Budget Blinds Reviews

This was last spring and he came out just a week or two after the purchase. Never called us back with a time or anything. We were completely ignored. Called a month or two later and put down more money. Was promised blinds before Thanksgiving months ago. Haven't seen nor heard from the guy. Here it is Dec. and we still do not have blinds. Going to make a phone call again today. Ugh... The reason we have not called and called and hounded is because my husband has had some serious health issues and blinds are not top priority except to say we THOUGHT we had it taken care of a couple of times and then all we get is silence. Save yourself the trouble and the bait and switch and the fake expensive coupons. It's always fishy when the prices change. We felt that we had no choice but to pay the higher price because we had already invested so much.

When she came to my home on September 17th to measure and write up the order... she told me that I could save money if I ordered blinds for the other rooms... as there is a service fee for each 'trip' to a home. I am so glad that I resisted this offer... as I wanted to first see if I would be satisfied with their service and product. I am NOT satisfied with their service... and regardless of their product... I will seek out another company for the other windows.

You recently contacted the Budget Blinds, Inc. Corporate Office regarding a problem you are experiencing with your local Budget Blinds Franchise. We take great pride in our commitment to customer service and we appreciate you bringing your concern(s) to our attention. Understand, however, that each Budget Blinds franchise is independently owned and operated. Although our Franchisees are licensed to use the Budget Blinds name, they are independent businesses (we are not a 'main office' overseeing 'satellite offices').

Our Corporate Office is in the business of Franchise Sales, not retail window covering sales or service. Therefore, we regret that we are not in a position to offer assistance with your order, product delivery, or repairs. However, since you have taken your time to voice your concern, we are forwarding your concern to the Franchise Owner. We have found that most problems can be successfully resolved if you, the customer, take the proper steps and recognize the avenues available to you. The following steps are suggested guidelines for you to follow in order to resolve your problem.

First and foremost, communication with the Budget Blinds Franchise representative you placed your order with is vital. If you are experiencing difficulty with your order or are waiting for products or repairs, you should make every effort to contact your Franchise representative personally. If you are unable to reach him/her, be certain to leave messages including both your home and work phone numbers, along with the best time(s) to reach you. We have found that many problems can be attributed to people simply missing each other's calls.

If you are unsuccessful in contacting your franchise representative by phone, we suggest you send him/her a letter, via both regular and certified mail to the address on your invoice, detailing your specific concerns and asking for a prompt response. Sending the letter via certified mail will require the franchisee to sign for it and will guarantee its receipt.

Please direct any and all future concerns to your Franchise representative. A copy of this letter will be forwarded to the Franchise Owner to make him/her aware that you have contacted our Corporate Office concerning your complaint. Customer complaints are kept in our Franchisees' permanent files and are reviewed periodically. Thank you again for bringing your concern(s) to our attention.

The following commentary is based on our recent experience with the service rendered by the Budget Blinds, Madison-Huntsville, Alabama franchise owner Mr. Tom Wright. Our initial correspondence with Mr. Wright was we were not happy with the shutters installed in our home. During the telephone discussion about our displeasure and our disappointment on the quality of the installation, Mr. Wright became very rude, unprofessional and made the statement and accusation that we were trying to "beat you down" on the cost of the shutters and blinds we purchased. Mr. Wright chose to become defensive and actually hung up the phone on my wife.

We have never experienced a vendor in the customer service business hanging up on a customer. I immediately called Mr. Wright back. As I was leaving a voice message, Mr. Wright picked up and asked for an apology and to continue our discussion. We understand customers can get pretty nasty with a vendor after expectations of the customer were not met later; however, hanging up on a customer is very unprofessional. The next day we received a call from Mr. Wright (wife) and apologized. However, Mrs. Wright was not the one who hung up. Mr. Wright sent us an email with his apology and we had a subsequent conversation to again attempt to come to a resolution.

