Name: Hillarys
Address: Colwick Business Park Private RD, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Rating: 3.83

“COMPLAINT MADE ON 28th August. Still waiting for reply in writing. As CEO of Hillary’s I feel it would be beneficial for you to read my current experiences with your company, trying to purchase 4 roller blinds for my families home. This is a complaint and I want it investigated fully due to the numerous failings and appalling service from your team, as I have tried my very best to sort this. I am a new customer to Hillary’s, and chose you as I have always been advised by friends and family that “you can’t beat Hillarys’ their service is incredible and their blinds are the best”. I can safely say once you have digested this, you will probably appreciate that I do not agree with this statement at all. I have had nothing but issues and no communication from anyone on all my contacts made. It’s beyond disgusting how I’ve been treated as a customer. I will list events starting from the beginning so that you have a full picture: 1. 15/07 - We move into our new home. We had already scheduled from our previous address to have Hillary’s visit on the 16th July. 2. 16/07 - Mark Carruthers arrives. We agree and enter a contract on 4 blinds, in 3 rooms (2 daughters bedrooms & master) and in ours this did include 2 motorised blinds. Total cost £1016. 3. 16/07 - On the same morning, at the same time as Mark being present I cancelled a ‘Made to Measure‘ appointment with Dunelm, due to Marks sales pitch, which was taking place ‪at 1pm‬ that day. 4. 20/07 - 7.27am - EMAIL - Order confirmation received. This has an INCORRECT colour on one of the blinds quoted within the Master bedroom. 5. 21/07 - 8.37am - CALL - I call Mark and leave VM explaining that we need to rectify this, BEFORE I will make payment. 6. 21/07 - EMAIL - I email Mark backing up VM to see if we can get this issue sorted ASAP. 7. 21/07 - Over 2 calls (8.49 + 8.50) Mark suggests dropping off his Portfolio folder so I can confirm which colour it was supposed to be, on the order. 8. 21/07 - Portfolio folder is dropped off. My husband takes it in. 9. 23/07 - 10.32am - CALL. I call Mark, leave VM as there are colour swatches missing from the Portfolio, and the one I am trying to compare isn’t present. 10. 23/07 - 10.41am - CALL. Mark calls back. 11. 24/07 - 3.52pm - EMAIL. I send an email to Mark saying this is still not resolved as the swatch isn’t in the Portfolio and I’ve had this Portfolio for a while now and when was he going to get this sorted and collect it ?!? 12. 24/07 - 4.21pm - EMAIL. I receive an email from Mark saying that he had entered a generic colour, and he forgot to update, hence the incorrect colour. He will call me when he is finished with a client. 13. 27/07 - 8.16pm - CALL. ‘NOTHING’. No call from Mark since 24/07. I call and leave VM. 14. 28/07 - 12.40pm - CALL. Still nothing! I call and leave another VM. 15. 30/07 - 11.13am - CALL. I give Mark one more chance, so that’s 3 VM’s, and 4 days of absolutely nothing. 16. 30/07 - 1.05pm - CALL. I am beyond fed up, Mark has gone AWOL, with no voicemail explaining he is on leave, no email auto-reply, nothing. I phone Head Office on ‪0800 328 4196‬. We were on the way to a Farm with the girls, so we had my phone on speaker so we could both talk. Husband was driving. We speak with Lorraine. We both talk and explain we are very angry and want a complaint logged. Lorraine advises that she doesn’t think we warrant talking to anyone else, when I asked to speak to a manager and that she feels “I’ve done a good job with this call and no need for a complaint” and she is an Account Manager and we won’t be speaking with anyone else. She couldn’t explain the Complaints policy at all. Completely missing the whole point of a Complaint policy. Complaints are a customers choice, and I was even more fuming after speaking with Lorraine, the customer service was appalling. She actually said to us “this is the first time you’ve rang Head Office” and I was trying to advise her that I should never be in a position to NEED to ring HQ, as the process should work. HQ is for when things DO NOT work and they should be able to get it sorted as a priority******Didn’t get chance to finish the call as she HUNG up on us !!! ***** 17. 30/07 - 11.16pm. EMAIL. I send yet ANOTHER email to Mark asking where on earth he is and whether he wants our business ?! 18. 30/07 - 1.23pm - CALL. SUDDENLY we receive a call, obviously spurred on by Lorraine and my call with her 15 mins ago. Shocking that he has no inclination or care to call me back when I call, but responds to HQ, so would have to have listened to his VM’s. He advises he has had 31 calls from customers and then he advised that he went away for his wedding anniversary. I say to him it would be a good idea to let people know where you are ! I work for a large corporations so I understand the processes and business continuity requirements that come with this, but a answerphone message with an alternative contact is not rocket science. It’s just common sense. 19. 31/07 - 6.02am - EMAIL. Email from Mark saying that to contact him if no-one calls me from HQ by ‪2.30pm‬. 20. 31/07 - 17.17pm. - CALL. I call Mark - surprise (!!) no one calls me and I leave VM. 21. 31/07 - 17.25pm - CALL. Mark calls me back (3 mins long) more “shocking news that no one has called you back” - Mark. 22. 31/07 - 17.36pm - CALL. Mark calls after chasing HQ again - what’s going on?! How difficult is it to update an order, take a deposit and send a fitter round ?!?? Absolute madness. 23. 02/08 - 2.28pm - CALL. I call Mark again, leave VM. 24. 