SelectBlinds.com
reviews and complaints

Dear jessie1971:
Please accept our sincere apologies if you have placed an order with our company and have experienced any frustrations. As I don't have the benefit of an order number or enough information to verify an actual order, I would like to communicate with you directly in order to resolve any open issues.
While inventory and/or supply issues infrequently arise in our business, we pride ourselves on our communication and service efforts. In the event of any supply shortage, we immediately contact our customers to provide service and options (alternate product, await arrival, cancel order). To be sure, Selectblinds.com is a well-funded and established company which has provided services to hundreds of thousands of customers nationwide. Reading your characterization of our company, we can see that frustrations have prevailed.
Therefore, I would love to have the opportunity to provide assistance. I'm confident that we can quickly resolve any open issues. I'm at your service and our goal is your satisfaction.
Best regards,
Sean B. Ardry,
Customer Care Manager, Selectshops.com
[protected] Direct
sean.ardry@selectshops.com

Oct. 2, 2010 I put an order from SelectBlinds.com for three woven wood shades. Part of the attraction of this site was the offer “Made in one day or they are free”. When I received the confirmation of the order, there was the following statement “ Please allow 1 to 5 business days after the production time for delivery”, which was OK with me. In spite of their advertisement for fast delivery, on Oct. 4 I received the following message:

You will be pleased to know that you have selected a very popular product. In fact, it is so popular that we are temporarily backordered on some of the materials necessary (LUCIA) to complete your order. Our expectations are to receive this material shortly, as we already have it on order with our suppliers, and have informed them of the need to expedite our shipment. We ask for your patience, which will allow us to complete your custom made window fashion order to your exact specifications. At this time, the expected arrival date of the material necessary to complete your order is: 10/29/10. Rest assured that as soon as these materials are delivered to us, we will complete your custom window fashions order, and ship it directly to you.

Before placing the order, I had requested samples twice, and talked to customer service innumerable times, explaining them that I was going to paint my room to match the particular sample that they had sent me, so they could have told me in advance that the material was not available. Moreover, and rather glaringly, the material I ordered was LIVINGSTON (and NOT LUCIA as in the message above). I also started to suspect that things were not quite as advertised, when the samples took much longer than the advertised 3 days for delivery (the second set took over 2 weeks, and they were delivered only after I phoned and complained).

On Oct 11, I received the following message:

Your order number XXX, for your custom made window covering products is in process now. Our goal is to deliver the right product, made correctly, the 1st time. We strive to make that happen quickly, but sometimes a little extra time is required. Your patience while your custom order is being manufactured is greatly appreciated. As soon as your order ships, which should be any day now, we will email you the tracking information.

However, on Oct. 27 I got the following e-mail:

Thank you for your recent order. You will be pleased to know that you have selected a very popular product. In fact, it is so popular that we are temporarily backordered on some of the materials necessary (LIVINGSTON) to complete your order. Our expectations are to receive this material shortly, as we already have it on order with our suppliers, and have informed them of the need to expedite our shipment. We ask for your patience, which will allow us to complete your custom made window fashion order to your exact specifications. At this time, the expected arrival date of the material necessary to complete your order is: 11/15/2010.

After that message, I got another identical message telling me that that the expected date (for materials that I had NOT ordered) was in December. After I got this message, I phoned and complained: not only I had painted the walls and bought stuff to match the selected blinds, but also these blinds were meant for our bedroom (I ordered them with blackout lining). Since the advertising was “Made in one day or they are free”, I had got rid of my old blinds, which was a problem for my bedroom. The agent in customer support gave me a 10% discount (which hasn’t shown up in my credit card yet, and I’m wondering if it ever will), and I hanged up with the understanding that the blinds would be delivered before the end of the year. On Nov. 5, I got the following message:

Thank you for your recent order. You will be pleased to know that you have selected a very popular product. In fact, it is so popular that we are temporarily backordered on some of the materials necessary (LIVINGSTON & VENETO SUMATRA) to complete your order. Our expectations are to receive this material shortly, as we already have it on order with our suppliers, and have informed them of the need to expedite our shipment. We ask for your patience, which will allow us to complete your custom made window fashion order to your exact specifications. At this time, the expected arrival date of the material necessary to complete your order is: 2011. Rest assured that as soon as these materials are delivered to us, we will complete your custom window fashions order, and ship it directly to you.