During the conversation, Mr. Wright made the statement we were trying to get something free. He did not have or present a resolution to our problem. His final offer was us to pay an additional $3,000. His initial offer was $3400. We informed him we would discuss it and call him back. He immediately called us back and made the $3,000 offer. After this conversation, we decided we wanted the shutters and blinds uninstalled and our monies, all funds paid to him, returned. Mr. Wright reluctantly agreed and a date was scheduled for him to come uninstall the shutter and blinds. I have to state Mr. Wright made good on coming to uninstall the shutters. However upon his departure and rendering the refund and/or monies, Mr. Wright chose to throw a rock in stating upon his departure and giving me our refund, "I know your wife ordered and heard her say she wanted blinds in the garage" and wrote us a check less the blinds charged.

I didn't want to argue, just accepted the check so Mr. Wright could move on and we could immediately start our search for a new vendor that would provide the product and service we deserve as consumers spending a significant amount of money. I thought this was another arrogant dig against my wife. Again, I thought his approach about the blinds in the garage was unprofessional. We may have accepted an offer on the blinds in the garage, however, Mr. Wright's approach was take it and stated "You throw them away if you don't want them." How smug of a comment.

I know we will never recommend Budget Blinds, especially for the Huntsville area. Further, our inquiry and experience with Budget Blinds Corporate Headquarters with one of their franchised owners was very discouraging as they referred us back to the franchised owner. Mr. Wright asked that when I blasted him on the website, that I let all know he returned our monies. Mr. Wright, we do want to thank you for returning our money with the exceptions of the blinds you made us keep in the garage. So you believe we received good or outstanding customer service? Well the bottom line... no, we didn't.

The guy threw a fricken fit and said that I was "hostile." I said, "I'm not hostile, just asking questions." He packed up his stuff despite our pleas that we just have questions and the jerk storms out the door. My wife thought that we should have called the cops. I called the National Chain - they did nothing. I said, "We'd still like a salesperson other than Tony to call on us." They didn't respond except to say that they were "very concerned about the English guy's behavior." I said, "We need two blinds. Screw the English guy. That's not my problem. He's a frightening whack job. Send a new person."

Nothing. I went to Lowe's and had a wonderful experience. By the way, they had heard about the Englishman named Tony. Don't shop at Budget Blinds in Naples, FL and watch out for Tony with the Tude.

Now they don't return my phone calls, and I feel like they are not going to do anything to remedy this. When he was selling the blinds to us, we both thought he was an awesome young man, knowledgeable, and honest. He assured us that if there was ever a problem (even if the cat would damage them) that they would be replaced without question. Now we find out that they won't stand behind the sale. I have asked them repeatedly to give me the name of someone in the company, since I feel that they aren't reputable and don't stand behind the products. They don't give me any answers to that, either. If it is the Budget Blinds company that doesn't help their employees, then I want to talk to them.

I feel like nobody will do anything. I won't be doing business with them again or recommend them to anybody; on the contrary, I would tell people to be wary.

A week and a half later, installation had been more than a nightmare. The installer installed not one, but two broken blinds without our knowledge. It was only after he left that I discovered them to be broken. Maybe this is why, while he was here installing the blinds, he forcefully told me not to contact him if we had a problem. Well, there was a problem. So I called the office to have someone come out and take a look at the broken blinds, and after numerous phone calls and promises that my call would be returned, they finally came out 2 weeks later. Jerry (the salesman) came to our home. He looked at the broken blinds and said, "The installer must have known these were broken because both of the blinds are broken.” He said he would order parts to fix the problem.

Two more weeks passed, and Jerry came out to install the new parts. Unfortunately, they did not check the order before scheduling my appointment because when Jerry arrived, the parts were still in the shipping envelope. It was only after he opened the envelope that he discovered they had shipped the wrong parts' size. So another round of shipping and another appointment had to be made. Another week and a half went by and Barbara (the office receptionist) left a message on my answering machine letting me know that my parts were in and they would like to come out to my house to install on Friday, November 9, 2012. I returned her call a day later, only to find out that she had filled my appointment time that was set aside for me. She stated that she needed to hear back from me right away, as if I were to know this.

It seems to me that returning their phone call the very next day had been much more respectful than I had ever been shown by this franchise as far as callbacks were concerned. I proceeded to tell her that I needed my blinds right away and that that never happened. I also told her that I would be out of town for the next 2 weeks for the holiday season, and she became rude to me and said there was nothing she could do; my appointment had been filled. I do believe that with all of their mistakes and mishaps and problems with returning phone calls and broken blinds and appointment after appointment after appointment, that she should have made a second attempt at calling me or made sure that there would be time for me that day. Horrible customer service! Horrible.