03/08 - 7.58am - EMAIL. Email sent to Mark. Yet another epic failure, I was promised a call from him after ‪1pm‬ on the 02/08 and I get nothing. Service is a joke!!!! 25. 03/08 - 2.07pm - CALL. Yet ANOTHER attempt at making contact with Mark. Left VM. 26. 04/08 - 6.44pm - CALL. Yet ANOTHER attempt at making contact with Mark. Left VM. 27. 04/08 - 7.10pm - CALL. Mark calls me back. Still no idea why no order, no payment, no fitter yet trying to get this sorted with his manager. 28. 04/08 - 9.46pm - EMAIL. Email sent to Mark asking if this is a wind-up?! We had received some marketing in the post asking if we wanted to put any more orders through, with money-off coupons as IF we were existing customers by now. Appalling and made me feel very angry. Like our ‘noses are being rubbed’ in it! 29. 05/08 - 7.35am - CALL. Another call to Mark chasing up everything. Advised that he will call me back by end of the day. 30. 05/08 - 8.17pm - CALL. ANOTHER call, another VM, another failed promise to call me back. 31. 05/08 - 9.06pm - EMAIL. Email from Mark. “Complete shock as to how this is still going on, never had so many emails from one customer”. He advised he was visiting Friday to apologise in person. 32. 06/08 - CALL. Steve (Fitter) called. Scheduled in measuring session for the 08/08 - 23 days after our sales meeting!!! 33. 06/08 - VISIT PM - Mark turns up with flowers apologising and showed us some emails that he had been sending to try and rectify things. He advised that this all stemmed from the Fitter it was issued too having too many jobs and thinking that my Order included a Motorised BAY window blind and “being lazy” chose to reject it. (We have both a BAY, and a motorised blind request but not for that window). The fitter had read it wrong. Apparently after 10 days of our job being in limbo, it was then issued to the SAME fitter! Mark advised that ‘I should email the CEO’ with details of the issues we’ve had. Sadly though some of the issues sit with his inability to manage customer expectations, maintain communication and follow through on promises. He even advised my husband and I that he had told his boss that he “wasn’t taking anymore of her calls”. Due to the fact that HQ should be picking this up, but NOONE was dealing. I presume to help drive ownership. He advised that he had referenced a number of times that my husband has a particular job role, which is a breach of GDPR. This is personal sensitive information and should NEVER be shared with anyone, unless at the request of the customer and / OR relevant to the task. I understand that he may have been doing this to try to gain traction on ownership but this needs reporting as a breach. 34. ******ABOVE - THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE ***** 35. 08/08 - VISIT - Steve (Fitter) turns up. Turns out measurements of cassette piece very wrong and would have been sitting out of recess, and Mark had ordered a plastic white chain, and he asked if we wanted a metal one, and I said of course. We weren’t asked. It became apparent that a lot of the finer details were not considered nor were we asked. Disappointing. Fitting scheduled in for the 22/08, which was a Saturday and Steve’s day off. He was already doing this job as a favour as he lives in our area, but now also doing the install on his day off as he had no capacity. You would think a Manager would take into their hands to ensure that Steve is looked after and move a job or two based on priority calls on customers so that you are not running your staff into the ground, through overworking! A great example of when required maybe a customer that has had umpteen issues, 35 touch points (to date) on trying to get some bulk standard roller blinds installed would be a start!!!!! 36. 12/08 - 1.02pm - EMAIL. I send a email to Mark. He advised he would get someone to call the following day of his visit to take payment, but 6 days later and NOTHING has happened. Our business and money is a joke to Hillary’s clearly. All I can say is BEST OF LUCK when you read my reviews of this experience on the various review sites including TrustPilot. It’s so poor it looks like it’s made up! 37. 17/08 - AM - CALL - Random call from Debbie (Brown) in HQ. I ranted at her when she explained that our fabric wasn’t in stock and that it would be yet another week. I talked her through everything and she could see lots of notes, but every single one of them CLOSED down, but not ONE comment/ call/ communication in anyway to me on what’s happened/happening and how you are sorting this. She was the first person that I felt I could trust as I believed she would own this and gave her the chance to call me back on the 25/08 as she promised, she would once she had checked the stock had come in. She said she would call me back once she had spoken with Management with regards to my request for financial compensation for this shambles. She would then reduce this from the final payment and we could move forward, should this be acceptable. 38. 25/08 - NO CALL 39. 