How Long Do You Really Have to Cancel A Blinds Order?

Bespoke, made-to-measure blinds can be a very big purchase for a lot of people. So it’s important that people are able to find the right blinds for them, and are able to take a look at all the options available. This may mean that a customer might place an order with one company and then find a better solution at another. However, this requires them to cancel their blinds order. This leaves customers wondering how long do they really have to cancel an order?

This was the case with a recent customer of ours; but they had some difficulty cancelling the order with the other company.

This customer had already enquired and placed an order with a well-known, nationwide blind company before they had seen us. After seeing our blinds, they decided they wanted to cancel that order so they could go with us instead. Normally this would not be a problem. Under the Distance Selling Regulations a minimum 14-day “cooling off” period is standard when buying a product in your own home. This customer was well within that time limit.

It was at this point that the customer learned that they in fact only had a 2-day period in which to cancel their order. This was of course very surprising, particularly as they had not even had a survey yet. Nonetheless, the company also claimed to have notified the customer of this several times.

Cooling off period for anyone to cancel blinds order

The 14-day cooling off period legislation is designed to protect customers. It ensures they have time to look at alternative options and examine any small print. As elements might have missed before signing a contract. By reducing that period to only two calendar days; there’s very little someone can do if they need to cancel for any reason. Even though the blinds are a made-to-measure product, production of the blinds does not start until after the survey. Therefore, in most cases this will fall outside of the 14-day cooling off period. Consequently, here should be no reason to prevent anyone wanting to cancel their blinds order.

Our advice to anyone when wondering whether to cancel blinds order

Our sales person was able to give the customer advice on what their rights were under this legislation. This was by sending information from the Citizens Advice service about the 14-day cooling off period. The customer contacted the company numerous times, stating the 14-day cooling off period legislation.  Then, eventually the company agreed to cancel the order and refund their deposit.

How are we different?

When placing an order with us you are free to cancel it, without penalty, any time between when it was placed and the end of your survey. This is alongside the standard 14 days cooling off period. In many cases it means you get a much longer period wherein you can cancel an order. It’s only after the survey is completed and your paperwork has been signed that cancellation of your order would incur some cost. This is because, we would have started production of the blinds by then. Our customers can also take as much time as they need before signing anything. This means taking time to look over the written contract and quotation and investigate other options.

How can you prevent this from happening to you?

The most important thing to know is what your rights as a customer actually are. Taking a look through the Citizens Advice guide for building or decorating work will give you a good idea of what you can and cannot do. Secondly, make sure that you discuss the cancellation policy with the sales person during the quotation visit to understand how long you have.

It’s also important to remember that in most cases you don’t need to sign a contract. And particularly not on the same day as the quotation. It’s always worth taking the time to look through any contract if you’re unsure. You can always sign it at a later date after the quotation visit.