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7/8/2008 - NORM writes:
Today, July 8, 2008, I visited Direct Buy for the first and only time. Their presentation was done very carefully and in a certain order. It is done for a reason. First, they try to show you what a few, select products are really worth and what they "usually" sell for in a retail envrionment. These are selected items that are "blind" items used to fool you into false savings. When I asked very pointed questions during the presentation, the salesperson carefully ignored them and talked about something else on HIS agenda. Then, they showed us one of their invoices that included EST. freight, not the real freight cost. That is a profit maker for them. Then, we discusses the 8% handling charges. And, after three TV infomertials they show you from time to time they begin their close. they attempt to show you that normal people usually spend about $50,000.00 on purchases on their products in just a few years. that is used to attempt to justify their $5,000.00 PLUS "membership" fees. They ignored my questions on how rebates and volume discounts to them are reflected in OUR final costs. I asked for the franchise owner and directly asked him that question. His reply was honest and he told me that the corporate office keeps that money. Reputable retailers normally reflect those rebates back to the purchaser to keep their selling prices in line with competition. In short, this is a big rip-off and their money is made by the membersihip fees chared up front. If you never come back to buy anything, they have made a great profit. They also tell you that retailers have a big overhead....Rent, employees, commissions, etc. and yet, when I looked around the building, I also saw rent being spent for a very nice showroom. I saw at least 15 employees, all paid and I am certain, smoe on commission. I didn'tliketheir ESTIMATED freight charges as I know they overcharge the consumer and keep the difference. So, add up the $5,000.00 PLUS up front, the 8% service charges, the volume rebates and advertising monies providedto them from the suppliers and you tell me where the savings are. BE CAREFUL HERE!

7/7/2008 - AI writes:
We purchased a refrigerator from Direct Buy. It was delivered covered in packaging, and the delivery people drove off before we could fully inspect it. It was damaged. Direct Buy refused to replace it, and said that we signed a contract that says if you sign for delivery, too bad if you find damage 10 minutes after the delivery truck drives away. We've filed a complaint with the state Atty. General since it turns out that this contract is not completely legal. Now we're well educated people, so we feel even more remarkably and fantastically stupid to have fallen for the Direct Buy scam.

7/7/2008 - Sabba writes:
My husband and I just returned from a DB presentation. The salesperson, Janie, was rude, braggadocious, and combative. We left before the one on one presentation because my husband told her that we would not be making a decision today. She told us that we would not be allowed to ever come back to DB if we did not sign up today. After reading the complaints on ths site, I am happy we cut our loses and left. We'll do just well bargaining with cash. By the way, we own two timeshares which we love and were never accosted by their sales reps like this.

