Web blinds

[blindmansam]

bear said:

grumperbear said:

Went to customer house today,
she knew exactly what she wanted as she had a sample from our web site. l informed her that Hillarys and webblinds are not the same.
Priced her for 2 venetians at £144 (each not in the sale Total £288)
To expensive. l'll get them from webblinds she says.
As l'm leaving she shows me the folder that came with her samples.
Written in bold letters across the middle

"WEBBLINDS at http://www.hillarys.co.uk"


just checked webblinds and their price is £79 each, and with 40% reduces that to £47.40 each makes that a total of £94.80.

Makes you wonder

No it doesn't make me wonder a bit!!!

I DEFINITELY suggest you feed this back via your FSM in print or by email with a copy to RossK and ask how THEY suggest you combat this competition from a firm called webblinds operating under the false name of Hillarys Blinds--The firm you work for who provide a FITTED SERVICE???

Swine!!!!

Its time their noses were rubbed in this good and proper....

What is the point of us spending money and time to go out and be insulted by this sort of krap??

Get their answer and post it on here???

Bear

Clearly this cannot go on! We were Promised over a year ago that the 2 web sites would be entirely seperate !

They take us for fools!

Enough is enough.

[greenpesto]

As a protest, why don't we do as Red suggests???

Why not order from Web-blinds ourselves & sell them with a decent 'mark-up?

Hillarys cannot have it ALL their own way!!!!

We all need to make a living, & if Sillarys want to take business from us, then we should find ways of creating our own 'claw-backs'!!!!

Sillarys management have no conscience ... so why should we???!!!

[Bear]

greenpesto said:

As a protest, why don't we do as Red suggests???

Why not order from Web-blinds ourselves & sell them with a decent 'mark-up?

Hillarys cannot have it ALL their own way!!!!

We all need to make a living, & if Sillarys want to take business from us, then we should find ways of creating our own 'claw-backs'!!!!

Sillarys management have no conscience ... so why should we???!!!

Hang loose folks--When you deal with Hillarys you choose to deal with singularily unethical people who set up a company called Webblinds to compete directly with us.
They promote this company, they link it to the Hillary website which is supposed to help generate leads for us--and then they push it with massive discounts and even get us to measure jobs and leave the measurements with the client for nil reward and a time cost.
So dont get mad get even.!!
Don't start getting all British, and playing a straight bat, and stiff upper lip, and talking at them in indignant tones as their only allegiance is to the shareholder and the bottom-line!
As an Agent you are simple a tool (disposable) to collect orders and money and fit blinds--if you make a wage then bully for you)

Do as many have done and spread your wings and use Hillarys, dont depend on them, especially if you have a mortgage/rent/family commitments.
What do you think the old stalwarts who left this site having been a Hillary Agent for up to 20 years did before they went out on their own elsewhere???
They did not leap in the dark! They tested drove things.....

As the advert on telly for a mens magazine tels women "Not to expect help on a Thursday" then with Hillarys dont expect help on any day with a "y" in it.
I was hired by Tony Hillary years and years ago. I am still here, its a totally different operation now--Diary management killed the job when oiks thought they could do better than experienced agents. Within a month I saw the writing on the wall, and I am now happy.
I got over the STOLEN COMMISSION because I used my brains to get it back via a different route--My Blinds Business has grown by a greater percentage than Hillarys has (if you believe their figures!!) in the past 5 years.
I look on myself as my employer a true SELF EMPLOYED person.
Hillarys is a competitor, on whose thingy-ups and stupidities I feast!!
If they are so amateurish and arrogant to treat all of us as they do now then they deserve the firm disapproval of myself and all other experienced agents who have chosen our own paths which give us a better level of income than sticking to any " Hillarys Wonder Plan" ever could have dreamt of!!

To the doubters who have got this far--This is not a rant, it is a true statement of fact.
Bear

_______________________________

Bear's right!

