That's too bad! We purchased a large ordered of superior faux wood, 2.5" cream blinds, from them 16 years ago (samples were first delivered) and had excellent service. Like many other companies, service must be declining.

Well, that is what the eopinion site seems to indicate. Many of the raters were long time ago very satisfied customers who used them again recently and had horrible things to say.

Thanks.

I used Island Blinds for 4 French doors and two windows. I am pleased with the quality for the price--which, in my case, varied from 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of S & N. Island blinds has far, far fewer choices available, and the orders never came as soon as promised, but, for my purposes, the savings were worth the wait. Also, in my case, the materials available happened to be what I wanted. The construction was fine, the tortoise shell-like bamboo looks good in my kitchen, and the woven wood looks good in my family room. One order took an extra week to arrive, another will probably arrive a month later than promised, due to "backorder at the manufacturer." If you require decorative cleats and many fabric choices, or you are working under a deadline, this is not the resource for you.

Thanks for the input and, no, no deadlines or choice issues. Like you, blinds.com did not have the vast selection but did have choices we liked as much or better and the product is a well known brand name. We will check out Island Blinds as well.

Don't forget about JC Penney. They have some fabulous sales. Just recently had 60% all custom window treatments.

I've used nobrainerblinds.com several times and have always been happy with their service. Oddly enough, I've never had problems with their "house brand", but it seems like almost every Hunter Douglas brand blind I order through them has problems (manufacturing issues). I'm pretty sour on Hunter Douglas these days as a result.

brutuses - I'll give JCP a look see, thanks!

Cheifneil - Interesting post, an installer putting in my blinds recently told me Hunter Douglass was last on his list of good manufacturers. We will check nobrainer as well, thanks

cheifneil,

Checked them out. Did you get any woven woods from them and, if so, what, if any, kind of liner did you use...micropleat or regular?

Its interesting that their site looks almost idential to blinds.com...wonder if they are connected.

Almost all my window treatments are from Smith & Noble. I haven't had any problems with them. I like their selection - but I will check out the other sites listed here!

Over the past seven years I have repeatedly used Smith & Noble and never, ever had a problem. I am shocked to read about the negative rating(s) you wrote you read on epinions.

Within the past seven months we ordered eleven different window coverings from them and all are fabulous. The price and quality cannot be beat (in my opinion). One set of plantation shutters arrived incorrect: we'd ordered them with a middle (horizontal) divider and that which arrived didn't have it. I called them and there was absolutely no hesitation in a) apologizing and b) sending out a replacement (in record time, I think!). They did not ask for the (perfectly good) shutters back: they suggested I either reuse them, sell them, give them away or donate them.

We also ordered a (beautiful) natural woven roman shade and one of the eyes on the back wasn't attached, so when we pulled it up it was pulling unevenly. I called to ask them what to do and their immediate reasponse was: We'll send you a new one. And that's what they did!

In our penultimate house we also had the natural woven roman shades (love them!) and, when painting, I misplaced a cleat (to wrap the cord around). I called asking if I could purchase another one and they said "our products have a lifetime guarantee -- we'll send you another one for no cost."

I'm just really impressed with Smith & Noble!

In our previous house we had a woven roman shade with linen fabric binding the edges all the way 'round. In our current house I recently (2 weeks ago) ordered and received a soft London shade (fabric) and a wood blind with an upgraded tape. We have plantation shutters everywhere except a stair hall and side door. I measured for these myself and had a local person install them.

The quality is very good. They came within 10 days, looking exactly as ordered. Pay attention to the measuring instructions. I did not, and my shade was just 1/8 inch too big for an inside mount. We had to manipulate it a bit, and I could have had my local workshop remake it---but that would have completely negated the savings of using Smith and Noble.

After all is said and done, I should have had the shade made here, as the responsibility for measuring would have been the maker's. It's not their fault, obviously... but I can well imagine that some people, having measured incorrectly, want to return "defective" window treatments and are not allowed to.

Out of curiosity, I went to epinions.com and when I searched for "Smith and Noble" I was merely offered the chance to buy thousands of items.... the site looks like a shopping site, no opinions or reviews except in a very few instances.

