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5/12/2008 - Steve writes:
My story is just about the same as the rest: high pressure sales pitch;<br />
the "Now or Never" threat of exclusion and $5,500 "membership fee".<br />
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Our rationale for not taking the bait was there is no way of knowing if the model that BB has is the same one you want. You have to take what BB gives you.<br />
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The testimonials that you see are from people who were duped, made the mistake, spent their money and have to rationalize the BB rip-off as an "investment" or face the fact that they were slicked.<br />
<br />
I hope you won't fall into this trap. <br />
<br />
5/12/2008 - Anonymous writes:
I am a former employee of DirectBuy. I left the company for several reasons. I agree that the company uses questionable tactics to get people into the showroom. The sales presentations feel like car or condo sales high-pressure sales. It was painful to sit in the showroom working with members and listen to the sales staff trying to strong-arm guests into joining. The company always sights the rule made by the corporate office that decisions must be made same day (as the open house visit) or you forfeight the right to join. If it is such a problem for people you would think the company would see what they could do to amend the arrangement to make it more palatable to potential members. <br />
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Anyway, I left becuase the owner, who is wealthy, couldn't bear to buy me a phone. I was on the phone all day and had to stand over other people and use their phones. The owner couln't provide a computer and printer that worked and my job required me to be on the computer most of the time. My internet access frequently was down. I wasn't trained on the company policies. I worked in the middle of the showroom trying to have meetings with members. was drowning in work and the owner refused to hire more help. I delt with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of detailed orders per month- and was frequenlty the brunt of member abuse. It is understandable that people were mad and I tried my best to help resovle problems that started before I joined the company. I got no support at all from the owner. It goes on and on. As the owner built a new showroom they missmanaged the construction and ended up in debt and paying us with credit cards! When the owner began demanding I also fix the probloms with the displays in the new showroom I decided enough is enough and I quit. I feel sorry for the people that joined that location. Most of them join for remodeling. Based on my professional experience the cabinets, countertops, and appliances are not less expensive overall and the service, at least at my location, was horrible because the owner didn't care about anything but selling the initial membership. I heard is straight from her mouth. As a former insider- I wouldn't waste my money on DirectBuy.
4/11/2008 - nick writes:
Much like all the other stories but want to add that when I went a few months ago in southern California, the cost to become a "member" was $5,800. I don't know the "wholesale" prices but I figure, do the math, that I would have to buy items, at 50% off retail amounting to $14,000 in order to break even. Very smooth operation. One more thing, this outfit advertises constantly in the greater L.A. market. Somebody is making a ton of money marketing so-called "wholesale" items. Watch out!!
4/10/2008 - Amber writes:
I went to DB showroom in Manhattan new york. They actually stop me and my sister and her husband to going, the reason was my brother in-law does not speaking English. Then one sales person from DB named Jennifer spoke to me over the phone and give me the " reason" which is if my brother in-law speaking Italian would disturb other customs, and DB do not serve non-English speaking clients! When I told her this is prejudiced, she said I went to far. Jennifer really needs wake up fast for two reasons, 1st this is USA and 2nd people use eyes to see furnitures not mouth. Everyone please be careful.
4/10/2008 - Randy writes:
I live in Ottawa, Canada. It is simple...RUN AWAY. I went to the "open house" (in Ottawa) and they tried the high pressure sales job on me. "Join now because if you leave the building, you will never have a chance to join again". They wanted 5490.00 dollars (plus tax)up front for the first 3 years, then 220.00 dollars (plus tax) for the next 7 years. I did a quick calculation based on the average discounts they were "claiming" and how much money I would have to spend to "save" enough to break even from my membership. The amount I would have to spend would be about 25,000.00 to 30,000.00 dollars (the saleman even agreed with me). Now remember that shopping in retail stores, there are always sales on big and small items (really big items, you never pay full retail prices unless you are a fool or have too much money). Therefore, a more realistic amount you would have to spend just to break even with a membership fee would be about 40,000.00+. This is simple math and the facts. DO NOT GET SUCKED IN. One other thing, at DB you have to pay the shiping and delivery charges which is an extra. I could go on about other stuff, however I think I made my point. Thanks for reading this warning and be careful with high pressure sales. If it was such a great deal, why the pressure.
