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8/15/2007 - Liz writes:
My Husband and I joined Direct Buy only to find the products were not at a savings. While building our house we priced everything through Direct Buy and the only thing we purchased were a few appliances for the kitchen. What a hassel with pick up! No delivery. Forget returns or damaged goods they do not stand behind their products. I priced flooring, lighting, shingles, etc... couldn't get a price as promised with cabinets or counter tops. I actually found everything - flooring and lighting less expensive locally! I had to return some lighting b/c it did not work and if I had bought from Direct Buy I would have been stuck. Help is basically non-existent and if you make a mistake ordering as we did your stuck with the product. How can their prices be the lowest if we were finding it less expensive locally. They are still making a profit even after they get your $4000.00. What a rip off!

8/14/2007 - Mandi writes:
More like Direct-LIE!! We joined worst mistake becuase they don't have to have good customer service skills once they get your money. Let's just say that if you are they type of person to try and save money in the first place,you can find a similair deal.. DON'T JOIN. We just found the same Sofa we purchased from direct buy with 2 end tables and Loveseatfor 1000 less thast we paid. By the time you pay a handling charge, taxes, shipping and credit card fees- if you use your credit card (thought that was illegal) you can just go to a retail shop and haggle a qucik second for the same deal. We have made 3 purchases of the last 2.5 year only one came without damage and if you have a problem forget it. You have NO RECOURSE. You are at their mercy becuase you allready paid 2 months before you get your shipment- In our case they agreed to pay some money back but, that is when we saw the same furniture in [] Circular for less than our original price- with the credit we are only $200 higher but with no end tables/.. and 4 months later.

8/12/2007 - Susan writes:
I purchased Direct Buy after being lied to about the hugh discounts I could receive as a memeber. A leather jacket (valued at over $400 for only $25. I have found that the said jacket is no longer for sale. The enormous selecton on merchandise contains highter prices on most items than what I can find in retail stores. I caution anyone from going to hear the sales pitch. What sounds "too good to be true" certainly applys here. I would like to know if anyone else scammed by Direct Buy would like to join me in a CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT. My e-mail address is [].

8/12/2007 - Teemu writes:
We recently became members of direct buy along with the similar pressured sales pitch involved like others mentioned, and we yielded to saving some money in remodelling costs and paid our high membership costs of $6300. Since then, the service people or the designers have failed to return our calls or they tell us that it takes time to meet with them due to heavy number of customers. For charging such high amount of membership they hardly have one person as a liason between customers and the designers who claims that she is swamped with meetings of customers. Yet her calendar shows one or two customers a day.Whatever happened to atleast putting 8 hours of work a day? Then when we confronted them on asking why does it take so long even to get to meet with the designers they responded they will have someone call us immediately. Then 3 days later the designer calls with some questions and we responded to it. Since then we havent heard from them on the progress or when we should meet them. I have contacted the designers 3 times since( I have phone bills to prove) and yet no response from them so far. We have done all the preliminary work of designing ourselves along with measurements, selected the appliances and we spent so much time on doing all these ourselves besides paying such high membership. Isnt it time the Better Business Bureau stepped in and wind up this operation? How do we go about getting our money back from these guys?

8/12/2007 - Thelma writes:
My husban and I went to Direct Buy with great anticipation after watching the very convincing infomecial. We got the speech while there and bought into it because this was our first and last chance to buy in to the elite Direct Buy club. What fools we were, how dissappointed we were with everything. We paid $1,200 down and now are burdened down with payments of $150.00 a month. The remainder of the loan was turned over to Beta Finance Co., Inc.in Crown Point, Indiana 46308 of which I have tried to pay as regular as possible. We ordered a sectional which never came we ordered carpet for 2 rooms and it took so long and when we got it-it was too small for our living room. We got the worst service you can imagine and can't afford to buy anything from them due to the payment. The cost at that time was $4,000 for a ten year membership-you can bet that we won't be joining again. What horror story. In debt just to pay other peoples salaries and make the club owner richer and richer. I want to be a part of the Class Action Law Suit - but how? I live in Orlando Florida