I continued with the phone conversation and told her I would be calling back the beginning of December to set up yet another appointment. She became cheery and said, "OK, Stacey, have a nice day." I was so upset that I called back and explained how unhappy I was with everything that had happened. She said it was not her responsibility to babysit her clients and hung the phone up on me. I tried calling back and she put me with the answering service and I still am awaiting yet another phone call. I have already paid for my parts and am not sure if I will ever be receiving them.

Two weeks later, it arrived damaged. They are so sorry and have to order another. At this point, I have asked for a discount or something to compensate for this frustration. She said no way. It was an honest mistake that she forgot to order and she can't control what happens in shipping. So, we got a call a little less than two weeks later saying our blinds will be in again. No one called. I called her that night and she said she never told me that. It will now be another week. As of yesterday, when the blind was supposed to arrive, I have yet to get a call saying it has arrived. They have cashed both my checks and I have not had my order fulfilled. Please do not use Budget Blinds! Beware!

When Mike ** and the installer arrived on 12/2/09, that was when I was told the valances were not in yet but he should have them in 2 weeks, in time for Christmas. I called many times in mid-December and late-December and throughout January still heard nothing. We finally got in touch with Mr. Mike on 2/1/10 and he told us they no longer had the material we ordered so we asked if we could just cancel that part of the order. He said it wouldn’t be a problem and that he would be sure to have our GE Money Bank credit card credited in about 5 to 10 business days.

Two weeks later, we still hadn’t heard from Mr. Mike saying he took care of the balance and he never called me back. I decided to fill out a customer complaint form through Budget Blinds on 2/16/10 because we weren’t getting anywhere with Mr. Mike. We also called the Better Business Bureau on 2/16/10 and they had us fill out a complaint form as well but unfortunately, they were unable to help us. I followed up with another call on 2/26/10 to Mr. Mike because we hadn’t seen a credit invoice and he said to us angrily that we couldn’t cancel our order and he now has our valances which he originally told us he couldn’t get.

I called the Budget Blinds Corporation office on 3/4/10 and 3/10/10 to discuss the issue. I spoke with Debbie both times and she said I could fill out a customer complaint form which I had done already on 2/16/10 and she said the only other suggestion was to deal with Mr. Mike directly or take him to small claims court. As of 8/25/10, we still didn’t have the valances so I contacted GE Money Bank to let them know why I haven’t paid the remainder of the balance off because I refuse to pay for something I wasn’t given. After weeks of waiting, we found out from GE that we lost the dispute and need to pay the balance. The letter Mike sent into GE was a complete lie so my husband and I are so frustrated! He said as of Feb 2010 that he has been in contact with me to let me know that the valances are ready. That is funny, because I am the one who has to contact him and his story is the same and the valances aren’t ready. We finally got in touch with him after 3 phone calls on 10/5/10 and we have an appointment scheduled for 10/14/10 for him to drop off the valances. We will see if they are even the ones we ordered over a year ago.

We do not want him to install because the guy who did it last time did a poor installation. We would never recommend Budget Blinds! Mike ** was an absolute scam artist and we couldn’t be more disappointed in his terrible business practices! I can’t believe there is nothing else we can do to prevent someone else from going through the same thing. He should be put out of business! Sorry this was so long, I had to vent.

The Roman shade on the sliding door was purchased to insulate against the cold. The consultant measured and never said that the door was not squared. Also the door handle sticks out so that the shade can not be flush. This results in cold air still coming in the home. We should have been advised at the initial consultation about this and guided to a better choice for the door.

The consultant came to take pictures. She said that they were fine and I was being too picky. I informed her that we did not purchase custom window treatments that looked like this and we are not paying the balance nor keeping them. I said that we would live with the Roman shade in the living room. She said that the deposit did not even cover her costs. I said that this was not my problem and she stormed out of my home. I believe that this was quite unprofessional.

