My Experience: The Good and Bad of Budget Blinds

As a new homeowner needing window treatments on a budget, I debated between DIY vs. hiring a professional company like Budget Blinds. The allure of customization and included installation sounded nice…but were Budget Blinds‘ prices and service really worth the cost premium?

I decided to give them a try for a few key windows. Below I‘ll detail my full first-hand experience shopping with Budget Blinds from start to finish.

About Budget Blinds as a Company

Before sharing my own Budget Blinds review, let‘s start with some background. Budget Blinds is a company focused exclusively on window treatments – they don‘t sell carpets or other home furnishings. They first opened back in 1992 in California and quickly expanded across North America through franchising.

Today, Budget Blinds has over 1,100 locations, making them the largest window covering retailer in the US and Canada. Each franchise is independently owned and operated, but unified under the corporate brand identity.

The main upside Budget Blinds promotes is handling your entire window treatment project seamlessly from design and measurements to manufacturing and installation. This appeals to homeowners without the time, confidence or ability to take on a DIY window treatment installation.

Of course, with added services and retail margins come premium pricing. And that affordability factor is ultimately what I experienced first-hand…

In-Depth Review: Wood Blinds from Budget Blinds

The living room in my new place needed the most urgent window privacy solution. I liked the idea of wood blinds for their timeless, natural look that would blend with my existing decor.

Budget Blinds offers many wood blind options from real sustainably-sourced woods to faux wood alternatives. After getting quotes, I decided composite wood blinds made the most financial sense to achieve the aesthetic I wanted.

Here‘s an overview of the composite wood blind product line along with my impressions:

Materials

• Constructed from polymer resins, wood byproducts and minerals

My Take: Provides durability without using whole wood. However, lacks natural grain beauty.

Colors

• 6 color options from white to espresso

My Take: Covers most neutral bases, but stained real wood blinds have more richness.

Slat Sizes

• Offered in 2 1/2 inch and 3 1/2 inch slat widths

My Take: The wider 3 1/2 inch option gives a bolder, more modern look.

Customization

• Blinds cut precisely to window height
• Exact slat size and color match

My Take: Getting an accurate custom fit to my unique window size was clutch.

Price

• Composite wood blinds average ~$38 per sq. ft. installed

My Take: At $600+ for a large picture window, you pay a premium for the custom sizing and included installation.

Performance

• Provides effective light blocking
• Enhances privacy
• Withstands moisture and temperature fluctuations

My Take: I‘ve been very satisfied with the daily function. The blinds do the job of controlling light and enhancing privacy well.

Composite wood blinds have proven a versatile choice for my needs from both aesthetic and performance standpoints. However, is paying 2X+ vs. DIY route worth the investment long-term? The jury is still out for me…

Roller Shades: A Budget-Friendly Alternative

In addition to wood blinds in my living area, I also needed a simple solution for my bedroom windows. Roller shades seemed like an ideal choice – easy to operate and install with light filtering options.

Budget Blinds provides over 250 fabric colors and textures for their roller shades. I selected a room-darkening vinyl fabric in gray that coordinated nicely with my bedding.

Here were the vital stats on the Budget Blinds roller shades purchase:

Fabric

• Chose light-blocking vinyl in charcoal gray

My Take: Fabric has rich color and perfectly dims the room.

Size

• Shades sized precisely to 65" x 38" windows

My Take: Require inside mount for clean appearance which limited DIY options.

Price

• With installation around $165 per window

My Take: Very fair pricing for custom roller shades installed. Pleased with value.

Performance

• Allows smooth roll up/down operation
• Keeps room nice and dark day or night

My Take: No functionality issues. Provides the intended light control.

For a basic room darkening need, the Budget Blinds rolled shades have provided an affordable solution with the convenience of professional installation. Overall happy with choice.

The Good: At-Home Design Consultations

Okay, enough product analysis – let‘s get into the experiential components most affecting my Budget Blinds review…

I started my journey by requesting an at-home design consultation online. This allows meeting a representative at your home to view windows needing treatments and explore product options hands-on.

The design consultant Budget Blinds sent arrived punctually at my scheduled time. She came prepared with an iPad loaded with photos, fabric swatches and samples.

We walked around discussing my problem windows – a living room picture window needing privacy and bedroom windows requiring blackout. I conveyed my desired aesthetic and budget hopes.

After about an hour discussing pros and cons of various products, I felt much better educated and prepared to select my preferred treatments of composite wood blinds and simple roller shades.

Having an advisor guide me through all the variables like light gap issues, child safety and cleaning needs gave me confidence I picked suitable solutions. It was an enjoyable, no pressure opportunity to learn.

The Bad: Measurement Mishaps

While I appreciated the design guidance, actually receiving and installing the end products proved less smooth…

A few weeks after ordering, Budget Blinds sent out a professional installer to take exact measurements before production. This would supposedly guarantee a perfect custom fit.

However, what I assumed was a quick 20 minute measurements appointment turned into over 2 hours!

The installer struggled getting consistent readings with his clunky, dated metal measurement devices and alphabet soup of cryptic penciled dimension codes.

He also seemed to nick my door trim at one point while maneuvering – thanks for the unnecessary touch up work. Hardly precision craftsmanship.