I have several Smith Noble products (wooden blind with decorative tape, 3 sets of 84" drapes with rings, 2 fabric Roman shades) and have been very happy with their quality and service.

You might consider that people who have negative experiences are more likely to leave feedback than people who are happy.

breezy, sorry I've only ever ordered cellular and wood blinds from nobrainer. I've also noticed that the sites are pretty similar - I've been assuming they're the same but I don't know for sure.

I too used Island Blinds and was very pleased with the prices and service. The manufacturer bollixed up our order with the wrong valances and forgetting the extension thingy for the motorized tilt and Island Blinds stepped right up to fix it, and the savings were significantly greater than any other site I could find (I priced out at least 10 companies). Mine came quite quickly, only about a week or so.

I did find that there were just a couple of manufacturers that most of the companies sold as their house brand, so I was able to compare apples to apples.

johnmari, what kind of blinds did you order from Island Blinds? I'm looking at possibly ordering some faux wood blinds and saw that they have several differet levels of quality. I'm wondering if the least expensive ones are decent quality or if it's worth paying more than double to get the better quality ones.

kswl - I usually get reviews by typing in "reviews on____" in this case, it goes straight to S&N reviews. However, when I went to epinions and then searched S&N, I got your results but if you scroll down, it eventually comes to their review link.

seagrass - your point is exactly why I posted here. This forum all around has a habit of bringing the truth to bear. After all of the otherwise positive feedback here, I certainly considered that sour grapes are 100 times more likely to review than HAPPY customers. So, I went back to epinions and scrolled down only to find another section called surveys. The definition by epinions is that some retailers allow epinions to survey (at their selection) recent customers experiences at random. The results??? 9 out of 10 were VERY satisfied.

S&N is back in the running and, yet again, thanks to the insights/input of all here to help bring to bear the real story.

:)

breezy and karoloke,

I just ordered 11 faux wood blinds from American Blinds last week. I got the Hunter Douglas 2" Everwoods in two of the white/cream colors. I mainly chose them b/c I wanted the cordless lift option, which limited my options of mfrs. At the time, they were offering a 10% coupon code for Hunter Douglas orders. I had orig. considered going w/ yourblinds.com but customer reviews were iffy on them, and I had used American Blinds on several previous occasions (for wallpaper) w/ good results. Customer service was very thorough w/ my order; the rep's supervisor actually came on the phone to review my order w/ me, due to the (relatively) large order. She actually reviewed every measurement and option in my order to insure no mistakes.

Fast forward to today and I suddenly realize that I didn't want the wand tilt option but the cord tilt option. I called American Blind's Sales Dept. # to see if they could still make that change, where they very politely told me I needed to call Customer Svc. The wonderful rep I spoke w/ said she would contact the mfr and find out if my blinds were in production. Then, she actually called me back as promised a few hours later to update me--my blinds were in production, but they could still make the change :-)

So far, I am *very* pleased w/ their attention to detail, and efficient, helpful customer service. We'll see how it actually turns out when I receive my order in about a week....!

Oh, pricewise, they were a bit higher than yourblinds.com, but the 10% off code put them very close, and, as I said earlier, I had previous positive experiences w/ them, whereas the complaints I read about yourblinds.com were generally related to probs w/ customer service. American will also price match, but it was a better deal to do the 10% off code than to pricematch in my case. (They won't do both a coupon code and pricematch)

Here is a link that might be useful: American Blinds

karoloke, I bought 2" hardwood blinds in the "Prestige" (house) line, which I chose because I needed a few custom-cut blinds as well as stock sizes, and the blinds would look the way DH wanted and not blow a hole in our bank account. Accomplished all those goals.

I don't care for the faux wood blinds so I couldn't help you much in that department, sorry.

I made my first order with S&N two months ago. I wanted wood venetian blinds. They are very nice products. When the "rounded corners" upgrade was proven by my (by submitting photos) not to match the catalog illustration (mine were not very rounded at all) I was refunded the $20 upcharge per blind.
So, the service was good, even if it was my responsibility to document it. The blinds are excellent.
Casey

I've ordered the natural woven blinds for different houses over the last 7 years, most recently about 6 months ago. Have had no problems. Measured and installed myself (with husband's help). I have also ordered swatches, free of charge.