Notice two things: no month is specified for 2011, and “VENETO SUMATRA” (something that I didn’t order). Meanwhile, on Nov 11, I received a new advertisement from SelectBlinds that states:

“Receive your product in time for Thanksgiving or you don't pay! Plus get 30% off only at SelectBlinds”, blah, blah, blah

I phoned once more on Nov 12: first, I was put on hold for over 45 minutes. When I finally managed to talk to the customer support agent, I challenged the company about their policy of delivering in time or making the blinds for free. This, not surprisingly, they refused. Finally, I gave in once more and accepted an arrangement in which they would send me “all the samples”, so that I could match them to the walls, etc. In complete accordance with their behavior of lies and deceit, the samples have not been sent.

All these facts indicate to me that selectblinds is using a policy of deception, false promises and just blatant lies to attract buyers. It would be interesting to find out how many people (those buying not only the “LIVINGSTON”, but also the “VENETO SUMATRA” and the “LUCIA”, and God knows what else) have been reeled in under the promise of fast delivery, only to be put on hold with the “backorder” excuse. It would also be interesting to know whether selectblinds, after having cashed in the money of its buyers, has any intention of delivering at all.

Moreover, I have checked through the web. It is clear that SelectBlinds is flooding the web with phony, positive reviews. The Bureau for Better Business (BBB), also located in Arizona, gives them a rate of A+, in spite of having 148 complaints against the company. The company rates itself with ``reviews” as 5-star. However, if you go to a more independent website, like epinions.com, the company only rates 2.5 out of 5. I suggest to everyone that has posted here to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml). This is a government agency that only accepts complaints, and so the phony reviews by SelectBlinds will not muddy the waters. It is a relatively easy to file the complaint at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ If enough of us do it, FTC might initiate an investigation.

STAY AWAY and spend a little extra for local "hands on" experience.

I was pleased with the end product itself, but unfortunately it was the wrong size, thereby rendering itself useless. The customer service, although willing to put in the effort, did NOT make good on their satisfaction guarantee even though they (Blinds.com) made the mistake themselves! I have 4 sliding glass doors and decided to try Blinds.com for 1 and see how I liked it, so I ordered 2 blinds (L & R $300) for 1 sliding glass door opening. The Blinds.com rep screwed up the measurements and although the blinds arrived quickly, they were too narrow to fill the opening and looked horrible! Since these blinds were designed to fill a single opening, they were not supposed to be cut on adjacent sides (only the outer L and outer R were to be cut) but they cut both blinds on both the L & R sides of each blind (as if they were for 2 separate window openings, instead of 1 single opening) and the resulting gap in the middle the the blinds was off by a large margin and looked awful. Also, they list a 1" fabric border option for and added cost but beware, the border is actually 1/2" bc it's wrapped on both sides... They failed to mention that it's a 1/2" border if you view the blind from one side (but what human can view a blind on both sides at the same time?) - a minor detail left out! They may have changed that on their website and if they did, you can thank me and possibly many others who were disappointed by this misleading border measurement. After 3-4 emails and 3-4 phone conversations and their own admittance of a mistake, they were only willing to redo the blinds at a 50% discount, instead of FREE!?!?! In otherwords, because they made a mistake, I needed to pay an extra $150 to have it resolved - what kind of guarantee is that? I even received an email from the President of the company (supposedly Jay Steinfeld) and explained everything but received the same response - "pay us more money and we can fix it"...? Needless to say, I gave away the blinds to a friend who could use them and ordered new ones directly from Lowes. Yes, I ended up paying more money, but in this case you get what you pay for. I certainly wasn't about to give in to Blinds.com's poor service again. What if they had made another mistake, then what? Unfortunately this lesson cost more in the long run, but at least it wasn't for all 4 doors! Thank goodness I didn't order all 4... Phew!

stay far away, they ndo not honor there claim regarding custermer satisfaction!

I had the same experience! Go to the more well-known and better rated online blinds stores, not this company.

does not honor warranty

Right, even though your problem may have nothing to do with color, if you don't order the color swatch you're stuck with a defective product. They also prod you into not waiting for a color swatch by offering a limited time discount if you order on the spot. So if you're confident that you want white and are not that concerned about the actual shade of white, you forgo the sample and take the discount, then their warranty doesn't exist any more. Take the bait and their "100% satisfaction guarantee" turns out to be a scam.

you are so right!