On September 9,1999 I ordered $4909.00 worth of blinds From Mr. V. Lombardi of Budget blinds. I charged half of it to my Master card and it was processed on 9/11/99. I was told that it would take about 6 weeks. I didn't worry that it would take six weeks it seemed resonable.
My next door neighbor had used the same man and said he was very slow and didn't respond to his phone calls but he did receive all of his blins but one windows worth. I waited a few more weeks then tried repeatedly to call. When I called the main office, he was still considered a Budget Blinds Franchiser and I was told to take it up with him. We wrote letters to him as did our attorney, no response.
I again called Budget Blinds who informed me that he had gone out of business and that they would recommend another Budget Blinds dealer. When I asked about my $2,454.50 deposit, they said I would have to take it up with Mr. Lombardi, who as I said does not answer his messages or respond to attorney letters. The person I spoke to at the corporate office told me that my loss was not their problem.By this time, too much time had passed for Master card to cancel the charge, although we did attempt that.
The rebuttal of Budget Blinds, Inc. To Mr. And Mrs. S.M. States that they have approximately 170 franchises and has sold $35 million dollars worth of blinds to satisfied customers. People use Budget Blinds because of their "good name and reputation" but they are not doing business with Budget Blinds, they are doing business with someone with no reputation. It seems like a form of fraud to me and my husband.
As far as we are concerned, Mr. Lombardi stole $2,454.50 from us and as far as we are concerned Mr. Lombardi represents Budget Blinds. Budget Blinds does not mention how much money people have been defrauded of, only how much they have sold. I do not expect anything from Budget Blinds, they already told me that "it was not their problem." If the primary source of new sales is referrals, that's fine, I live in a rapidly growing community with lots of new houses going up and I am quick to advise people NOT to use Budget Blinds.
By the way, we finally got the exact same blinds at our local Home Depot within 3 weeks of ordering them. They cost about 1/2 the price of the Budget Blinds. They measured and installed them at no cost and I am very satisfied.
Thank you for your web site, it feels good to get this off my chest.
Laurie Phelps
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