Levolor

Cordless shades are poorly designed. The springs break or come loose. Replacing internal cords is tedious. Purchased from Home Depot

Summary: Bought a blackout shade, but blackout is not possible due to a gap below the headrail that lets light in.

Purchase: Purchased from blinds.com. The purchasing experience was fine, but the customer service experience was not.

Installation: It was hard to install because there was no guidance as to how far into the frame to put the brackets. Fortunately, we eyeballed it right. It was hard to snap into the brackets because the instructions weren't very clear as to what to align where.

Product size: I measured my window frame exactly as specified in the directions, but the top rail of the blind is 5/16" smaller than my measurement, and the blind itself is 9/16" smaller, so there are gaps along the sides. I know it has to be a little smaller, but I would have preferred it to be closer to the actual window size to minimize the gap.

Levolor Product Quality: I purchased a Levolor blackout top down bottom up shade, but it's poor quality and does not serve the blackout purpose because there's a gap below the headrail that cannot be closed. You can pull the shade all the way up, but when you lock it & let go of the cord, it drops down and leaves a 1/2 inch gap across the top (see picture), which completely defeats the purpose of having a blackout shade. I chose Levolor because I thought it was a top brand, but after this, I will never buy this brand again. I emailed blinds.com and they said that the blind won't stay closed unless I tie it to a cord cleat. What? You mean to tell me that I have to forcibly tie it down in order to get it to stay closed, and thus have to tie and untie it every time I want to open & close it? How idiotic! Also, there's no way that I'm going to ruin the original woodwork in my 88 year old house by screwing a cleat into it. (Actually the cleat it came with was such cheap-looking clear plastic that I threw it straight into the trash.) I have an entire house full of blinds and have never needed to use a cord cleat on a single one of them (no kids). I have several Bali top down bottom up shades and they close completely with no issues, even after many years of use. blinds.com offered to exchange my blind for a cordless one if I paid an upcharge for it, claiming that supposedly a cordless one would close all the way without the gap (I'm skeptical). However, I can't use a cordless blind on this window because the top of the window is out of reach without a ladder.

I emailed Levolor to verify whether this was considered normal or if the blind has some kind of issue. Levolor's customer service is terrible. Every time I got a response, it was from a different agent who told me something different than the previous agent, and never actually answered my questions. One agent told me that the blind is supposed to have a "gap flap" at the top to block the light coming through the gap I described. He also said "the levolor cellular shade do not come as a block out shade, they come as a room darkening shade not a true block out", but the product I purchased is named "Blackout Cellular Shades", so...? When I wrote back to tell them that he blind has no flap of any kind (with a photo to prove it), a different agent ignored my question about the flap and instead told me that I should train the blind to close by pushing up on the top rail while pulling the cord:
"Corded top down bottom up blinds typically leave a small gap when the top down blind is raised. If you are not going to use the cord cleat, then you will have to "help" the rail by pushing up on the top rail while pulling the cord to lock it in place. This should allow the cord lock to hold the blind in place so that it will eventually stop there. There is nothing wrong with this blind, it just has to get used a few times to become used to getting opened and shut.(raised and lowered)."

I wrote back yet again explaining that my blind doesn't have a top rail. The top of the blind is just a single cell of the shade, no different from any other cell except that it has what looks like a tiny wooden dowel going through it. There's no way you could push up on it without deforming it. I again asked why my blind does not have these parts that it's supposed to have, the "gap flap" and the "top rail". I even asked for pictures or diagrams to show what those are so that I can be sure what I'm looking for. The response again contradicted the previous one:
"The shade purchased is a corded top down bottom up shade so there is no top rail. To hold the shade tight at the top, the cords should be pulled tightly and then wrapped around the cord cleat. If you do not use the cord cleat, there will be a gab in the top."

At this point I've given up. The only thing I can do is to warn the rest of you to never buy this lousy product. Buy a Bali shade, which has a nice solid top rail that fits snugly into the headrail and does not need to be tied into place. I'm kicking myself for not following this advice.

One other thing: The blind came with the bottom rail covered in stickers that are impossible to get off without damaging it. They're the kind that peel into shreds when you try to remove them. I spent ages scraping & picking at them and am left with sticky residue all over the bottom of the blind, which of course has already started attracting dirt. Why would anyone want a giant bright orange sticker glaring at them every time the shade is pulled up? Of course I know this is a safety thing, but it doesn't need to be ON the product in such a visible place.

Over the course of the last two years, the four custom wood Levolor Blinds on the front windows of our house, have fallen apart. They were the cordless models, and the strings that hold them together are so thin that they rot in the sunshine. We had two held together with twine, as we thought the warranty had expired, and we weren't sure how we were going to replace them. Then I found our paperwork, and I discovered that the blinds were under a 10-year replacement warranty. When we were putting our Christmas candles in the windows, the other two fell totally apart... slats everywhere. It's June 17,2022, and I submitted the copy of the receipt and the claim to Levolor on December 10,2021. They repeatedly told me the blinds were being shipped. They never did. The last I heard, their supplies were on "backorder because of the "pandemic." However, I went to the Home Depot website in December, and ordered 4 new blinds, at a cost of over $500, because when the third and fourth blinds broke, I couldn't hold them into place, and our windows were bare! I had the blinds within two weeks. If I ever get my replacements from Levolor, these will go on other windows in our house. I've mentioned to Levolor that I would take a 50% refund for the cost of the blinds that I purchased, and they said they would give me $25. I mentioned that I would accept the corded blinds, because the cordless blinds never worked properly anyway. They did agree to that. And, I gave them a color that would work for the blinds (Brandy), if they couldn't get the original color. As of today, Home Depot says I can get the blinds in the Brandy color, and they will ship in 3-5 days. Levolor really has no intention of honoring the warranty, and I'm getting the run around. My next step is going to be the office of our state's Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.

Ordered blinds through HD. Levolor sent an adjustment rod that was about 2' when they were to send a rod over 4'. HD Customer Service contacted them and requested a resend. Nasty Levolor responded with lack of respect and courtesy to above all their Home Depot Rep! The place were they make living by selling their blinds. How disgusting of Levolor. After the second call they send a piece of garbage that must have been in their seconds pile: no handle, glued together; it looked like Levolor management looked for the cheapest thing they could find; a good way to treat your customers after they paid full price. It was a cylindrical rod with glued ends and was beige... the blinds and original rod were, of course, WHITE! After the third call by Home Depot, even HD was upset with them at this point, they simply elected to never respond again. Had to have a rod made because Levolor did not want to respond as a good, honest, caring business. Go somewhere else and never buy at HD or Lowes or anywhere else. If your spending YOUR money why make headaches for yourself. Buy so you have peace and avoid hack outfits like Levolor.

Levolor replaced our damaged 70" blind free of charge. This company and staff member James are to be commended!