I purchased blinds from Empire in September 2007. The biggest "home improvement purchase" I have made. I have experienced repeated problems with these blinds. The strings end up sliding so far that we have to use a step ladder to reach the strings or either have to close the blinds in the opposite direction. We have called Empire over and over again over the past two years trying to get our blinds fixed and they were never fixed to our satisfaction. There are still gaps even with the blinds closed. Recently (over the past three month... read full review »