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5/26/2007 - Toni writes:
My husband and I had our presentation today. I was so disappointed to learn that you are pressured into making a costly decision on the spot. When we originally spoke to the person who scheduled our appointment we told her that we wouldnt be ready for another 6 months but she assured us to come in for the presentation. When we got there we found out (only after sitting thru the presentation) that if we DIDN'T sign up today we would lose our memebrship privledges forever. I say "Good Riddence" How dare they stronghold and pressure you into buying into their program. They say no sales pressure. Well of course not, because once they have your $6000.00 for signing up they could care less whether or not you ever come back. They are nothing but an over glorified "mail order" program. I am glad that I didnt get scammed!!

5/23/2007 - Rose writes:
I wish I saw this site before I went to the presentation and liked a dummy, I joined it! It has been 6 months since I joined this club and I didn’t get to buy anything and I’m planning to move to the smaller town which doesn’t have Direct Buy. I called the center and asking them about the cancellation policy. There is NONE! You have to cancel it within 3 days of the inception to get a refund otherwise, you are “s.o.l” and of course, the membership is not transferable.

5/23/2007 - Carey writes:
We too purchased a membership . It is a scam , save your money. And if you already purchased a membership contact [] and your states Attorney General, if enough people complain they'll have to crawl back into the hole they crawled out of. Thanks

5/22/2007 - Jeff writes:
I read all of your complaints about DirectBuy, but I have not heard anyone say that they reported this to the Better Business Bureau. Each of these DirectBuy locations are assigned their own Better Business Burea region, and so it helps to shield them all from the overall complaint count of BBB reports against the company as whole since they are broken up into counties. So it's important to log your complaint with the BBB. As more consumers these days get savvy about using the internet and checking out companies on BBB before using their services, it's important that the scams you all faced are well documented there.

5/22/2007 - Paul writes:
We are at the end of our initial membership period. I admit we were probably the most gullible of the people viewing the presentation. But after the $3500 we had to cough up just to join this nebulous scam we have purchased nothing! We had to drive almost 100 miles one way just to visit the store located in a defunct shopping center in Birmingham to put in an order and drive another 200 miles round trip to pick up what we had bought. We tried using the internet site to look at things to buy and get prices, but the website would not let you into certain sections but bounce you around and then kick you out. Frustrating to say the least. Being vocal, I complained about the website treatment and finally got an email about how they were addressing the website problem. With all the upfront hassle of getting to the store with the cost of gas like its been and then trying to get someone to help you we just gave up and chalked up another huge financial mistake to believing people who were not trustworthy and a salesman with bad teeth who "said" we was in construction. We have learned our lesson I hope. Deals that require you to commit your money up front do not guarantee that the company you gave you money to is committed to providing you with anything on the list of promises they made to get your money. After all, they've got your money now, what do they care? Grow up consumers! If it is too good to be true then it is! We just took it in the gut and moved on!!

5/21/2007 - Mike writes:
In my free time I setup tons of fake reservations to tour their showroom!! I get a huge kick out of this after reading all the complaints. I figure it's the least I can do to get back at them for you guys.

5/20/2007 - Elizabeth writes:
May 20 2007. Mountain View California. My husband and I have just come back from a Direct Buy Presentation. We were among the lucky ones I guess. We turned down the membership. We dont like being presured. The video was a good sell. Then came the sticker shock. $6390 for two years and $198 year 3-10. I knew there had to have been a membership fee but not that much. I hate sale people who practice the hard sell. She contineously told how much we would save. At one point I told her she could save the sales pitch. I can see the savings (Now I know better from this site). When I was unresponsive she worked on my husband to get him to convince me. We were not allowed to see the finance plans available. She would not even loan me a calculator to figure up anything. She left us alone to talk about it. By the way it was way in the back of the room away from everyone else. Twice sales people breezed through. I was suspicous like they were trying to ease drop. There was absolutely no reason for one guy to pass through where we were sitting. One salesperson came in all happy and loud holding someones credit card and Drivers license to show us that everyone else was doing it. We were still not willing to part with that kind of money. The moment we said "No" she ushered us out a plain black door leading to the dumpster area in the back parking lot. We had to go around to get to our car. Other people who did sign up were allowed to go out the front. We asked them as they past us if they signed up. They were all happy and said Yes. We commented to them that if you say no you are put out the back door like trash...like we were. I thought we had lost a great opportunity until I found this sight and saw the real story on this scam. I feel so much better now that we escaped them.

