Hillarys Blinds

I recently purchased nearly £600 worth of blinds from Hillary's. These were supposed to be half price - and I was lead to believe by sales rep Mr Summers that they would be 'much better' than the ones I already had in my home. He actually said ' I don't mean to be offensive, but your own blinds are terrible'. Believing that I would get excellent quality for the price charged, I placed an order.

When they arrived they were dirty, they are fraying down the side, they easily became damaged when I opened my windows. The sitching is coming loose where the pole is held in place and the colour is not as expected, although I can live with the colour as this is the least of my worries.

I explained all of this to Hillary's. I was told by 'Marie' to write an email and put all of this in writing and someone would be in touch to arrange for a refund to take place, if that is what I wanted. I heard nothing from Hillary's regarding this so I had to phone them again. The 'associate' I spoke to this time , called Dave, told me that Hillary's are not in the habit of giving refunds. He told me that the blinds were made to fit my windows and therefore Hillary's had no use for them so I more or less have to put up with the poor quality, the fraying and the poor finish of the blinds. He also told me that I was 'an annoying woman'. I eventually spoke to someone else , a female who refused to give me her name but was happy to cough into the phone and nearly deafen me, who said that they would send out the man who fitted them, Mr Summers, to inspect them.

When Mr Summers (who Hillary's call 'Clarkston') arrived he immediately became agressive and abusive. He told me that he had read my email that I sent to Hillary's blinds explaining the situation and he said I was 'over the top'. He said 'Do you know what I think? I think to write that stuff over blinds, you are off your head!'. He also informed me that I was 'at it', that I was saying this because I did not 'like the colour'. Mr Summers accepted that the blinds became damaged easily when the windows were opened a few inches to let fresh air in the home because the fabric was thin, but told me to 'roll my blinds up fully' to prevent them getting any worse. He actually accepted that there were dirty marks on the blinds and said that he wanted to try to remove the dirty marks and when I said I would rather he didn't incase he made it worse he told me that I was 'being awkward'. When I tried to explain that his situation was no different from buying a shirt from Marks and Spencer and when he got it home and noticed a dirty mark that he would take it back for a replacement or a refund he told me that this was 'totally different to Marks and Spencer's' and that he was going to report back to Hillary's that I was 'at it' and inform them not to offer a refund as he said 'You know what I think, I think you are at it because you just don't like them' in a raised voice and abusive manner. When my husband showed him the door he continued to shout into the property ' I'll never be back at this property, you are off your head, in fact send me an email' A neighbour also witnessed Mr Summers rant as he was shown out of my door.

I immediately reported this to Hillary's. All they said they would do is to send out another 'inspector', who also works for Hillary's and who would 'offer independent advice' . I find this hard to believe as after my previous dealings with Hillary's regarding this incident I have come to the conclusion that no one wants to admit that they are wrong and they simply do not want to offer refunds. Unless someone is dragged off the street and has no knowledge of Hillary's blinds I will not accept that anyonen from Hillary's is 'independent'.

I was also told by an 'associate' called Tom, that they cannot comment or appologise for Mr Summers rude and abusive behaviour as they were 'not in your property when the incident occurred, so we don't know what happened'. In other words, they don't want to know as it will mean that they will have to write a report and do something about it. Tom has told me that he 'doesn't know what happens when a customer complains'. He told me that he had 'spent long enough' dealing with me and that 'there were other people in the Q waiting to have their call answered' and told me that he was going to hang up. In fact, Tom did hang up (Tom actually spent over 10 mins reading the notes on my account and accused me of wasting time).

So, my saga will drag on. They have already told me that they will not give me a refund, but a supervisor called Liz want to 'make sure that the customer is happy with their blinds' (Liz told me this), and Hillary's don't want to 'cause stress and inconvenience' to the customer but will not provide a better quality blind and will not refund or appologise for the manner that both my husband and I have been treated and spoken to.

Each and every person I have spoken to at Hillary's has given different information about Hillary's policy, how Hillary's will deal with complaints and I get the impression that they just don't care.

I would strongly advise everyone thinking of getting any kind of blinds fitted to their windows not to use Hillary's. Once they have your money, they simply do not care about the customer. They will not phone you back, they will not give a refund and they just don't want to know if any of your blinds are faulty or develop faults - even within the first 28 days of placing the order!