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10/9/2008 - Chris writes:
My husband and I went to a Direct Buy showroom last night. I loved the outside of the building - nice awning, plants, etc. We walked in and were shortly greeted by the head guy. We were not there ten seconds when the man immediately tried to make small talk with us about the town we lived in and the fact that he recognized the spelling of my first name indicated a certain nationality. Rude? maybe not - Weird? Big time! The lady that took us to a table to tell us how things ran was NOSY! We also said no when we realized we had to decide then and there! She tried to tell us that the reason we were thinking no was that it was only a normal gut reaction and that we should just ignore it! Oh really! Also had an overall evangelical feeling! That was probably just me - didn't care for the Stepford atmosphere! Clearly these people attend robotic workshops where they are told what to say and how to react to the word no! My vibes definitely told me to get out and even though we stayed for the entire presentation, we had a good laugh driving home! Not to mention the dining room set we bought elsewhere was cheaper than the price we would have paid with their delivery-to-your-home charge. Be very careful, my feeling is that if you are just buying a home, you may save money but watch out for delivery disappointments. If you are a shopoholic, you'll be in heaven until the day you wake up and are up to your eyeballs in debt! BEWARE!

10/8/2008 - ray writes:
They are deceiving! I signed up the membership a little over two years ago. when I signed up, my sales agent promised me the third year complimentary membership. He personally told me this news. At that point, I was very happy. I thought I could get my money by the savings. Starting one month ago, I started receiving letters from DirectBuy corporate office regarding my renewal. I called the center where I signed up at. At that time, I was asked for proof for the free membership. I told them I don't have it because I had absolutely no idea that such document exists. Surely, the sales agent didn't tell me about the existence of the document when he made his promise. After that, I have been calling the center for over a month trying to get this issue solved. I have spoken to different people, and they all told me that someone will contact me. Finally I got a call from one of the management, stating that she cannot honor this because DirectBuy is FRANCHISED, and the ownership has been changed. In another word, the current owner is not responsible for what happened during the reign of the previous owner. As a consumer, do I need to know this? Of course NOT. Was I told this during orientation? Of course NOT. How on earth could I know how they operate their business? The sales people definitely will not tell me that. I decided to contact the corporate office. I got the similar response. The corporate office needs the paper to honor it. If I do have the paper, do I need to go through all of this crap? Hell no. I'd rather cuddle with my cat than talking to them. I was lied to. And during the whole process, nobody seemed care about me, the consumer. There is an expression could be heard everywhere in US, Customers are always right. In my case, it is definitely not the case. Initially, I was thinking about keep my membership for a while since my husband and I are planning remodeling the house. But you can tell what I feel about them now. Toward the end of the conversation between the customer service agent from DirectBuy corporate office and I, the agent advised me to contact with the previous owner and asked him to honor this benefit. I asked him how I could get in touch with him. The agent responded through the internet, by which he meant I need to research for him, because the corporate office does not keep any contact record of him. WHAT A JOKE! I deeply regret that I ever blindly trusted these blood-sucking, deceiving, and cold-hearted human beings. Can we take any legal action to get our money back and ban companies like DirectBuy so that no more people will be entrapped?

10/8/2008 - Jeanne writes:
I saw the Direct Buy advertisements on TV and because we were planning on redecorating our family room/kitchen decided to order the brochure. Shortly after placing the call, my husband and I left on an extended trip. Immediately upon returning home, I received a phone call from a very hostile Direct Buy representative castigating us for not showing up for our appointment. It turns out that when sending out the brochure, the company arbitrarily scheduled an appointment for us and left a message on our answering machine. Needless to say I immediately told them what they could do with their appointment and immediately threw the brochure in the garbage. This was several months ago and after recently seeing one of their ads on TV, I decided to look them up on the net. Wow, what an education. It appears the hostile representative saved me a lot of time and trouble. Beware of pushy salespeople. If the product were a real value they would not have to resort to high pressure tactics.

10/8/2008 - Brandi writes:
I am soory to say I became a member of Direct Buy. Do not do it! I was lurred in buy the savings but in reality you don't save all that much after you pay a huge fee just to be a member. They tell you they can get anything and you can order it on line and have it dilvered . Not true. I was soo unhappy abouth it I tried to cancle my membership. They keep giving me the run around and will not return my phone calls!

