I placed a custom blind order with HD for about $1500 earlier this year, although they were not Hunter Douglas.

I had a HUGE customer service issue just trying to get the blinds delivered. After the order was 2 weeks late I called their Decorating Services dept to track the order. After another 3 weeks of unreturned calls and talking to people who couldn't (or wouldn't) help me, I finally called HD's corporate customer service and demanded that they refund my deposit and cancel the order.

After the order was cancelled HD called me twice to schedule the install, and once to ask whether I had received the blinds. Further proof of how entirely messed up their processes are.

When I ordered blinds from another store, the installer told me that he formerly had installed for HD. He said that what happened to me at HD happens all the time, and he was happy he didn't install for them any longer.

Just my experience. I'm sure there are people who had a good experience with HD, but I'll never order anything custom from them again.

I'm also considering buying the Hunter Douglas Silhouettes from Home Depot and hope you'll get more responses to your query. Here are some things I've been mulling over - Hunter Douglas has a rebate promotion going on right now for $50 off each Silhouette - BUT I don't think Home Depot is one of the participating retailers. Pls correct me if I'm wrong! Also, do you know what Home Depot charges for measure and install? I haven't found that out yet. There's a store near me that sells the Silhouettes for more but does not charge any measure or install fees. Combine that with the rebate, and that store would not be too much more for me, in which case I guess I'll pay more and skip the potential Home Depot hassle. There's also one more option I'm thinking about and you might want to consider - Home Depot has a new line of Hunter Douglas products called "MyBlinds" (made exclusively for Home Depot) and they offer a silhouettes type product (called sheer shadings). They look very nice in the catalog, seem identical to the Silhouettes and, though still Hunter Douglas, cost less than the Hunter Douglas Silhouette. Plus, all the Hunter Douglas MyBlinds are 15% off at the Home Depot near me - but only until 7/22 or 7/23. For my size window, the MyBlinds are each about $135 less than the Silhouette price at Home Depot. A big savings, but I just don't know if they're as good as the Silhouettes, so I;m torn. Hope this info helps you. I'm going to make a decision w/in the next few days.

Thanks for the great info, oldhometara! You are correct that Home Depot is not participating in the $50 rebate. However, when I spoke to the sales person and inquired about a discount she said we could talk to the manager and that would probably not be a problem. I am finding that all stores are willing to negotiate prices these days - even the home depots. I am going to ask for a 15% discount. I also have gift cards from e-bay that are 20% off. In other words, I purchased them for $80 each for a $100.00 gift card. On the 2k that I will be spending that is a great savings. I did inquire about the experience of the installer here. I was told that he does the measuring and installing and has been doing this exclusively for over 15 years. That made me feel more comfortable about installation as I hear it can be tricky for the Silhouette.
As for the installation costs, the installer here in Florida charges $50 to measure. That charge is credited to the installation once the blinds arrive. To install they charge $100 for a slider and $15.00 for each window. This was less than other places I spoke to.
I will definitely check out the MyBlinds iine! Thanks so much for this suggestion. Good luck on your decision and let me know what you end up doing AND if you went with Home Depot if you were satisfied with the work.

terrilang, sorry for the late response. I have visited this forum for a while.

I was dealing with Home Depot Canada, so perhaps you'll have better luck in the USA. I had to deal with the Decorating Services support personnel and was just incredibly disappointed by the lack of response I was getting.

I was not in a rush for the blinds, and would have been content to wait for them had someone just followed up with me and returned my calls. It was their lack of response that just infuriated me. But after the blinds were several weeks late and they apparently made no effort to return my calls or investigate, I decided to cancel the order altogether.

myblinds are not Hunter Douglas - its a private label for Home Depots and Expo's that is "financially" backed by Hunter Douglas. Not a Hunter Douglas brand - they catch you on the wording - "MyBlinds from Hunter Douglas" - not "by Hunter Douglas". Very much like a Producer who financially backs a broadway show, if they put their name on it, it might sell more - but its not the same products.

I've ordered both from Lowes and Home Depot with no problems. It wasn't a large order........just a couple of blinds, but I was very happy with everything. They were shipped directly to the house and I installed.

