BUDGET BLINDS Franchise Complaints

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• I am considering a BB franchise using their Troops in Transition which will pay the franchise fee over a period of time. They also have 15K for veterans who have discharged onger that 2 years. Are there any veterans who have accepted this program of payment? The brand name recognition is better than other made up names. I have not gone to discovery day but would assume it is made up of only positives and why you should invest.

• HORRIBLE Installation! I definitely do NOT recommend Budget Blinds located in MILTON, DE for plantation shutters. In March, 2015, we had just relocated from Houston, TX to new construction in lower Delaware. Having had experience with custom plantation shutters in Houston, I had two presentations from different companies at the end of March. The young lady from Budget Blinds stressed how well they would fit because they were custom. She laboriously measured to the 16th of an inch. She explained they were made in China and would take about 10 weeks to come. After calling repeatedly to check the status, I was finally informed they were in the warehouse. I called to set up an installation appointment and was told I couldn't because they had to be in hand first. Finally, I was told they had arrived but there were no installation appointments available. FINALLY, they were installed. I was appalled. Some of the panel were not flush with the windows. Some were not 'level'. On one side more of the inside of the window was showing and on the other side, none of the inside was visible. I called and told, Tony, one of the co-owners I was extremely unhappy and they did not meet my expectations. Tony arrived and informed me no one had ever complained before and what was wrong? I told him one was at least 1/4 of an inch off. (By my 'eye' not a ruler.) He was adamant I was wrong. When he measured it (with some manipulation of the tape he agreed maybe 3/16". When I repositioned the tape, it exceeded 1/4".

  He promised to 'fix them'. I asked him to just take them out, and I would find another provider. He worked one half a day and they were better, but still showed light at the bottom of the shutters. The ones I had in Houston, TX fit like a glove. They were so tight, they provided excellent insulation. (In Houston, at that time, windows did NOT have to be insulated. We had 10 windows replaced with quality insulated windows. We paid over $13,000) We had NOT had the front windows replaced but had plantation shutters installed. They fit so well no draft could penetrate the room.

  Tony kept reiterating that my windows were not square. They were all off. He constantly kept telling me Budget Blinds were all 'custom'. I replied that if they were custom, even if my window was not perfectly square, then a custom adjustment would have been made to alter the size of the frame, and keep the louviers parallel. Finally, he conceded that the 'custom' part meant that my name was placed on that order. He then admitted that he could only order set sizes and no adjustments could be made to those sizes.

  When Tony left on July 10, he knew I was still unhappy. He did not have the remote I had ordered for a vaulted ceiling. The window is near the top of the wall. Finally, on January 18, (more than 6 months later), he wanted to come and install the remote and told me I owed almost $1000 more. I told him he needed to adjust the price that I was not paying that amount. I told him my neighbor (exact same home model, same window sizes, had ordered her shutters from a large home improvement store. They were installed about three weeks after placing the order and fit perfectly.

  Tony became angry, verbally abusive, used profanity, told me I was 'off my head'. When I told him to keep the remote and that I was going to go on-line and express my dissatisfaction, he said, "i have nothing to say to you' and hung up.

  Customer service?????? Hostility????? Nothing in 6 months???? Continue to be very disappointed and they don't meet my expectations.

• WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK WITH A CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENATIVE. PLEASE CALL ME AT [redacted]. THANK YOU.