5/20/2007 - Julie writes:
Beware...we, unlike most everyone posting here, walked away from Direct Buy before signing on the dotted line. Our old neighbor owned the franchise in our state and we went to the presentation on his request. When we went there is sounded like a good deal. We had just buildt a house and were looking to finish the basement. Lucky for us we have a policy between my husband and I to never purchase anything large with out considering it for at least a few days. When we told them that we wanted to think about it they actually had the nerve to tell us that if we didn't sign right then and there we could never come back. We even stated that we didn't want to see any of the top secret information in their books, that we just needed time to consider such a big investment. They still refused. I was so utterly offended. Having worked in sales I can't imagine any company getting away with "sign on the dotted line now or you can't be our customer." So...we did not sign. This is a hard pressure sales pitch - dont' fall for it. If it was/ is that great, why would they insist you sign up right then and there? They will tell you it is because the information you can gain from looking at the real cost of items from major manufactures needs to be protected. Bullshit! Its just a ploy. Don't do it - that's my advice.

5/20/2007 - Felicia writes:
Don't do it!!! My husband and I attended a DB open house today and was blown away by the high pressured sales tactics and ridiculous membership fees. The presentation was very nice and the sales staff were friendly at first but then the BS came. When asked for time to discuss/debate if this would be a good investment for us, the sales lady obliged only to return in a very few minutes. She continued to do this for another 15-20 minutes until I got tired and gave her a nasty look. She then left and a gentleman approached us, introduced himself and began to try to close the deal. Then shortly while he was really performing his sales pitch, our original sales lady appeared with a "customer" who wanted to give us an on the spot testimonial. During her testimonial she referenced manufacturers that we told our sales lady were our favorites. I quickly recognized the scam and got the hell out of there. I still have my $5100 which I plan to spend with accredited retailers with whom I will gladly pay the mark up prices. If DB is such a good investment, why aren't you given time to research and decide if it's a worthy investment? We weren't allowed to walk around the show room, however, we were given a few catalogs to browse. They wouldn't disclose any prices; we were told that prices were confidential and would be disclosed after we paid the membership fee. If they didn't have anything to hide, they would allow you enough time to research. Take it from me, don't do it!!! You will be scammed out of $5100!!!!

5/20/2007 - Jack writes:
I visited my local DirectBuy location in Stoneham, went through the video presentation. Made it through a showing of leather jacket they said retailed for 300 and that I could buy it for 27 dollars plus 8% freight. Showed me a few other objects like pots and pans a Ginsue knife set. Started to sound fishy when they showed me cutouts of sales fliers from retail stores. Had listed printouts with manufacturers names. The real hype was best to come. One woman walked out part way through as there was no garuntee of timely delivery if a kitchen appliance was needed. The printed prices they had looked like something that could be put together on a excel spreadsheet and copy and pasted with a manufacturers logo. The clincher was when they told you they don't care wether you are interested in becoming a member or not its up to them "who they take their money from". The membership $5200 for 3 years and 169 a year there after. Or 690 down 167 a month for three years, leave it or take it right then and there. I left it right then and there. As a consumer there is no info that you can verify till you pay your membership and its a 3 year written agreement. Nothing is worth going into a blind deal and being a sheep that got fleeced. The lesson of the story, Id rather keep the $5200 in my pocket, if I pay a little more out of my wallet from a retail store, then I can tap the $5200 to make up for it. Besides with a 80 mile drive to the local DirectBuy, to have to purchase whatever I want, and the 8% freight that they charge, doesn't make economic sense if I don't know what Im getting. For me a bad deal all the way around.

