Appalling after sales service - just avoid the company

We had blinds fitted in 17 windows at a cost of about £20,000.

We have had one of the rooms in which the blinds were fitted redecorated and insulated. We needed to remove the blinds so as not to damage the blinds and allow work to be done. What unfolded was a case study in how to irritate and alienate an established customer and ensure I will never buy from Thomas Sanderson again.

In January 2023 I phoned the helpline and asked if someone could remove the blinds in advance of work starting. I was told that this was not a service that you offered but that the approved Sandersons fitter might do the work as a “homer” which we would have to pay for. I agreed, waited for 2 weeks for an email, or call and then had the blinds removed by a professional tradesperson to allow the work to start.

In April we asked if a TS fitter could put the blinds back up. We spoke to the agent who told us that once the blinds had been removed by someone other than a TS approved fitter the guarantee was invalid, and once the guarantee was invalidated TS were not able to help.

I found this difficult to believe as we were prepared to pay for the service and phoned about 30 minutes later; spoke to a representative who spoke to “a manager” at the Head Office who confirmed that TS would not re-fit the blinds as this was not a service TS were prepared to provide. She also confirmed that having had a non-approved fitter remove the blinds the warranty was now invalidated which, in turn, meant that that Sandersons had no obligation to provide any service.

I told the agent that I was happy to pay for the refitting – as I was for the removal.

At this point I asked if we could just contact the fitter directly and ask them to put the blinds back up. I was told that this was not possible because the fitters were self-employed and didn’t want their details released to “members of the public”.

This situation effectively means that the 25-year warranty provided only lasts as long the rooms do not require redecoration.

I wrote to the CEO and asked him to intervene – he pushed the job of replying to a junior staff member who confirmed that assisting a customer after sale was not in their interest and the warranty we held was now invalid

I was happy to pay for the blinds being removed (and put back up) by someone used to fitting TS blinds and can only assume that the approach taken by the Company is a clumsy way of negating the warranty cover.

Just avoid them – and their parent Hillarys