Smith+Noble Online Store

i had a very mixed encounter with smith+noble. i began with a great purchasing experience and finished with a very satisfactory product, but in between i found the company sorely lacking. i made my purchase of a set of soft-roman shades following a day ...

I placed an online order with Smith & Noble for 10 honeycomb shades. I specified that the shades be sent directly to my contractor's address in a town 3 hours away because the shades were meant for our second home and our contractor was going to be ...

Please do yourself a favor and steer well clear of this company. They are a nighmare to deal with and their products stink.

Shameful customer service.

Shades arrived broken and replacement shades were cut off-center. Customer service did not want to fix the problem! Took forever to settle the matter. Later discovered that the installation blocked by fire exit. Again they did not want to fix the problem and I had to sort it out for myself. The customer service is obnoxious and arrogant and cares nothing for the happiness of the customer. They speak rudely on the phone are inflexible and are totally insensitive to customer concerns.

I sent Smith+Noble an email about an update to my order. Now they claim they never received the email. (I know it was sent correctly, because I sent it via the "reply" button to their email to me. And I know it went out because it's in my "sent" box!)

I also called about the update (just to be on the safe side). The phone representative assured me he would flag my order with a note. Now I am told (both by another representative and by the call center supervisor) that it was never flagged and no note was made.

So in spite of both an email and a phone call, the update did not get made.

Worse yet, the supervisor's attitude is "sorry, you didn't get the name of the person you spoke to, so it's your problem."

The irony is that this company is MUCH more expensive than others, but I somehow was under the impression that it was worth spending more in order to be assured of good customer service. I wish I had read the previous posts at epinions first and would have known otherwise!

I had a terrible experience ordering shades from Smith+Noble. The shades I ordered didn't fit any of my windows. WHen I called to inquire about getting them adjusted, I was blamed for not measuring correctly. Of course when I went back and re-measured, I discovered that I HAD measured correctly. Despite the fact that they have nice and probably good quality products, their customer service is TERRIBLE!  I think their service is a complete scam b/c their shades DO NOT fit so you are left to order new ones. If you decide to order from them they will give you a discount. I chose not to give them more of my money.
 

I ordered metal miniblinds and wood blinds from Smith + Noble, and they arrived very quickly. The metal blinds were fine and I had no trouble installing them. The wood blinds did not match the swatch that Smith + Noble had sent previously; the finish on the swatch ("light beech") was clear and the wood was iridescent, which I loved; in contrast, the blinds had a flat, paint-like finish which was light but which masked the wood grain. I called them immediately and they (eventually) shipped the blinds back; then (eventually) they told me that, in their opinion, the blinds matched the swatch. I emailed them pictures showing them that this was not true; now they're offering me store credit, which I don't want, and it took five weeks for all of this to happen. I would strongly recommend against doing business with Smith + Noble.

I ordered large pleated shades for living room, and both large and small Durawood blinds for bedrooms and baths. Half of the blinds arrived cracked and warped. The company sent replacement blinds. However, I have been really disappointed in all of their performance in my home. These window treatments were very pricey, and none of them have held up. The pleated shades fray on the ends, and the resulting "strings" get tangled up in the loop control and make it difficult to raise and lower them. The Durawood blinds have weak cording and several of them have broken at least one of the cords holding the slats, so that it is impossible to raise them evenly. In addition, the Durawood material creates a static that attracts dust, pollen and dirt in the air leading to constant cleaning. Not enough value for the price. Strongly recommend checking out JC Penny for window treatments that work and cost so much less.

Smith and Noble is a huge disappointment -- customer service is pathetic and unhelpful.  Ordered window treatments and paid overnight shipping so that they would arrive prior to our family leaving on vacation.  Called to see if I could make an adjustment to the order and was told they shipped.  The day prior to leaving on vacation I call for a status as we had not received them (after three weeks) and were told that the material was on back order for six weeks.  Seven calls to customer service later, I finally got a refund.  They had charged my credit card despite the fabric not even being in stock.  I was promised a supervisor would call me on a certain day and time -- they never did.  Will never order from them again and will share my story with others.

Customer service is appalling, and quality of the blinds has deteriorated remarkably in the last 18 months. I have ordered essentially the same thing (soft roman shades) three times with Smith and Noble. First two times no problem. This time, the shades came and were constructed far worse than they had been before. Now they are just two pieces of material (the shade and the lining) folded over once, ironed to make a crease and left to dangle off the window from a thin piece of wood (earlier versions had the lining and the shade material folded over together so they were integrated, and they were folded over three times so they felt substantial). Each shade costs more than $300. I feel ripped off and they refused to give me a refund. They had also sent the wrong brackets and were unable to send the right brackets for more than a week. These people must be making a packet as it cannot cost much to get some poor person in Mexico to fold over a bit of material and put it in a box. Don't buy this stuff -- you'll feel that you've been taken to the cleaners.

My experience with smith and noble has been terrible.

The shades I ordered from them were not unusual or unique -yet the company was unable to ship me the right size.

I emailed the company immediately after I discovered the issue but received no response. So I called them - only to be treated poorly.

They clearly have little concern for how much time and effort I expend correcting their mistakes. I guess they figure the sale is already made...

I would strongly caution others from buying anything from the company.

We purchased curtain rods from Smith and Noble. They item was backordered, so I selected another item. After a good while, I called to check on the status and was told that the new item was dicontinued. I asked to cancel the order, and they supposedly did. Two weeks later the rods showed up. I called to ask about returning since we had purchased new ones from Pottery Barn. They said they couldn't take them back (custom order) and would need a receipt showing I donated them in order to refund my money. I got the reciept, and had not turned it in when two days later the charge was refunded. An interesting solution. However, clearly the customer service doesn't have a clue (they are polite while they are being clueless).

Positive: The selection and quality is great. The web site is easy to navigate.
Cons: Customer service is spotty, and the right hand seems not to now what the left hand is doing.

I have to order shades now, and I am not using them because I fear more major screwups and the installation.

Terrible delivery and customer service. The delivery of my shutters was delayed by several weeks. Then Smith+Noble never sent me the name of the delivery company nor the tracking number for the package. The delivery company didn't arrive at the scheduled appointment time. The delivery company could not track my shipment without a tracking number. Smith and Noble couldn't give me the tracking information when I called to ask for it. No one knows where my shutters are and I still don't have them.

For a full description of my complaint, see my blog at http://beingnicehelps.blogspot.com/. You can also find more Smith & Noble complaints at http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/onlinecatalog-only/smith-noble-000698. And make sure you read the 1st comment on this website -- if an epinions "top reviewer" gave them a poor rating, you really want to consider that.

Summary: Customer service is so frustrating that you might cry. Received patio door blind that was missing liner and couldn't open and close properly (sounded impossible to fix that problem). Recd refund for patio blind, but they refused to refund for the 4 matching blinds even though they advertised "total room coordination." Also provided inaccurate info to my credit card company when I disputed the charge.

Smith and noble fall short of being a professional company in my opinion.  I placed an order....paid for it....and a month later they claimed that the product was discontinued and that is why it hasnt shipped.

no notification or anything....until i called.


Find another company to work with - or else!

Last year we went to Smith+Noble's site to find a valance and curtain rod for our bathroom. We chose a Cosmopolitan steel rod set at a cost of $77. Within months it was so rusty we had to get rid of it. Smith+Noble customer service refused to reimburse us or issue a credit, claiming we should not have installed it in an area with moisture (the bathroom), even though there is no such warning among the product details listed online.

For a company that allegedly prides itself on customer service--and whose hardware is rather expensive--this is shabby treatment.