7/7/2008 - Jay writes:
I am pending a visit to the open house, but was put off by the attitude of the salesperson who called to set up my appointment. The approach did not feel right, so decided to check it out before going. Glad I did, because there is no way I would pay a 5-6K membership fee, so I am going to save several hours. Given the number of complaints on this site, I decided to check the Better Business Bureau. DB is a BBB affiliate and there are only 4 complaints for my local store and 17 for the HQ. They both carry a satisfactory rating - presumably because there are so few complaints. BBB indicates that DB has made a good faith effort to resolve all of the complaints; however, I would note that only in a few cases has the complainant acknowledged the resolution. I take this to mean that, while DB has responded to the complaint, it was not necessarily to the satisfaction of the consumer. I would recommend that every one on this site who has actually signed up and found misrepresentation or unfair practice to submit a complaint to the BBB. It does not mean that you will absolutely get resolution of your problem, but it may keep others from experiencing the same issue. After reading the postings here, I will forego the open house, simply because when someone tells me that I have to commit now or forever lose the opportunity, that is my number one pressure pitch red flag. That tells me that they don't want me to check it out. When a sales-person says that to me, I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, without hesitation, walk away. In all reality - apples to apples comparisons with most products is very difficult these days, because there is such a plethora of different makes and models - many of which are the exact same product placed in different markets. There are advantages to buying retail - sales persons who can explain features/benefits of diffeent options, free or low cost delivery and set-up, the ability to return products at no cost if they are damaged or not as expected (even if you make a mistake in the selection). The number one reason to buy retail is immediate or near-term availability. Part of the retail mark up covers the cost of keeping a stock of items, displaying the items, so you can compare products, and for large items, having someone help you load it up, etc. Your friendly retailer also does act as a middleman between you and the manufactureres, distributors, shippers, vendors, etc. They take the brunt of the risk of dealing with defective merchandise, incorrect or delayed shipments, etc. Yes, you pay a little extra for all of the things that your retailer does for you, but in my opinion the retail markup in most cases is very reasonable for the services you get. In most cases, when you get a deal on a purchase, whether from DB or elsewhere, you have to spend a lot of your own time and effort to secure the deal. Often you also accept all of the risk - no warrantly or hard to resolve waranty, etc. For those people that have the time and patience to deal with the direct buy model and who are planning major purchases near term, DB may be ok, but as for me, I am going to continue supporting my local-freindly retailer. Keeps more of my money in my local community, provides local jobs and tax base, and if I have a problem with a product I have purchased, my retailer will usually take care of it without a shred of hassle. My time is valuable, so what little extra I may pay (if any) is well worth it.

7/6/2008 - Mike writes:
Yesterday evening, June 5, 2008, my wife and I attended the Direct Buy presentation in Thousand Oaks, California. I have to concur with most referrals regarding Direct Buy; it's simply not worth it. They charge you $6,000 up front for two years of membership and another $400 per year for the next 8 years. In order to recoup any benefit you then have to spend at least $12,000 in products to get your original investment of $6,000 back because they tell you that you will on average only be paying 50% of the cost of any product because you are buying directly from the manufacturer. The other people giving feedback are right on the mark, you have to decide right then and there and pay them right then and there. The salespeople act as if they are part of a secret illicit society and that only a select few will ever know about this. It feels more like a huge ripoff to make the owner wealthy----just seems like a very bad idea all the way around.

7/6/2008 - Steve writes:
This site has proved to be very entertaining. I also watched the Infomercial and became curious, so I did a Google search and found this site listed just below the DB site link. What I find is 37 pages of complaints vs a handfull pages of praise. I'm sure that depicts a level of accuracy. Bottom line is if it seems too good to be true it probably is! Personally I never buy from anyone I haven't searched out myself (ie) phone, E mail, door to door, or Infomercial sales. I alos don't buy items with coupons that I don't normally use. Remeber the buy now or you'll never ever be invited back for this grandious opportunity, is no different then the iconic used car salesman dressed in palid high waters, suggesting that you don't make enough $$$ for the car you're looking at. Seems this 5k venture has opened up your eyes, keep spreading the word and never ever make the same mistake!