8/11/2007 - Terry writes:
My husband and I decided to get information on Direct Buy after seeing the infomercial. My husband scheduled an appointment or as they say "open house" for that same day. When we arrived they had us fill out some information. Looking back, I am surprised they didn't ask for our blood type and birth certificates and our checking account. If you are married or engaged you must both must attend or no access. We waited for a short time until the rest of the group arrived, meanwhile there is a video about the company going on. We entered into a room with our guide John Z. "aka Sales person" and we here about how he has moved down from the Naperville location (Chicago area)and has been with the company for the past 4 years. There is going to be a really big market in the Jacksonville area so this is why he relocated. After a very fast pitch about the company and how great it is did not they say "if you don't sign up now you can't later". No this comes after 45 minutes on the tour. The membership is $4990 but is going up next month to $5990, so what a deal today is! My husband and I decide to go thru the rest of the sales pitch, since it is over 100 degrees outside and it is nice and cool in the building. We really are interested in the savings so we thought we would ask some questions and see about the different payment plans. We also thought they might have a way to sign up for the future without using the benefits now. So we waited till the end, listening to all the "it's a numbers game on how many people join", we sit down with the payment plans. My husband and I start to discuss we really need to wait to sign up, since it is going to be 6 months to a year before we will be purchasing things. So we ask our Sales person John and he seems to aggrivated that we aren't going to purchase the membership today. We said we didn't know we had to join today all we wanted was information. He was not wanting to here that we would like to join, but we don't need this membership for at least 6 months. After a short while, I asked why they don't state this on the infomertial or on their web site. He said they don't have to it is private club and they can make their own rules. I said this was misleading, and why wouldn't they at least tell you when you arrive and not 45 minutes into the sale. He responded by stating this must not be too much of a problem since they have been in business for a long time and the policy hasn't changed. At that moment he said in a really nice voice "why don't you come with me into the other room" and this is when my husband and I were thrown out of the building. I hope this company has better customer service after you join.

8/10/2007 - Patricia writes:
I joined Direct Buy in 2003, and like so many others, was duped by the high-pressure sales pitch. In my heart, I knew something was wrong when they told me if I didn't sign that day, I couldn't join for 7 years, but I needed a lot of furniture, and thought I could really save money. That has not happened. The fact that you have to go to the showroom to place orders and then go back to pick up your items makes it totally inconvenient. And the hours are for the benefit of the owners, not the customers. In Ft. Worth, they close at 5:00 p.m on Saturday and are closed on Sundays. Any three day weekend, they're not open either. For people who work, this is nonsense. And don't ever have a problem. You will have to scream and yell to get any satisfaction, if you can get a real live person on the phone. I purchased some chairs from the Directions catalogue, got them home and then discovered there was no hardware in either box, they told me I couldn't return them to the manufacturer because they didn't take "courtesy" returns. When I didn't buy that, they gave me some other song and dance. I finally wrote a letter to them with a cc to the BBB. The 6% that you pay for them to "handle" your purchase is a junk fee, pure and simple. I have bought a couple of rugs that I did see savings on, and the best part is that they were delivered directly to my home. I still had to go to the showroom and put in an order, and pay the 6% handling fee, even though they never handled it. This is a ripoff, pure and simple.

