Airlight Venetian Blind Company

Recently the cord broke on one of our shades. We went to Airlight and my wife spoke to a nice young woman who knew exactly what had happened and suggested reversing the cord lock so we didn’t have to replace it. Quoted price: $ 42 for the re-​stringing the cord and reversing the cord lock. Fine. Normally these take 7 – 10 working days but she thought it could be done the same week given their workload. Great!
I call in at the end of the week and the owner answers. Says he hasn’t started on it yet and they normally call when it’s ready. I explain the conversation my wife had with the young woman who took the order and that’s the only reason I called when I did.
7 – 10 working days later we’ve had no call. We try calling twice but no one answers and the voice mailbox is full. 16 working days after taking the shade in we call them and they say it’s ready. I get the bill (takes nearly 10 minutes to ring up) and a charge of $ 27.50 has been added for reversing the cord lock. I explain that doesn’t jibe with our quote and the owner says that in the fine print they can charge of up to 25% additional from the original estimate for work that is discovered to be needed after initial inspection. My only problem with this is that 1) the work done was no different than what we were told was needed when we brought it in and 2) 25% of $ 42 is $ 10.50, not $ 27.50.
The owner says they called and my wife had authorized the charge. I was pretty sure she hadn’t. I try to call my wife but can’t reach her. I run another errand for half an hour but still can’t reach her so decide to pick up the blind anyway. If Airlight was right, fine, if not we’d call them to discuss.
After leaving, I finally reach my wife, who confirms that she was not called and certainly did not authorize any extra charges. She calls Airlight and talks to the young woman, who turns out to be the daughter of the owner. Here’s how it went:
— She asked if my wife had read the fine print (about the 25% for additional work needed). She said «we’re covered» and that they called for authorization. My wife explained we had no calls or messages, and that 25% of $ 42 is $ 10.50, not $ 27.50.
— She said if we wanted to come back to the store (in Ballard, we live in Sammamish) we could talk to her father but that he would not come to the phone to discuss the matter. According to her: «We don’t have time to be negotiating with customers on the phone about the price they think they should pay.» (Really?) My wife asked if we would get the $ 17 refunded which was over the 25% max. additional fee. She said her father would talk to us, but he most likely would not be inclined to refund us the difference. «You should be satisfied,» she said.
— My wife again reminded her that the reversal of the cord lock was part of the original $ 42 quote. The woman replied, «then that must have been my mistake.» Still not willing to refund us over the phone and highly doubtful her father would be willing to do so if we drove all the way back to the store. «You should be satisfied with our work,» she repeated.
Well, we are not satisfied. The bill was higher than the estimate, the additional charge was not authorized, and it was in excess of the 25% clause in their fine print — it’s 65% higher than the original quote. At the final price of $ 76.65 we would likely have opted to buy a new shade instead. It was Airlight’s mistake but the owner was unwilling to come to the phone to work things out. Not at all the way to run a business if you want to keep customers. They kept our extra money; but they won’t be getting our future business.

Our family has purchased window shades from Sam for many years, for several houses as we’ve bought/​sold/​remodeled. He is absolutely the best company of its kind in Seattle, the best installer by far, and his prices are really fair.

Airlight saved my business by repairing and cleaning very delicate blinds after a mishap. Nobody in town would touch them and the results were far better than I expected and the price was great. They have always had a great reputation.

Airlight provides the best blinds service you’ll find anywhere — period.
We’ve been using Airlight for about 10 years now. Before we discovered them, we bought honeycomb blinds from big box stores and home décor specialists. None came close to the attention and service we get at Airlight.
It’s a small working shop where you’ll see blind cleaning and maintenance under way. Don’t be deceived by appearances — it’s packed with samples of different window coverings. You’ll work with the owner, not a sales rep. Be prepared for a detailed conversation about different options. Sam knows his stuff, and wants to be sure you are fully informed about your blind purchase.
I always install my own blinds. Sam takes the time to help me with the details of positioning and measuring. Several of my purchases involved complicated skylight placements. He worked with me to pick the best product for my installation skills, and they fit perfectly.
Airlight supports you after purchase in may ways. If there is a defect in the blind, Sam works with the manufacturer to resolve it. If it is broken, he can fix it. Sam has parts for every kind of blind. He takes the time to understand why your blind hardware failed, and offers suggestions for how to avoid problems in the future. His blind cleaning is great — our shades sparkle when he is done.
Sam really takes care of his customers. I bought a set of blinds last year, that later qualified for an energy tax credit. He mailed me the forms so I could claim the $ 450 credit on my taxes.
What more can I say — Airlight is a great, local, small business that you can rely on from purchase through the lifetime of your blinds.

Airlight recently repaired two of our honeycomb-​style blinds. I delivered the broken blinds to the shop on a Friday and they were repaired on Tuesday. The cost for the repair came in at $ 87 — quite a lot less than the estimate of $ 145.
Honest people. Super-​fast turnaround. What’s not to like?
Well, the shop is pretty funky and smells of tobacco. Things seem a little disorganized. The printer appears to be always out of paper. The owner is pretty talkative.
But, in all these ways Airlight comes across as a *real* place owned by real people who care about their work and their customers. I recommend them to anyone who’s looking for new blinds (of any type) or who needs repairs.