7/5/2008 - Greg writes:
TLDR: DirectBuy is not for everyone, be very aware of what you're signing up for. My wife and I recently attended the DirectBuy open house in Edmonton, Alberta. We actually had a decent initial experience. The customer service representative, [], was kind, straght forward, and professional. He pointed out the various goods and services offered by the Edmonton DB center and provided us some testimonials from local members. I was also pleased by Jerry's honesty in pointing out that not items present large savings, such as home electronics. Yes, the membership fee is significant, approximately $6000.00 for the initial ten years. We knew there would be a high membership fee even before we went to the open house, we did a little bit of web searching prior to attending, but felt the fee would be easily recoverable considering the amount of home furnishings we were looking to purchase for our new home. That evening we took home the quarterly catalogue and attempted to perform some online price comparisons, it was very difficult to find anything based on the descriptions of many of the items in the catalogue, although admitedly, all of the manufacturer names were omitted from the quarterly catalogue. On the items we were able to identify, I was unable to discover any pricing at all. This started to raise some concerns so I performed some additional online research, including this website. I immediately discounted any post that captialized the words scam and ripoff, because I didn't really feel it was. What I looked for were posts by individuals claiming to be members that described their experience as members and that they were not actually saving much money at all. Having worked in an industry that shipped large light-weight items via common carrier, I began to think about how much it would cost to ship a single seven foot long sofa. For those of you who are unfamiliar how freight works a carrier has two ways to charge for freight, actual weight and dimensional weight. Using [] online quote system, I estimated a standard sofa in a box with 6" packing material 96"X48"X40" weighing 150 lbs to be 107 cubic feet, with no special pick up or delivery options shipped from Toronto to Edmonton to be $598.94. Incidentally triangular shaped boxes are still considered cubes for the purposes of dimenstional weight. On a $1500 sofa in a box store, DB claims about 45% markup, so the DB price would be $825.00 plus $600 in freight, plus their handling fee. It's the same or more as buying the sofa from the box store. Let's assume that DirectBuy has negotiated a discount with a common carrier. Having negotiated with carriers myself in a prior occupation, let's say DB receives an discount of 50%. That's still $300 in freight. Add the handling and you're saving, but in my optinon not enough to warrant a $6000 fee for the privilege to do so. Which is why I cancelled our application the very next morning. same example on a $5000 sofa, full price on freight, works out to $3350 plus DB's handling fee. So it is possible to save significantly on some purchases. In all fairness I do not know what DirectBuy's actual freight charges would in the above example, I'm only going off my own experience from having worked extensively with a variety of common carriers. Cancelling the application was an ordeal in of itself. I'll avoid details, but in my opinion no reputable merchant would employ subversive or intimidating tactics to retain a membership of someone who for whatever reason no longer wished to do business with said merchant. Contract wording that makes it difficult or impossible to obtain a refund, full or otherwise, is in my opinion not acting with good faith in the customer-merchant relationship. Know what your rights are and how contract law works in your province or state before you sign anything. My advice would be to go into the open house with a detailed list of manufacturer model numbers and retail prices of all the items you are looking to purchase in the next 12 months and ask for a comparison using their catalogues and draw up an order which will show all of the additional charges so that you are able to do an apples to apples comparison and make an informed decision. Also, when arranging to attend the open house, do not go on a weekday evening, always book a daytime appointment to afford you as much time as possible to review the merchant catalogues before you sign anything. If they have nothing to hide, DirectBuy will not have an issue with this. If they have an issue with you reviewing the catalogues prior to joining and informing you of additional charges on would be purchases, then simply thank them for their time and leave.

7/5/2008 - Geri writes:
I have been a member since 1984 (it was called [] back then). Like anything else one purchases, this membership is obviously not for everyone, especially if you do not do your homework. First, compare apples to apples. One man spoke of cabinets that were not real wood at Direct Buy. A savvy consumer will build a knowledge of specific manufacturers- and you can do this by visiting the retailers in your area. I saved twenty thousand dollars on my [] cabinets over what I could find them for in Knoxville- but they are upper end cabinets, not the [] type. I have bought light fixtures, bedroom & dining room suites, and upholstered furniture for less than I can get them in Highpoint, NC (one of the biggest furniture discounters in the country). But you cannot compre [] with []. One is top quality, the other is little more than plastic. I say all this to say that the people who won't get value out of purchasing a membership are ones that are most likely to purchase their golf clubs at []t,ones who are not able to spend enough time researcing to product before they buy, and ones who cannot visualize the end they are trying to achieve.

7/4/2008 - Lisa writes:
We joined Direct Buy 5 years ago. The membership price was approx $4000. We did an extensive renovation on our home and did not use Direct Buy for ANYTHING! I was able to negotiate better prices on every single item we've purchased. By the time you factor in their 10% plus shipping and handling you can buy the same items for A LOT less hassle at a retailer. We spent $4000 on a membership for nothing - we have not purchased one thing from them. TOTAL rip off.

