Discussion
We've got the local Hilary's blind people coming round tonight to measure our patio doors as we need some pretty big blinds in them.
Are they as bad as i've heard in some places? Pretty hard sell?
And the three for £99 type offers only exist on blinds in sky blue pink etc?
Or are they ok?
Are they as bad as i've heard in some places? Pretty hard sell?
And the three for £99 type offers only exist on blinds in sky blue pink etc?
Or are they ok?
The offers will be for standard sizes so you probably won't get the three for £99 etc. If it is for a patio door you might want two smaller blinds so you can have one pulled up to use the door rather than having to pull up or open a heavy single blind. They do try to sell quite hard so that the person can measure up, do the paperwork and close the deal in one trip. Worth a hour of their time plus travel expenses to seal it in one go and leaves them free for their next client without having to fit someone in at a set time to come back and measure.
I had some wooden blinds for a bedroom from Hilary's. Although they weren't cheap I was more than happy at how they looked when fitted. I'm glad I spent the extra and went for the look I wanted.
Apparently the designer Kelly Hoppen is doing a range of blinds for B&Q and I know her stuff looks really good
Apparently the designer Kelly Hoppen is doing a range of blinds for B&Q and I know her stuff looks really good
We're hoping for vertical blinds really, we only have three windows downstairs, (kitchen, patio door and lounge bay) so depending on price and offers etc will depend how many we get.
The only one we really want is the patio doors, but due to the size we can't get them off the shelf hence phoning these guys.
The only one we really want is the patio doors, but due to the size we can't get them off the shelf hence phoning these guys.
We've got them coming over tomorrow night to measure up some windows.
Not one of the bedroom windows takes "standard" sized blinds - but there are a few places on t'interweb that do custom builds to your sizing, wide range of finishes available, and prices seem fairly reasonable as well. And fitting isn't exactly difficult ....
Not one of the bedroom windows takes "standard" sized blinds - but there are a few places on t'interweb that do custom builds to your sizing, wide range of finishes available, and prices seem fairly reasonable as well. And fitting isn't exactly difficult ....
I've been in the trade 25 years and have run my own company for 21 of them solely supplying the trade. It would be unethical for me to state my thoughts on here, but feel free to mail me through my profile for some advice, or at least have a look on www.bbsa.org.uk and pick someone from your area.
sjc said:
I've been in the trade 25 years and have run my own company for 21 of them solely supplying the trade. It would be unethical for me to state my thoughts on here, but feel free to mail me through my profile for some advice, or at least have a look on www.bbsa.org.uk and pick someone from your area.
Thanks SJC, they're coming over in a couple of hours so i guess i'll see what they have to say - but won't be jumping in feet first just yet....We used them for our bay windows. They were OK (nothing special) IME. Cost was not bad, though we haggled. Not being a blind cognoscenti I couldn't comment on how they stack up other bits of kit, but the mechanisms did look cheap and the gears were made of plastic rather than steel. That said they work fine one year on. I did stay in while the chap fitted them though and MADE sure he did a good job - his standards would have been lower than mine if I'd let him 
I used to have a franchise with Hillarys.
Not being funny,and not sour grapes.... BUT the stuff is pretty ordinary. Was ok when I first started, but they changed the (now bulky) headrail supply to China and the quality went down the pan.To change the angle of the louvres requires the amount of pulling on the cords commonly associated with hauling up a mainsail on a pirate ship. And the noise when you draw the blinds open or shut is awful.
Nightmare to work for, and trying to flog the stuff was a nightmare as it was so overpriced. There are huge markups on blinds. And the 3 for £99 comes with a tiny range of nasty fabrics with size restrictions. The rep gets 15% commission, so won't be keen to earn just £15 for fitting 3 blinds and be liable at his cost for any callouts that may occur in the first year.
Heres a link to a 'blinds' forum, made up mainly of the company in questions sales people.
http://blindshout.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ta...
Not being funny,and not sour grapes.... BUT the stuff is pretty ordinary. Was ok when I first started, but they changed the (now bulky) headrail supply to China and the quality went down the pan.To change the angle of the louvres requires the amount of pulling on the cords commonly associated with hauling up a mainsail on a pirate ship. And the noise when you draw the blinds open or shut is awful.
Nightmare to work for, and trying to flog the stuff was a nightmare as it was so overpriced. There are huge markups on blinds. And the 3 for £99 comes with a tiny range of nasty fabrics with size restrictions. The rep gets 15% commission, so won't be keen to earn just £15 for fitting 3 blinds and be liable at his cost for any callouts that may occur in the first year.
Heres a link to a 'blinds' forum, made up mainly of the company in questions sales people.
http://blindshout.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ta...
Edited by andygo on Tuesday 4th August 16:27
Right then he's been.....
Nice bloke.
Being as the blinds we need are in the kitchen he recommended some that were kind of made from plastic rather than fabric. These are wipe clean rather than machine washable. (They were alot better than they sound)
Measurements are:
Patio door: 250x209
Kitchen Window: 150x118
£285. Oh and that was half price.
Alternativly there were some cream fabric ones available these for the pair were £155
I've no idea if this is reasonable or not?
On one hand it seems alot for a blind, on the other it is a big set of patio doors!
Nice bloke.
Being as the blinds we need are in the kitchen he recommended some that were kind of made from plastic rather than fabric. These are wipe clean rather than machine washable. (They were alot better than they sound)
Measurements are:
Patio door: 250x209
Kitchen Window: 150x118
£285. Oh and that was half price.
Alternativly there were some cream fabric ones available these for the pair were £155
I've no idea if this is reasonable or not?
On one hand it seems alot for a blind, on the other it is a big set of patio doors!
We've now had two quotes.
One from a guy working for Hillarys. He was okay, but the final price was confusing. 5 windows, almost all different sizes, came in at what he said was around £560. The printout said £480.
Another guy came today - must have basically had the same source as Hillarys, the selection was identical, but his quote came in at £360.
Hillarys ain't getting our money, thats for sure ....
One from a guy working for Hillarys. He was okay, but the final price was confusing. 5 windows, almost all different sizes, came in at what he said was around £560. The printout said £480.
Another guy came today - must have basically had the same source as Hillarys, the selection was identical, but his quote came in at £360.
Hillarys ain't getting our money, thats for sure ....
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