8/9/2007 - John writes:
How about Direct BYE! We went this morning to the presentation. Wow, half way thru I looked over at the door and wondered if it was locked from the inside. They repeated the concept of retail markup so many times I lost count. What were they trying to do, hypnotize us? I found the whole pitch very fear driven and condesending. "If you leave you will never be extended this offer again!" I wish more salespeople would promise to leave me alone forever after I said no. They were as polite as anyone trying to talk you out of you money could be expected to be. And the claim that the average household spend around TEN THOUSUAND DOLLARS a year on retail markup? Based on WHAT? Based on scaring me into giving you my money? We had the plan of the kitchen we are doing and had them price out a similar configuration. The savings they touted were less than $2000.00. Why do I want to pay 6K for that? (Yes in Burbank, CA, the going rate for stupidity is 6K.) We already got beautiful appliances [] and would love to see them beat that deal. Hey and you know what else? We got the same (I swear) mattress (Simmons Beautyrest pillow top, ultra ooh-la-la) they use in one of their examples for $100.00 less, maybe more cause I am thinking of the price we paid with tax AND FREE DELIVERY (AT []) And [] said I didn't have to pay for it for a year, and they did not charge me a membership fee, and they did not say if we didn't buy the mattress, we could never come back. Many of the the savings examples presented today were percentages taken off full MSRP which most Earthlings rarely come in contact with. Well we made it out alive and down no more than a couple hours and gas money. We will probably hear a consumer reporter do a story on this place fairly soon.

8/9/2007 - Lydia writes:
I telephoned the 1-800 number to get information on DirectBuy, which was followed up by a printed flyer with a date and time to report to their Mountain View office. I also received a telephone call telling me to be sure to be there, elaborating on directions, and telling me there are a lot of people who want to come -- so don't waste the ticket. When I arrived there must have been 30 cars in their parking lots. It all seemed so *secretive.# Why?? Why is is so secretive? When it came time to collect a check from me --- I said that I don't make snap decisions when it comes to that amount of money. The woman who was assigned to me said that I would never be allowed to join if I didn't join NOW. Well, that sounded ridiculous to me. What kind of professional business is that? However, she left me feeling that I was some sort of disgusting human being --- immediately terminating the interview, and showing me the closest door out to the street. (Again, it seemed like they didn't want you to look at any of the catalogues that were there for some reason, or even get the names of the corporations that participate . . .. ) She closed the door on me and left me in the pitch black parking lot. Overall, it was a very unpleasant experience. Reading the remarks by people who actually joined --- I feel lucky that all I had was an unpleasant couple hours! Maybe someone should call one of those television stations that do investigative reporting! Something is not right here!!

8/8/2007 - Andrea writes:
We joined direct buy a couple of weeks ago, I was feeling uneasy with the horrendous sales pitch and pressure, however my husband all excited, building a new home we can save so much money. then yesterday I came across all these complaints and horrendous experiences, I called Direc buy with numerous questions, to be brushed off by our sales rep, the manager would get back to me, I then called my credit card company and explained i want out of this contract NOW, they took the side of direct buy, sure you all know the story, I then faxed over a letter to Direct Buy and quite bluntly informed them I was not going away and I want my money refunded, I called the Better Business bureau, I will also go to the newspapers , the manager called me back to address most of my concerns, which there were many, she told me all these companies were franchised owned and their owner Doug Clark has integrity and if I am not happy and want out they will refund my money 100% - this is the Edmonton Store, so today I have an appointment and will let you know if this store has the integrity they say, will go where i need to go if I do not get out of this contract to get my money back

8/8/2007 - Alice writes:
Direct Buy is a scam. They pressure to become a member at a high price. The stories they tell to coerce you are all lies. The products are more expensive because when you add their 8%, handling charges and tax, the price as well as the $6000.00 paid for membership, the price is certainly high. I feel horrible for falling for the pressure. I wish there was a way to get out of this. I am a single mother of three and this scam is taking a toll out of our lives.

