Hillarys Blinds - are they worth the money?

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

Had a lady from Hillarys blinds round yesterday to quote for some pleated blinds to go in our bay windows as they're south facing. First she changed the appointment from 9am to 3pm. She finally arrived at 3.45 without a call to say she was running late. So so far I'm not hugely impressed with the service!

She has quoted £314 to do just the downstairs one, £560 to do our bedroom too. They have a half price sale on atm so I thought that wasn't too bad until I rang to confirm that the price would be half of that. But it won't be! They are the sale prices!

This seems a lot of money to me. Has anyone used Hillarys blinds and how did you find them? Alternatively has anybody had blinds made by a different (cheaper) company?

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Hello, this thread is a little old and some of the links may be out of date. There was lots of discussion around the cost of Hillarys Blinds and most users found their prices a little high. As alternatives, users recommended John Lewis and Make My Blinds. If you are still interested in Hillarys Blinds you can check them out here. MNHQ.

we've had a good service from hillarys online at a fraction of the price - did our own measuring and hanging, just got them to make up. was very impressed and paid nowhere near your quote.

We had them come round to quote and they were very expensive for their very basic range.

We had another quote from a local company that had been reccomended called Amanda for Blinds and they were far cheaper for a nicer and better quality blind.

About a week after Hillary's had quoted they phoned back (they were quite pushy) offering more of a discount but they were still too expensive

I found Hillarys excellent. They were recommended to me by a friend who has had both kitchen and bathroom window blinds fitted which she is very happy with. I had a white wooden kitchen window blind done which is a reasonable size. Approx £200 pounds less than John Lewis and really happy with quality. All up £115 (was told there was a 50% discount at the time!) Took 15 mins for me to choose which one I wanted and for the chap to measure, and 30 mins for him to fit once arrived. It did take 2 weeks longer to make than I had been told but was just before Christmas so bit of a rush.

I had terrible service from Hillarys when I was buying shutters from them.

I even threatened them that I would contact Watchdog as I repeatedly rang them to find out when they would be fitted and would be constantly lied too. I asked for my deposit back and was told I couldn't have it.

Four months later my shutters showed up and didn't fit. I then got my deposit back.

Do they have a local shop? Someone gave me some valuable advice. Don't buy anything from anybody where there isn't an office you can walk into.

Shop around.

we found them the cheapest out of the 5 or 6 that I rang and had around. you can totally beat them down in price. We had 3 triple windows and a large double patio window done for just under £200 with vertical blinds. Twas the best money we spent

I think that Hillarys are a franchise so obviously the service you get is going to vary quite a lot.

We had bathroom roller blinds from them and were really impressed with the service and quality. They were quite expensive but the fitting was good and they still look brand new 2 years later.

I have used Hillarys blinds a couple of times now and have found them to be really reasonable. Definately get a thumbs up from me.

The man that came round was brilliant, told me about blinds I didn't even know exisited and in the end chose something completely different to what I thought I wanted. It was called a Panel blind and is really a modern version of the vertical blinds that you have at the patio window! Everybody comments on it.

I would def give them a try!

We got good service from the man from hillarys blinds. They weren't the cheap option but they look good and have lasted well.

Hillary's generally employ anyone to sell their stuff, for whatever they can get you to pay for it. If you're lucky you'll get someone who is a professional within the blind industry and get great service, but sadly the majority don't know what they're doing and do not have the in depth knowledge to know what will and what won't fit a customer's windows. Also they're on Watchdog next week, apparently.

Check out John Lewis ....

We got wooden blinds from Hilarys recently and I couldnt fault them or the service! They were the cheapest and most professional of the 3 or 4 companies I called out for quotes. So much so I recommended them to Mil and she got new blinds from Hilarys too, shortly after

