The Shady Lady

Reviews

• ME

  Michael Earnheart

  Feb 3, 2024
  5.0
  Ellen, the owner, did a fantastic job. Patrick, the installer — was great! The entire process with The Shady Lady was wonderful. I couldn’t recommend her and her team more highly enough. Punctuality is a big deal to me and they were right on time and got everything done efficiently.
• IR

  Irene Rideout

  Sep 13, 2023
  5.0
  I've been very satisfied with my experience with The Shady Lady, from sales and installation to customer service and repairs. I actually first used The Shady Lady's services in 2013 (10 years ago), but recently had to contact them for a repair job, which is what inspired me to write this review. After buying a new home in 2013, I was already leaning towards getting Hunter Douglas shades. I got estimates from a couple custom window treatment companies; Ellen had comparable prices and was by far the most responsive. She came to our house in a timely manner and showed us some samples. I had an idea of what I wanted, but Ellen convinced me to consider other styles and models. Indeed, my thinking was rather old-fashioned, and I ended up choosing something completely different from what I had envisioned, in colors she helped me choose. Joel was efficient and professional in his installation of the shades, and once they were in, I absolutely LOVED them. Ellen's suggestions were all spot on, and I have received many, many compliments on the shades! Now, a decade later, my satisfaction with Hunter Douglas has waned a bit, but I continue to be impressed by The Shady Lady. About a year after installation, when one of the lift tabs broke on a shade, I emailed Ellen for assistance. She responded quickly, had the manufacturer send out replacement tabs (including extras for backups) at no charge to me, and I received them less than a week later. Over the years, other tabs have broken, so the extras have come in handy. I consider the damage to be the fault of the product, and very much appreciate Ellen's customer service. Three of our cordless honeycomb shades were actually very large. During the ordering process, Ellen specifically checked the dimensions to make sure they were within the allowed measurements to be made cordless. Unfortunately, over the years, these cordless shades have broken, multiple times! (We always open the shades slowly and with two hands; if anything, we handle the shades with extra care because we value them so much.) Again, I fault the manufacturer; if the width and overall size of the shades are within their own specifications, they should be durable! (We even have the same shade in smaller dimensions, and none of those have ever broken.) Each time one broke, Ellen responded quickly, and the repair process went smoothly. We either dropped off the broken shade, or Joel picked it up (depending on which could be done sooner), and then Joel delivered the repaired shade without issue. (No need for him to come in because the shade itself just snapped into the already-installed brackets.) Most recently, after multiple repairs, Ellen replaced our broken honeycomb shades with the corded model, charging only a repair/installation fee. The corded style isn't as snazzy as the cordless version, but it should eliminate the need for any future repairs, and the shades themselves look identical (except for the cord on one side, which is not even super visible). Joel did have to come in for installation, and again he did a great job. In this age of covid, it's also worth mentioning that Joel put on a mask when requested, which I very much appreciated. In short, while the Hunter Douglas shades themselves have caused us occasional trouble, The Shady Lady's customer service has been consistently excellent.
• PK

  Parker Koppelman

  Dec 9, 2017
  1.0
  We had an absolutely **terrible** experience with The Shady Lady. Short version: -The Good: competitive prices, eye for design, quality Hunter Douglas shades & blinds -The Terrible: in the process of installation, put a hole in the screen of our brand new kitchen window, dropped the shade on our window sill (putting a huge dent in it), got the resultant wood filler on the brand new shade, banged his toolbox around the house -The Kicker: the installer made a comment about "being dry" as he was leaving after doing all of the damage...which my husband and I took to mean that either he usually drinks but hadn't that day and therefore was off his game; or it was a sort of "don't tell my wife [the sales person], I swear I'm not drunk" plea. Either way, that's not what we paid $5500 for. [Yes, despite all of these issues we still paid them the full amount.] Long version/backstory: Our relationship with this husband-and-wife team started out well: Ellen was friendly, responsive, and had a good eye for design. Her prices were also very competitive. Note that we bought $5500 worth of Hunter Douglas blinds and shades, so this was no small order. That's where anything positive ends. Her husband Joel is the installer, and he was a DISASTER. When he first came to install the shades, he had just pulled a muscle, and was in NO shape to be on step ladders installing shades. Things were going OK in the beginning, although it seemed like his hands shook quite a bit when he was using a drill to screw in the brackets. Then he attempted to install the kitchen roller shade: first, he installed it but then was convinced that it was installed backwards. So he took it down, and in the process RIPPED THE SCREEN OF OUR BRAND NEW KITCHEN WINDOW. Then, he put the shade down on our (also brand new) granite countertops and started to work with tools on it. Thankfully I had a blanket nearby and forced him to put the shade on top of it. Once the shade was re-installed, it STILL didn't work properly. So not only did he have to come back to our home a week to install the repaired screen, but he also had to fix the shade. A week later, he returned to do what we thought was a simple repair and drop-off of the screen. NOPE. In the process of taking the shade down to fix it, he DROPPED IT ON OUR WOOD WINDOW SILL AND MADE A HUGE DENT IN IT. He took responsibility but I believe only because I was standing there watching him (in light of the screen incident). He was blasé about it and said he'd put wood filler in it, sand it, repaint it. He was belligerent to my husband, saying that he didn't appreciate people watching him/hovering over him while he worked. Well, if you damage our home one time we're going to watch you like a hawk, dude. He put the wood filler in and then re-installed the shade, GETTING WOOD FILLER ON THE SHADE. Fortunately it came off with water, but wow, this should not have happened. We made him leave, and he was incredibly argumentative and rude, despite these things being HIS FAULT. On the way out, he banged his toolbox on several different door frames. So now we have a honeycomb blind that only retracts intermittently and a roller shade that doesn't go up and down without difficulty. Oh, and a window sill that I now need to sand and paint (heck no I'm not letting that man back into our home). To top it off, one of the faux wood blinds wasn't centered whatsoever (fortunately I was able to fix it), and yet another honeycomb blind that can't be adjusted. As he was being a complete jerk to my husband, he made the comment "I'm also dry," which my husband and I took to mean that either he usually drinks but hadn't that day and therefore was off his game; or it was a sort of "don't tell my wife [the sales person], I swear I'm not drunk" plea. Do NOT, do NOT, do NOT use The Shady Lady.
• SM

  Stephanie Menachem

  Oct 25, 2015
  5.0
  I have never worked with a more patient, knowledgable sales person. Ellen worked with my budget and I did not feel that pressure of your typical sales person. She gave great suggestions that I was not able to get from other companies I received quotes from. Her installer made the process quick and easy. To speak to the review by Michael Friedberg, both Ellen and Joel were nothing but professional. They come for free estimates, so they are definitely worth checking out.
• MF

  Michael Friedberg

  Oct 13, 2015
  1.0
  Dont waste your time with her, and her husband. She sells and he installs. He installed three faulty shades, took 3 attempts in ordering the right parts, and is an old cantankerous man who needs a lesson in customer service. Give your money to someone else. Horrible service.