26/08 - CALL. AM - Turns out Debbie had gone home with a migraine yesterday, hence no call. From a business continuity perspective you could have all your urgent calls logged in a central system managed by an activity manager/ task driven system that is then spread to remaining colleagues so customers get call backs when they are promised. You can not do anything about sickness but you can think about how you manage and service customers better. Debbie advised that she had an offer from Management of £100 as a “goodwill gesture”. I then went onto explain a “goodwill gesture” in the eyes of a complaint is not acceptance of responsibility or “blame” of an issue. Ie Hillary’s are not accepting responsibility for these issues and the fault is clearly with you, not me on this one. Debbie went to check with her manager and came back and confirmed that £100 was the limit and there was nothing more she could do. I did advise her that it was a massive insult for 6 weeks of shambolic customer service, and STILL no product. She supported my commentary that I would be complaining in writing and provided me in writing with your complaint procedure. Debbie was great and the first and only person to try and sort out this mess. It’s been 6 weeks, I have made no payment but I’ve stayed to try to help, persevere knowing that the product is the “best” but I want compensating for this. It would have been mega easy for me to go elsewhere and if it was my husbands choice, we would be long gone as customers. We want to have some shutters installed in our dining room; and right now I wouldn’t have consider Hillary’s for these, but I also felt that you deserved an opportunity to fix this. STILL WAITING - 12/09/20.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Appalling customer service, absolutely no communication, no return to my numerous phone calls, no communication about installation dates until I started complaining loudly and telephoning daily. The fitter lied about trying to get in touch with me, the blinds are poor quality, the shutters are damaged, and the blinds are all different sizes. I had to refit all 10 of the roller blinds as they were installed by an amateur, and not level. The main shutter scratches along the floor when it is opened, there is damage to the new floor where the fitter over cut the skirting boards.Nobody has returned my after sales calls. I wish I had gone to Ikea for the blinds and had a local business supply the shutters. Dreadful, dreadful business. Save your money.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Hillarys took half my money as a deposit and then closed my account without any intention to fit my shutters. They only realised their mistake after repeated emails and phonecalls from me over a period of 6 months. Thankfully the account was reopened once I asked what on earth was going on, and my shutters were finally fitted, but Hillarys refuse to acknowledge their mistake and continue to blame "manufacturing delays due to COVID" for their poor management. If I had not persisted to email and call for 6 months this would have resulted in them stealing over £1500 from me without me ever receiving my shutters. I have emailed them to seek some form of compensation or apology but now that the shutters are installed (and you have to pay the installer- who is a contractor and not an employee of Hillarys) they have stopped responding to my emails. The independent contractor they hired to fit my shutters did a great job and I am happy with the final result, but the standard of customer communication has been appalling for a purchase of several thousand pounds (the single biggest expense I have made for my home). In summary: woeful service and I will not be risking thousands of pounds with them again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Avoid this company. I never write reviews but I must warn unsuspecting new home owners such as myself. Firstly customer service from the measuring visit was awful. The person turned up, had a look at 4 windows and quoted £2.5k (for roller blinds) as an estimate without even bothering to measure size. Secondly the price kept going down first it was £2.5k then £1.3k then £900-1100 if we were to go off the books and go with this person’s side business privately. I was seeing red flags at this point and said I wasn’t interested if it was at those prices. He then asked me how much I was expecting the job to cost and I said £700-800 (for 4 plain roll blinds) he said if I wasn’t prepared to pay around £500 per window then there would be no point of him even measuring up and wasting time. He then condescendingly looked around my house and said Hillarys is the gold standard of window furnishings and it’s not something I could order off ikea (as a first time home owner I admit I do have a lot of ikea stuff but it was so rude to sneer at me for it). I responded that the website should just list prices to avoid wasting everyone’s time and then he left. But just before he left he said if the office calls for a follow up because the measurements were not recorded, I would need to say that it was I who changed my mind on the day and declined the service (not that he wouldn’t bother measuring it if I couldn’t afford it anyways!). It was an awful and belittling experience and I felt bullied in my own home which is supposed to be a safe haven. Hillary’s is such a con, why would 1 plain roller blind on a small kitchen window cost £500? It’s extortionate. I did my whole house for a quarter of their quoted price from a homeware store on the high street. I really think they are ripping off gullible people. Although after reading some of the other reviews, I think I dodged a bullet. It seems I was saved from an incompetent and unprofessional service. There needs to be some kind of trading standards investigation into this place. It’s bizarre that trust pilot reviews are all 5 stars but on this site it’s more balanced.