10/6/2008 - Lisa writes:
$5,490 3 Year Membership Cost Do not commit to this scam! I attended an open house at a DirectBuy Showroom in Chicago this past weekend. I was so disenchanted with the presentation and offer to save LOTS of money. The Director was condescending, explaining how we as consumers are STUPID for paying full price. We should accept their offer to join and pay only $5,490 for a 3 year membership. We had an option to pay up front or finance the cost at 17.75% interest over the 36 month contract. NO SAVINGS THERE! Also you had to sign up now or never. The pressure was ridiculous. I should've checked them out before wasting my time.

10/5/2008 - Ellen writes:
Don't join Direct Buy. We just joined it for two months. I already regret it. First, members should buy merchandise from the catalog and pay everything, price + shipping+ 8% handling + sales tax in front, for example, 100+ 40( shipping, the shipping charge is really high with DR)+ 8 (Handling) + 12 (tax, depends on what state you live, we should pay tax for S& H too). so the price ends up with 160, and when the item arrives warehouse, they will call you to pick up, if you show up more days than the warehouse's waiting period, for example, my warehouse is five days, you'll need to pay like 5 dollars for the sixth day of storage fee. My story is even worse, I order an item from their catalog, it's a entertainment center, the price is good, $600 for a whole set. however, I paid almost $1200 in full for the item plus the extra charge I mentioned above , for me it is still good. However, after two weeks, they called me that the manufacturer is no longer producing that item, what would me like to do? I request a refund check. After few days, I don't get it, they told me because of Hurricane IKE(I live in Houston), the mail might get delayed, it is reasonable, so I wait, when I call in second time, they ask me to wait again, I told them, my mail delivery is all back to normal, please re-issue me a refund check, the answer they give me is, it is a big cost to get a check re-issued, can I just wait for few more days? What!! How about the $5000 I paid in front, is was for nothing, and I paid 1200 for nothing again for an unexisted entertainment center on earth. And they refuse to reissue me the check for their lost of 20 or 30 bucks. how about the $6200 I lost? Is any body to tell me how to cancel the membership with Direct buy? Please, thanks.

10/4/2008 - Fefe writes:
My husband and I went to the initial Direct Buy Saturday meeting. The meeting was held at this so called showroom in Sunyvale, Tx. The one thing my husband and I noticed was that the showroom was basically empty and it was nothing like it was on the commercials. They made us wait for quite sometime, past our appointed time and we were contemplating leaving. Finally we were shown the very small showroom and videos. There was only myself and my husband and one other couple. They said they were expecting 7 couples and all were no shows..wonder why? After we were pitched the strong sale of now or never with a 5280.00 price tag, I and my husband expressed to the sales guy that we did not do business that way and that we read everything we sign and if we had to do it today then the answer was no! This guy showed his true colors, he stated that if we could not pay the fee then maybe we could not pay our electric bill and maybe food was difficult for us to acquire and why were we there? I immeadiatly went fot the jugular and basically cut him a new ass verbally! This guy was arrogant and claimed he made a 6 figure income working for these slugs. My husband then chewed him up and spit him out verbally and we left never to return. Direct Buy is a waist of time and money. I have a small business and a membership to big city markets and shows. I can always find way better deals than what they were offering just without a fee for the rest of my life. Don't do it!

10/2/2008 - teri writes:
I am not reporting a scam, I am offering input for people reading this. We have been members for about 6 months, joining just before our wedding and planned home remodel. There have been some very frustrating moments, irritating incidents and a few "service charges" and time for delivery that made going to a retail outlet easier for us, but overall we have, indeed, saved THOUSANDS of dollars in just 6 months. This is not a membership like Costco or Sam's Club where you can recoup your membership fee on minor purchases - but it is great if you are planning on remodeling or redecorating. Some things - such as electronics - we have found are not worth hassling with and actually got a t.v. cheaper at HH Gregg AND took it home that day. But we did save an incredible amount on my husband's diamond wedding ring and a gold bracelet, our wedding announcements, Murray Feiss lighting, and name brand furniture is 40% to 60% off - even with handling fees. We didn't like the high pressure "sign today or never" tactic but knew we had a couple days to cancel if we wanted. We're both educated professionals and don't feel duped.