• STILL WAITING TO SPEAK TO A REPRESENTATIVE, VERY IMPORTANT SO PLEASE EMAIL ME OR CALL ME, THANKS

• My office and house was done with your blinds and we always use you guys. But NOT anymore. Back in June 17, 2015 I took my blinds to have them restrung. July 17, 2015 I went and picked them up as they were suppose to be completed that was a Friday, When I hung them the side with where the cord broke wouldn't hold the blinds. So Monday I took them back. I got them back after another month went by. I hung them up and again they did the exact same thing. I called them and they were suppose to send someone out to my house. Three weeks went by before they could come out and so I took off work and then no one showed up and didn't call me I called them to see what happened. The next time someone was suppose to be out they called me late and I had to take off work and was already home. The next time someone showed up and said they needed to restring which was suppose to have been done 3 times by then. They hung them up and it did the same thing again. So they didn't have the right string to do the job so they rescheduled and the next time they said it was a broken part and had to order it (which It wasn't) and finally they were suppose to come back and try something else and wouldn't answer my calls or call me back after 3 messages left. I FINALLY GAVE UP on them and called Mr Miniblind and they came out Jan 2016 and restrung it again and guess WHAT!!! It WORKS PERFECTLY!!!!!! Plus they didn't charge me as much as you guys had. I wouldn't have complained about that part if the blind worked like it was suppose to. What a waste of $65.00 paid with Ck #11372. I will NOT recommend your company to anyone. After wasting money and 7 months with no blinds on my window. Your last guy said just don't use this one leave it down and it goes over a slider door that goes to my back porch BBQ. I am requesting my money back but will not hold my breathe if you guys do blinds like this now. This was also done in the Medford Oregon store.

• I was a franchise owner for eight years. My business averaged 50 to 60k per month. These numbers are quite hard to rationalize because at the end of the month I was lucky to end up with 5 percent profit margin after expenses. Anyone claiming 25 percent is not being truthful. This concept is very simple you have a geographic demography that dictates what you are going to make, add that to a huge mix of competition you eventually lower your profit to barely subsist. I lost everything in this business and would run away from this total scam. After royalties and you're own expensesite including advertising you really don't get anything different from your own business.

• I was a franchise owner for eight years. My business averaged 50 to 60k per month. These numbers are quite hard to rationalize because at the end of the month I was lucky to end up with 5 percent profit margin after expenses. Anyone claiming 25 percent is not being truthful. This concept is very simple you have a geographic demography that dictates what you are going to make, add that to a huge mix of competition you eventually lower your profit to barely subsist. I lost everything in this business and would run away from this total scam. After royalties and you're own expenses including advertising you really don't get anything different from your own business.

• As a franchise coach I work very hard to make sure I am only working with good companies. I have read the FDD's of hundred's of companies. Many of the numbers quoted in this article are VERY old. After reading this information, I thought it might be time for a quick update. In 2013, a grand total of 2 Budget Blind Franchisees secured SBA Loans. (This is from the 2013 Coleman report) The point is, SBA is not a big part of what Budget Blinds does. More importantly, at the end of 2015, Budget Blinds has a total of 931 franchisee according to their 2016 FDD. In 2015 they lost 13 franchisees (term + non-renew + ceased). According the the FDD, one of these good folks simply died. In 2014 they lost 13. In 2013 they lost 21. This is an average of about 2% per year. Nothing to be ashamed of. In regard to franchisees who sold their business to third parties (not a franchisor buy back), Budget blinds has averaged about 35 per year for the past three years. That is 3% per year. Keep in mind, selling your business is a GOOD thing. You want to see a system where franchisees run successful businesses and then sell the business. I cannot speak to the historical information dating back to 2001; however, if you look at the current FDD, it is pretty darn impressive. I would encourage this website to update their information at the top of this page because the information is half a decade old and misleading.

• Rick -

  Don't say the data is out of date. It is not. And not 10 years old.

  That data was current 4 years ago when it was published in 2012.

  You want to do a full update using the same format have at it.

• We appreciate Rick Bisio's input regarding the Budget Blinds franchise opportunity, and his willingness to join our discussion. He makes a good point that the 2016 FDD looks very different than the Budget Blinds FDDs of "half a decade ago" (ie 5 years). However, the prospective franchisees he is "coaching" are contemplating binding 10-year agreements. We respectfully submit that a franchise "coach" may want to encourage franchisees to take a look at the franchise chain's performance for the prior term (10 years) or more - not a single year.

