Rip off Ireland still alive!!!

jaypea1

We are currently looking for blinds for the whole house and got a quote of around 500. My wife rang a couple more places and she was quoted 900-1000 respectively. She mentioned about the 500 quote and they both said they will match it.
Some way to go from 900-1000 to 500!!!!!

d15ude

looking for blinds, too!
so who quoted the e500?

cheers!

finnegan2010

First of all what sort of house 3 bed semi? 4 bed? Blinds are they wooden or the metal style ones?
Im rying to gauge how many windows and work involved, But the drop from 1000 - 500 at the drop of a hat is worrying!

jaypea1

The price is for 7 roller blinds (4 bedrooms, 1 hall, 1 living room, 1 kitchen). Fabric is teflon coated. Am I allowed to say the shop?

davo10

Different shops carry different lines of blinds, are the blinds exactly the same or did you ring up and say "I want a quote for white teflon coated blinds"?. Each shop will have blinds of different quality and price, perhaps the lower price is for a less expensive brand then the one he/she originally quoted.

Incidently, the second shop may be making little or no profit but are just covering their costs to stay busy and maybe increase market share. Some people might think to thmselves, great I got a bargain there, your thought is, "what a rip off".

finnegan2010

Are they original roller blinds? see pics? (IF SO just on a side note, I got these type of blinds about 6 years ago (orig roller pic) The retract mechanism on all them have gone faulty. They werent dogged in the slightest. Wouldnt go up they wouldnt come down. Stuck half way AGHHH:mad:, had to chuck them all out, Only one I still have is in the upstairs landing where it has never been pulled up or down lol.
I upgraded the front of the house windows (due to budget) to the wooden shutter blinds (pic blinds) they keep out more light and have taken a lot of abuse and still as good as the day i got them!
A bit more expensive but cheaper in long run, and a nicer job imho

91011

jaypea1 wrote: »

We are currently looking for blinds for the whole house and got a quote of around 500. My wife rang a couple more places and she was quoted 900-1000 respectively. She mentioned about the 500 quote and they both said they will match it.
Some way to go from 900-1000 to 500!!!!!

All the other stores are doing is dropping to the quality that the cheaper place was selling you.

Blinds are in effect made from fabric (teflon coating is an almost zero extra cost - I know as I get teflon coated material from China and extra cost is about 5c per metre). Loads of different quality fabrics, different mechanisms etc out there.

Go to B&Q and you'll get all the blinds for under €250, - You can also pay €1000 for same number of blinds in B&Q too! Go to someone like Thomas Sanderson (way overpriced) and you'll pay €2000.

Its not a rip-off, its called shopping around and getting best value price for your requirements.

If the blinds are just for aesthetics and to keep glare of sun out, the basic package is perfect. If you have very strong sun (house facing south / west), then you may want a better quality fabric.

whippet

jaypea1 wrote: »

Rip off Ireland still alive!!!

I would suggest that you change the title of the thread to

An example of Free Market Competition in Iireland

Private companies can charge what ever the hell they like (unless in a regulated market) and it is up to the consumer to ensure they are happy with the price they are paying.

In this case, retailler A chanced his arm and due to the competition forces in play with retailler B, he has reduced his quote.

borderlinemeath

Did you order the exact same spec, same fittings (metal v plastic perhaps), side winding versus centre pull?

I doubt you would get the exact same blind from each supplier.

Just like a cheap fitted kitchen looks similar in the brochures to the handmade solid wood options. Similar in looks , but far different in quality..

jaypea1

Like I said, I got 3 quotes and I met 2 of them to look at the fabrics. the fabrics look the same with different pattern.
May be like somebody mention, when the seller decided to offer me a discount he was going to give me an inferior quality, although like I said the fabric look good.
May be in future when he was giving a quote, he should have asked whether I wanted the 500e blinds or the 1000e blinds, instead of just saying its 1000e.

91011

jaypea1 wrote: »

Like I said, I got 3 quotes and I met 2 of them to look at the fabrics. the fabrics look the same with different pattern.
May be like somebody mention, when the seller decided to offer me a discount he was going to give me an inferior quality, although like I said the fabric look good.
.

I'd guess the fabrics were different. Go into a Hickeys store - hundreds of fabrics, many look and feel identical, yet the difference in price between 2 very similar looking fabrics can be huge.

On blinds, I'd look for a natural fabric, especially is the sun will be shining onto it. (can be quite hot) Some cheaper fabrics will warp and you'll be replacing them in a couple of years.

A little more reseach on your part may get you the best value. - Ask about the material warping in sunlight, the spring mechanisms, the number of years you should expect to have them in good condition etc. Is the material cotton, grade of cotton etc

You may find the €1000 quote is the better value in the end.

kangojones

im sorry guys but as a self employed guy out there can i just say the sweet taste of a bargan will be soon forgotten as the bitter tastes of poor quality kicks in.and remember support your own

ejmaztec

kangojones wrote: »

im sorry guys but as a self employed guy out there can i just say the sweet taste of a bargan will be soon forgotten as the bitter tastes of poor quality kicks in.and remember support your own

It doesn't necessarily follow that high prices = quality. Some retailers charge over the odds for crap that comes in from the far-east, and slave-labour economies in general.

amdublin

kangojones wrote: »

im sorry guys but as a self employed guy out there can i just say the sweet taste of a bargan will be soon forgotten as the bitter tastes of poor quality kicks in.and remember support your own