Resolved: Hunter Douglas - Poor Customer Service/Poor Longevity
Update by user Jun 09
New blind was made to correct the color of the head piece.
Update by user Jun 09
After I wrote this review I took 2 steps in an effort to solve my issues with Hunter-Douglas: 1 - At the urging of this site I contacted Hunter-Douglas and alerted them to the review I wrote. This FINALLY allowed me to reach a higher level customer service representative, to whom I explained the issue once again.
She showed more promise, took the number of my designer, promised to contact her, and told me that she felt there was something they could do for me. 2 - I contacted a local dealer, my original source for the blinds in 2008, and explained all that had happened with the order and with Hunter-Douglas to date. This is a very small shop, but their main product is HD blinds, so are considered a high-level dealer for HD. I learned a lot about the system by speaking with this shop.
One thing was that she probably could have saved me even more money, or gotten HD to replace my original blind for free, had I gone back to them! So, a great reason to spend the higher amount initially! Dealers that work a great deal with HD actually pay them to do so, and for this money they get an order entry system that has checks and balances making sure that blinds are ordered correctly. Had they made my order, this would have happened.
THE OUTCOME: HD remade the blind so that the head piece matches the other two blinds that it sits next to, at no cost to me. In fact, HD made a blind that seems much stronger in all respects; the honeycomb fold is 2 layers, not 1 like my original blinds. This should keep the folds from stretching out as much as they have.
From now on, I will use this shop in my town, called The Shade Shop in Alameda, CA, 94501. Even with the higher cost initially, they provide full service where the designer didn't, like installation, and taking care of my issue with the first replacement blind.
Original review posted by user May 10
Although Hunter Douglas has some very nice designs, I am now very disappointed with the customer service and longevity of the blinds. I purchased 3 different styles of blinds in 2008 for 2 rooms. In total, the cost was $6200 for 8 windows. I had no trouble in the workings of the blinds or the quality until 2017, when one of the Duette Duolite blinds started ripping along the fold lines of the sheer portion of the fabric. This particular style has a sheer fabric on the top, and a semi-opaque fabric on the bottom. It still opens top down, bottom up, but there will always be a fabric on the covering, just one sheer, the other solid. I treated each of the blinds the same way, so I can't say the ripping was due to some type of mistreatment in use or cleaning, it just began to tear. I ordered a new one, exact same order, exact same size, but through a different designer I had met since ordering them in 2008, and saved myself money. When the blind arrived I found out that Hunter Douglas had started making them differently:
1 - they changed the pull from an off-white string to a long "wand" made of plastic, that is much more visually intrusive than the string had been, partly because it is colored to coordinate with the solid portion of the blind.
2 - On the first set of blinds they matched the sheer, or top portion of the blind with the headrail; on the new replacement blind, instead of matching the sheer fabric for the head rail as they did on the first set of blinds, they matched the bottom fabric color.
This blind sits next to 2 others that were identical, but with these changes this blind will look quite different. The most objectionable part is the head rail; all of my window casings are off-white, the sheer portion of the blind is off-white, but now this head rail will be taupe, along with the "wand."
I called customer service, as did the designer who ordered this for me. There was not anything they offered to do, nothing, nada. Now, $6200 might not sound like a lot to many people, but I had not intended to replace these in my retirement years, on a fixed income. I realize that production processes change, and styles change. I worked in an industry that dealt with customer withdrawal when we needed to change style selection, but we were making jeans, not expensive home items. And, Hunter Douglas didn't change the style name, or make any reference to changes in the construction methods or appearance. In fact, if you go onto their website you will not even find a picture of these showing the blind clearly. Had I not seen a sample when I originally purchased I would never have known they made it. This style was perfect for this set of 3 windows; my house is 125 years old, and the upper portion of the window is quite ornate. I wanted to see it inside the room, hence the sheer fabric.
What do I expect of them? I think they should replace the headrail on this blind for me. I am not going to go silently about this, and plan to alert users: don't expect to have help from Hunter Douglas.
Reason of review: Not as described.
Monetary Loss: $544.
Preferred solution: I would like Hunter Douglas to change the headrail to off-white to match the sheer fabric..
I liked: Originally liked the style selections.
I didn't like: Customer service, Web site difficult to find actual product offering, Changes to product without alerting consumer, Not enough product description for purchase, Not enough fabric or color choice.
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