7/4/2008 - Terresa writes:
If you don’t like the product, tough. You are stuck with it. DirectBuy unlike retail stores has a no-return policy and provides no warranties. Sales books are not always up to date, and not every item is always available. More disturbing to me is that DirectBuy attempts to hide the fact that not all savings it sees from manufacturers are passed on directly to members. By reviewing the 260-plus page agreement with its franchise owners, I learned that DirectBuy reserves the right to keep rebates, discounts and other payments from manufacturers and suppliers. It also keeps early-pay discounts, and all DirectBuy purchases are paid by the member at the time of ordering. Imagine that, a buyer's-club keeping discounts. It seems Directbuy has some issues. If you are not saying scam by now, I think you should.

7/4/2008 - Charlie writes:
I was at our local center today, a rarity since the wife usually handles that end of the buying. Having read all the negatives on here, I really listened to the sales pitches. Of the 3 I heard, after the 20+ question session they told 2 of the couples they really wouldn't benefit much from a membership. Told them since they weren't building, doing major remodeling, or planning major furniture or other product buys in next few years it most likely wasn't worth their while to join. One of those couples decided to join anyway, sales guy tried to dissuade them but they insisted! We joined over a year and 1/2 ago. I help a lot with the local and internet searches for prices and wife does most of the Direct Buy purchases. We never mention Direct Buy to local places. We just confirm with them what we figured their price to be and tell them we've found the items elsewhere for less. We say we would prefer to buy locally but their price isn't competitive. Sometimes they've offered 10 or 15% off but not enough and we walk away. We have saved on average more then 50% off list price, more then 40% off bargained price or sales price or contractor price. That's usually after upgrading to higher quality products. We've found that we could buy several grades higher quality for same price or less then at box stores or local retailers for the lesser quality items. Why would anyone not want the gold model through Direct Buy at a lower price as the really cheap model elsewhere? We found we could get cheaper quality items locally or on internet, but we haven't found anything that's the exact same brand and exact same model that was more expensive at Direct Buy, even if there's a handling charge or shipping charge for the item. A couple items have been close in price, like garbage disposals and gas grills. We got our cabinets through our builder, and the quality is rather bad. When I've seen what we could've bought through Direct Buy, what with self closing drawers and such, and think of how much cheaper it could've been, it's really really sad. In our experience, very few items bought through Direct Buy have both a handling and shipping charge. Appliances we bought were delivered to house at no extra cost, as was some furniture and some other things. But even with any handling fees or shipping fees, was cheaper by a lot at Direct Buy. Nothings ever been late, in fact it's quite often so early we're not ready for it yet.