[blindsfitter]

Right on, Bear!
You know me and how I feel, already.

I hope none of you leave measurements, because if you do you are gifting Hillarys Orders on Webblinds for free, and at a cost to you.
The speed orders are coming out to me now tell me they have a near-zero order book!
If I did not have an additional source of income then I would be really worried if I was dependent on Hillarys solely.
The 2 new agents who were put on in my area last July and August have now gone--and not been replaced, and no adverts placed either???!!!! Wonder of wonders.
Still same FSM--still same schoolkid mentality.
Do as Bear suggests , and cover your asses , guys!
BF

[royt]

fitted some rollers on friday for a customer (£275 with 50 % deposit) and about 5 mins before i finished fitting she handily went to pick her daughter up!!!!!half an hour later I gave up and chased her for 3 days on the phone.

When i finally got through to her she said that she had called 2 days after the apt and tried to cancel, having been told that the blinds were in production she was offered a 50% discount to continue with the order which she obviously jumped at!!!!

No call from the service center, no e-mail no nothing just me out of pocket of the comission of £137 and looking a right pratt not knowing all of this negotiating had gone on without my knowledge, its not a lot of money and i won't lose sleep over it, but the service center staff will do anything to get rid of unhappy customers including giving our monry away.

So thanks Shona from the call center, just wondered if you would do an extra 3 hours work this week for nothing!!!

at least she got her blinds 50% off

[advisorc proudly SA woman]

grumperbear said:

Went to customer house today,
she knew exactly what she wanted as she had a sample from our web site. l informed her that Hillarys and webblinds are not the same.
Priced her for 2 venetians at £144 (each not in the sale Total £288)
To expensive. l'll get them from webblinds she says.
As l'm leaving she shows me the folder that came with her samples.
Written in bold letters across the middle

"WEBBLINDS at http://www.hillarys.co.uk"


just checked webblinds and their price is £79 each, and with 40% reduces that to £47.40 each makes that a total of £94.80.

Makes you wonder

I also had the same experience today. I went to a customer that already had a sample ready from webblinds and expected me to measure and leave measurements so she can order from webblinds. Sorry, I said can not do, if she wants to order from webblinds the roman, then be my guest, but she will have to fit it herself, and the fabric was also of a very poor quality!! They qouted her 80 pounds, against Hillarys 180 pound!!! For crying out loud!!!!!!! I got the order and had to measure 2 other windows. I never leave any measurements, I just tell the customer that I am not allowed to give any measurements. Normally they accept that, if not I just tell them straight that they need to go somewhere else.

I do experience the past few days that this multi-blind promotion is running at a very fast rate, although I never offer it! The people from head office give them a qoute, not stating the type of fabric and expect me to get to the same price!! Really...............!!!!!!!!!!!!

I fitted 14 romans over the weekend and so far no problem!! All straight seams, not crumpled and customer happy! Worth the time and effort for fitting into wooden frames and 2 previous visits with order of 1900 pounds.

Just a pity for all the DOR's on the rolerblinds this past week! Measurements absolutely awfull, luxury springs not working, or being so strong the blinds almost knocks you lights out!! What is the secret on the luxury rolerblinds to roll it up and down?? Did I miss something? Please can anyone tell me how to pull it down without knocking your front teeth out and if you do get it down, how to let it stay there?

I have been extremely busy the past few weeks and I am recovering after 4 days of straight fitting, but I am not complaining! At least I enjoy every opportunity and make the best of it. Today 6 appointments, 6 sales (although it is small orders it all adds up! My hubbie is very annoyed with me for stuffing up his golf on Saturdays, but golf doesn't pay for my daughter to visit her aunt in Chigago over Christmas!! Anyway I am starting to babble ..........

[advisorc proudly SA woman]

blindsfitter said:

Right on, Bear!
You know me and how I feel, already.