4/2/2008 - eddie writes:
Just for the record, when I did compare real prices for goods I had already researched, the prices were EXACTLY the same as regular retail. And that was BEFORE all the crazy shipping. What a shame. . . .the idea of a actual direct buy club is so possible, but unfortuneately that's NOT what's going on here. . .VERY upsetting to say the least!
4/1/2008 - Charlie writes:
My friend & I 'wandered' in to DB and after seeing the infomercials we though that we could just look around a bit to decide if this were for each of us (our husband's weren't with us). We walked right in & were practically tackled by sales people that wouldn't let us look. They made an appointment for us instead. My appointment time is in 1 hour from now.... can I say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all who have made postings with your stories. When I left the facility I wondered why it was so empty inside, LOTS of catelogues, but now I understand thanks to all of the posts. No, I am most definitely NOT DB material! I hope that for your sake you run, not walk away when they call on you!
4/1/2008 - Marilyn writes:
Last evening my husband and I attended a DirectBuy "Open House." As other testimonials, we were initially separated from the larger group and assigned a sales rep. Then the larger group was assembled to view the sales pitch with testimonials. Somewhat impressive, lots of general information, but little true cost vs. membership fee information. Following the presentation, my husband and I were taken away by the same sales rep and asked to answer some questions. One of the questions was "how do you think you would use this service and what would be the benefits for you?" At this time I began wondering how anyone could assess the "actual benefits to you" having never used the service or done basic price comparisons. Following the question and answer dialog, we were asked if we were interested in becoming members and, if so, how would we pay the $6490 three-year membership! (Remember this is California now and even with the higher cost-of-living here, the $6490 fee seemed ridiculous.) Upon replying that we could write a check, the sales rep calmly informed us that our decision to join or not join had to be made on the spot. Duh, run don't walk to the nearest exit! I tried to explain to the sales rep how unfair I felt their demand to "pay now" was and truly believe that this hard sell technique is very unattractive. At this point, the integrity of DirectBuy plummeted in my estimation. No one should be told that unless you commit "now" you will not be allowed to become a member later - or ever. Fortunately we left without hesitation or a doubt in our mind. During our ride home, we discussed the reality of recouping the initial $6500 fee, and what, if any, recourse you would have if DirectBuy were to close the local showroom. Yes, we were told you could shop online, but sometimes you actually want to touch the item you are purchasing. Do your own research prior to attending the hard sales pitch. Additional fees (handling and freight costs) most certainly will dramatically increase your true cost factor. Unless you plan to purchase substantial items, your initial membership fee is your hard-earned money down the drain. When you hear the little bells going off in your head that say this is a hard-sell, run and don't look back!
3/31/2008 - Matt writes:
My 70+ year old Mother fell into their trap. As we're going to renovate our new home, I thought I'd ask her about it. I was shocked to learn how much she paid up front just to be allowed to shop there. She's never been able to buy what she wants as she's on a limited income. I'm not happy with any company that takes my Mom for a ride. I am a sales person who has sold almost every product you can name. So I'm entitled to say "Shame on you DB. And shame on the sales people for their strong arm selling tactics."