8/6/2007 - HECTOR writes:
My Wife and I joined DB of the Sanfrancisco area., We made the mistake to fall for this ripp off, speciali after reading all the complaints on line., the cost was ($6200.00) plus tax I don't know what I was thinking., lucky for us I read the small print and I found out that in California atleast you can cancell the contract within the 3rd bussynes day., I overnighted a cancellation by ups to them on the 2nd day., and about 8 days later, I got a check back for original down payment wich was about ($900.00) I feel bad that this guys can get away with this.,

8/6/2007 - Ramy writes:
After reading the complaints, I will share mine also. I recently built a home and utilized my direct buy membership to purchase $50,000 in items. Big mistake ! The people at the Hunt Valley, MD location are incredibly ill versed and truly ignorant and rude. I had one problem after another. First, an item was delivered and was broken to bits but Direct Buy could not negotiate with supplier to return, nor could I ! They offered nothing and I was stuck with repairs. Second, after making these large purchases I was informed through the mail with a bill for additional shipping and an increased 3% on top of the 5% in handling fee's on many of the items. This was not disclosed on the Manufacturer order books nor the invoice at time of purchase. Also, I had to wait for back orders on more than one item. Many items were delayed, and some were weeks delayed. Not once was I notified or even given the courtesy of a call. 4 items i ordered and paid for were no longer available but I was notified after being told they were back ordered. Lastly, I ordered a bed and I was notified by phone that it suddenly jumped up in price 1,000 dollars ! I declined and asked that my credit card be credited and they told me it would take 60 days to do so. This is the last straw with these inept, deceitful scam artists ! Never will I purchase another item from them and I would never encourage any one else to fall prey to these middle men of hit and run ! One last thing; do not depend on these people to know their products or find any info. because they will get it wrong and lead you into a mess on your dime !

8/4/2007 - Jerry writes:
I felt ripped off but after reading other complaints I am really appalled. We only paid $3500 to join and I see others paid up to $5000.No matter what was paid it is a scam. It is extremely labor intensive to find things. They told us you can buy anything and many of the things we wanted they did not sell. Somethings we bought we found elsewhere for the same price or less and could have had it immediately when through Dir ct Buy we had to wait months to get items. Once we waited over 2 months for a tv and then when we called to find out why it hadn't come yet were then told the item was no longer available and had to start searching through books again. If you can spend days looking for something, need no help, don't need to see the item or feel the fabric, don't mind renting a truck and carrying furniture yourself, then maybe Direct Buy is for you. And if you belong to the Maple Shade, NJ franchise expect the staff there to provide no help, be rude and take forever to answer your questions.

8/4/2007 - Patricia writes:
I am a member of Direct Buy Club it is by far the worst company/business I have ever dealt with. I was reading over some of the complaints ever thing that has been said is true. The Direct Buy Club I dealt with even changed the amount if income I reported to them just to make sure I could get the loan to pay their membership. I reported them to ever agency I could think of and tried to get my membership refunded to no avail. I did end up ordering a few product from them just to try to recoup some of my monetary loss. The service was nonexistent and the products were cheaper at Lowes then Direct Buy Club. The only thing I can say is run run as fast as you can to the nearest exit and don't look back, go to your local [], [], or [] you well get great service and get to take your purchase home that day in most cases.

8/3/2007 - David writes:
To make it simple, the DirectBuy representative found that I am disabled and refused to provide me the reasonable accommodation. Instead they mailed me the printed transcript and warned me that if I showed up, I must make one-time decision, even without the reasonable accommodation. I could not ask questions. They warned me that if I come back, I will make them break the cardinal rule of allowing me to come back with reasonable accommodation and they will lose their franchise. I feel so humliated and feel not worthy of being their member. Glad I read those complaints here and decided not to join. Thank you.