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGG_mistake to order from smith+noble. I needed a part for my very expensive wood blinds originally purchased from them. Dealing with their customer service (rather lack thereof)has been absolutely painful. I have been attempting since mid April of 2008 to get this part. In the process I have been told everything from: it should arrive at your address tomorrow to, we don't make that part anymore, we've never had an order in our system for that part for you to, I see several orders in our system for that part for you but they've all been canceled to, it should have been delivered express delivery yesterday to, you'll need to follow up with the carrier using your tracking number, to we don't have tracking numbers for our orders, to maybe you should just get new window treatments. I'm not kidding! Mind you, several of the aforementioned comments from s+n customer "service" were conveyed with a huge dose of not so friendly attitude. This is truly a company where the left hand knows not what the right is doing (or undoing) and clearly doesn't care.

I'm surprised to read about a major customer service problem with S&N. My experience has been totally positive and their CSRs were always helpful. I hope that after you document everything in a concise letter to mgt. that you will receive the part along w/ an apology. Please update us once the problem is resolved.

We have had good experience with S&N too. Just recently the little plastic covers on our blinds started cracking. I called and they just asked how many and sent them off for free. Another friend of mine had a string break and they not only sent her a new blind, they sent her a second as well, since they were right next to each other and are several years old and wouldn't match. She did have some shipping confusions, but the result was that things did show up in the end. So I guess a vote of confidence for S&N from us!

I am having a horrible experience with Smith + Noble. I ordered 7 shades (for 4 windows) 2 months ago, using their shop-at-home service. I might have forgotten that the consultant brought her snack into my house and carried it from room to room if everything else had gone right, but almost everything has gone wrong. Shades arrived in approximately the promised amount of time, but...the cords were on the wrong side on 4 of the 7 shades. This was especially unacceptable because some were going on the same window, so, for example, the 2-shade window should've had one cord on the left and one on the right. For more than $2000, I expect better. I returned the wrong shades as soon as I received the return boxes. UPS delivered them within a few days. The next month was filled with calls to find out the status, having each of a half dozen "customer service" agents tell me something different, promising to call back but not doing so, and my windows remaining bare. The only thing they've managed to accomplish is to collect my money. I would not recommend them.

Does anyone have thoughts on Bali? I believe sold by both Home Depot and Costco.

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY. THEIR PRODUCTS ARE SO OVERPRICED AND THE QUALITY IS MEDIOCRE AT MOST. SERVICE IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. WORST DECISION EVER.

Everything started from the December of 2019 when I contacted the company and made an appointment for the design consultant to come and measure my windows. Got rescheduled because the consultant is on vacation but somehow her calendar was shown as available. Order was placed after the visit and she asked me to pay 100% in advance. I needed to see the sample of the fabric vertical shade which was part of the order. Waited 2 weeks for the sample to be mailed. Order was shipped out around 6 weeks later and was packaged so poorly that when I saw the box it was all damaged. Had to refuse the receipt. Replacement was shipped about a month later and the fabric vanes turned out to be too long. The installer had to cut them short and place a replacement order again. The installation was also not smooth considering he installed the blinds in the wrong direction and had to fix them. Also he put the parts on my bed until I asked him to move them to the floor. Replacement order arrived a couple of weeks later. I didn't want the unprofessional installer to come back again so I installed the vanes myself.