5/16/2007 - Jennifer writes:
We were suckered in to buying a membership as well. We went to the info session because we had intentions of doing some remodelling. After telling my husband it would be rude to get up and walk out of the video presentation (a decision I now regret), we stayed. Our "salesman" was also a used car salesman and knew exactly what to tell us. My husband is a part owner of a small company and he enquired whether otr not we would be able to purchase things for the company fleet (tires etc), he was assured that we would have no problem sharing the membership with company employees as we were intending to purchase it by this time through the company. Our one question that needed to be answered was could we make the monthly payments by corporate credit card, because that is ht we would have had to do. hw eaasured us this was "no problem' and quickly whipped out the paperwork. we signed the papers and payed the deposit with the company card, we were still a bit uneasy about everything, and after requestioning things with the sales center the next day, decided to go a head with the membership, after all we were going to save tons of money right... I work in retail part time and know the standard mark ups on things, I see what we pay suppliers and then what we charge (it's pretty standard to double the wholesale cost). Our problems started to happen relatively soon. My husbands partner tried to use the membership and discovered that all purchases had to go through us, then they sold our membership to an outside finance company who would not take credit card payments, it soon became a head ache for our company to deal with and the finance company basically told us they had nothing to do with direct buy and what they had told us and that we had better pay or they would be sending our account to collections. When I tried to contact the center to complain, it was near impossible to speak to a person, we had a lawyer read the contract so that we could try to get out of it, but because we relied on the "word" of the salesperson and did not read all of the fine print, we were out of luck. This is how they get you. There are not too many people who could sit and read the contract in it's entirety within the showroon with all of the recruiting action going on. They rely on high pressure, half truths and customers lack of inside knowledge (i had to lie and say I did not work in retail to proceed with the presentation) Again, it all bolis down to buyer beware I realize, we were not savvy enough and too gullible! We expected to be told the truth and we weren't! To add salt to the wound, after wqe forked over the rest of the membership money to shut the fionance company up (along with a hefty amount of interest!!!) I logged onto the Direct Buy web site to lodge a complaint with Customer Service, after writing a letter almost exactly like this one I sent it off and a few days later, got a "reply" thanking me for my "enquiry" into direct buy and that I would have a representative gadly contact me in the next few weeks to set up my complimentary visitors pass to the showroom so I too could experience the benefits of not having to buy retail anymore!!! Thanks for actually reading your posts Direct Buy... My word of warning to anyone considering buying a membership... have a lawyer come to the presenation with you so you are aware of all the "fine print" items, don't succumb to high pressure tactics - if it feels like you are being pressured, you are and and if it doesn't feel "right", it isn't... RUN away fast!

5/16/2007 - Tim writes:
We were sold a showroom full of dreams and handed a fist full of Shit. Every and I mean EVERY product we got has had a problem such as missing parts (fireplace did not have glass, dishwasher did not have any hardware), installed then repackaged/returned (ceiling fans were repackaged after someone else had already installed and then returned also missing parts), broken parts (toilet tank broken), ordered new refrig. and got last year model with present year price increase, items not working (micro wave circut board bad, toilet won't flush correctly, thermo couplers are bad in both fireplaces), not to mention that many items looked as though they were from a scratch and dent sale. We were building a new house and thought this would be a great savings, as seen on TV, WRONG!!!!! The counter tops we wanted were more expensive ($1800.00 more), going through the local Cambria showroom was cheaper and less hassle. The flooring (3/4 solid oak and carpet) was nearly double the cost of what we paid for it for locally. This is on top of the "Membership fees". We were told the products at "[], [], and []" are not the same even though the part numbers are the same. They told us they were not the same because the products are made just for Direct Buy, by the manufacturer. DON'T BELIEVE THE TV ADS!!! DON'T GO, DON'T BUY INTO IT!!! We figure we lost around $7000.00 between member fees, lost time for return trips, gas, over paying compared to local prices, and loan extensions due to delays. It would have been more if we had bought the counter tops and flooring through them. DON'T BUY INTO IT!!!!!

5/14/2007 - Susan writes:
I am glad I found this sight just so I could relieve some of the frustration I am feeling about this company. We went to their presentation because we were planning a major remodel of our home. It sounded pretty good and of course they made us make our decision immediately. We were so naive. Forked over our $5000.00. A few months passed while we were doing some foundation work and then we began to try and use them to buy the things we needed. Almost immediately we discovered that their "wholesale" pricing is often times no better and sometimes worse than what you can do at a local store. And the customer service is horrendous. We placed a tile order which was supposed to be available in 3 days (local warehouse). We began calling to check on the order but could never get any one to return our calls. Eventually a week later we got through only to discover that our order had not even been entered with the manufacturer yet! Of course they had our money the day we placed the order. When we joined there was a showroom about 5 miles from our home. Of course they did not reveal to us that they planned to close that showroom and move it 30 miles from us. So now we have the choice between a showroom 30 miles away or 40 miles away! The worst part is no one will take any responsibility for their terrible service. It takes literally hours to get through to some one on the phone and then they promise to call back and never do. I have never felt so taken advantage of in my life. I wish that there was some way to warn others so that is the reason for my post.

