Last autumn, being somewhat new to Dublin, and needing to organize all the necessities for window treatments for our home, I stumbled upon this sad, shabby, dated, small, little shop. My first disappointment was the rather limited selection of fabrics and embellishments available. When I gently inquired as to whether there were other fabrics to be seen (perhaps not full panel displays, but rather samples collected in fabric books) the employee with whom I was working told me that people just aren't interested in fabrics anymore. While I know I've seen beautiful window treatments in other peoples homes throughout Ireland, I thought that perhaps those arrangements had been organized at a different time - and I was willing to give the shop keep the benefit of doubt. I was trying to organize treatments for five windows in my home. Three of the windows were for bedrooms, a fourth for a small office, and the fifth was for the front sitting room window. As I attempted to put together the final look for my home (which is essentially done up in traditional golds, creams, and a soft duck egg blue) I searched the shops limited fabric display collection and managed to find a few fabrics that possible could work in each of the rooms only to be frequently told that that particular fabric was discontinued and/or limited in availability. At such a point the shopkeeper offered to attempt to have the remaining fabrics available patched worked together in order to create a sufficient supply for my needs. I told her that I thought such a solution could be awkward looking and interfere with the overall appearance of what I anticipated the final window treatment to achieve.
In spite of these many obstacles I managed to find a few fabrics that should have, and could have, worked - at which point I was told that a curtain fitter (not a designer) would be sent to my house and would help to really create a stunning look particularly for the front sitting room. Although different, this seemed reasonable enough particularly since the bedroom/office spaces required only basic treatments, but the sitting room would require a certain amount of finesse and attention to detail - so I was concerned that a fitter should be given so much overall responsibility and did voice my concern. However, I was assured that he was really capable and would do a really good job. When I asked to see photos of his work, I was told that the updated book wasn't available and then offered poor photocopies of generic homes with no dates or credits as to who and when said jobs were completed.
In spite of all this I agreed to go a head with the work, and I was told that the fitter would be given my phone number and contact me within the weeks time. After two weeks of not hearing from the fitter, I stopped into the shop again, and requested an appointment to be made in the nearer future as I was anxious to place an order and have the windows completed by Christmas. When the appointment was made (for several days later) I was at my home and was made to wait nearly 2 full hours before the fitter finally showed up - well past the agreed upon time. During this appointment, there was other work going on at the house, however each of the rooms that needed to be completed with a window treatment with fairly obvious. I walk the fitter through the rooms, essentially labeled them for him, and told him which fabrics I was anticipating would be in that particular room. Additionally, I pointed out the hardware which I was imagining would complete the window treatments. In spite of all of this the unfortunate final result was that the fitter managed to confuse essential elements of the rooms. In subsequent appointments the fitter would either arrive late and/or leave early - before completing that days task.
A week or so before Christmas I was told that the curtains were complete and that final payment was due before the items could be delivered. When I inquired as to what my guarantee of satisfaction would be, I was told not to worry - all was grand. However, the final result was that in two of the bedrooms have the correct hardware for the windows but the wrong fabric was used! When I pointed this out to the shop staff I was harassed and yelled at. Eventually, after I agreed to allowing a third party entrance to my home just days before Christmas, he too concurred that the entire order was either unfinished or wrong. At this point the store manager claimed that she would sort the unfortunate situation out after the holidays, but that nothing could be done at that point in December. Sadly, even at this late date, the front sitting room remains entirely incomplete, 2 bedrooms remain with the wrong curtain fabrics, and a third bedroom was apparently incorrectly hung and doesn't open and close correctly.
To conclude, if ever a shop deserved to go out of business after this pandemic is over Duffy's certainly would be first on the list. In the meantime Buyer BEWARE! read more