6 months later, the vertical fabric shades I purchased have been shrinking/curling up in the middle, which created huge gaps between the vanes. I contacted the customer service 2 months ago, called and emailed. A lady named Angela called me back asking for pictures showing the issue. I then emailed them to her only found out that the email never wen through since their email has a limit on attachment size. I had to email low resolution pictures in separate emails. She then reviewed the issue and placed a warranty replacement order for me. A few days later, she called me again telling me her manager and the factory think "there is no way that the fabric would shrink unless you washed the vanes. They won't send him a replacement for the vanes instead, a new head rail so you can have more overlap between vanes to reduce the gaps". I asked her then the vanes will not be able to cover my entire window so I'll end up with a huge gap on one side. She said she didn't know how to resolve this issue and offered to pass pictures to her manager and factory if I can send her more. Here are the pictures I took from inside of my bedroom and from the street. My bedroom is facing a busy street and if you walk by at night, you can see through those gaps and see what I'm doing. So literally no privacy. I have to change clothes with light off so people don't peek in. I don't think that's what I expected when paying $800 just for this defective vertical shades. These vanes have only been installed for 6 months. I haven't washed or even wiped them... It's ridiculous when they try to make this issue sound like I have been handling the shades incorrectly. Angela has been helpful and fair but unfortunately her manager and the factory don't share her professionalism. They will for sure find a way to blame me again for the issue which will probably never be resolved.

I'd rather spend half of what I paid with the Home Depot if I have to deal with unreasonable quality control anyways.

My experience is bad. We use them all over our house when we renovated 5 years ago. 1/3 of the mechanism went bad and most they would not replace under warranty. I'm looking to replace all of them now, because 1 by 1 they fail.

Hi, I have to agree that Smith + Noble has really false advertising and disappointing product. I worked with their designer but she was so slow that apparently I missed the deadline for the advertised sale, and then never got a receipt- despite there being a 3 day window to make an order change. When the drapes were finally installed, they did not fit the window, the installer had trouble getting the rod to work and no one responds in customer service.

I can now say without the slightest doubt that in my 45 years buying product, Smith and Noble is the worst company I have ever dealt with.

If you order from them and have a problem, do not expect it to get resolved...EVER.

I have been trying for 3 years now. Still not resolved.

I just had a terrible experience with s&n. I was ordering their window treatments for 23 years and everything was fine until now. I got blinds for my two bedrooms without much trouble (yes samples I requested were send to a wrong address), but then i decided to order more blinds for my sun room. The measurements were taken, sent to S&N and lost. The technician took the measurements again and send them to S&N AGAIN. After couple of days I called S&N to enquire and was told they do not have the measurements yet. Two more phone calls (always waiting for the next available rep) and claims that they still did not get the measurements. I asked them to call the technician and was informed that it is impossible because he is on vacation. As I did not believe it I called him myself. And no he is not on vacation and yes he sent the measurements to S&N a week ago. I am done with S&N and their lies.

I had ordered shades before from Smith&Noble and have been very satisfied. But my last experience was not acceptable. I have a window and a slider that come together in a corner. Because its a difficult corner, I used the design service. BIG MISTAKE! The term cassette was used to describe the top that goes across the blind roll. But, the order specified no valances which also meant no cassette! The designer used the term valence as a way to hide the discrepancy in the height between the window and the slider. Valance also means cassette. I did not know these terms were interchangeable. So,I have a bare roll which is the first thing anyone sees when they walk into my home. It looks AWFUL. I spent $2500 on two blinds.

Additional, I ordered the shades as SMART SHADES. Only one smart shade works consistently and the other seldom works. I have had to pair the shade several times. The company says the designer, Pandora will contact me. It has been over 1 month and she has not contacted me. I have gone from being an advocate for Smith & Noble to warning people about using the service and recommending they order shades from a professional that will support their product. That appears to no longer be Smith & Noble.

We have replaced most of the old outdated blinds in our home via Smith & Noble. The products we have received from them have been great, & have been purchased on sale, great offers. We have been very pleased with their products, and we are "picky". We have good design sense & were able to make diverse choices of blinds (linen, natural, etc) & trim (bronze) and are pleased with the final products.

I used Blinds Galore last year to order several no-frills faux wood Venetian blinds. They were excellent quality. I mismeasured one of the windows. They immediately sent a new blind at no cost, providing I donated (with proof) the wrong blind to a good cause. I was very satisfied and will be using them again.

Ugh.

NEVER again on Smith and Noble.

This stuff breaks and I am already having to re-thread it.

Cheaply made, highly overpriced and takes forever to arrive.

We will be buying Hunter Douglas next time around.