Kresta Vertical Blinds

fish1512

Hi guys, have recently had a quote from Kresta for 3 vertical blinds, the quote was high but had a generous 35% discount, bringing the price to about about the same as a few 'rough' telephone quotes i had gotten (around 400-450 installed).

However once the quote was done the Kresta rep mentioned about doing the same vertical blinds but with a 'wand' (instead of a cord) and these were on speical with a 60% discount off the high quote. The original quote was about $800 so these would be $350 installed (this price was written on the back of a business card).

As mentioned above i have gotten a few rough quotes from 2 other companies and the price of the blinds installed was about the same as the 35% discounted price.

Call me olde fashioned, but this sounds almost 'too good to be true'.

Has anyone had similar dealings with Kresta?

cheers

yarrajewel

Dont do it. I have had the experience from Hell with Kresta
They quoted for blinds, drapes and plantation shutters, They were reasonable in price, so won the job (Bad move). after about 6 weeks of waiting,and me calling daily, they finally brought some of the blinds (however you must pay IN FULL before they will deliver and install). well, they brought the blinds, some crooked, ill fitting, no valances and NO SHUTTERS. I was made to pay for the plantation shutters, which I waited another 4 weeks for AFTER they were paid for in full.
I am still waiting 3 months later for the replacement blind to be installed in the bedroom, where the blinds are crooked, the valance is 1 foot too long and doesn't fit. All in all, the are rude and not at all helpful when you call them, they do not care about customer satisfaction either. My son has been waiting TWO YEARS for them to finish one timber venetian that they made wrong..........GIVE THEM A WIDE BERTH AND USE SOMEONE ELSE......ANYONE, JUST NOT THEM!!!!

photosamsophie

Do a search on Kresta on this site - there's been a few different posts. I don't recall any of them being good.

fish1512

Thanks guys, have gone with "if it sounds too good to be true...etc" on this matter and have arranged a further quote from Dial-a-blind.

In addition to this, I've also phoned a few more suppliers to get 'rough' quotes and even after the discount that Kresta offered, they all seem to be in the same 'ball park' for price, Kresta being at the higher end.

Must be a good marketing ploy for these national companies to offer these overly generous (i.e ridiculous) discounts as a way to get punters in.

Anyway, thanks again.

yarrajewel

I am still waiting for the replacement blind. After threatening them with a call to A Current Affair. they mysteriously found the new blinds and rang the next morning to say they would install them TODAY.
Well.......no surprise, this morning when they phoned to say it won't be today, it will now be next Tuesday.........fingers crossed. Maybe one day I will actually get the blinds installed. HOwever I doubt they will fit or look decent, Kresta have no ethics when it comes to dealing with customers or providing a nice looking product....and they all don't care....doesn't matter who you speak to, they don't give a damn....they get their pay!! we just don't get the product we paid for.

boojum

Kresta were great for me. Helpful and good quality. I have used Kresta twice for purchasing venetian blinds and also another time for a large Holland blind in the sunroom. It was the store in Nepean HighwayI dealt with. I had wonderful service from them on each occassion. The measurer/quoter came promptly at the appointed time and had some useful suggestions. I was given a choice of dates for installation and everything went to plan. The blinds are great quality and I am very satisfied. On the other hand Tip Top and Spotlight were hopeless. The former measured up the first lot of blinds I needed and never showed up to install. I cancelled and tried Spotlight, more dithering and still no blinds. Kresta for me any day.

vicccc

I had a fantastic offer from them if I signed up straight away, I didnt.
But dont get Lorrianes Blinds and curtains, I have blinds that are rolling in and she wont replace them, very bad business people, good luck with your blinds.

herring

Vertical blinds went out with the 70s. Anyway our eyes are side-by-side, not one on top of the other.

swooshman

I’ve just had an horrendous ordeal with Vista Blinds (Kresta’s sister company).

I now have 7 holland blinds that are not the colour that I chose at the time of the initial quote.
I rang the salesman as soon as they were installed with my concerns. After many phone calls and emails to the state manager, I finally received a phone call 2 months after my initial complaint.
After lengthy discussion the only thing she could offer was for me to pay an extra $800 for the replacement of the blinds. Vista has taken no responsibility in this matter. The salesman is question refuses to admit any liability in the matter and it's basically my word against his.
I am out of pocket over $1300 and have 7 blinds that frankly, look disgusting in my house.
The colour is nowhere near what I had chosen.

computerflyer

> I rang the salesman as soon as they were installed

Why did you let them be installed if they were wrong?

> After many phone calls and emails to the state manager, I finally received a phone call 2 months after my initial complaint.

Assuming you paid by charge card and they knew it, they possibly strung you along until you lost your opportunity to challenge the transaction and get a charge back credit. If you purchase by credit card and have issues, always challenge the transaction within the required time period to preserve your rights. (Preserving rights is separate to whether your claim succeeds in the end.)

> The salesman is question refuses to admit any liability in the matter and it's basically my word against his.

Don't you have an order form with chapter and verse of what you ordered? it should state make, model, measurements, colours, and often, delivery? If not why not?

Comatose

We paid Kresta $9,000.00 for window furnishings for 11 windows. (Parafield SA)

They first came and installed the curtain rails and the hawaiian blind along with once curtain over our sliding door as the roman blinds were still being manufactured in Perth and the curtains for our front two rooms they had ran out of material and we had to wait while it was on back order.

They eventually came to instal the curtains for the front two rooms but one curtain for the bay window was short 170mm EACH SIDE! Hence had to be returned and remade. (Apparently they had measured wrong)

They then came back and installed the roman blinds and 3 of 4 had to go back to be shortened as they were too long. They had to be sent back to PERTH to be modified. (Once again they had measured the window wrong)

They came back after a month or so with no blinds and everything fitted beautifully.

Then a few months later the same 3 of 4 roman blinds and our hawaiian blind have all dropped and are bunching up on the floor and have all been once again sent back to PERTH to be modified. They cannot tell me what stage they are at or when to expect them back.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!

The installations have been exemplary but I feel sorry for the installer having to come back so many times when he only gets paid a pittance once per window.

Kresta make you pay IN FULL for each window covering before they will allow it to be installed. And therefore what can you do about it? They don't return my calls. They don't ever ring me to say they are ready to be re-installed. It's always ME chasing THEM.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!

From memory this has all been going on since July/August 2009... It's now April 2010!