In the summer of 2022, I purchased two vertical blinds from Blinds To Go in Kanata: one for a window, which was fine, and the other for a wide French door with two adjacent windows. The second set of blinds measured 11 1/2 feet long and included 46 louvers. After our contractor installed it, we discovered that the louvers were dragging along the bottom of the top rail structure. See the first picture for reference.
I returned to the store to explain the situation, but I was told that the only solution was as follows:
1. I would need to disassemble the blinds myself,
2. Bring the disassembled blinds to the store,
3. The store would send them back to the factory for repair,
4. I would pick them up once repaired, and
5. I would reinstall the blinds myself.
I explained that, due to the size and complexity of the blinds, this solution was not feasible. Unfortunately, the staff reiterated that this was their only option. Frustrated, I decided we would live with the issue.
In an effort to manage the problem, I obtained a few reinforcement metal clips from the same store. These clips attach to the tops of the louvers, providing support when the louver tops break. Using a Dremel tool, I thinned the tops of the metal clips, attached them to the broken louvers, and--voilà--the dragging stopped. (See the second attachment.)
When I needed more clips, I called the Blinds To Go store on St. Laurent Boulevard in Ottawa. The staff there were very friendly and said they had a few clips in stock. I drove halfway across the city to pick them up and continued reinforcing additional louvers as they broke due to the stress of dragging.
Fast forward two years: we've been using the blinds more often, opening and closing them daily. Adjusting the 30+ louvers every time takes several minutes. When the tops inevitably break, I've been replacing them one by one with metal clips I purchased on Amazon. Unfortunately, the clips from Amazon didn't fit as well--they required additional adjustments like compressing the "wings" to make them work.
Today, my wife showed me a blister she got from diligently opening and closing the louvers every day (I help when I can). That was the final straw. I installed all the Blinds To Go clips I had already prepared and decided to buy more from the store. I explained our two-year saga to the staff and requested 35 clips. They had two six-packs in stock, so I ordered six packs in total, paid $57.36, and was told they'd call me when the remaining four packs arrive.
Now, I'll spend more quality time with my Dremel tool: adjusting the 12 metal clips, removing 12 louvers, trimming 3 mm from their tops, deepening the top dips, sliding in the clips, and reinstalling the louvers.
All of this effort is still better than Blinds To Go's proposed repair strategy.
P.S.:
I enjoy shopping at stores like Home Depot and Costco because their staff take personal care and ownership of customer issues. read more