5/13/2007 - Kenneth writes:
These people are con artists, hoodwinkers and prey on the gullible and unsuspecting. We will testify about them and against them from our personal knowledge if anyone asks us to. They are the lowest of the low. Fortunately, we were too smart to be screwed, conned or taken in by them. Sincerely, Kenneth and Olga

5/11/2007 - Eugene writes:
I bought a membership 3 months ago (in February) and finally went to go buy something the other day. My first purchase was a kitchen table and chairs. I thought Direct Buy was the greatest thing, save money and pay at cost. Then I realized that they are crooks, my table/chairs came out to $2495 and after shipping and handling and freight it was $3794. $1300 to ship my stuff, are they crazy. I paid $4500 for this membership and I just shopped around and I can buy this EXACT same table and chairs for $3400 shipped to my door from a local store in my area. What a joke, I want a refund. Has anyone got a refund. I have yet to buy anything and I just want a refund as this is the biggest scam I have ever seen!

5/8/2007 - Rickey writes:
I got lured to the presentation by my fiancee. We through the dog and pony show which was a waste of our time. I knew when we were told it was now or never and almost $5000 had to be paid up front, I could not get out of there fast enough. My Fiancee was interested in a specific furniture manufacturer and a particular bedroom set. When she asked we were told that that brand was not available at the Metarire location but was avaialble 90 miles away in Baton Rouge. What a coincidence. After reading the testimonials on this site, I can't wait to show her what a little reasearch prior to going to this sort of thing can save time and money.

5/3/2007 - Eric writes:
My wife and I went to the open house last week and luckily we got out of there losing only 2 hours of our life. A flaw in their system eventual helped us walk away. Reasons why we didn’t join: 1. Cheesy sales tactic#1: after the presentation, they made us fill out a form asking us what 3 things we love about direct buy and when we only came up with 2, it wasn’t good enough so we spent another 10 minutes to make one up. Eventually when we couldn’t decide if we should join, they pull out the form and recited the 3 things we love about direct buy. 2. Cheesy sales tactic#2: Made us sit in a corner away from other victims and away from the front door so we don’t know when other people (smarter) are leaving. 3. Cheesy sales tactic#3: Dragged our asses through their warehouse to show us that they are fully stocked with items ordered by their members. 4. Cheesy sales tactic#4: All the competitor ads they show you in the presentation are all old and yellow like it was from 5 years ago. 5. Cheesy sales tactic#5: Jokingly told us the cost is $60,000 a year (and set our expectation) so when they finally broke the news that it’s $5,000 instead. Sounded like a steal! 6. The sales rep kept trying to use my wife against me when she was trying hard to stay out of the conversation and avoid confrontation. 7. The sales rep insulted me by saying that if I was so smart how come I’m not millionaire yet. 8. The sales rep said that my money is no good 8 hours later if I decide to go home and sleep on it. Part of me really wanted to return the next morning with a $5000 check and prove that these scammers WILL still take my money but my wife talked me out of it and we really don’t want to waste more time with these people. 9. Finally, what saved us (without doing our research ahead of time) was that we came to the realization that hundreds of manufactures means LIMITED choices over hundreds of different categories. For example, we wanted a contemporary headboard that’s made of microfiber instead of the traditional wood or leather and after a 30min research by multiple sales reps, our choices were NONE. Luckily that helped us see the light and walk away.

