Poor quality and poor experience with customer service
Written: Nov 30 '05 (Updated Nov 30 '05)
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Several years ago, I placed a $1500 order with Smith+Noble and had no problems at all. The order was perfect, and the quality was good. Everyone that came to our house loved the blinds, and we recommended Smith+Noble to everyone.
However, last month I placed a $3000 order w/ Smith+Noble and have had numerous problems -- most having to do with the quality of the manufacturing and fulfillment. However, reaching customer service and getting a helpful person is next to impossible. My success came when I sent an email to the CEO and to the VP of Operations. You can find their names on the website under the About Us section.
Prior to contacting the CEO, I had tried to contact customer service several times to no avail. I sat on hold on several different occasions for more than 10 minutes, and also used an online form, but got no reply. After contacting the CEO via email, I received an almost immediate email back from him on the weekend. The next week, I received calls from a customer advocate who helped me.
I ordered pleated shades and the durawood blinds.
1) The pleated shades arrived and were all mislabled. There were labels on the outside of each blind which provided the measurements. There were also labels on the inside of each blind which provided the measurements. These did not match.
2) A giant bag of hardward was sent with nothing sorted into separate bags. I had to sort everything out to discover that I had not been sent enough screws or enough mounting brackets. Nor had I been sent extension brackets. After spending 30+ minutes on the phone and getting fed-up with the Level 1 person that I originally spoke to, I talked to a supervisor after holding for about 10 minutes, and it was rectified. However, it took OVER A WEEK to get the correct hardware that was supposed to be overnighted.
3) There were several problems with the durawood blinds :
- The upgrade that I ordered was incorrect. On some blinds, the right cords lift the blinds, and on some blinds the left cord lifts. I could really care less which one lifts, but it should at least be consistent across everything.
- The blinds do not open and close very well. When you tilt the slats in the upward position, they close pretty good, but the cord movement in doing so is very jerky. When you tilt the slats in the downward position, they don't come close to closing. They offered to remake these or give me a 35% credit.
- Also, I ordered blinds with decorative ladder-tape. On some of the blinds, there is white tape on the back, and on other blinds, there is brown tape on the back. There should be the same color tape on every blind. They are remaking the blinds with the correct tape.
- The lastest development is there is a metal piece that hides where the ladder tape connects on the underneath of the blind. I noticed that the metal piece was hanging down on several items. Well, it's because it was affixed with MASKING TAPE. So, now, I will need to go through and glue it on. What a pain.
- Also, the wrong hardware was also sent with the durawood blinds. On some blinds, I had the right hardware. On some, I had the wrong. So, we're working on getting that fixed as well.
While I love the look of their products and the selection, I'm not sure I would order again from them. They'll need to make serious improvements to their manufacturing and customer service departments.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Pleated Shades and Durawood Blinds
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Epinions.com ID:
austinamy
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