Thanks, everyone. I ended up signing a contract with a local guy who has his own business. Worked for a big blind company for 18 years. He came in just $100.00 less than Home Depot and I just felt more comfortable with his expertise in measuring and installation. I have a tricky slider with bottom molding that sticks out and we did not want to cut it away so the fit of the blinds and measurement needed a real expert. It just was not a straight forward job. I must say, however, that the folks at our local HOme Depot were really wonderful to work with and if I had not found this person I would have felt comfortable using them.
For anyone else looking at Home Depot, getting gift cards on e-bay can save you 20%. I have used them for other purchases and the savings really mounts up. Since we have just moved into a new home there is lots to buy! UGH...
terrilang

I wish I had seen this earlier about MyBlinds being "from Hunter Douglas" but NOT made by Hunter Douglas!!
We purchased $8,000 worth of Bali and MyBlinds from Home Depot, which were installed less than 2 months ago. The MyBlinds ones are cheap. Thin strings are used to raise and lower them (two have already broken) and they used double sided tape for hems (several have already come apart).

Just saw this post in 2012 and I'm buying shades from Home Depot/My Blinds and was told by the sales staff that the warranty was just the same as Hunter Douglas, because they were a HD company. So I called HD and was told they DO NOT make or warranty MyBlinds. So if anyone wants to check for themselves as I did, call HD at 1-8007890331. They gave me the number of MyBlinds to call for info about the warranty, 877-785-2064 So my question is why is Home Depot merging these two blind companies as if they are connected?

Well I am going to have to correct my own posting, apparently. After getting the information from the number I posted from Hunter Douglas, I got a call today from a more informed customer service rep, and she went into detail about how MYBLINDS is connected to Hunter Douglas, and the warranty is very much the same. She said also Home Depot is very much correct in stating MyBlinds by Hunter Douglas is accurate. The only reason I got into all this was to find out about a delivery date for the MyBlinds I ordered from Home Depot. So I would suggest to anyone buying blinds or shades to be patient and look at many products...I liked Myblinds because of the colors and price. Will let you know what the results are in a later post.

After reading this thread, I went ahead and tried out MyBlinds 2.5" Plantation Shutter Style blinds. First off, they are the heaviest blinds I've ever owned at almost 20 lbs each. The kitchen window is 60"W x 48"L, and the study window is 72"W x 37"L. I had a heck of a time trying to install them because of their weight, and the awkward position of reaching above my head, and forward over the kitchen sink to install them after the brackets were in place. After exhausting my arms, trying to keep my balance and lifting, and getting the entire rail lined up, I finally remembered that I ordered routless blinds, and that I could remove the slats. That was definitely one of my smarter choices!

After all was said and done, the blinds looked beautiful, but I'm not sure how much lifting and lowering those little strings will take. Time will tell. I always "assist" the bottom, with my left hand, when I lift the blinds, with my right hand. It's kind of a pain and I'm still not sure how I feel about these blinds as far as build quality, but for now, they're very pretty.

Because of how heavy they were, I procrastinated and just installed the blinds for the study this weekend. Unfortunately, two of the slats were chipped, so I have to go back to Home Depot and get them to order two more slats. As gorgeous as they are, they definitely aren't worth what Home Depot is charging for them and I wouldn't pay that again for these blinds. However, after receiving these blinds, I took notice of the manufacturing info. They were custom made in Mexico by M&B Window Fashions. As it turns out, these blinds cost half Home Depot's price, all over the internet, under the M&B Windows Fashion name. At Home Depot's double price, Hunter Douglas and Home Depot must be making a huge profit.

I have installed many of the 2 1/2 plantation shutter blinds and it almost never fails that one or more of the slats come in damanged. They are also are very heavy and the first thing to go is the cord lock. Smart thing you did was to order routless but when you receive those new slats from HD, check the dye lot. If it's far off insist on a new blind.

Here's a photo of the damage from the blinds in the study. Considering that they are white, I hope matching the color doesn't prove to be a challenge.

You've noticed that the cord lock goes? Interesting. Now that I found them online for half of what Home Depot sells them for, and that using Tapcons is the way to go in S. FL, I was thinking about getting the blinds for the rest of the house from Steve's, American or some other online blind company. Do you have any experience with any of the online blind companies?