10/1/2008 - pejman writes:
My wife and I attended a meeting with them tonight and exprienced the same kind of pressure tactic . I didn't sign up cause I was not convinced how such a strong company offering this huge saving should apply such tactic to sell the membership. With this kind of saving every member should bring tens of others just through word of mouth, but no one had ever recommended us to join this plan before. With companies such as Costco with much less saving compared to what D/B claims people make referral but you don't see the same for D/B. Anyway, I can't comment on the quality of service or whether saving is really worth the membership fee cause I haven't exprienced that part, but I don't think it is a good idea to commit with such upfront fee to something you are not sure about and they don't even want you to have a chance to do some research

10/1/2008 - Moses4u writes:
Getting "Sucked In" is by far, an understatement. High pressure tactics into hasty release of your money upfront is clearly what they are about. I've been a member, more like a "donor", for 2 years and am struggling to find items that will actually save me anywhere near the amount of money I paid upfront. Your selections, though appearing vast initially, are usually items that manufacturers are having trouble moving to begin with or items that are classified as "Seconds", though they will deny this till the end. There are little savings on the items that are popular...if they are even available. You are far better-off on-line with Amazon.com or e-Bay than with Direct Buy. They are much more up-front with pricing, larger selection and less hassel when things arrive damaged or disfunctional which has happened to me more often than I care to share at D/B. If you need to return an item at D/B, the onus is on you to get it back there and prove to them the problem wasn't your fault...not to mention hefty re-stocking fees to flat-out return it. Remember, your time is money in their pocket. If you don't pick up the items yourself, most of your savings goes straight out the window. I won't even go into the separate highly inflated shipping fees, handling fees and mysterious service charges that alone can put you right back to the price you would pay at Sears. It irritates me just to write this review, so do me and yourself favor...take your money and RUN away from Direct Buy...unless you really need a large charitable write-off.

9/30/2008 - george writes:
Thank you all for exposing these freaks. I'm warning all my friends about this scam. So glad I read up on these crooks!! I will never shop there or support them in any way!!

9/29/2008 - Joe Robinette writes:
This company is a nightmare. I have only been a member for 2 months, and I have quit them gladly. I can,t begin to describe the problems me and my wife have experienced. I have since spoke to my brother who is in the media about this company, and he is very interested in exposing these people in an editorial on NBC news. I need credible members who have been taken advantage of, to contact me. Thank you.

9/29/2008 - Su writes:
I wish I should have researched a more before attending the directby meeting. When I told the sales person I can't afford so much of money she asked me why did I attend the meeting? Well if you have 6000 dollors and can take a decision in 15 minutes you can go other wise it is a waste of time.

9/29/2008 - Gina writes:
Went for the "tour" where we were told "Space is limited, space is limited!" Bullcrap. We got there and were literally greeted by a toothless receptionist. Then shuffled over to a sales guy who gave us a quick SUPER canned recap. Then our "tour guide" sat us in a room with 4 other couples to watch a video. While we enduring the cheesy video my beau and I were giggling over a text that his sister sent him, the tour guide stood up, paused the TV and asked us if we would like to leave since we obviously couldn’t control our laughter. REPREMANDED like a 5 year old. We ignored him and stayed for the bullshit. Now mind you, after the presentation they allow you to tour the showroom but do not allow you to look at the prices in the catalogs...uh hello? They only show you the BIG savings items in the presentation and the books they select at the end of the presentation. Then of course you get to the part where they tell you "It's today or never" which, being in sales myself I IMMEDIATLEY called them on. Really? Today or NEVER? Funny, you misspelled BOTH of our names and never asked for picture id or any other way to verify who I actually am. I laughed at him and told him I could walk right into another one next week and join if I wanted to so that tactic wasn’t flying with us. Big rip off, BAD sales tactics and RUDE people! No justifying spending MINIMUM $4990...don't waste your Saturday like we did.

