This review is only regarding the sales experience. We haven't installed the blinds from here, so can't comment on those.
I have yet to work with a less understanding sales person. Leon came down to show the samples on a Tuesday. He absolutely refused to show them to my wife because I wasn't available even though she could have narrowed them down. He helpfully offered to come down again on a Sunday afternoon (much appreciated). He showed us some samples and was helpful, but then the amount of pressure he applied on us to make a decision cannot be understated. We were fairly happy with the quote and were ready to sign the contract, but we got cold feet and decided we needed another day to consider since we weren't ready to shell out that amount immediately after a quote. Leon just stared at us and made us very uncomfortable about the fact that we weren't paying him on the spot. We mentioned we wanted to get some more quotes, but he refused to relent and let us have the time insisting that his product was better and he was giving us such a discount. After so much convincing, he finally agreed to leave and give us 24 hours. This was a very bad experience, but we were still willing to continue after we had some time to think and got some more quotes. The impression he gave was that he was doing us a massive favor by leaving our house and we were at fault for wanting a day to consider.
Leon came back the next morning as we had discussed to show us another sample. At this point, the other vendor had just left and given a quote for around half the price. Leon was already here, so we couldn't give him a heads up. My wife informed him that we will be passing on Reliance Blinds. Once again, he refused to relent saying that he was offering a better product (apples vs oranges), had already negotiated a discount, etc. He kept disparaging the competitor products explaining why they weren't up to the same mark. Eventually, he just stared at my wife as if expecting that that would change our mind. All we could do was to offer an apology. He said "Why are you wasting my time" and then walked off without a word.
This raises a couple of questions - What on earth was he expecting on the first sales call? An immediate sign off and payment? Is staring at people until they feel uncomfortable a go-to sales tactic for this company? Do they feel like they're doing us a favor by trying to make a sale? Is making a buyer feel guilty about saying no their way of gaining clients? Sometimes people change their minds when it comes to a large amount. Sometimes even when there is a superior product, customers go for something more in their price range. Is this something that this company doesn't understand?
On the whole, this was a terrible sales experience. I honestly feel like we dodged a bullet by not going with Reliance blinds even though their product, installation, etc might be brilliant (as per other reviews) read more