After reading other peoples experiences with this company I thought I would comment on my own.
I wanted shutters for my front room. I had to wait longer for a Hillarys representative to come out as apparently shutters are 'specialize'. This person couldn't do evenings which was inconvient. We waited in on a Saturday for them. They were meant to ring half an hour before arrival (as I work Saturdays) they never did this, they just turned up. They took our order that day which was in March of this year. It is now October and I still don't have any shutters. They took a deposit for the shutters on that day so for 8 months they have had our money. Hillarys have never contacted me once since the order was placed. I have had to phone them on every single point of contact.
4 months after ordering the shutters In July, (We were told the shutters should be no more than 10 weeks) my partner rang to see where they were. When the fitter came with them they did not fit. It turns out this was because the selling rep took the measurements for them and not the fitter who turned up the week after the rep to measure for them. The selling rep was not qualified to take measurements and did not use a ladder so never measured the top of the window. When the fitter turned up the week after to measure, he went to put the order through and was surprised that someone else had done it. He questioned it then which should have flagged the problem up in March and not July but the order had already been put through to China so Hillarys did nothing with this information.
In July when the shutter did not fit I was fuming. I found little joy from Hillarys. Again I had to make all the phone calls complaining and found it very hard to get anywhere with them. (Esp. speaking to a senior member of staff or a local manager.) My fitter had already put the order through again and I was promised this would be fast tracked. That was the 20th July. Today is the 9th Oct 2011 and I still have no shutters. Again I phoned Hillarys to see where they were, still no luck.
I have wasted numerous hours of my life waiting in for them or on the phone to them. (Once to a number that wasn't free phone.) They have had my money for 8 months and have done nothing to compensate me, not even a sorry. I would never, ever use them again and want my story out there to avoid others going through this heartache. 8 months and counting for shutters that get made in China within the week (Hillarys actually told me this on the phone in July) is more than ridiculous. Sorry costs nothing but apparently customer relations just isn?t important to Hillarys.

Wow BoringdonQueen that is awful, I have just had Hillarys here to quote for shutters and blinds, they have come in with the cheapest quote so far. They are the only company who have told us they won't be able to get them in time for Christmas though. I've used Hillarys before in the past and things were fine but this time round we are going to be having five front bay windows fitted with shutters so parting with quite a bit of money. I really don't want to be faced with terrible service and months of waiting.

I think its worth it! we have all our windows fitted in hillarys blinds and service was excellent! so much so that we recommended our fitter to our other friends who had blinds fitted and happy with the service. he was polite, professional and tried very hard to give us the best deal on what we wanted. cant fault it but of course it does depend who you get. of course, its not that cheap but after all it is made to measure product with quality fabrics and if you compare it to JL its far cheaper.I heard that they are now doing made to measure curtains. my boyfriend will think I am having an affair with him! lol.

I get a lot of the leaflets that come through the door from HB. We naturally called them in for a quote recently but found the sales advisor pushy and decided to look elsewhere. Really dislike hard selling!

We went with a local independent fitter in the end. Very polite and professional. Will use again!

www.blindstar.co.uk

I booked an appointment early in January for today as I work in education and was told I would get a phone call before the salesman came. Been sitting here from 12:00-15:00 only to get a call at 14:40 asking if I'd like to reschedule? The salesman had been, not got a response and left. I specifically asked for the phone call because I know my bell doesn't work. Hillarys response was that most of their salespeople will call but not all will as they are not employed by Hillarys or some other lame excuse...not sure if it's worthwhile booking another appointment as another review says that their 50% sale off is still expensive. The number they gave me to call back on doesn't even work, forcing me to call their 0800 premium rate number. (I don't have a land-line) Maybe local is best...?

I'm in the middle of a transaction now. The blinds are not up yet, but so far my experience has been good. Less than £150 for a large window, and consultant guided me towards the best deal. Couldn't get a local company to quote, even!

We used web-blinds to do a hole house over the summer - it's staff accommodation so didn't want to spend a fortune in case we are moved elsewhere but also wanted something decent. Have been very impressed with speed and also they sent loads of swatches. You measure yourself but can also buy insurance for incorrect measurements (we didnt)

hole? whole! Though it was a bit before we moved in...

Do not use Hillarys blinds for curtains or blinds service. Not only do they still have my deposit of £175 which is half price for one bedroom, but they have failed to turn up on two appointments to fit the curtains. When I asked for my money back thats when they offered me 50% discount, then they text me two weeks later telling me that an advisor is attending my property to do the fitting on the Tuesday morning. So I stay in from work again and noone turns up!!!, I call the number for the advisor about 6 times and now answer, I send text messages asking if he is coming or not and still no answer.

I called the customer services yet again for the 4th or 5th time and the account manager is off again, noone is covering his work while hois away!. However when he was around I left a message on his direct line and he never called back.