  In terms of active franchises, Budget Blinds appears to have peaked in 2008 at 1013, then suffered a 32% decline to 687 franchises by 2012. Since 2012, Budget Blinds claims to have regained some ground and rebounded to 931 franchises by the end of 2015. However, out of the 1464 franchises in operation 2008-2015, 37% (539) Budget Blinds franchises ended in termination or ceased operations. It seems likely that many others exited the system by selling their franchises at a loss (transfer).

  Prospective Budget Blinds franchisees (and their advisors) would be wise to find out what caused the chain to decline by 1/3 in just a few years, and then resell new franchises (we suspect) in the same markets where franchisees previously failed. Was it a change in the economy that could occur again? Was it the result of corporate strategy or management decisions... and if so, have those changed?

  On a separate note, Rick Bisio may be a conscientious and upright franchise advisor, but (in our opinion) his comments reveal the bias and sales spin common with franchise brokers:

  Rick Bisio writes: "As a franchise coach I work very hard to make sure I am only working with good companies."
  Mr. Bisio, your LinkedIn profile indicates that you are a commissioned franchise broker with FranChoice. In the spirit of full disclosure, can we assume you get paid by Budget Blinds for "coaching" prospective franchisees to buy the Budget Blinds franchise?

  Franchoice brokers (and others like them) use the terms "franchise consultants" and "coaches" to create the impression that they are unbiased advocates with only the franchise prospect's best interest in mind, but they are paid by the franchisors (like, I assume, Budget Blinds) who have deals in place with FranChoice. A real "consultant" would recommend the best choice for a client; a broker "consultant" might recommend the best choice (or easiest to close) among those with commission agreements in place.

  Rick Bisio writes: "In 2013, a grand total of 2 Budget Blind Franchisees secured SBA Loans... SBA is not a big part of what Budget Blinds does."
  With a prior SBA default rate of 37%, Budget Blinds was lucky they 2 got SBA approvals. I'd wager it would be a big part of what they do if they could get approvals.

  RE Rick Bisio's comments:

  Rick Bisio writes: "Many of the numbers quoted in this article are VERY old." and "the information is half a decade old and misleading."
  Again, the term of the Budget Blinds franchise agreement is 10 years, or two "half decades" as you would put it. Would it not seem reasonable for someone considering a 10 year commitment to look back to see how franchisees fared in the prior 10-year time period? It seems disingenuous for a coach to people to investing their life savings to restrict their research to less than 1/3 of the time frame they're committing to.

  Rick Bisio writes: "Keep in mind, selling your business is a GOOD thing."
  Sorry, Rick, got to call BS on you here. The statement is just false and really a red flag as to the reliability of your "coaching." Selling a franchise at a loss is not a good thing. Can you or your friends at Budget Blinds provide us with the actual resale prices of the 171 franchise transfers since 2010? Can you confirm that 100% of those sale prices exceed the initial investment?

  From 2008 to 2011, Budget Blinds dropped from 1013 franchises to 687 franchises, a 32% decline. Are you contending that owners were selling their franchises at a profit while 1/3 of the chain's franchises were being shuttered?

  As you well know, the transfer section of the FDD can be used to hide the true failure rate of a chain by counting a franchise sold at a deep loss as a "transfer" rather than a closure. A franchisee who invested $200,000 and later sold it for $1 to get out of the FA lost $199,000, but will show up as a "transfer," not a failure. Brokers can then claim the franchisee got out the system and are sipping pina coladas in the Caribbean right now.

  Rick Bisio writes: "I cannot speak to the historical information dating back to 2001"
  We can (well at least to 2008).

  Budget Blinds franchises 2008-2015: 1464
  Budget Blinds franchises that ended with termination or ceased operations 2008-2015: 539
  % of Budget Blinds that ended with termination or ceased operations 2008-2015: 37%

  Rick, we will be happy to provide the Budget Blinds FDDs from this period so that you can provide a more thorough analysis to your "coachees." Relying only on the 2016 FDD seems a bit, well, misleading.