now a lot of their fitters. This is a shame because they used to be a good company but now the sales people don't stay long because of pressure to sell that is put on them by so called managers who get paid an even greater commission for cracking the big whip! I would complain to their head office and get someone to come and check your blinds are fitted the correct way round your 5 year guarantee gives you this right! Good Luck

mizunderstood · 7 August 2009 at 8:18PM

Before you call them out, check the wording on your 5 year guarantee. Look for the part where it says from month 13 you will pay for an inspection visit (£50 I think). You also pay for the blinds to be taken down and re-fitted, but the repair is free.

citro · 28 October 2009 at 2:59PM

I had Sanderson blinds fitted 4 years ago...expensive but I was in a hurry. The salesman did the usual patter and we got to a price that was half of what he initially quoted...(I hate that..!) Anyway, some ivy from next door had got thru' and stained the blinds. Phoned up TS as I remembered the salesman had said that TS offered a "cleaning service". Well....!! Beware...!! I was assured by the lady on the phone that cleaning was available and she took £157 off me. The bloke turned up on time and he was the same bloke who fitted them. Smashing guy, we clicked 1st time so it was good to see him again. Showed him the stains and he said that cleaning that off is not possible. The "clean" that TS offer is nothing more than brushing the blinds with a soft brush to remove dust & insects. It was a half hour job though give him his due he stayed an hour brushing up after himself etc, and we chatted a lot. The stains cannot be removed as they would create patches and remove the special coating (or something or other). The fitter also said that most people have a free "clean" written into their contract when buying.
I phoned TS the next day, very politely explained that whilst not phoning to "have a go" I was a bit miffed that the blinds were still not clean nor able to be cleaned, especially for the price. I was passed to a snooty bloke who said that only a "valet service" was available...(if that's the case, why did they take £157 off me using the word "clean"..?) and he told me to use Dreft washing powder myself but at my own risk. Even though I hinted that they should, as a company of supposed good standing, he could as a goodwill gesture maybe refund some of the money he was totally dismissive and aloof. Very much a..."A fool and his money is easily parted and get stuffed"...attitude.

Be warned.... Very, very poor of you Thomas Sanderson...

nilan01 · 30 October 2009 at 1:31PM

Wish i had read this forum before getting my blinds from TS, i've had so many issues with them, that i wish i had gone to a local company.
I was quoted £1,800 for 3 wooden remote controlled blinds for the front of my terraced house, being the living room, master bedroom and the box room, but as we went for finance this figure will be more.
Took 6 weeks to come and be installed, the valance came down the 1st day in the living room blind as the installer had only put 2 brackets to hold it (for a long blind), also on closer inspection the same blind had a hole in 1 of the slats about half way down.
Called Ts and complained saying i was not happy that not only did the valance come down that after 6 weeks the blind has come to me with a hole in it.
2 days later the same chap comes around to fix some magnets on the valance. 1 screw that he used went right through it, because it was to big for it, i was not happy as not only could he not fix the hole in the blind he had drilled through my valance and did not even mention it to me, it's only because i saw him do it that he then acknowledged it.
He couldn't fix the hole in the blind as he said a new slat and now valance had to be ordered, which he said he did and would take another 4 weeks to come.
A week later my bedroom blind remote control was not closing, the motor was working but nothing was happening it was in the open position and could not be closed properly, i got on TS again and said i needed this sorted out as it was a bedroom, they said they couldn't send some one around immediately as they didn't have any one in the area, i was really angry, called them again and really vented my anger on them, same day i get a call back from the manager in charge of installations for the area, and he said he would be able to send some one around the very same day to sort it out, which he did. The chap told me the spindle that controls the blinds had come out of the motor and he had just put some packing behind it so it would not happen again.
So any way it's been now almost 6 weeks since i had it installed, and was waiting for them to call to come and fix the blind with the hole, as well as the valance.
I get a call saying they will send a some around, thinking he has come to fix the valance and holy blind, i'm shocked to find out that he has come to fix the blind in the bedroom which had the remote control problem, which had been done 3 and half week prior to that, that's really bad communication, now I'm so fed up i just want to speak to a manager, is there no standard organisation or bureau we can complain too?
So sorry that this has been a long post, i just had to warn others and get this off my chest, please do not use TS, there blind do look good but are over priced and there service is crap.

ukphd · 10 January 2010 at 7:55PM

Hi

My mum has a 2nd floor conservatory. It's proving to be a real problem as it's leaking heat and not only putting her bills up but also making that floor very cold. She is hoping to try to insulate it a bit using roof and window blinds and Thomas Sanderson are coming this week to give her a quote.

Has anyone got any experience of their blinds in terms of their insulating properties? Are they any good at keeping the heat in (or out in summer!), If not are there any other companies that can help?

thanks

ken_1969 · 12 January 2010 at 5:14PM

Very useful thread - we bought our house a good few years back and one of the primary appeals to us was the "lovely" conservatory. Of course, the reality is that in winter it's like an ice box and in summer it's a greenhouse. Result? A room that is completely uninhabitable.

What would be really useful would be any real-world experience as to whether blinds actually work? Frankly even spending £100 on blinds is money wasted if it doesn't drastically improve the habitability of the conservatory.

I am looking at conservatory blinds myself and had called TS out without really much idea about price until the salesman mentioned in passing an installation he did for £16k recently!! I subtly let him know that I thought this was astronomical and so when his first price came in it was a "more reasonable" £6.6k. Utterly ridiculous when the conservatory itself cost £10k to put up! He finally "came down" to £5.2k at which point I showed him the door.

I now have Hillarys and a company called Appeal coming in next week who appear to offer similar blinds at lower cost. Will keep you posted.

Any other reccommendations for other companies who have done a good job?

Thomas Sanderson

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