8/1/2007 - Curt writes:
My wife and I are in the process of building a new home. After hearing all of the hype about being able to save "$1000's of dollars" on products such as cabinets, appliances, floors, and etc... We decided to go to the Direct Buy in Coppell, TX and attend one of the customer invites. They do have a bunch of courteous people working there. They explained how we could save money on the new home products and view their products and all sorts of other great things. However, after signing up we went back to check out the prices compared to a Best Buy Jenn Air appliance list of items and found out the prices were only $30-$75 apart on appliances that cost $1200 to $5000 each. The TV's were even worst and in some cases more than Best Buy. After checking other items like doors, we found the local Dallas, TX Seconds and Surplus supply store carried the same doors at a cheaper cost. The cabinets that they said would cost less could not be guarranteed to be delivered on time nor did they cost less than advertised. So one day after we signed up, we advised them of the situation and that we wanted to cancel the agreement and we showed them that the discounts they promised were not any discounts. They then got a manager/sales person to come talk us out of it. They said they needed a letter so that they could go to the company that buy the items(example: doors) and find why they were giving a better discount to another retail outlet. We advised that we just wanted to cancel and get our money back since we hadn't purchased anything and nothing they had would save us the $5k for the membership. The we were talking to said the store manager would be the only one that could do that and they weren't there. He advised that we would have to write up a letter stating what was wrong and they would investigate it. I told him again that we just wanted to cancel. He said that only the store mgr could authorized that. My question is why would a company not give you a refund one day after you sign up and you never used their products and showed them that what they advertised is not true. Obviously there is no guarranteed satisfaction or your money back policy for a reason. They know it's a scam and very unlikely that the mass majority of customers will never save the $5k they paid them for the advertised discounts. We are still trying to get our money back almost 4 weeks later with no luck. My advise to anyone looking to sign up with Direct Buy is first ask them if you can compare prices before you sign up. Also there should be a LAW against this kind of advertisement.

8/1/2007 - EJ writes:
My wife and I attended the presentation in Monroeville, PA. No sense repeating everything in this scam, but let me tell you the day we bought it, I went home and found this site. Fortunately, I was able to cancel in the 3-day window. I am now on my third attempt to get a refund. I did it by credit card so I could dispute the charge if need be. On the third attempt, the guy Jim said they don't retain the CC numbers, which is not true because it is written right on the contract that you cancel!! I got a call from the person who sold it to me, wanting to know why we canceled, and I told them numerous times to please process the refund. It is interesting that there are several other entries from the same location. While the staff at the store are by no means rude, they clearly have drinken the Kool-Aid of the high-pressure sales pitch, and it is simply unconscionable that anyone would part with $5K after a one-hour, unproven talk. I signed up only after making sure PA's 3-day cancellation clause was on the contract. Right after leaving, I actually did not have remorse. It was only later that night that I realized the risk of whether you actually save is too great, coupled with the idea that they force you to make a decision - which obviously means they have something to hide. They hadn't revealed anything confidential - that whole thing is nonsense. This could be a great club if it wasn't high pressured and so pricey.

8/1/2007 - Erica writes:
I was an employee at Dirct Buy in Mountain View CA. My job was to answer complaints to people like almost all of you. About why the product didnt ship etc. Anyways I just have to say DON'T EVER SIGN UP at the MV location its $7000 for just a 2 yr membership, and you can only cancel within the first 3 days if not you are stuck. I have read responses of people wanting to get out, and from what I know you can't get out!!! I was so entigued by this I sought to see if there really was a savings at all!!! There was NOT, heck most items cost more, the only items that there was a savings on was furniture. Just an example I myself was shopping for a Garmin 660 GPS navigation system and saw it at frys for $550 and one woman emailed me asking how much it would cost and to my surprise a Direct Buy member would pay 799 saying the retail price is 999 what bullcrap!!! Anyways warning people of the scams they do at Direct Buy. Its sad to say that the 2 guys that own that store are making so much money on memberships that they are about to open a San Francisco location as well!!! Don't fall for it! Erica

7/31/2007 - Delores writes:
i went to the location 135 raritan center parkway edison n.j. 08837. telephone #732-225-0044. i went there with my aunt and i was very diappointed they took over a $1000.00 from us never receive the books they promise neither our membership card. we told them we would be relocating in south carolina about 6 months do they have something in south carolina? they stated only 30-40 minutes away from the address i gave them. they lied there is none here and we never seen the membership card and i called them numberous time nothing happen.i wrote them as well. i want my money back. please help me. my phone # []. i will tell you the rest when you notify me

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