AVOID HILLARYS LIKE THE PLAGUE

[FMo1228]

Hoping to save others a load of stress. Absolute shambles from the get-go. Ordered two sets of shutters (after the consultant turned up more than two hours late, should have known then). Was told I'd have to wait 3 months, not ideal but went with it.

3 months later, the frames turned up but on one of them they had got their measurements wrong by 30cm, so only one set of shutters got fitted. Was told I would have to wait ANOTHER 3 MONTHS. Was then told it would be 5-6 weeks because they had approved it for air freight rather than sea (from China). Still annoying but more reasonable.

After 5 weeks of chasing, being told someone would contact me, complaining in writing (all with zero response from Hillarys), I was told that they're on the way, BUT NOT AIR FREIGHT. Because "nobody ever sent the air freight authorisation to China". Excellent. Hillarys, you have literally failed at every turn of this process.

Hillarys won't discuss "good will" until they have the goods, and I can't cancel the order. So despite having paid for these things in September and now going into March, I have neither half my money or half my order.

So I would urge you to AVOID HILLARYS AND GO LOCAL. I really wish I had.

I'm so sorry that you're experiencing this.

We were looking to get blinds made for our rear windows but what you've said, coupled with customer comments, we won't be using them.

Hope you get resolution.

I feel your frustration and wouldn’t be letting it go. Of course they can cancel your order, it just means they have to take the hit. Which they won’t do easily but this is grounds for trading standards so I would cancel the whole lot, get a refund and shop locally. We had 14 window shutters put in two years ago and the lead time was six weeks. Fantastic service and not had one issue.

I did have Hilary’s to quote but he asked me when my husband would be home in order for a decision to be made so I didn’t take it any further. Just as well by the sounds of it!

YES I agree. Honestly had the rudest salesman leave me an horrible message - it was my fault. I booked a home visit and then tried to cancel on the morning because I wasn't well and had a 4 week old baby. He ranted and went on. I know it was really annoying for him, but professionalism should be maintained.

Thank you, I'm going to write more formally and challenge them. As for waiting for your husband - absolutely unbelievable! It's 2024 sausage, we're allowed to vote and everything!

This is appalling 😞 absolutely not your fault.

Ha ha, Hilary's were doing the 'husband home' thing 10 years ago already 😠I was absolutely appalled!
Also, had the pleasure of one of their salesmen visiting our house, but not sending me quote within 'cooling off period' and then they tried to insist that it was too late for me to cancel. Had to go through charge back on my credit card in the end.

You do know they are a franchise so it varies a lot from area to area.
My local one, a woman measures and sells, her husband fits.

Thanks for this. I’m looking for blinds/shutters for a whole house. Glad I saw this.

I’ve used them twice, we have shutters in the whole house. They are faultless and we are really happy with them.

We had Hillary's.
Turned up on time ✅
Delivered and installed within 2 weeks ✅
They look lovely ✅
They work as they should (electric) ✅

Not all Hillary's are the same!

Just order the blinds yourself from blinds to go and get someone to fit if you can't . Hilary's are extortionate because you are paying so many people for the Same product.. I'm amazed it's still going tbh

The salesman never showed up for the appointment and didn't seem too fussed when we rang to find out what happened. Needless to say we gave them a swerve.

They had an excellent range and I picked blinds that I really liked but got really bad feeling from the salesman, he was super unpleasant and I had that guttural feeling that I wanted him out my house immediately. When the quote came back it was a bit pricy so I decided to get a quote from elsewhere which although less fabric choices came back 1/4 of the price.

They are absolutely awful. Blinds2Go are brilliant. Excellent value, speedy delivery and good quality product. You do have to do the measuring yourself but the are very good with advice on this. I had a dreadful experience with Hillary’s years ago.

In my experience, they won't discuss good will until the order is finished in case something else goes wrong, or you get the order and then start asking for more. 3 months doesn't surprise me as a lead time to get something made to order from China unfortunately either, replacements take the same amount of time as a new order. You definitely shouldn't have to keep chasing them though and if anything else goes wrong I'd be asking for a full refund/cancel

Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 52 and 54, OP. Services have to be delivered within a reasonable time. You have the right to remedy, which can include cancellation, if they are not.

"Reasonable" depends on what you are buying, but you have a strong argument that 6 months+ is not reasonable, given that you were told to expect them after 3 months.

Hilary Blinds is a marketing and sales operation that outsources everything. Then they do not stand behind their own products long-term.

Initially, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Over time, if anything breaks, they won’t help you - you just have to buy a new one.

For anyone in London, particularly South London, I would recommend Broken Blinds. They fix other people’s blinds (including Hilary’s where possible) and they also install their own.

Blinds2Go is the way to go.

I waited weeks for a Hillary’s franchisee to come with patterns and measure.
Then waited weeks for the product to be fitted.
Never again given I now buy from a local company and Blinds2Go who also make fab’ curtains.
https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/

Hillary's have good quality products but the service varies massively depending on the operatives in your area. I've had an excellent experience with curtains, blinds etc.

However Hilary’s are not the best with shutters. Their salesperson gave me really good advice when he pointed out what I should/should not buy from them. I did shutters via a specialist company and they were excellent.

Tuiss are great. Measure yourself and order online. Have done that with their windows and blinds for several windows including a difficult bay, never had any issues and the products are good quality.

OP UPDATE!

After another trustpilot review and a phone call mentioning court action, somebody finally called me back about compensation (which was initially a derisory offer).

I've agreed a sum with them now as a minimum, pending anything else going wrong. Fingers crossed I've experienced all the hassle with this now.

I do feel for the customer service line people who have to deal with this stuff when the higher-ups won't take any responsibility.

Ah, that's great news, OP- well done 💪

It took 7 months to get blinds that were going to take 3 weeks.... they repeatedly turned up (day off work to be there) and the blinds did not fit..... once a month and we got the blinds (16 of them) in dribs and drabs. I think my compensation was about £800.

I once sat behind a set of Hilary's blinds sales team on their way to a team meeting. For nearly 2 hours.

I vowed never to use them ever, the way they spoke about their customers was vile.

Never had any issue with the except pricing. Each ‘rep’ is self employed so it’s not actually Hillary’s your issue is with, it’s the franchise.