Blinds.com slow delivery

Not really a rant but more of an FYI, I believe I learned about this outfit from a happy customer on this forum. We went ahead and put in our order for 4 blinds on June 16 (nothing extravagant) to hang in the salon of our little boat. Knowing we would leaving for our summer trip sometime in mid-late July, I thought a month would give them time to "build" the blinds as they termed it. No delivery time was available until after the order was placed. When I made the purchase, I got an email saying the blinds were being "built" and could expect delivery in TWO MONTHS! Oh well, I thought. Maybe they'll show up sooner and the 2 month delivery is just a cushion for their delivery schedule. I guess I was wrong. They're still saying mid August.
It looks like we'll be leaving for our trip without window treatments this year but it's not a huge deal privacy-wise because we prefer anchoring out most nights. They really do help regarding the cabin temperature by limiting the incoming sunlight though.
So ,the moral of this thread is don't expect too much of a speedy delivery from blinds.com (I don't know if the current covid scare has anything to do with production times or not...every company has the exact covid 19 disclaimer on their website claiming higher than normal call volumes wait times etc etc).
The only other warning I can give is, if you see us this weekend and next week anchored in a cove somewhere between our dock on the Chesapeake & Beaufort NC and happen to gaze in the salon through our blindless windows and see my bare ass futzing around trying to stay cool, blame the blind company and not me. If you see my wife's bare butt or bare whatever, thank the blind company and not me!

Your blinds are probably being built in China. Maybe with air travel restricted they are coming on a slow boat.

I believe my wife got a quote from them a couple weeks ago for some drapes. Went to place the order then was told NO--their manufacturing plant is closed. Not sure if this is the same facility that makes the blinds.

That stinks....long lead times are always difficult, especially for custom stuff.


I had the plastic mini blinds made for my boat at Lowes. Custom width and length, literally for a few dollars more than similar sized stock ones. Straight cuts...although I didn't ask if they would do angles.



They took about 2 weeks a few years back.

GH41 said:

Your blinds are probably being built in China. Maybe with air travel restricted they are coming on a slow boat.

Click to expand...

You're probably right. I tried to find a manufacturing location and at least a headquarters on their website to no avail. Live and learn.

Kind of like the string on American flags I ordered from Amazon last May for this years 4th of July decorations on the boat. Sure enough ,they're still not here & coming from China. C'mon Amazon! Sad. I was able to find another string on Ebay that I received in a couple of days and in time for the 4th but still, made in China. Double sad.

Have to respect the fact that they gave you (hopefully) an accurate estimated time frame for delivery. I am sure if they could have gotten them to you sooner they would.

psneeld said:

That stinks....long lead times are always difficult, especially for custom stuff.


I had the plastic mini blinds made for my boat at Lowes. Custom width and length, literally for a few dollars more than similar sized stock ones. Straight cuts...although I didn't ask if they would do angles.



They took about 2 weeks a few years back.

Click to expand...

I know! We were in Lowe’s when we started looking at blinds this spring and they told us 2 weeks. I should’ve gone that route.

In the meantime you could pick up a roll of this. I think it’s 1/4” thick. It’s all we’ve ever used for years on sailboats and our boat now. It’s cheap and it will help keep your arse cool. We just cut it to fit in the tracks of windows and hatches.

I ordered 5 sizes from Blinds.com back on March 23 - the blinds were to come from Levelor. The delivery date kept extending a few weeks at a time and in mid-May, Blinds.com told me that Levelor had shut down in mid-April (really poor customer service from Blinds.com). They convinced me to order similar blinds but from their own Blinds.com brand and quoted 7 business day shipping. Foolishly, I went ahead and 5 weeks later cancelled that order too. I've since ordered from SelectBlinds.com - they actually shipped early but I haven't received them yet. Hoping they are decent quality.
I had been a pretty good Blinds.com customer over the years but will NEVER use them again.

Amazon really came through for us on a recent order for window blinds at home. I placed the order for two blinds, 34.5" wide at a total cost of $111. They sent one blind in the correct size and one that was 35" wide. That one was too wide to fit the window opening.

I contacted the company and told them of THEIR mistake. They expected ME to pay the return shipping then they would send me the correct size blind at no charge.

We went back and forth for a couple of months then I pitched a bitch through Amazon. All I wanted was for the company to pay the return shipping and send me the correct size. Nothing special.

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Amazon. They said they had forced the company to refund the entire $111 cost of the order. Great, so I had one blind that fit, one blind that didn't fit, and I got all my money back. So I'm a happy camper. Then I received a blind from the company in the correct size.