I tried calling the salesman's cellphone number, but it would always go into voicemail. I called the office directly and spoke to Scott. I explained that it was totally my fault, I just wanted to see other colors. He even got me a discount with the manufacturer. Then things went downhill. It took several weeks to get the entire sample book from him. I had to keep calling to get it. When I finally got it and chose another color, he said he would place the order, however, I wanted someone to come by to make sure my new choice would work, and to also return the sample book. It's been like pulling teeth to get someone to come by. I've decided to keep what I have, because I'm tired of playing telephone tag, and hate the lack of follow up customer service. It appears to me they are customer-oriented, until a customer isn't happy, then they forget about you. I still have the book. Maybe they will eventually remember and contact me.

Our attitude towards being the very best in this business is not ours alone but is shared by all of our neighboring franchisees and I'm guessing that this is the prevailing attitude of the others. No doubt there are some ** who shouldn't be in this business and it appears from some of the comments that some of them aren't any longer and the others that are pulling this sort of charlatanry will soon follow. These complaints are being posted nationally but reflect poor business practices of local independent owners. I would encourage the reader to contact any business they are considering working with to obtain a list of referrals and check them out with their local BBB.

If you are a reader boiling with rage over your mistreatment, please remember that you could damage the reputation of hard-working, honest business owners who have families just like you who truly want to serve their customers. In fairness, beware of Budget Blinds of Timbuktu and that ** Cletus rather than just Budget Blinds. If you want to hurt these people, it needs to be done at the local level. Anyway, report them to your BBB and Angie's list and any other local consumer advocacy group. I personally apologize if you have been mistreated by a Budget Blinds owner but if you move to my city, I would love the opportunity to prove to you that the vast majority of us will exceed your expectations.

When I questioned the rep about this she said it was a 2% charge if we paid cash but since we used a credit card we were billed that amount. First of all, this should have been addressed on the initial charge. Secondly, do the math! 2% of $4454.72 is $89.09! They overcharged me $103.86 without consulting me first! Then we get an email stating the additional cost to make the blinds to our satisfaction would be $1079.09! We were so disgusted we told them to come get the blinds and refund our money. The owner said we would not get a refund. The front windows were supposed to be wood shutters for arched windows.

We never received them because they were damaged in shipment and were being remade. I told the owner we would just keep the blinds as is but we were not doing business with them and we were canceling the wood blinds and wanted a refund. She said we were not getting a refund. So, I guess we will let a judge decide what is fair. We are totally aghast at the lack of professionalism and the poor quality of the product of Budget Blinds. If you are considering doing business with Budget Blinds, don't do it! Since this fiasco we have discovered numerous similar experiences from unwary consumers. What a shame businesses like this are allowed to stay in business.

The company has no concerns for customer satisfaction. And be sure you read the order form carefully. The return policy is tricky. You cannot return them if you are not satisfied. It's because you don't get the blinds in the three days required to cancel the order. If you order something and it is not what you want, the company is too small to coup the mistake and they will ask you to pay for it anyway. There's no customer service department to complain to. You will find yourself in court and the judge will not listen to your side. Go to a company with a customer service department concerned about their customers' satisfaction. I was ordered to have to pay for blinds that are sitting on my living room floor. There is no store. This company operates from their home. I got their number from a sign on the side of the road. I guess you call that kicked to the curb service. I am writing this so that they won't do this to anybody else.

I wrote this to the parent company: I saw a sign on the side of the road, Budget Blinds. I called them. Tmo ** came out and gave me an estimate for the rooms on the front of the house. I had another designer come out and give me an estimate earlier. The Budget Blinds estimate was cheaper so I decided to go with them. After picking paprika blinds for the front of my house and the price was good, I asked Mr. ** to give me an estimate on my bedroom. I told him that I wanted white for the bedroom. Another designer said that it would not be too bad because it was in another part of the house. He was in a hurry to get home to watch his kids so his wife could go to an appointment. He mentioned that most people install the same color blinds over the whole house. He said, “It's your house. Do what you want.” We discussed the color and he wrote it up and I signed it.

