When I have a bad experience with a company that has high marks, I always look at how many other reviews the reviewers for that company have done. Like, how was my experience so different? And other than one reviewer that gave Ambiance 5 stars, none of the reviewers has done more than 6 reviews. In any event, ours was not a 5 star experience and I've waited 4 months before writing this, because I am all for women owned businesses - and supporting military veterans. But, this was our experience and I want to save someone else a similar experience.
Simply put, we would not use them again.
Laura, the owner, is pleasant enough, but lacked a deep understanding of the products she's selling and though engaging on an interpersonal level, lacked a customer experience mindset. She didn't have a solid grasp on how the products would function or look once installed. One of our choices looked awful from the outside as you could see the bottom rail and caution stickers when opened or closed. When we brought this to their attention, Dan (husband/installer) said "I never look at them for how they'd look from the outside." Well, let me introduce you to caring about your neighbors and the curb appeal of one's home. . .
The lack of end-use product knowledge resulted in delays and ultimately a financial loss. We paid for expensive window treatments whose functionality wasn't adequately explained and once installed, they weren't good options. This happened in two different rooms. They told us up front that the manufacturer had a customer satisfaction policy so we figured we'd be OK taking a leap. What they didn't tell us until AFTER we landed on the only other product option available that worked AND committed to the orders, was that if you down-grade in price you don't get the difference back. Unbelievable to say that AFTER the fact. It was a significant difference in price. No apology. No accountability for their part in why the original choices didn't work out. They hid behind the manufacturers policy, but of course, they could've offered to make up the difference. At the very least they could have offered to split it. But no. We were out that money and the time needed to replace them.
We had a similar issue with a picture window in another room. The function of the blind wasn't accurately explained and when opened, it occluded the top fourth of the window. Which is not what you want on a picture window. The resolution again cost us time and money as the second option also ended up being much less expensive. Again, the lack of product knowledge. Again, they hid behind the manufacturer's policy rather than stepping up.
In the end we did treatments for seven rooms in three different batches. We did all the orders before the relationship began to sour which happened before the first install when they were a no show for a rental property we asked them to do measurements for. At the first consult we asked Laura if they worked at the shore, she said yes, we said we wanted to replace the window treatments before the season started she said great, then crickets. And then it was too late. But after our experience, in hindsight, it was ultimately for the best.
It was a full year from start to finish. Three separate treatments on two different orders had to be redone (Laura mismeasured and then the poor explanations for how two of the products would look/function once installed). And as usual, never an apology - not even for the measurement issue. So weird. How hard is it to say "I'm sorry I..." They did say, "We'll get a rush on this!" But, we were always having to follow-up with them when weeks would go by with no update and during 2021 nobody was rushing anything so it fell as so much lip service.
To be clear, there was 1 manufacturing related interruption around a fabric choice. The rest was on them. As Dan was leaving our house after the final install, he acknowledged it took a year. He didn't apologize for it, just acknowledged it. And then immediately blamed the supply chain. The supply chain didn't poorly explain the products. The supply chain didn't mismeasure. The supply chain didn't forget about an entire work stream at another property.
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