NORTHVILLE, Mich. – A Northville mother wanted everything to be perfect when her family moved into its new home this summer.
However, she told Ruth to the Rescue something is missing, after a local company cashed her checks, but did not deliver everything it promised.
Kristen Mallie is a busy mother of five children from ages 9 down to 16 months. She says she worked hard to make the move as smooth as possible. "We knew we'd face some challenges- but we never thought we'd be dealing with something like this," she told Ruth to the Rescue.
Delivery delay, lack of communication
As part of her move-in plans, Kristen ordered blinds for the whole house and some shutters for the family room. She contacted a company called The Blind Spot back in May. It's a locally owned company based in Livonia. The biggest problem, according to Kristen, the shutters she ordered were never delivered.
Pointing to her bare windows, Kristen Mallie said, "This was our biggest concern. These are the shutters, the all wood shutters, plantations shutters that were supposed to come."
The blinds were installed back on June 27th. Unfortunately, Kristen noticed some problems. She showed Ruth to the Rescue an invoice that requested all want tilt blinds, but the blinds featured the chord control instead.
For her, it was a safety issue, especially in her children's rooms, "This is where their beds are, so it just made me nervous, that's why we wanted wand tilts to prevent any strangulation from the kids."
She says the owner of The Blind Spot, Andy Hatton, said he would fix the problems when he delivered the shutters. However, after receiving a final text on July 17th, Kristen says she could never reach Hatton again.
"He is not returning any phone calls. I spoke to him on the day that he came. That was the only, last time, that I actually spoke to him and saw him in person was on June 27th, when he came to our home.
Ruth to the Rescue gets invovled
When Ruth to the Rescue called The Blind Spot, Andy Hatton *did* call back. He told Ruth to the Rescue the order for the shutters didn't go through as planned, admits he panicked, and broke off communication with Kristen. Hatton says he has offered to fix the other problems, but at this point Kristen simply wants a refund of some kind and she wants someone else to do the work.
"I'm saddened by the way he does business and I really hope he's not doing this to other customers," Kristen Mallie told Ruth to the Rescue.
Hatton says this is not the way he does business, and says he has plenty of satisfied customers. We checked with the Better Business Bureau. While The Blind Spot currently has an "F" rating, the agency confirms Hatton is working to clear up existing complaints. He says the economy made things tough for his business, like many others, and he's working to make things right for his customers.
Refund resolution?
Hatton determined a $1,500 refund was going above and beyond, considering how the situation had devolved. He sent Ruth to the Rescue copies of money orders for 15 hundred dollars-- that he said he's mailed to Kristen.
Kristen tells Ruth to the Rescue she's happy Ruth to the Rescue was able to help reach a resolution, but she's waiting to make sure those checks arrive.
We'll be watching too. If you have a problem you think Ruth to the Rescue should investigate, send an email to ruthtotherescue@clickondetroit.com.