Now, I don't have a problem paying for what I want. When the blinds came, he ordered the same color for the whole house. I saw them and told him not to hang the dark blinds in my bedroom, so he left them there. I federal expressed them back to him, and he returned them back to me. There is no useable return policy. I paid for the blinds he installed and they are nice. But I don't think it is fair to ask me to pay for blinds sitting in my floor that are the wrong color. He called me after I sent the check for the blinds that were installed. He told me, "You made a big mistake by ordering merchandise and not paying for it. I'm going to take you to court."

We went to court. The judge did not let me show him that on the other order form he made the same mistake twice. He really did not hear my part at all. Mr. ** charged me for installation of blinds that are sitting on my living room floor. When he reordered at what he offered half price, he ordered three more paprika colored blinds and ivory valances. Imagine how that would look. Again, he was not the least bit concerned with whether I was satisfied or not. I will have to pay for the mistake. But he made a mistake on the order and he did it twice.

I just want you to know how I was treated and to let you know that you are not being very well represented. There is no customer service for this situation at all. There's no customer satisfaction considered at all. The only concern was for the money. For my experience, Budget Blinds was a rip-off, and I am sure that is not what you want for a reputation. Thank you for hearing my complaint. I will be posting a review, so that he will not do this same thing to anyone else. I call what he did to me, street customer service. My girlfriends and everyone I have talked to asked me what did you expect. You picked him up off of the streets.

If you do deal with them, don't pay until you have the blinds. Also, it's not a good idea to deal with a company that has no control over their franchises. It is sad that we still have these kinds of deadbeat businesses that are allowed to stay in business.

If we knew how to measure blinds we would have measured and purchased them at Home Depot or Lowes. He agreed to replace it. It is now October 7 and Greg has disappeared and will not return our calls. The $1100 balance will not cover the cost to replace the blind elsewhere. I contacted customer service at Budget Blind headquarters and was told that they have no control over their franchises. We want resolution but have no recourse. Buyers beware. Do not ever use Budget Blinds.

Seven week into the order, I called Budget Blinds and they told me that the blind was on back order, but that it would be in two weeks. After three weeks there were still no blinds. This time, she said something about a remake. They did come in and put up a temporary blind up. On Sept 2nd, I called and Adrienne called back. She said that she just got off the phone with the shipper and that it was being shipped out. This is the 19th of Sept, there is no phone call about the blind and no blind. I have had 2 other blinds made by Budget Blinds and no problems except being extremely slow, but not as slow as this (110 days) and still no blind. They need classes in communications with their customers. I always made the phone call about the status of my blind. They never called me to tell me of a back order or remake. Maybe, if I would have given half the down payment, they would have put in an effort to get the blind to the customer in much less time.

We explained to her that light would come in through the sides if installed this way. We measured every bedroom window like this and she was fully aware at that time that they would not go to the edge of the molding. At the installation we again discussed why it was done like this and I explained to her that is what she had decided upon. She agreed, paid us the balance, said she loved her new blinds and thanked us. She even recommended us to her neighbor as we were loading our van. A few days later it was clear she didn’t love them anymore.

It is our job to give the customer what they request, within reason. No mistakes were made on her order; the measurements were discussed at great length. If we had made a mistake we would have been more than happy to reorder the blinds at our expense. We have 13 years in the window covering business and It is always are intention to provide great service and we pride ourselves in having many happy and satisfied customers.

So $200 left, I talked with Susan who is the owner of the company, please fix these two things properly because it doesn't look good and when you will fix properly I will give you $200. I told her I have no problem about to give you money but if I fully paid the amount after that nobody listen my problem and nobody will take my call so resolve those thing and on the spot I will give you $200. Susan and her installer came to my home and so quickly they remove shutters all nails even they remove bottom sealing, too. Susan said the problem is your window is not perfect so I told her when you took the measurement at that time you have to tell us.

Susan remove the old roman shade and put on the new one on the door but the problem is the same like before one Susan said maker made the roman shade like this so we can't to nothing about this one, too. Now give me my $200 if you don't give me I will take you to the court, and said I don't want to talk with this nonsense lady. I cried and wrote the $200 cheque. After that Susan closed my front door so hardly and they gone even they didn't seal the window shutters.