7/3/2008 - Darrin writes:
I stumbled across this web site and felt compelled to respond. Myself and my wife joined in 2003 and have nothing but good things to say about Direct Buy. We have saved $1000's of dollars and paid off our membership, in terms of savings, in two years. We paid $2300.00 to join. Direct Buy is a franchise system where private investors pay a fee and open up a location. The investor/owner is the one who makes most of the rules and decides what a membership will be worth. We live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the owner here is excellent. Direct Buy also has a store in Edmonton which is a 2.5 hour drive from Calgary. Quite a few members from that area drive to Calgary to make their purchases because our location is more customer friendly (two different ownership styles). When we first joined we had bought a new home and wanted blinds. Direct Buy sent a rep to measure up all our windows and helped us place our order in home. They did not charge us a cent! The blinds came early and I installed them myself. On this one purchase we saved $1500 compared to retail stores who sold the same brands and gave us quotes. When we shop for an item the first thing we do is see which brands Direct Buy carries. We then go out to stores to view the products and price shop. Once we know what we want and have the retail price we go back to Direct Buy (or to the website) and see if a deal truly does exist. ( I agree with everyone that on some items Direct Buy is more expensive when you add S&H but, for the most part, you do save). We then place our order. I don't think we have waited more than 8 weeks for any one item and usually get the product within 2 to 3 weeks. I also agree that Direct Buy does not carry every brand name out there but they have most products covered by some manufacturer. If you are a brand name shopper then a membership here is probably not for you. I personally like [] products but [] is not carried by Direct Buy. WE recently purchased a [] 46" flat screen and I couldn't be happier with it. When we bought our membership we put down a $100 deposit and were given 3 days to think about it. After 3 days, if we had not purchased a membership, we lost the $100 but losing $100 is a lot easier to swallow then a few thousand. All our questions were answered when we returned to see the sales rep and we had a lot of them. The person we dealt with never lied to us. Most of the complaints I have read about on this web site we knew in advance of purchasing. I do feel sorry for the people who have been ripped off by some unscrupulous franchise owners but you can't lump them all into one category and say the whole company is terrible. There is not a company out there that does not have some sort of customer complaint against them. I also agree that Direct Buy HO should look into some of these complaints and straighten out some of these franchise owners if they are conducting business in an illegal fashion. Direct Buy, as a company, should be more diligent in monitoring their franchisee operations.

7/3/2008 - Keith writes:
I attended the high pressure presentation in the Brighton Michigan DB. I purchased a membership but set it up on installments to be sure I was getting the savings they claimed. After attempting several purchases I was amazed to find the price with shipping and handeling to be much greater than retail! There was no savings at all on most products. To be fair the price for carpet I purchased was less than I would have paid at a high-end carpet store and a few cents cheaper than the home improvment stores but I had to find a installer and pay shipping from Brighton to my home which used up the savings. I stopped the payments on the membership and when they called told them I was going to the state attorney generals office to complain about the deceptive practices. In short don't be fooled by the hype it is a rip-off!

7/2/2008 - Paula writes:
What a ridiculous attempt to rip people off! My expeience at Direct Buy last night was a nightmare from the start. I was met at the door by an annoying, cheesy and overbearing salesman. I flat out asked him what the catch was. He said there was no catch. I asked if there was a membership fee and he refused to answer me. He said he would get to all that when the presentation started. I again asked what the fee was and he got very hostile and uncomfortable and tried to turn the tables on me by telling me I was interrupting him. So, after almost 2 hours of the cheesiest presentation, low and behold, they want $6000 as a membership fee. I cannot understand who is gullible enough to fall for this nonsense. And it takes 8-14 weeks to get your stuff if you do order. Plus they make you decide then and there whether you join or not and try to pressure you by saying if you decline to be a member you will never be invited back. Whatever - DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME like I did.

7/2/2008 - Amy writes:
Okay these stories are nice to know. I also had an appt to go to seminar. I dont have this much money to front. And this does seem like they are making up for the money saving by charging a high membership fee. They also keep calling my house hounding me. I will not be scammed and will let them know. Thanks

6/30/2008 - Mario writes:
A year ago I purchased the membership from direct buy of Phoenix. The total cost was approximately $5400.00. We purchased this membership because I had seen the infomercial on late night television. My wife and I were in the process of building a 3250 square foot home. I also had other property that we rented. Considering that we were building a home and had rentals, I felt that I would definately benefit from this product. While building the home I found out like many others that there is literally little to no savings. Almost everything could be found at a lower price online or at big stores. The sales associate at DirectBuy was saying how much of a savings I would have on the Cabinets alone 50%. Dont be fooled, I was. 50% is not an actual amount if the price is increased at 150%. Bottom line. DirectBuy is a legal way to steal peoples money. WALK AWAY!