What a deal. Thanks Amazon.

New Blinds installed from Blinds to Go

We just installed our new blinds
Really love them and certainly keep the boat cool.

Pack Mule said:

In the meantime you could pick up a roll of this. I think it’s 1/4” thick. It’s all we’ve every used for years on sailboats and our boat now. It’s cheap and it will help keep your arse cool. We just cut it to fit in the tracks of windows and hatches.

Click to expand...

Marty, that's a good tip! Thanks! Now I'm on a quest to see if I can find a roll locally before we leave Friday.

It seems that everything is running slow. I was tracking a USPS delivery and it wasn’t going anywhere. I stopped in the local post office and she checked on it. She said that some of the large distribution centers were running at half staff due to the virus so everything was running slow. It finally came about a week and a half later.

Last I knew blinds didn't fall under any essential business rules. I'm dismayed that one would criticize them at this point for slow delivery, especially when they quoted it. I don't know where they manufacture, but I know there are shut downs regularly in all countries including the US, most unplanned. I know of multiple manufacturing facilities that have shut down at different times over the last 4 months. It's like people being rude to grocery store employees. We're in a pandemic. To all I ask, please be tolerant.

Hmmm - if this was aimed at me for the Blinds.com criticism, let me be clear. I fully understand and sympathize with businesses struggling to continue operations. I'm not complaining about slow manufacturing/delivery - that's understandable and beyond anyone's control during this mess. My dissatisfaction lies with Blinds.com's customer service who NEVER responded to my many inquiries despite assuring me I'd get a callback. In addition, they NEVER were completely honest about suppliers' shutdowns until weeks after the fact. Somehow, SelectBlinds.com managed to communicate clearly and on a timely basis, not to mention beating their 3 week shipping estimate by a full week. I'd be a fool to trust Blinds.com again - assume they just have too much volume to service customers properly.

Jmreim said:

Hmmm - if this was aimed at me for the Blinds.com criticism, let me be clear. I fully understand and sympathize with businesses struggling to continue operations. I'm not complaining about slow manufacturing/delivery - that's understandable and beyond anyone's control during this mess. My dissatisfaction lies with Blinds.com's customer service who NEVER responded to my many inquiries despite assuring me I'd get a callback. In addition, they NEVER were completely honest about suppliers' shutdowns until weeks after the fact. Somehow, SelectBlinds.com managed to communicate clearly and on a timely basis, not to mention beating their 3 week shipping estimate by a full week. I'd be a fool to trust Blinds.com again - assume they just have too much volume to service customers properly.

Click to expand...

Yes, it was aimed at you, not personally but as an observation that to judge performance in these times is not something I'd do. I don't know their situation or select blinds but a lot is luck of the draw and location. I'm glad you got your blinds.

Jmreim said:

...assume they just have too much volume to service customers properly.

Click to expand...

I get the impression that most built-to-order systems were never designed with such a dramatic range of disruptions being possible. Many of the estimating or 'small disruption' handling techniques were completely overwhelmed. And meanwhile there wasn't anything designed into the system to effectively handle the customer service disasters that resulted. It's one thing to have a truck get lost, or one factory have a fire or other disaster... you can route around that, take the hit on the profit margin for the affected orders, and make the customer think everything is fine. But when ALL the factories stop? That's a logistical nightmare.

Jmreim said:

I ordered 5 sizes from Blinds.com back on March 23 - the blinds were to come from Levelor. The delivery date kept extending a few weeks at a time and in mid-May, Blinds.com told me that Levelor had shut down in mid-April (really poor customer service from Blinds.com). They convinced me to order similar blinds but from their own Blinds.com brand and quoted 7 business day shipping. Foolishly, I went ahead and 5 weeks later cancelled that order too. I've since ordered from SelectBlinds.com - they actually shipped early but I haven't received them yet. Hoping they are decent quality.
I had been a pretty good Blinds.com customer over the years but will NEVER use them again.

Click to expand...

As a fellow small business owner I completely agree with your frustration. We always let clients know if there may be any kind of an issue with the turn-around time. Too many businesses promise something that they can't deliver just to get the work. That has always been a pet peeve of mine. We have lost potential jobs because we would not promise to meet the required turn-around time. Only to find out later that our competition didn't meet it even though they promised that they could. It is important to set the clients expectation. Yes, occasionally something happens and we don't make it but most of the time we do and our clients appreciate our honesty. If we don't make the turn-around time we don't miss it by more than a few days. If we had to rely on a factory outside of the USA and during these times, I would know who to talk to at the factory and wouldn't do business with them unless I could trust them. No excuses!