I hope none of you leave measurements, because if you do you are gifting Hillarys Orders on Webblinds for free, and at a cost to you.
The speed orders are coming out to me now tell me they have a near-zero order book!
If I did not have an additional source of income then I would be really worried if I was dependent on Hillarys solely.
The 2 new agents who were put on in my area last July and August have now gone--and not been replaced, and no adverts placed either???!!!! Wonder of wonders.
Still same FSM--still same schoolkid mentality.
Do as Bear suggests , and cover your asses , guys!
BF

Hey, at least you have a FSM!!! Ray left and after that I have a supposedly FSM, the so called Mr. Dave B. Never met him in person, he doesn't call me back after several messages and NEVER organise my diary according to my availability!!!!!!!!!!! Nevermind all the supposedly appointments where he never pitched!!!!!! Where do I apply or ask for a new FSM that at least help you when you really need the help? Who is the person to complain to if I do not get any help fom my FSM???

[RED]

advisorc said:

grumperbear said:

Just a pity for all the DOR's on the rolerblinds this past week! Measurements absolutely awfull, luxury springs not working, or being so strong the blinds almost knocks you lights out!! What is the secret on the luxury rolerblinds to roll it up and down?? Did I miss something? Please can anyone tell me how to pull it down without knocking your front teeth out and if you do get it down, how to let it stay there?

......

Yes, there is a little known secret of how to deal with the luxury rollers.
That is,........ dont order any. I sold around 10 in my first few, keen as mustard years and had so much trouble I dont sell them any more unless it is the only way it can be done. The old spring type went out with the Arc years ago anyway.

Red

[keenasmustard]

stonehills said:

advisorc said:

grumperbear said:

Just a pity for all the DOR's on the rolerblinds this past week! Measurements absolutely awfull, luxury springs not working, or being so strong the blinds almost knocks you lights out!! What is the secret on the luxury rolerblinds to roll it up and down?? Did I miss something? Please can anyone tell me how to pull it down without knocking your front teeth out and if you do get it down, how to let it stay there?

......

Yes, there is a little known secret of how to deal with the luxury rollers.
That is,........ dont order any. I sold around 10 in my first few, keen as mustard years and had so much trouble I dont sell them any more unless it is the only way it can be done. The old spring type went out with the ark years ago anyway.

Red

EXCUSE me red I'm the only keenasmustard on this forum ;D ;D ;D

[keenasmustard]

there is some thing in life that don't work or that shouldn't be trusted.

the first are springs

the second is hillarys management and fsm's.

not so long ago I had a fsm(i say this loosely)mrs keenas called him a pr*t,still she calls them all pr*ts.she has a way with words does my dearest.
anyway the said prat accused me of double dealing and would put me on stop if he found out i was,he only apologizing when I came back at him that I wasn't .
now I don't know what the rest of you think or feel about web-blinds but in my mind this amounts to double dealing and is nothing more than hypocrisy.still what do you expect from a bunch of twa*s

[RED]

gilly said:

stonehills said:

advisorc said:

Yes, there is a little known secret of how to deal with the luxury rollers.
That is,........ dont order any. I sold around 10 in my first few, keen as mustard years and had so much trouble I dont sell them any more unless it is the only way it can be done. The old spring type went out with the ark years ago anyway.

Red

EXCUSE me red I'm the only keenasmustard on this forum ;D ;D ;D

Ah, yes, but mine has spaces in between the words and besides that it is the French mustard and not the English mustard I was refering to. A much more refined taste is needed for the Froggy stuff. ;D

Red

[greenpesto]

SA woman!
I used to have Dave B as my FSM years ago!

I got on well with him face to face, but don't expect him to carry out anything he says he'll do or to ring you back!!!

If anyone really wants an FSM to replace the one that left I can only suggest you try & order one from Web-blinds!!!!....... Fast turn around, very cheap & is a way of taking money off of you!!!!!

Do I mean the FSM or Web-blinds?? Who knows?!!!!!