There is lack of communication between the advisor who measured my window, the fitter and the customer services department and account manager. Account manager called me back once and after arranging the discount because I asked for my money back, didnt hear back from hime since!!.

So now am totally stuck. Fitting should have happend on 28th of April 2015 and it is now 27th of May 2015.

Had to wait nearly 2 weeks to get an appointment I then waited in for agent due 9 - 12 (why cant they give you a definite time?)
He walked in and said I haven't been on training course for conservatory roof blinds, walked out took 30 seconds.
I phoned service centre who then had to listen to my original call to confirm that I had booked roof measuring(their internet booking wasn't working on the day I booked) ! which I had. I was then offered an appointment another week away with an apology and 10 % discount. I explained I had taken a day off and needed an earlier appointment. I was told there were 3 local people on this weekend who had done the right course on 'how to manage a measuring tape' they would try to get me in and phone back before 3 pm. I phoned them after 3 ... Still working on it.... one was sick and one on leave they would call later.....I called at 19.30 they couldn't get anyone hadn't told me though, but guy then said ,as I (me) had booked the 'wrong measuring tape person' appointment would be in another weeks time !! I explained I had not booked the 'wrong measuring tape person' and I had been offered an apology and a discount after call had been listened too ....guy said well I am looking at the notes. If i cannot get an appointment with a man/woman with a tape measure that works chance of getting blinds pretty slim so have decided to give up and use a local company he is available to measure tomorrow !This has cost me time off work and money for phone calls while they listened to original calls and kept stringing me on.
I would not recommend as I have now wasted 2 weeks where my blinds could have been ordered manufacture started.

Don't use them, use Tuiss blinds , we've used them a few times, they are really good, and well priced.

I have never posted a review before but I have specially joined mumsnet just so I can comment on how utterly awful the customer service at Hillary's has been. Probably the worse I have experienced. I called in February and first of all there was a huge confusion with my name and account details even though I repeatedly explained that the old details belonged to the person living there before. When I was finally able to order shutters I had to email the person living here before who has migrated to Eastern Europe and ask her to make the bank transfer, bearing in mind I have never met her!! Even though I kept telling Hillary's to update my details they still kept using the wrong number (of previous homeowner) then wondering why they couldn't get through. When I finally managed to speak to someone having chased around 10 times and spoken to at least 5 different people I was able to order the shutters, but it gets worse...they sent the date they would be fitting to the previous homeowner's mobile, who of course not being in the uk never received it...and even if she had why would she a contact me a complete stranger to let me know?! I called Hillarys yet again to find out what was happening bearing in mind it's now June and they said because I hadn't replied to the text I couldn't have a date till later on in the month. The saga continues...they came round last week and brought the wrong shutters as had taken the wrong measurements!! So now the new date is September even though I made the first call in February. So I called to complain was offered a lame apology and I requested some kind of compensation. I was told someone would call me of course this never happened and I had to call again...this is the best bit...I was told I wouldn't be offered any refund or compensation as they had agreed to replace the shutters in the first place!! I almost laughed at the craziness of the response. They market themselves as the leading shutters company in the UK and am not disputing the product (if I ever receive it...) but customer service is truly appalling.

I had a very good experience, efficiency-wise, which I think was down to the franchisee we used. It all happened in good time and to budget. The fitting was seemless. They aren't quite as good quality as blinds we have bought from John Lewis and Laura Ashley, but for the price we are happy. They look smart up in our hallway.

I had s really frustrating day. A month ago I ordered new blinds and paid the 50% deposit and they were due to come today between 12-3. 3 came and went and I rang to chase it (was on hold on and off for half an hour at the premium 0800 call from a mobile phone) and was told they couldn't find my order and that an order had never been made, even thought money was taken. Long story short there was cock up and their system hasn't registered the order so it never showed up on their diary. They apologised but all they could do was offer to order them now which would be another 3-4 week wait which is so frustrating and annoying. They agreed to knock some money off the remaining balance but only after I asked did they knock it down further which I still didn't think was good enough but accepted it as pulsing have got them ordered any quicker anywhere else. I didn't thinking of their customer service. I even asked if they'd pay for my phone call but the refused. I won't be using them again