9/27/2008 - Kristina writes:
After visiting Direct Buy's website, I signed up for an initial meeting. When the sales lady called me, she was extremely condescending. I wanted to go check it out on my own before bringing my husband. When I told her that, she insisted that he come, too. She pushed and pushed for a time that would work for him. I told her that evenings were hard because we have 6 kids who are involved in lots of activities. She asked what ages they are and suggested that the older ones could babysit the younger ones. That rubbed me the wrong way. Like I don't know how to manage my own children. She convinced me to make the appointment during the day and have my husband take an hour out of work. When I agreed, she told me she'd call back that night to confirm. When she did at 7pm, I told her my husband wasn't home yet and she made comments on how strange that he had to work so late, etc. Again none of her business! After having a really icky feeling about the whole thing, I decided I would cancel the next time she called. When I told her I wasn't interested, she was upset and inferred that I was crazy to not want to save 50% on furniture and kitchen appliances. After reading these other reports, I know that my sixth sense was right! Don't even contact Direct Buy for further informatio!!

9/26/2008 - John writes:
I had scheduled a visit, but decided to Google them first. I was appalled at the idea that we would be asked to make a decision right then, so I called back to verify that this was the case. They confirmed it and I cancelled the meeting. A valid business proposition does not need to rely on that kind of pressure tactic. Use your head, folks - if it smells bad it is because something is rotten.

9/26/2008 - neil writes:
I went to a newly opened directbuy this week. Our experiences were similar to others, although the sales people were pussy, they were not obnoxious. I was not surprised at the amount of the membership fee, but I was surprised at the ambush tactic of 'make a decision now'. The rationale that directbuy can't let you leave the showroom because you might threaten other retailers with your knowledge of wholesale prices and your willingness to join directbuy makes no sense. My suspicions were raised further by the unwillingness to answer questions in the group setting. I spent my time after the presentation studying the catalog of manufacturers. They have few high-end manufacturers in any consumer segment. To all the other problems mentioned in other posts, I would add this: You need to be reasonably well-off to make the big ticket purchases that justify the membership fee, but your product choices are limited to low- and mid-range products that do not have the large retail mark-ups of the high-end products. As such, it will be hard to find products that a) you want and b) will give you big savings

9/26/2008 - Mike writes:
My wife and I went on our tour this past Saturday. Signed up for over $6000 (which signs you up for the first 2 years) and then an optional $200/per year after that for another 8 years. Like many here, we didn't like the "must decide before you leave" mandate. Not sure how it is in other states but in California, there is a 3 business day cooling off period and where they are required to accept cancellations with a full refund. We took the 3 days to actually make our decision. On Tuesday, I went back and received a full refund. No problems, no questions asked. My reasons for canceling had more to do with what was financially feasible for us rather than what I have read in this blog but the whole story about their supplier relationship and secrecy seemed unrealistic. Does anyone doubt that GM selling cars for their "employee discount" means they don't at least cover their costs, reduce lot inventory and help them sell cars for their next model year. I believe that's what's going on here and perhaps why suppliers come and go from their list. I hope that those that bought in get what they paid for and like others have said, you have to do your homework, spend money to save money and this is really for those with larger purchases that they expect to make in the next 1 to 2 years.

9/24/2008 - mom writes:
Please do not sign the contract! Read it first. They are committed to providing NOTHING! My husband and I are both college educated and we signed. We have 4 kids and very little discresionary income. They told us all kind of things to get us to sign. We were going to do a kitchen remodel. They said they would come out to measure and they had a great kitchen designer. The kitchen designer has no regard for budget OR DESIGN! The very first thing he designed would not have fit the measurements I had to give him. The sink base was under the oven in his majorly flawed attempt at a plan! Stay far away and if you smell something fishy your nose is RIGHT! We have never been able to use this service to our advantage. Plus the local delivery of a range was $80 for an 8 mile trip. They won't even plug it in! They don't take old appliances away either! We found our kitchen table less expensive at the store! The website for Direct Buy is a joke! The government has to crack down on this!

9/24/2008 - john writes:
Hello. I wish I had found this web site before going to the open House today at Direct Buy. It would have saved me gas and time. The first impression at the showroom was that the people who work there seem like they are in a cult. The sales people act sugary sweet and treat you as a child, with a patronizing style. What a creepy experience. After the lecture where you are told of fabulous savings and the 4900 you need to caugh up, you are led to a hard sell with your personal sales person. My advice is to stay far away or better yet if you want to do something positive, print out a few pages of these reports and sign up for a meeting. when you are in the conference room with other people, pass out the papers and calmly walk out saying that Direct Buy is a SCAM! Wish I could do it but sadly I am not allowed back.

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