To make matters worse, apparently uncertainty around a bonus room arch window led to the wrong base measurements. So after waiting patiently those weeks for manufacturing, my order wasn‘t even close to fitting on arrival!

While every home and project has quirks, I expected more expertise from Budget Blinds on this vital measurements facet that underscores custom work. It eroded confidence in the quality and process.

Even More Bad: Rescheduling Delays

To Budget Blinds credit, they owned up to the measurement mistakes once I showed the ill-fitting products delivered and offered to rectify things. However, this meant ANOTHER multi-week delay to get things back on track.

More frustrating – after rescheduling installation I had to take a morning off work only to have the installer no call, no show! Sure he may have gotten held up on another job, but letting a client know that is just common professional courtesy.

I expressed my dissatisfaction to the franchise owner and after another week and a half finally had my wood blinds and roller shades installed by a different Budget Blinds technician. He was fast but somewhat sloppy leaving debris and scratches.

While I‘m ultimately happy to have the window treatments up and working, the numerous errors and delays tainted my entire Budget Blinds experience. And all that patience starts feeling far less worth it as the invoice totals add up…

Price Breakdown – Do Budget Blinds Treatment Costs Really Add Up?

Okay, let‘s tally up what over two months of working with Budget Blinds ultimately cost for two rooms of windows needing treatments:

Living Room

• Picture window 48" x 84"
• Composite Wood Blinds
• Cordless lift operation
• Decorative hold down brackets

Invoice Total: $732

Bedroom

• 2 windows at 65" x 38"
• Light filtering roller shades
• Continuous roll chain control

Invoice Total: $624

Grand Total: $1,356

Ouch! Dropping a month‘s rent on window treatments hurts. And we‘ve only covered two rooms so far – the entire house would tally 5X higher easily.

Could I have purchased similar composite wood blinds and blackout roller shades online for less? Absolutely.

But in paying the immense Budget Blinds premiums, at least I receive benefits like:

• Convenient professional installation
• Presumably higher quality and durable materials
• Coordinated design aesthetics

Reviewing competitor pricing does reveal I could have saved ~30% on DIY. Yet attempts to return Budget Blinds products at this point would mean starting from square one.

Ultimately unless quality proves subpar long-term negating lifetime warranties, I suppose peace of mind has some price tag…

Budget Blinds Website Complaints

Interested to learn more on my own amidst waiting weeks for installations, I also explored the BudgetBlinds.com website. Unfortunately, I found the experience disappointing riddled with issues:

No Product Pricing

Unlike every major ecommerce store, BudgetBlinds.com fails to list ANY pricing or prices ranges whatsoever. Everything requires filling out contact forms to probe.

This lack of transparency feels geared toward trapping you into high-pressure sales calls rather than empowering consumers performing research.

Confusing Customization

The site promotes seemingly endless customization options. Yet nowhere could I breakdown details like material differences or compare colors side-by-side.

Routing you back to consultants perpetuates reliance on their guidance rather than self-education.

Bogged Down Design

The site manages to seem overly flashy yet dated simultaneously.Odd floating images, excessive menus and hardcoded text size adjustments make navigation unwieldy.

For example, exploring shutters offerings means scrolling through endless blocks of single paragraph text split by distracting dividers and icons.

I left more puzzled than when arriving.

Warranties & Damage Policies

Budget Blinds entices customers with lifetime warranties on materials and operational components. Certain limitations apply, but overall the coverage sounds reassuring.

However, I quickly discovered flaws when damage occurred to my wood blinds shortly after installation.

One evening while rushing to close the blinds, I likely twisted the cord hang too aggressively. The next morning I awoke to find over a third of the slats knocked out of place — some cracked completely in half!

Panicked that my fancy new window treatment was already broken, I frantically reviewed my warranty guide. Since human error damages are excluded, I feared I was out of luck.

But customer service informed me accident coverage still applied within the first year. Though instead of Budget Blinds repairing on site, they required shipping the entire shutter back to the production facility on my dime before agreeing to remake and replace it.

This meant yet another multi-week wait leaving my windows bare. Removing hardware also scratched up my window frame.

And good thing I took detailed pictures showing the units working previously upon delivery. Several customers reported denied claims once products show signs of ANY wear and tear or aging.

My Final Take – Is Budget Blinds Worth It?

If you made it this far reading my journey of peaks and pitfalls thanks for sticking around! Here is my closing guidance based on first-hand Budget Blinds experience:

Best for: Those wanting completely hands-off window treatment design and installation. Specialty-sized windows where customization is required. Luxury spenders less concerned with value.

Not Best for: Cost-conscious homeowners on a budget. Patience may wear thin through errors and delays dealing with middlemen. Tech-savvy online shoppers.

I don‘t doubt thousands enjoy positive Budget Blinds experiences. But between high prices, sloppy production issues and inefficient processes, they failed exceeding my customer service hopes given the premium paid.

Next time around, I likely will not repeat business unless major improvements happen or unique needs arise. With some handy skills and YouTube, DIY seems like it may offer satisfying enough solutions for most.

I welcome any feedback or insights on sharing my candid Budget Blinds review! Feel free to sound off with your experiences below.