Old Del Corporation

Old Del Rio Corporation Blinds Unlimited swindled, hoodwinked, bamboozled,and bottom line, cut and dry ripped me off. Victorville, California

16th of Apr, 2011 by User326525

I contracted Blinds Unlimited to fabricate draperies to my specifications. I was told by a woman named Jenny to purchase my own fabric which I thought was a little odd. I went against my better judgement and purchased the fabric in the area she advised me to patronize. I then contacted her to pick up the fabric along with a large downpayment. Jenny came over and retrieved the fabric, and the downpayment, and stated that it was a good choice. I waited three weeks, and she called to let me know it was ready. I told her that she could come and install them on a certain date when we would both be at home to inspect the work. Jenny said that she was not available on that date, and as soon as my wife gave her a day that I would not be homethey sent the installer. The installer was a very large, and angry man who insulted my wife, made crude and racial remarks, left trash everywhere he worked, and demanded payment in full when he was done. I contacted this company and let them know I was very disappointed, tyhe owner came by and told me there was nothing he could do to fix the problem, said his installer would never do what we stated, and had no reasonable solution to the problem. I am still waiting for some type of compensation for all of my inconvenience.

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4948 days ago by Jlcdeco

This man has a loose grip on reality! I did come out to his house and met with his wife at her convenience. I priced draperies using our fabrics and she said she couldn't afford it. She told me that she knew where she could get her own fabric because she is a quilter. I suggested that she purchase her own fabric and, if she liked, we could make and hang the draperies for her. At that time, I informed her that we could not be responsible for fabric that was not purchased through our company. She said she understood.

Once she got the fabric, I did pick it up to take to our professional workroom. She asked my opinion of the fabric and I told her I thought it was beautiful. I asked if the people that they purchased it from told her it would make good draperies and she said that they had assured her that it would. I once again reminded her that we are not responsible for customer's own fabric.

It did not take three weeks to have the draperies made but, when they were completed, I called to schedule the installation. She also needed to purchase traverse rods and, after discussing the days available with her, we decided on an installation date. At no time did we EVER discuss whether or not her husband would be home. Why would we care - we install with both spouses there all the time!

Also, our installer is not a 'very large' man. He is about 5'9" or 5'10" and weighs about 200 pounds (I would guess). We have never (in the 15 years he has worked for us ) had anyone suggest that he was intimidating or that he angry or ever spoke any type of racial slur to our clients. We would never stand for that.

On the installation date, our installer professionally hung the draperies but found that the fabric would not hold a pleat. After working on it for several hours, he called me and I told him I would make another trip out there to see what I could do. As is customary, he asked for the balance due. As far as he was concerned, we had fulfilled our contract - we fabricated and installed COM draperies. There would be no reason to not collect the balance. He does not leave trash around either. Of all of our tens of thousands of customers in the last 25 years, we have not had that complaint before.

I then went out to see what I could do. I brought a drapery solution that should have helped and I tied up the draperies to let the folds set in the fabric. I worked with the fabric for a long time and told her I hoped this would work. A week later, I went back out there and released the ties. It was almost the same. Their fabric just would not hold a crease! I still didn't give up, I told the client that I would talke to the owner of our company and see if he had any other ideas. I have been doing custom draperies for nearly 20 years and didn't think he knew anything but it was worth a try. I suggested that the only thing I thought would help was if she took them to a dry cleaners that could steam the pleats in place and I wasn't even sure if that would be perfect. I suggested, as I had on my other visit, that she should contact the person who she purchased the fabric from because they misled her - not us!

I spoke with my boss and he didn't have any other ideas. When I called the client, she told me they had two other drapery companies come out and take a look. One tried to tell her our draperies were not made properly AND that they were installed poorly. That was a complete lie. Our workroom is, by far, the best in our area and I inspected the draperies myself. There was no problem with the installation either. This company also told her there was a 'pleat stabilization' system that would help. I knew that it wouldn't because that is for draperies that are stationary and hers were to draw closed. The other man told her the same thing I did about steaming them at a dry cleaners. She told me all this and I offered to order the pleat stabilizing product and then come out again with the owner.

We scheduled an appointment that was convenient to both her and her husband. When we arrived, I introduced my boss and proceeded to work on the draperies. When the stabilizer wouldn't work, the husband started to get mad. When he started to say that it was our fault, my boss reminded him that it was his fabric and he was told that we could not be responsible for it. We had performed our job to industry specifications and had gone above and beyond. The husband ended up getting very angry and kicking us out of his home. His last words were "get out of my house and take that fat b____ with you!" I have never been so humiliated in my life!

The client then contacted the Better Business Bureau who, upon hearing the true story, dropped his claim against our company. When that didn't work, he contacted the California Contractor's License Board. They also dropped his claim when it was established that we did, in fact, perform our contract satisfactorily. Then, because both these claims were dropped, they took to the internet. Now, we have to defend our reputation when we went above and beyond for these clients.

I believe that these people are frustrated.and I feel bad for them. However, IT WAS NOT OUR FABRIC! We did a great job manufacturing and installing HER FABRIC! They seem to want something for nothing and think that if they just keep at it, we will fold. However, as a matter of principle, this will not happen. The fault is not ours and we will fight them as long as it takes. What is right is right!