4/27/2007 - Anonymous writes:
Okay, we too are amoung the fools paying this scam outfit a whopping $5,000. We are building a new house and KNEW we could save at least that much with the cabinets. Yea right! After reading the many horror stories we find we too have lived them. You know, the hours spent in the showroom researching catalog after catalog, learning you have to order everything a la carte, the hidden 8% handling fee and 15% freight, sometime 20%. Well, after literally spending 4 hours with a customer service guy, (this was after 2 days of researching and I knew exactlly what we wanted) he gave me the bottom line and I told him,"he was joking". I showed him a quote from a local plumbing supply company> for $23 more we could go pick up the items that same day. Well I be, he went and talked with his, "Supervisor", and guess what? She, bless her lillo heart, authorized him to wave, I said wave, the "Handling fee" (thats zero dollars not 8%) AND took $125 off the freight. NOW, THAT WAS PRETTY DAMN NICE OF HER! We are in the construction industry and self employeed. I'm not on the clock so..... from me to all of you that,like us have been screwed, a gift. I plan on hanging out in this Florida showroom, eat their little treats, drink their sodas, and ask for alot of help because, well frankly, I'm just that stupid. I will also ask for lists of prices via e-mail, fax and in person. We figure they own us at least $5,000 of their time, not to mention what they owe all of you. I invite all of you, during the week and on the weekend, stop in your local showroom and eat their treats, enjoy their drinks, watch their TV's, lie on the beds. Do some browsing, which you couldn't do prior to joining. Do some catalog shopping,you know, pull catalogs off the shelves in search of the "whatever" you are looking for and oh, don't worry about putting them back on the shelves, or in their correct place because that's what the customer services reps are getting paid to do. Everyone, "Do some catalog shopping!!" Have them sit with you and fill out the order sheets and then tell them you can get it for less at [] or []!!!!!!! Let us all do these things once or twice, thats what we paid for right?

4/26/2007 - Glen writes:
Learn from our mistake; Don’t Do It. Joining DirectBuy Shopping Club is one of the biggest mistakes my wife and I ever made. Please; if you take away any thing from my advice “run away and run fast from DirectBuy.” My wife and I originally joined DirectBuy in Akron Ohio; and the experience from the start was difficult and most of all not worth penny of the initial membership fees. Nothing but a big inconvenience; you had to spend hours and sometimes days in the show room looking through catalogs for what you need and all you buy off of is a picture. You might save a small amount of money on your purchases but is it really worth it if you don’t get what you buy for a month or two. Keep in mind when buying furniture most stores offer same as cash for 2 or 3 years; with DirectBuy you have to pay cash. Since or initial beginning we moved from Akron to Cleveland OH; and decided to transfer clubs to East Cleveland. The experience was worst; they treated us like outsiders because we transferred from Akron. Every time we ordered we got the same story “oh – you transferred from the Akron club; we need to check a few things before we can accept your order.” Shortly after the East side club closed down, not a surprise. So we had to transfer to the West side club in Strongsville OH over an hour drive for us. They are even worse. Treating us like scum, same story every time we order “oh – you transferred from the East Cleveland club; we need to check a few things before we can accept your order.” They also have the worst customer service and don’t have a clue what they are doing. Every time we order, something goes wrong. Either the product was damaged or it’s the wrong thing. Be careful if your order is wrong they blame you for the mistake and then you have to make phone call after phone call fighting and following up until the issue is fixed. They also don’t remember what they did the day before so each follow up call you have to explain the problem since day one. Don’t to it; run run run. Cleveland Ohio.

4/25/2007 - Jeff writes:
When I signed up on DirectBuy's website for a tour of the showroom I was immediately barraged with phone calls about when I would make an appointment. My wife and I were curious and decided to check it out. When we got to "The Showroom" there was nothing but a reception desk in a room with 2 doors one of which we came through. My wife became suspicious when they asked for 2 forms of ID, but I wasn't concerned because the receptionist only glanced at it (unless she had a photographic memory or for that matter a camera to record our ID's I really wasn't too concerned about that). We were given the questionaire and on the bottom I noticed the acknowledgement by me that I was aware that it was a 90 minute PRESENTATION! I suddenly remembered being brought to a friends house a while back that had a lot of chilling similarities to DirectBuy: the vagueness on the cost of membership, "How much are you willing to spend?", "How much are willing to save?" That was from an AMWAY Presentation!!! The old multilevel marketing business of saving YOU money while the owners are earning more the more people they get to join. It's NOT a PYRAMID Scheme. Oh no, because that would be illegal. I asked to use the bathroom and I actually got to go in the other door and directly in front of me was a dining room set. Nothing special and in a rather drab example of a room. I looked around and didn't see any other sets. I did my business and when I came out directly down the hall was a small living room set and again nothing special and in a drab room. But in that room a man was standing facing me talking to people on the sofa about how much they could save and there it was: the dreaded spiral bound presentation easel on the coffee table. I immediately went out to my wife, told the receptionist that we forgot something in the car and left. Like the other posters have said follow your gut feeling and if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

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