3/29/2008 - Camille writes:
All I can say is WOW! I went for the "presentation" pitch two days ago. First, I did not go with my husband who happens to travel and lives in another State. They allowed me to attend without him after I convenienced them I make the decisions in my house -- about our purchases. Like all the other postings I've read, the people were extremely friendly when I arrived. The person who was my pitch person for the day was chatty and used the personal "me too" approach. After our getting acquanted session, I was ushered into a room with several couples who were just as anxious as I was to hear about all the money we would be saving. The presentation was good and I could tell we were all excited about our saving -- until she told us the membership cost, which was $4800!! We went out to our individual tables after the prestation to be assaulted and baggered into joinging "now, right now!" I was tempted (hadn't even thought about going on line to check them out BEFORE I went) but scared to plunk down the "low down payment" at that time. It wasn't until that moment that I found out "NOW OR NEVER!!" Somebody upstairs was looking out for me because I finally passed - I admit reluctantly - and went back to the office. I talked with co-workers and was beating myself up for not taking the "EXCELLENT DEAL" even though I was suspicious about the "do it now or you can't apply agian for 7 years!" WHAT?? I came home, still thinking about it and tonight found this site!!! OH MY GOSH...this is a life saver. I am always teaching my kids that "if it sounds to good to be true..." you know the rest. Or, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...it must be a DUCK and not a MIRACLE. Direct Buy is a scam. They play on your intellegence and have learned how to make the most confident and self-assured person feel stupid. It is not you. It is them. My pitch lady kept saying, "if you don't buy or are not sure it is a good deal, then it only means I haven't done my job well to convenience you." I found myself reassuring her that it wasn't her -- it was me. ME?? I just kept thinking about paying $150 a month for the next 36 months. Think of it this way. If you have $4800 to shell-out right now, or even a $1,000 down payment, then go buy what you want with the cash and make your own deal. Money still talks and if you have cash in hand at a furniture store, they WILL make a deal. When DIRECT BUY CALLS --- run the other way, don't answer, or tell them you will report them to the Better Business Bureau for being a scam. I am thankful all I lost was two hours of time, but like everything else, there is a lesson to be learned in everything you do. This was my "light bulb" moment and my lesson was: ALWAYS do research BEFORE you go meet anyone wanting to part you from your money.
3/27/2008 - Carol writes:
My Husband and I went to a Direct Buy presentation today in NJ. What A Racket! We both immediately felt like a timeshare pitch was coming. We both know our prices and the first person we spoke to claims he could have saved us a 1000 dollars on the kitchen we did but did admit we got a lot for our buck. Then the 6th grade video presentation with the next guy..Booriinng!!! Then they slip in the memebership. cost in between more boring videos, because by now your half asleep anyway......Guess they think NJ has money because we were given the great price of $5990. to join! But then they played more video and I heard the 8% handling fee and all warranties are thru the manufacterer of your product. So now I have to get the merchandise to my home and fight with the manufacterer directly if down the road I have a problem! No thank you. We didnt even stay for the sales pitch after that. I said sorry Im not impressed and we left! What A SCAM!!
3/27/2008 - Habiba writes:
I saw the captivating, almost to good to be true infomercial about Direct buy on tv and call in for more information. Before I knew it I was invited to an open house and sweet talked by an associate into believing I could get EVERYTHING I needed from personal products and apparel to toys and home apliances. The fact that I was bulldozed into making an on the spot descion with the threat that it was a "one time offer" did not help. To make matters worse, though I was told to read the contract the associate kept up a convincing argument throughout the process that distracted me. I was not told my contract would be sold and now I find myself making huge montly payments while paying stupendous finance charges for services I just can't use! My appeals to the "owners" to let me off the "sentence were met with incredible coldness which wasn't shown when they were trying to get me to sign up!!If ANYONE can show me a way out of this trap which has put my family in a hole I would be soooo appreciative
3/26/2008 - Anthony writes:
My wife and I are senior citizens and since we live on a fixed income, we were looking for a way to make our income have greater buying powder, WRONG. Our first experience with Direct Buy was,purchasing a pair of recliners. Since we were so sure that Direct Buy would beat any other suppliers, we purched a pair. Later after seeing adds in the newspapers and on TV we realized we were sold a bill of goods. We plan to remodel our kitchen starting with the flooring. After pricing the product at Direct Buy, then at other suppliers, we found the other suppliers had much better pricies. The bottom line here is, that after paying $4264.31 to have the privliage of buying through Direct Buy, we realized we were misled. I hope this will help other old folks like us not to fall for their BS. They should be investigated and made to reimburse the fees paid by so many.
