Browse Forums Outdoor Living 1 Jun 26, 2012 11:36 am I was pointed to this company by a recommendation on here. And at first glance they seem to do a great product at a very good price. The online ordering system is simple and straightforward and allowed all options to be explored, and we decided on the twist lock with sunscreen fabric, at a cost of $2,400. However that is where the good news stops. The promised 1 week turn around, was actually 20 days, and that was after me chasing them 3 times via phone and once via email (which wasn’t replied to). 2 phone calls were met with a promise to ring me back, which never occurred! Once the products were delivered (they were packaged very well), I noticed that the installation instructions were not included, however being a fairly decent DIY’er I decided to plough on anyway. Installing the blinds and side tracks was pretty straight forward and they were up in a weekend! However the “blind” part of the product doesn’t actually sit inside the side track, more over rests approx’ 2mm inside the track, so the slightest breeze causes the blind to come out of the track and the breeze enter the supposedly shaded area. As the cloth is now flapping in and out of the metal side track, and has done for approx. 2 weeks of not too strong winds, the cloth is already showing signs of fraying at the edges. Who knows what the edges will look like after 2 or 3 winters and several stronger than a gentle breeze batterings! That is not the standard of workmanship you expect for the money. In all honesty I wish I’d went to bunnings and spent half the amount plastic screens, atleast when they fray in a few years time, replacing them wont be as expensive. Of course I emailed OzRite blinds with my comments and concerns and guess what, no response. Just thought I’d let you all know my experiences before making any decisions you may regret. Point Cook, Victoria - Being hounded by the fascists!! Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 2Jul 06, 2012 3:20 pm Hi there, did you get any response yet? I have just ordered 2 blinds also in the twist lock system. The turnaround time in fact was one week. They were delivered by someone in the company. So I have no complaints there. I did have a couple of hiccups. I did ask for colour swatched to be sent to me after the first lot didnt arrive, I was promised they would be resent. this didnt happen, but we easily decided to go for black anyways. My blinds did not include the installation instruction either, but I got them emailed after a couple of days. We will be installing them tomorrow, so I can not comment on how the blinds will be sitting inside the track. Our measurements should be spot on, as I actually had another company come by to do a measure and quote... the customer service is somewhat a bit slack I must admit. I will post and report back once the blinds are up. It makes me think they are a very busy company, great business idea there folks... Our openings around our alfresco area are very large, so to go to Bunnings is not an option. Also we did have the clear Bunnings blinds in the old house, and yes we replaced a couple of them because they just weather after a couple of years. So it will be interesting to see what happens here. As you said they are not cheap... Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 3Jul 09, 2012 8:04 am tan39 Hi there, did you get any response yet? I have just ordered 2 blinds also in the twist lock system. The turnaround time in fact was one week. They were delivered by someone in the company. So I have no complaints there. I did have a couple of hiccups. I did ask for colour swatched to be sent to me after the first lot didnt arrive, I was promised they would be resent. this didnt happen, but we easily decided to go for black anyways. My blinds did not include the installation instruction either, but I got them emailed after a couple of days. We will be installing them tomorrow, so I can not comment on how the blinds will be sitting inside the track. Our measurements should be spot on, as I actually had another company come by to do a measure and quote... the customer service is somewhat a bit slack I must admit. I will post and report back once the blinds are up. It makes me think they are a very busy company, great business idea there folks... Our openings around our alfresco area are very large, so to go to Bunnings is not an option. Also we did have the clear Bunnings blinds in the old house, and yes we replaced a couple of them because they just weather after a couple of years. So it will be interesting to see what happens here. As you said they are not cheap... Yes i eventually got a response (I had to ring them, and finally got someone to pick up the phone). It turns out that problem with the blind flapping is due to the spring not being tensioned enough. The spring needs to be tensioned to about 15-17 twists (I didn't know this as I had no instructions). However twisting it 15 times is bloody difficult, so take it easy and make sure you hold onto the shifter tightly, as if not it will spring back at you qand whack you in the shin (that is the voice of experience). However that hasn't stopped the cloth actually being at least 1cm short at either end. The measurements were spot on as I had a friend who installs decking and pergolas come around and verify my measurements. our openings are big too, 2 openings over 3900, and another 2 over 3550. Dont get me wrong the blinds themselves are very good blinds, they just seem to be cut a tiny bit shorter than I would have thought they should have bben, and the lack of instructions caused issues which has caused my blind to fray on the ends. Best of luck installing them (It is very easy to instal I must admit), and let me know how you go. Point Cook, Victoria - Being hounded by the fascists!! Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 4Jul 09, 2012 9:46 am We got ours up. The first one took a while... The side channels had to go in one timber post, which was easy, the brick wall was a bit harder even though hubby had hammer drill etc. He ended up with a whole that was too big for the screws we got. We used bigger plugs and screws. However, the head on these screws is too big, so the blind catches on it if you want to pull it down all the way. See photo... Hence it is not down all the way...Will have to do something about that. Yes hubby tentioned the spring, it seemed hard and he let go a couple of times. Luckily the shifter didnt hit anybody or the nearby glass doors... They look really nice up, but I know what you mean with the fraying, The fabric should go in line of the groove on the inside of the channel. mine overlap by about a cm on each side, but the fabric could be just a tad wider on each side. We have 2 blinds in total at the moment. Here is a pic: http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee479/tanja1120/Our%20New%20Home/ef10b03e.jpg I was told by the company that in high winds they recommend pulling the blinds up, in every variation, doesnt matter if they are just a pull down blind, twist and lock system or even the fancier ziptrack. Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 5Jul 09, 2012 10:45 am They look great Tan. What fixing did you use for the wall? We used Dynabolts, but the flush fitting ones, but we attached timer to the wall first, then the tracks to the timber, so we could use screws with smaller heads so the bar doesn't catch too much on them. Yes we retract the blinds in heavy winds, but its the smaller winds that caused the problem (hopefully the newly tensioned springs will minimise the flapping). However the cloth will still fray even with this. We purchased a product called "fray away" from spotlight, and applied this to the edge, it dries clear and provides some protection to the fraying. Point Cook, Victoria - Being hounded by the fascists!! Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 6Jul 09, 2012 10:53 am The screws we ended up with have like an hexagonal head on them and the witdh of the head is nearly 5 mm, so no wonder the blind is catching. I will hunt for something with a smaller head, there has got to be a solution without taking the whole thing off, which hubby will not do. Thanks for the tip "fray away". will look at getting this product. Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 7Aug 12, 2012 7:19 pm We are going to get one of the retractable awnings from there in a couple of weeks. Will let you know how we go. Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 8Sep 10, 2012 12:42 pm misswright We are going to get one of the retractable awnings from there in a couple of weeks. Will let you know how we go. Did you end up getting your blinds? Re: Outdoor blinds - Ozrite Blinds Brisbane 9Feb 11, 2013 12:23 pm I posted my experience with Ozrite in another topic, link: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=53817&p=979249&hilit=ozrite#p979249 About a year ago, I embarked on a DIY project to construct an outdoor Pergola, which measures approximately 5.2 meters by 4.0… 0 29607 Thanks for letting us know. The programmer will have a look at this later today. 2 6681 Natural stone tiles like slate, travertine, and limestone add a timeless, elegant look to… 0 24528 |