Budget Blinds serving Durham

The first order I put in, I also had to recheck the math because I was overcharged. But that wasn’t enough to stop me from ordering from them again. The second order included shutters that I was told would take 6 – 8 weeks to deliver. When they finally arrived 8 weeks later they installer came and drilled holes in our window and put the framing equipment in before checking the shutters. When he opened them up he discovered they were badly damaged. I had to call the company 2 days later to find out what they were going to do. The person I spoke to told me we were going to have to wait another 6 – 8 weeks for new shuttters. We didn’t really have a choice since the installer had already wrecked our windows drilling the frame into them. They did arrive about 4 weeks later and were installed. The only compensation the company was willing to give us was an additional 10% off our NEXT order. Which was pretty funny since I obviously would NEVER order from them again!

Like Christina G., I give Budget Blinds four stars, and still must turn in a mixed review. The stars are for the product. The missing star is for poor math.
The good news: We have beautiful blinds in our big kitchen and gorgeous custom plantation shutters in the living room. The ordering and installation all happened within 5 weeks. We are happy with the price, the installation (neat, fast, polite), the quality of the product and the lifetime guarantee which which they come.
The not so good news: The sales staff we dealt with, while pleasant, should not be counted on to offer much in the way of aesthetic advice. Nor should it be counted on for mathematics. Fortunately, we pretty much knew what we wanted, but if you were hoping for design help, you wouldn’t have gotten it from our salesperson, a somewhat scatteredbrained and disorganized person who, while smiley and pleasant, seemed like one of those types who is constantly struggling, probably with a layabout husband at home. If you order from Budget Blinds (and on balance, I still suggest you do), CHECK THE MATH! Their own discounts from coupons and even for writing a review (like this one) didn’t add up and we had to get the invoice corrected twice. Then when the feller finally showed up to install the kitchen blinds, the number was STILL wrong. The sympathetic customer service person fortunately honored the correct price, but it was annoying to have to constantly recalculate and have so much back and forth on the phone.
So: A friendly, but sometimes annoying, experience and we have lovely window coverings at a decent price. I still recommend them.

I no longer have naked windows! (And I’m sure my neighbors are thrilled they’re no longer at risk of seeing naked me in my naked windows!) In addition to the upstairs bathroom, I had blinds added to my office, several windows in the kitchen, a pair of back-​door/​windows, and side windows in the living room and the upstairs multipurpose room. A lot of blinds.
Budget Blinds sent one sales guy out to speak with us, and we were a little unimpressed by his approach (basically acted like selling us blinds was about the most uninteresting thing he could be doing). He did measure all our windows, show us samples, and give us a quote. We got a second quote from a local company (though we liked the sales guy/​owner a lot, he neglected to bring a variety of samples; and when we made a showroom visit to see others in person, the store was staffed with someone who claimed to know nothing about blinds!). So we called Budget Blinds again, and learned that our previous salesman was no longer with the company. A new guy came out, re-​took our measurements, filled us in on important info we didn’t receive at other consultations (like the various quality & price-​differences in the cellular shades we were getting). He ended up offering us a discount for our trouble (though it is questionable how much of a discount it ended up being, since we upgraded one type of blind, and dropped a blind, and therefore didn’t get a side-​by-​side price comparison).
Rather than hire out their installation, which is included in the price of the blinds, they have a few guys that are staffed with them to make the house calls. Blinds turned around in about 2 weeks, and they scheduled our appointment for 10am, telling me it would last about 2 hours. I had a 1pm meeting, and asked if it would be a conflict, but they said he should be done by noon. On day of installation, no one had arrived at 10:30 (or called). I phoned the office, and spoke with someone who said they usually allow for a one-​hour window on arrival, so that he should be there between 10 and 11 (which frankly, would have been nice to know when they made the appointment with me) — also, it concerned me that if he arrived at 11, with two hours of installation, I’d miss my 1pm appointment. The office did call the employee and then phoned back (my husband’s number instead of mine, which was odd since they’d corresponded with me on scheduling the appointment, and so on) to say he was on the way.
When Joe arrived, he was very polite and very quick. He got several cell phone calls, and I overheard him explaining to someone that the office had scheduled him in Pittsboro and didn’t allow for enough drive time to get to my job in Durham. He wound up doing a great job getting the blinds up and operating.
In the end, I’d say this company has some of the broadest selection and best pricing you’re going to find in the area, and the blinds even come with a one-​time replacement guarantee; however, the office seems to have some trouble with sales staff turnover and scheduling installations too close together.