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Avoid this company. I never write reviews but I must warn unsuspecting new home owners such as myself. Firstly customer service from the measuring visit was awful. The person turned up, had a look at 4 windows and quoted £2.5k (for roller blinds) as an estimate without even bothering to measure size. Secondly the price kept going down first it was £2.5k then £1.3k then £900-1100 if we were to go off the books and go with this person’s side business privately. I was seeing red flags at this point and said I wasn’t interested if it was at those prices. He then asked me how much I was expecting the job to cost and I said £700-800 (for 4 plain roll blinds) he said if I wasn’t prepared to pay around £500 per window then there would be no point of him even measuring up and wasting time. He then condescendingly looked around my house and said Hillarys is the gold standard of window furnishings and it’s not something I could order off ikea (as a first time home owner I admit I do have a lot of ikea stuff but it was so rude to sneer at me for it). I responded that the website should just list prices to avoid wasting everyone’s time and then he left. But just before he left he said if the office calls for a follow up because the measurements were not recorded, I would need to say that it was I who changed my mind on the day and declined the service (not that he wouldn’t bother measuring it if I couldn’t afford it anyways!). It was an awful and belittling experience and I felt bullied in my own home which is supposed to be a safe haven. Hillary’s is such a con, why would 1 plain roller blind on a small kitchen window cost £500? It’s extortionate. I did my whole house for a quarter of their quoted price from a homeware store on the high street. I really think they are ripping off gullible people. Although after reading some of the other reviews, I think I dodged a bullet. It seems I was saved from an incompetent and unprofessional service. There needs to be some kind of trading standards investigation into this place. It’s bizarre that trust pilot reviews are all 5 stars but on this site it’s more balanced.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Fitted in December 2019, cost £700. Pull cord broke in 5 days, sent a new one that was two short. Blinds not measured and fitted correctly. They do not pull up. One blind is broken and won’t open as it’s too big for the recess and the pull cord doesn’t work. They have still not fixed them and I would rather have them removed and a full refund as they are unsightly and not fit for purpose. If I could give less than one star I would. Customer service have sent the wrong things twice and I will never use them again. I have used Hilary’s for over 25 years and the service is not what it was.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“A total waste of my time. Placed an order at the start of June, delivery supposed to be 4th August which did not happen and neither did the subsequent delivery date given. The company do not keep people informed and you have to chase them constantly for updates. They do not keep you informed. I will never use them again and would urge anyone to consider seriously before placing an order with them. I sent a letter of complaint and just received a generic email they most probably send to everyone”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“We ordered expensive electric conservatory blinds in 2018 and were looking forward to having a great feature for our house. The blinds were supposed to be installed over 1 day in March 2019, but the fitter left the job half done, with many blinds missing, wires dangling, and blinds not working. A fitter was supposed to return to complete the job on several occasions, but either didn't turn up or came to say the blinds he had wouldn't fit. It is now August 2020 and we are no further forward. I would not recommend Hillarys Blinds under any circumstances.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“The rudest people I have dealt with, now we have hit hard times is the time when truth comes to the surface fewer customers who will without doubt remember at the arrogance of this company”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“2nd time in twelve years to use Hillary’s! Impressed the same advisor worked for them who is very professional and efficient thank you Mike Mortimore. Very pleased with our shutter blinds made a big difference to the look of our Bungalow!”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Just before lockdown ordered a number of roman blinds for conservatory, but when fitted one of them had centre seam and others had side seams, so replacement ordered. Chased recently to be advised replacement had been put on hold as could not be made with side seams as blind was too wide to allow this. This was despite the fact that two other wider blinds, as well as one identical to the faulty one, had already been made with side seams I wanted. Didn't receive promised call backs and had to constantly chase them. They have offered to replace the other blinds to make them all the same, but I will be left with something I didn't want in the first place. Not good experience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“i had an appointment booked on friday for measurement of blinds and curtains in a three hour slot. The guy rang to cancel the appointment half way through this slot to say it was cancelled as he couldn't park as he has a large van. He suggested that Hilary's would rearrange by sending a rep with a car. i rang customer service who were very unhelpful and said that they didn't know who had which vehicle. At 3pm on friday they said they woudl look into it and ring me back in 20 minutes. it is now after close of business on Monday and I have heard nothing from them. not a good experience”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Curtains ordered arrived way too long for the