Seven Criteria to Help You Assess Who to Buy Window Coverings Online from this Holiday Season
Contributed by Doug Nyren

Austin, Texas December, 2005 – Ordering window coverings over the Internet can be an unsettling thought for many. After all, there are many retailers to select from online and you are making a significant investment. How do you know who you should buy from? How can you tell one company from another? YourBlinds.com knows many questions exist and therefore provides some simple criteria to insure online purchasing success.

When comparing companies for online purchases it is important to keep in mind the following criteria; Reputation, Problem Control, Proactive Communication, Up-to-date quality website, Competence, Detailed Product Pictures, and Explanations of what the various options will do for you.

The first thing to do is to investigate the reputation of anyone you consider purchasing from. It is one thing to post testimonials from satisfied customers on a company’s own website. They can be carefully controlled; positive comments included and negative excluded. Epinions.com, Shopping.com and BizRate.com are a few independent sites available to assist you in selecting a reputable online retailer. These sites invite consumers to post their opinion of their buying experience. If you do not find any independent testimonials endorsing the company, perhaps you should consider buying elsewhere.

In addition, what does the Company promise if you do not measure correctly? Or your blinds are fabricated incorrectly? Or the manufacturer forgets to include the mounting hardware? Or your new blind does not operate correctly? Do they promise to be very responsive in helping you? Or do they NOT make any commitments? If no promise is made on their website, do not expect outstanding service if you have a problem. What is not promised on a company’s website is NOT part of that company’s values, culture, thinking or actions.

Before you place your order, make sure you know what information you will be receiving from the company throughout the time between when you place your order and when you receive your new window coverings. Ensure that the company will automatically send you an order confirmation, the estimated ship date of your order, and the tracking number once your order has been shipped. This should be your minimum requirement.

You need to be satisfied that the staff of the company you plan to order from is competent at window coverings. How can you judge this from a website? To assess this, look for how the company presents specific manufacturer information. Take as an example, how they present information about how much the manufacturer will deduct from the width and length of your blind during production (known as factory deductions) in order for it to fit your window properly. Do they disclose this information? If they do, is it a copy of a page taken from a manufacturer’s reference manual full of jargon that you do not understand? Or is it information that a knowledgeable person within the company “digested” and then had their web folks present in a format that is easy for you to understand? Expanding on this is the presence of close up pictures of the product(s) you are purchasing.

Finally, the site you order from needs to demonstrate they are competent to help you take care of what you care about. Do not be satisfied buying from a site that throws a list of available options at you leaving you to figure out how they might be useful to you. Insist that the company help you create the situation that will work best for you and what you care about.

Following the criteria above will help insure online purchasing success. YourBlinds Inc strives to provide beneficial information to all web-users whether they are a customer or not. YourBlinds has been rated “Best of the Web” by About.com as a resource for shades, custom blinds, custom window blinds, custom window treatments and custom window shades. For more information visit the YourBlinds website at http://www.YourBlinds.com .

By Doug Nyren