As far as Web-blinds customers are concerned, I had one the other day who was more interested as to how & where I was going to measure than to choose a blind from me!
Needless to say, I didn't leave measurements or give a definitive answer to his measuring questions.

[dmm]

WebBlinds may have 40% discount, but Blinds-Supermarket has 50%. So Hillarys are now competeing with their own website

These will never go away whilst John Risman is with us. He sees B&Q as our biggest competitor, so web sites are the best way to go

[dibsdobs]

I agree with what has been said.

1) Always leave the wrong measurements with customer. ;D

2) Never send a quote in to Hillarys. I have had two occasions when they have converted the sale direct with the customer and left me out of the loop. I am sure there are more I don't know of.

3) If you have an occasion where you need to leave a quote on SAM, put in wrong measurements (keep the correct ones separately) with a note that they are wrong, and to contact you for correct sizes.

Sadly, this should not be the situation, but I'm afraid this is how much the relationship has deteriorated. Hillarys are creating serious problems for themselves, with only newbies now buying into "The way".

They don't trust us, and we don't trust them. Where did it all go wrong?

Maybe its because we have not heard anything from the "project teams" after the Jan forums What happened there?

[Blind Scout]

gilly said:

there is some thing in life that don't work or that shouldn't be trusted.

the first are springs

the second is hillarys management and fsm's.

not so long ago I had a fsm(i say this loosely)mrs keenas called him a pr*t,still she calls them all pr*ts.she has a way with words does my dearest.
anyway the said prat accused me of double dealing and would put me on stop if he found out i was,he only apologizing when I came back at him that I wasn't .
now I don't know what the rest of you think or feel about web-blinds but in my mind this amounts to double dealing and is nothing more than hypocrisy.still what do you expect from a bunch of twa*s

Never had any problem with springs, but usually have to adjust the tension + or - to suit the customer.

On double dealing, received an e-mail from FSM today, actually 2, but cocked up the 1st by not attaching the weekly stats. Mmmm maybe it wasn't a thingy up. However the 2nd e-mail also had a document attached on double dealing or poor performing agents. Text follows:-

------- text starts --------

REPLACING DOUBLE DEALERS AND POOR PERFORMERS

DOUBLE DEALERS

Ways to investigate double dealing include: checking product mix; poor conversion; no quotes being lodged; telephone research with customers who haven't ordered; checking payment records; liaising with credit control.

Process for Replacing

* Communicate with credit control to discuss plans and keep track of their account.
* If possible reduce the number of leads to advisor gradually.
* This may require recruiting to replace or re-distributing leads.
* Once their credit control account is up to date and capacity is in place - put advisor on commission stop.
* Have meeting with advisor in public place (i.e. hotel) with one other colleague (RSM or FSM)
* Involve solicitors if necessary (i.e. Formal letter)
* Have a list of any outstanding fits and collect blinds relating to these.
* Collect other paperwork such as customer details, invoices, order forms, sample kit etc.
* Feed back to credit control/debt recovery.

POOR PERFORMERS

The objection is to cease the relationship between Hillarys and Advisors on best terms possible to reduce service calls, re-makes, and debt issues.


Process for Replacing

Providing you have already spent time with advisors and provided them with training (i.e. Dogs)

* Have a meeting of concern with advisor.
* In meeting refer to the facts: what we invest in them; their results; the training we have provided etc.
* Agree what needs to change for advisor business to continue
* Provide a time frame for the advisor to achieve these goals (no more than 2 weeks) and book 2nd meeting.
* Reduce leads within this time frame by recruitment or re-distribution of leads.
* Have 2nd meeting once this time has lapsed.
* Provide written notice of termination and agree plans with advisor for outstanding fits.
* If you are concerned about advisor completing fits - liaise with credit control and put advisor on commission stop until all fits are completed.
* Feed back to credit control.
-----------text ends -----------

Of concern under poor performers is they give agents 2 weeks to improove, but reduce agents leads. Well, that is really going to improve performance, ain't it!