They take a check so you will not get your money back when they ** over. Tom and Bonnie ** are typical Budget Blinds franchise owners, which means all they care about is the money plain and simple. They could care less about making you happy after you trust them with your money. The customer service with this franchise is a complete joke. You will end up calling a million times but they will not call you back. My order sat for three weeks until I finally got a call returned saying that there was a "clerical error" and they had thought my order was delivered. But they found my order on the "bottom of the pile" as they put it.

When they finally arrived to put my blind up, it was the wrong size. Then these people have the nerve to blame me. They said it was my fault that the blind wasn’t the right size and refused to fix the problem. These people know exactly how to rip you off. They gave me a barely legible receipt that wasn’t even signed and ran off with my money.

3) Trust doesn't go as far as it used to when money is involved.

My first experience with Budget Blinds took almost 4 months to complete the job, (for two windows), promised in 4 to 6 week! There are no informational calls about delays, unless I do the calling! The interaction of the few calls taken are exploited as to present one excuse after another. Appointments are made, delayed and then canceled entirely, leaving my family with lost income and frustration. Perhaps I am too willing to give local companies a second chance. The appointment we made to measure my windows for this second order, was canceled due to an unexpected meeting. Subsequently, an employee explained the so-called meeting was a golf game!

Additionally, I was told as a repeat customer a 10% deposit was required to order and the balance due at the time of installation. I now have a bill from the finance company for the full amount with a payment due 4/7/2010, requiring me to pay for something that I don't have, there is a promotional clock ticking on merchandise, I can't get installed. After calling on 3/19/2010, to find out about the status of my order, one (1) week after the promised completion date and the payment date looming, I was told the merchandise was "found" in the warehouse. The first available appointment to complete the contract was 3/23/2010, nearly one (1) month from the signing of the contract and nearly (2) two week beyond the promised completion date. With a great deal of frustration this appointment was canceled at the last minute, just as before.

The quality of the service I've received on these two occasions from this company, several years apart, are substandard even by the pathetic contractor reputations in South Florida and tell of a habitual problem within Budget Blinds. So, I've had it with this treatment and misrepresentation, and requested the cancellation of the contract and all monies charge to the promotional account I opened for this project refunded.

I would prefer to purchase the window coverings for my home from a more reliable and reputable company in the future. I can only hope Budget Blinds Corporate doesn't turn a blind eye to this problem, and put profit before is customers or it's reputation. Budget Blinds has $848.22 of my money, and I have no blinds. GE Money (the Finance Company) will not place this account into dispute prior to my first payment, if at all. I cannot afford this, as I am a 100% disabled Veteran and I don't have the money to pay for these blinds twice.

This has made a very stressful situation causing me to loose sleep I am very, very upset to be out of that amount of money the way the economic is for someone that is suppose to be a honest person with a business license to take advantage of hard working people. I would like to be refunded my money also something need to be done with Rantz and the person that answers his phone I think she goes by Kristy she is in this with him all the way to the bank she tells one lie after another.

On 2/29/08, I called the factory and spoke with Carolyn. I gave her my name, Budget Blinds/Johnathan Cartier's name, and what I had ordered. She said that ordered was placed on 2/28/08 - approximately 3 months and 2 weeks after the original order date. On 3/3/08, I called Johnathan again. I told him I had talked to the factory and what they told me. He said that was not true. Then he said my order had been lost at the factory. If that was the case, why didn't Johnathan call me and tell me what happened? At that time nothing was made, I should have had the opportunity to cancel instead of having to wait even longer. I feel that I have been lied to and would prefer not to do business with Budget Blinds.

I have lost respect and trust in this individual, his local franchise, and the Corporate Office of Budget Blinds. I feel I deserve a full refund. If Johnathan would have been honest and called me and told me what had happened (if the order was really lost at the factory) I should have had the choice whether or not to reorder. I was not given this opportunity. I think when I ordered my shutters on 11/2/08, my money went to pay other bills and that is why my shutters were not ordered until 2/20/08. I still have not received my shutters. On 2/28/08 I was told the shutters would be here on Tuesday 3/4/08. Today, 3/3/08, I was told the shutters would not be here until 3/6/08. How long will this go on?