OP again. Well lesson learned. Empire Today called me back after they cancelled to see what they could do to get my business back. They offered me $150 off the price of my blinds when I ordered them with them. I said okay, I thought that was a nice thing to do and I appreciated them compensating me for my trouble. So I made another appointment and took the day off from work today to have the job done.

And do you know what Empire Today did today?

THEY CANCELLED AGAIN!

So frustrating. Obviously, I will use a different company here forward (for everything!)

Anonymous wrote:If they just called and your timestamp is correct, they did call before 10:00 am. What time was your appointment? Go in to work for the rest of the day and stop whining and get another estimate from someone else.

Not everyone has a job where you can just decide to work if you've already scheduled a day off. Likewise, not everyone can work partial days or telework around appointments.

If they just called and your timestamp is correct, they did call before 10:00 am. What time was your appointment? Go in to work for the rest of the day and stop whining and get another estimate from someone else.

It depends. If I know them and had a good experience previously, probably not. Emergencies happen. If I don't have a relationship with them, I am more inclined to switch. Cancellations are not my biggest pet peeve. I recently needed a contractor to make a repair to my fireplace. He gave me a 6 hour window (8-2) to arrive and said he would call the day before to give a more accurate time, which is fine but, he never called. I called him on the morning of scheduled service, he never returned my call. Showed up at 1:45. We need a new part for our fireplace. He said he would call later that day when he got back to the showroom with an estimate and to schedule follow up appt based on when necessary part is available. He never called or followed up. That was 10 days ago. He lost my business. This kind of stuff bothers me more than a cancellation. Just do what you say you are going to do. It's not that hard.

No excuse for Empire. They had enough people on staff to cold call my cell phone yesterday! They could have sent someone else.

Anonymous wrote:I've had so many no shows over the years that I now either telework on days when I have an appointment or I schedule it for late in the day so that I only need to take an hour or two of leave. That way if they don't show I haven't really lost much.

That's smart.

I've had so many no shows over the years that I now either telework on days when I have an appointment or I schedule it for late in the day so that I only need to take an hour or two of leave. That way if they don't show I haven't really lost much.

Anonymous wrote:Have you never had an emergency that involved having to cancel something? Get over yourself. Sure it sucks but maybe the guys wife just dropped dead. Have some compassion. The same amount you'd want given to you.

That's the companies issue. They should send someone else.
OP, they should send someone on the weekend to make it up to you.

Anonymous wrote:I had an appointment with Empire Today to measure for blinds. I took the day off from work for it, and they just called to say they have to reschedule. I was so mad I told them that, no, they lost my business. The person explained that the technician scheduled for the appt had an emergency, and I said then they should send someone else.

I am just mad that I took the day off (used up one of my vacation days) for this. Now I'm looking for anyone else to come and measure for blinds. I know I am cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I dont' think a place as big as Empire Today should ever have to cancel a scheduled weekday appointment.

I agree with you and would be furious. Go elsewhere.

I'm sympathetic, OP. It's hard when you have limited vacation or personal time and you hate to waste an entire day knowing you'll have to do it again. That's why Comcast drives me out of my mind. I understand that things happen and you can't account for a personal emergency, but yes it would help if the company would do everything it can to make it up to you. I suggest telling them that you'd like them to provide you with the first appointment of the day on another day and a guarantee that the person will be there at the appointed time. That way you could perhaps burn just one or two leave hours and still make it in to work.

Can you not get out a measuring tape and measure yourself??

Most of those places will do weekend appointments. Why not just do that?

I get service people to our house all the time. I'd say we have a 10% cancellation rate.

A real emergency, no problem. One with a big company that could probably have someone else come, no. One contractor we talked to this week is going to have a death in the immediate family - if he cancels future work no problem. But, just someone calling in for a random reason, no.

Have you never had an emergency that involved having to cancel something? Get over yourself. Sure it sucks but maybe the guys wife just dropped dead. Have some compassion. The same amount you'd want given to you.

I had an appointment with Empire Today to measure for blinds. I took the day off from work for it, and they just called to say they have to reschedule. I was so mad I told them that, no, they lost my business. The person explained that the technician scheduled for the appt had an emergency, and I said then they should send someone else.

I am just mad that I took the day off (used up one of my vacation days) for this. Now I'm looking for anyone else to come and measure for blinds. I know I am cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I dont' think a place as big as Empire Today should ever have to cancel a scheduled weekday appointment.