windows. Still awaiting some action to rectify the situation. Promised phone calls did not materialise and, when we asked them to remove the curtains that were unfit for purpose, they claimed they would make them right. This is a long and drawn out process that has not yet happened either. Management supposed to call but we are not holding our breath. So far and utterly frustrating, expensive and unpleasant experience. Won't use them again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I ordered my shutters and blinds in early March, two orders were placed one manufactured in Uk had to be paid in full, the shutters manufactured in China I paid a large deposit. Lockdown happened and naturally there were delays, I have had to constantly contact Hillarys for updates, nil communication from them, received promises they would get back to me,nothing. I finally received a call to say they would fit the shutters on a certain date,when I asked what was happening about the blinds I had paid in full for, he had no idea. I stated I wanted both orders fitted on the same day. I was told he would investigate and call me back that day. I heard nothing, I sent a message a few days later asking what was happening and received a message back to say,yes all blinds and shutters would be fitted on the same day. I am now waiting for a time. Meanwhile I have received an email asking me to give feedback on how well the blinds were fitted etc and to date I have not received them. Very frustrating experience to date.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Yes Hilary blinds look ok, but fully read your terms and conditions they are indeed guaranteed for 5 years but after year 1 you have to pay a £75 call out fee which apparently is not refunded even if it’s a manufacturers fault”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Poor poor poor expensive poor Blinds poorly made poorly fitted - do it yourself and save 75%”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I am so unhappy with my blackout blinds that I've just admitted to myself that they were an outrageous waste of money and they have to go. The gaps are so ugly and definitely do not offer blackout! Your agent should have known that they would not work and made suggestions regarding what would.. They could have worked with a little imagination. The after service is pretty poor too. One is very difficult to raise and then there is fraying where there is not friction that might cause it. . Don't buy these - go to Ikea and save yourself a lot of grief and money.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I ordered my shutters on the 9th of February 2020 fitting date June 4th 2020 now in July 2020 no shutters we have phoned and sent emails there is a different story every time. Just a word to the wise this is not the time to take risks with your company take care of your customers. Times will get together”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I cannot stress enough… please don't use this company! I am not normally one to leave reviews but felt so strongly about the terrible customer service and poorly fitted product we have been left with, that I have to leave a review. We were under the impression that a Hillary’s blind is “Expertly measured, and fitted to perfection” and we naturally presumed that this would mean the blind and bracket would fit the window. How wrong where we! We are left with a blind that has a 1cm gap between the bracket and the wall. The only reason we went with Hillary's was because we did not feel confident measuring and fitting a blind ourselves. It is extremely frustrating as we paid all that money and we would have done a better job ourselves! When we asked for someone to come back to re-measure we were told that it was just LUCK if the blind fitted your window and we were even told that they have seen worse fitting blinds and couldn’t understand what we were complaining about and took no further action. I wish we had never used them, and we want nothing to do with the company ever again! Please avoid at all costs and either go with another company or just give fitting the blind a go yourself.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“The entire process is a joke. I had someone come view my flat and take measurements and give me quotes which was all fine. I then paid the agreed fee of £800. The nearest fitting date they could offer was exactly one month away, which was quite frustrating, however I accepted this considering the current situation with Covid19 etc. I received no emails confirming my installation date, I actually had to ring a few days before just to make sure it was still happening. I waited 30 minutes on hold before I got through and was advised that it was still going through and the person installing the blinds would be in touch the day before. No contact from the person. I had to ring the day of the installation and be advised they had simply forgot to call me and that they now didnt know where the parts were. They then went onto say that perhaps they need to order new parts and id need to wait to book an entirely new booking. Acutally such a joke having already paid and waited over 4 weeks. I've contacted them on trust pilot, twitter and through their own support line and nobody is getting back t me. All I have been advised by Twitter is that "someone will be in touch" - no specifics, no dates, nothing. I'm just expected to sit and wait for a call. I've also still received no emails about anything. Just currently down £800 and have no blinds. I'd give 0 stars if possible.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Hillarys Reviews