3/26/2008 - nita writes:
My husband and I went to see this in jan/07 after believing them we signed up $495 credit card and the balance $4,000 in payment from Beta Finance. We went home and discovered the Direct Buy was not as it was represented to us first we couldn't even get on the membership page. I called and told them we didn't want this because it was all a lie. After 2 mos. 2/6/07 they finally saw they had the wrong email address. I finally 2 mos later received the welcome package. We went on the internet alot and tried to use the Direct Buy but they had nothing we were asking for. I got so tried of calling & faxing long distance to get them to Help me. Todate they still do not have what we want. How do you get out of this? I reported it to the Attorney General, Better Business ect. I am now stuck with rude people called Beta Fince calling me on my cell phone and even at my work. How can we stop this? HELP!
3/25/2008 - Bill writes:
ATTENTION!!! READ THIS !!! I was scammed by DB. I was mad as I'm sure you are. Now is the time to strike back. First, if you placed your "membership fee" on your credit card, call your credit card company right now and put the charge in dispute. Second, write your local Better Business Bureau and tell them what happened. You would be surprised what power they have. You can find their phone and address online. Don't stop now! Write you states attorney general (indianaattornetgeneral.gov). The United States Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commision. I recently did this and got my money back. These agencys have never heard there was a problem. If nobody writes, they have no idea there is a problem. I urge you all to stop what you are doing and write these letters now. Direct Buy must be put out of business now!!! You wouldn't want a family member to get stuck, why a stranger? Yes, you can make a difference. Good luck!
3/19/2008 - Sarah writes:
I am a college graduate and got a call from DB about a sales position. My parents were against it but I wanted to check it out. I am in there for about 10 minutes and most of the time he is on a calculator telling me how much money I will be able to make and how easy it will be to make $60,000 a year. I am acting not interested at all and then I get invited to watch the open house. I decide to go. What a scam. The membership fee is $5000 plus after 2 years its $250 a month! The commission for the sales people is around $100 per membership. They tell you that you need to sign up and pay right away I still am not sure the reason. Or you can finance fee at a higher rate than most credit cards. Plus the hidden fees. It seems to me that it would be better to just buy on sale, pay cash, or on a credit card that will have a lower interest rate than on the membership fee, and save yourself the trouble.
3/15/2008 - Michael writes:
We went to the DB in Bflo. I had the same feeling that I had when I attended a time share presentation a few yrs. ago. The sell was hard and since the company gave you no chance to think and do research on product purchaces you might make, we decided to forgo the deal. If it is too good to be true, it probably is. They would not let us think about it over night. We declined. The salesman, Kevin, seemed condescending when we asked him for some time to mull it over. He told us that maybe this is not for us, then showed us the door. Rude. He then went to hook another fish, er customer. If my money is only good today, I'll keep it in my pocket for tommorrow.
3/15/2008 - Jack writes:
I went to the Direct Buy Chantilly, VA location about 8 years ago. I received a letter in the mail in advance of my visit, asking me to schedule a tour of the showroom. I went out to the showroom during the designated date/time, with my sister. Upon entering the "showroom"(a relatively small store-type location in a warehouse strip), we were greeted by very friendly sales people. We were offered a drink and the sales person then proceeded to try and become our new best friend (to the point of being almost uncomfortable, and definitely annoying). He did not talk that much of the program, just talking personal crap. Other couples were also invited, about 20 people in all. After a few minutes, we were all shuffled in a back room where there were chairs setup and we then watched a video (infomercial). The video lasted a good 20-30 minutes. After the video, we were allowed to briefly look in the books on the shelves that contained the products that could be ordered (there were no actual products to touch or look at, it was just catalogs). Up to this point, there was absolutely no mention of how it would cost to join. Then, we were asked to sit down at a table with our sales guy, where he proceeded to give us the hard sell, and tell us about the cost (can't remember how much, but it was in the thousands, I think $3,500 to join). Having not heard about the company before, I said that I would have to think about it before deciding. He then said, well, if you don't sign-up tonight, you CANNOT come back, it is now or never!!!!! As soon as he said that, I got highly suspect and said, FORGET IT. We quickly left. If you have ever been on a timeshare tour, double or triple the hard sell and annoyance of direct buy. Personally, I think it is a pathetic joke and I would never go again. anyplace that won't let you do some research is obviously afraid of what you will find out!!! just my personal opinion. I never joined.