6/30/2008 - Michael writes:
We purchased a membership 3 years ago and it has been one nightmare after another. My main complaint is with many items you really do not know how much your saving. They will tell you to get a model name or number but there always seem to be several different names or a manufacture will only make a certain product for a certain store. We recenty purchased bedroom furniture went to the warehouse to pick it up and found it to be mostly defective even after we were told by a worker it was pre-inspected. I refused it (waste of trip time and gas) not only was I lied to but the manager for our DB tells me that a furniture doctor will determine if the furniture is repairable, that was 3 weeks ago. When I complained to her that if its repaired its no longer new its damaged but fixed her reply was ALL furniture stores do it (I have the e-mails to prove it). DO NOT PURCHASE A MEMBERSHIP YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!

6/29/2008 - Rick writes:
My wife and I were planning bathroom and kitchen remodels 3 years ago. We saw a DirectBuy advertisement and went to the showroom. The presentation was very well-done, with emphasis on how much money can be saved -- tens of thousands of dollars. By the time the shpeel is over, the $6000 7-year membership sounds reasonable. Reality: 1. Despite the sense that there are thousands of brands available, choice is limited. 2. You buy sight unseen. All you have is a catalog description and picture (not always the correct one). 3. Delivery takes 2-6 weeks depending on the product. If you want something fast, DB does not help you. 4. Delivery is to the store. It is your responsibility to get it from DB to your home. Leave it too long, and you'll be charged storage. 5. Additional charges are added to the DB price, such as freight, making displayed savings less. 6. Eg., I was interested in a [] exercise machine. There are several models, none of which are offered through DB. The only one DB carries is the 1700, which is an out of date model, no longer sold by []. (Save $200 off [old] reported price). 7. My wife had a remodeling firm come in and give a good price on our bathrooms and kitchen, so we went that way instead of DB. There was no way we could get all the pieces to our home, or places to store them, while the workers did the remodel. It just did not work. 8. So, three years ago we paid DB $6000 to save thousands. To date, we have bought one piece of furniture for our children, and saved $150 off list price. 9. Yes, much of this is our fault, but this is reality. It is hard to find the time to drive to the DB location, to find something that comes close to what we want, buy it sight unseen, wait weeks to receive it, and then transport it home ourselves, for savings less than advertised. DB plays on the desire to save lots of money (dare I say greed?) as well as high pressure sales techniques and buy now or lose the chance to get your $6000. We will never recoup our loss ... we simply do not buy enough furniture to justify the cost of membership. My advice is to keep the $6000, pay the 8-12% higher price when you need something, and retain your freedom.

6/29/2008 - Stephanie writes:
We became members several years ago because we were building a house. Since then we have post-poned the building and have bought properties since then. We have looked at Direct Buy for comparaison shopping with the newest edition of remodels that we have been doing since. The cabinets were first. Direct Buy's quote on cabinets was more than $10,000 more than the cabinets we are installing plus Direct Buy's cabinet quote did not even solid wood throughout. The appliances as well were more $1,000 more than a local appliance store. That was just 2/5 of the appliances we could get from them. We are very disappointed with the membership and will probably not go back. This was $4,000 down the drain that we could have put into numerous upgrades.

6/28/2008 - Jim writes:
My experience was in San Antonio a few years back. It was similar to most that are posted to this site. Very cordial until you start asking questions, then the charm turns to threats," take it or leave it, your deposit is non-refundable ". " No we cannot divert from the planned presentation, take it or leave it " No you cannot see poduct samples, catalogs, or pricing, until your membership application is submitted, approved, and due received ". I ultimately joined and quickly discovered that usually what I needed was not available or needed to be special ordered at extra cost. A price lower than " on the street " was the exception rather than the rule. I could buy better and cheaper merchandise at any membership warehouse ( $35.00 per year ) or major department store. Needless to say I was disappointed and wanted to cancel my membership which I was told was impossible. Rather than make waves I decided I would just let my membership expire. Even after I expressed my disappointment in no uncertain terms I was hounded forever for membership renewal payments. Doing business with Direct Buy was a terrible experience. Class action suit ?? Where do I sign ??

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