3/15/2008 - Helen writes:
Direct Buy - Queens, NY. All a scam. I am one of the many customers they fooled. I walked into the Direct Buy orientation with the hopes to save money on purchases for my newly owned apartment in Forest Hills, Queens. I was their target customer, the perfect candidate – a new home owner looking to save money on purchases for home gutting and renovation. After the 45 minutes presentation filled with lies, I was talked into paying the $4900 membership fee (in full to avoid the 17.75% interest charge) in return for “hundreds and millions in savings”. Little did I know, it was a one-sided deal and my hard earned money went to waste. I knew the price sounded steep but the salesmen sold me when he explained I would make up the membership fee and begin saving immediately with the amount of money I was going to spend anyway to renovate my new home. We fooled me. This is all obviously not true. Instead, I spent loads of time in their showroom shuffling through catalogues, loads of time at other stores comparing Direct Buy prices, and $4900 out the window. Nothing gained, but lost time and money. I would have lost even further if I actually made a purchase through Direct Buy. With all the time I spent in their showroom, I learned there were additional fees like shipping and handling (separate from one another) on almost each product, which are about 10% on each order by manufacturer. This means they charge you a handling fee on the form of payment you choose - 6% when you pay cash and 8% when you pay by credit card. There are hidden fees you learn once you are a Direct Buy member! I also found out there are plenty of items that are either the same price or cheaper elsewhere, like [], items such as, bathroom wall tiles, floor tiles, Kohler products (toilets, sinks, & tubs), cabinets, countertops and kitchen appliances. All items needed to renovate a home. Even the kitchen measurement fee for kitchen renovation is more,$300 at Direct Buy vs. $100 at [], and both offer the exact same measurement guarantees. On top of all this, all items take about 4-6 weeks for delivery. As a result of my findings, I bought all my merchandise elsewhere, not through Direct Buy. I am currently disputing my membership fee with the store owners and they are offering me 15% back for all cheaper purchases I made elsewhere. This resolution proves Direct Buy cannot guarantee cheaper prices, which is what they prove to be their product, “access to manufacturers directly to avoid retail store markups consumers would pay for”. Is 15% of my money back all I deserve? I want my fully paid membership fee back! I completed the renovation of my apartment, have no further apartment related items to purchase, and learned I never needed Direct Buy after all. I wish I was smarter and read all the previous posts on other consumers' experience with Direct Buy, to avoid all this aggravation and financial loss. With my story, I hope I save someone from making the same mistake of joining Direct Buy like I did. To all consumers – Don’t further waste a second of your time with Direct Buy, you can do all the savings yourself.
3/13/2008 - Jimmy writes:
Just returned from being escorted out the door at Direct Buy in Indianapolis, what A Time Share Scam. Against my better judgement I went with my wife. Upon arrival we were greeted by a very nice lady " just like most of the posts in this site state", tried to ask her just a few basic questions. How long will this take? She intitially stated 45 minutes , then changed to 90. Do you have basic membership fees? We will talk about that at the end of the presentation. She left stating she would be back shortly. I noticed other couples coming in for the same appointment time that we had. "I should have run for the door then". The lady returns with the manager and all the time they are asking us about our plans,are we building, remodeling, etc. I ask the manager, are there memebership fees? Would not answer, only stated that they would cover that after the presentation. I'll make a long story short, after not getting any basic answers and putting up with a very rude manager I refused to wear a sticky name tag. The manager left without saying a word, returned a moment later and thanked me for coming in. I ask him does that mean we don't get to see the presentation? He said, this is a private club we don't think you would fit in... I could not believe the attitude of this person. I asked for another level of management and the first managers clone appeared. Needless to say I let that clone know how I felt and they were very happy to get me out of ear shot from the rest of thier victims.. I have heard about Direct Buy for years and had pretty assumed it would be a very expensive membership club,I can't believe they have not been investigated and charged with fraud! I found this website after returing home...Buyer Beware of this company, if a fish smells when you buy it, its not likley to get better with age!
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