DirectBuy review: poorly run business and a rip off! 81

We are members, and it's nothing but a pain in the butt. The service absolutely SUCKS, and you spend hours upon hours searching books to find model numbers of what you are looking for. We just finished building a house by ourselves and thought it was a great idea to get the membership with all that we would save. Once you add on their "handling fees" the savings is very marginal. I looked at Schlage locks and handles for our new house. Home Depot was the same price, and I didn't have to search through a vague catalogue and wait 4 to 6 weeks for them to come in.
My emails don't get responded to, and when you phone in, they brush you off to the side and treat you like you don't know what you are talking about.

Direct Buy is with out a doubt a rip off. We have been paying our $154.oo a month for almost a year now with know way out. One of the first times we went use them they could not beat the price on a simple set of brand name pots and pans. We received a better deal from Kohls and got to take them home that day. We also priced a new vaccum and time all was said and done we said only a couple $'s but were going to have to wait 3 to 5 weeks according to the catalog. After the three years we will pay on this account we will have over $6k invested. Rough guess is to re-coop that we would have to spend about $50k. We explained to the owner of the Hagerstown, MD store that we didn't have a bunch of money and were trying to replace the cabinets in the kitchen. She assured us that Direct Buy was the answer. NOT They use pressure sales to get you to join. We wanted to go home and think about it. That is not allowed. Most of there deals are not deals after you put shipping and handling on them. I reall wish there was a lawyer willing to take on a class action suite and put them out of business.

DIRECT BUY is one of the worst scams going today, There will be a class action law suite soon you can bet on it, so keep your records, maybe we can get some of our money back.I recommend that everyone contact their State Attorney General Consumers Division.I they get enough of what i've saw here on line there will be something did about these DIRTY B---T----DS, THEY NEED TO BE BURNT AT THE STAKE LIKE THE WITCHS OF OLDEN DAYS.THEY HAVE RUINED MY GOOD CREDIT BECAUSE OF THE STINKING DEAL THEY PULLED.ITS NO TELLING HOW MUCH HURT AND DAMAGE THEY HAVE DID TO GOOD PEOPLE.iF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO JOIN ME IN A CAMPIAGN TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE FOLKS[I HESITATE TO CALL THEM PEOPLE]tHEY ARE REALLY NO GOOD.iMAGINE THIS, THEY TOLD ME THE ONLY WAY I COULD CANCEL AND LET THEM KEEP THE 300.00 I GAVE THEM, SUPPOSELY TO GO HOME AND CALL THEM THE NEXT DAY AND SEE IF I WANTED TO CANCEL.wHEN YOU CALL BACK NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES, THEY TELL YOU HAVE TO SPEAK TO THE OWNER, LEAVE NUMBER AFTER NUMBER, CALL BACK MANY TIMES, SAME OLD STORY.tHEN ONE DAY YOU GET A LETTER IN THE MAIL AND FIND OUT WHY THEY WERE PUTTING YOU OFF, THEYM SELL YOUR ACCOUNT TO DIFFERENT FINANCE COMPANYS, WHOM ARE NOT AWARE THAT YOU HAVE TRIED TO CANCEL FOR MONTHS, THEY STALL YOU UNTIL THEY FIND SOME FINANCE PEOPLE THAT HASN'T GOT THE WORD YET.i'VE HAD ONE LADY TELL ME SHE WAS QUITTING HER JOB WITH A FINANCE CO.BECAUSE THEY HAD BOUGHT A BUNCH OF THE CONTRACTS FROM DIRECT BUY AND SHE WAS TIRED OF CALLING PEOPLE THAT HAD BEEN RIPPED OFF BY THEM, SHE SAID THE COMPANY SHE WAS WITH WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO CLOSE DUE TO THE DEAL.IT IS ASHAMED THEY ARE HURTING SO MANY PEOPLE ALL OVER.sOMEONE CONTACT ME @GENOSTAXI@YAHOO.COM, LETS DO SOMETHIG NOW.

Direct Buy is currently running free makeover contests and you must apply, attend an open house and pay fees for the right to participate. But first they interview you and inquire about your income, if too low you will not qualify. I am on disability and all income must remain static, below a Federally indicated amount even if I am allowed to work. When I inquired about how they would handle the discrimination they were allowing though I would purchase through anothers payments they again voiced discrimination towards me. Beware this company does not understand Federal Law and will soon end up in court for their breaking the laws. Any company that sucks up to one privileged group of their own choosing and ignores the rights of citizens of another group us using discrimination and has a lot of other things to hide. BEWARE ! They might not excist tomorrow.

Me and my husband went to Direct Buy in Pensacola on Oct. 23, 2010. Hey let me tell you, they make it sound good all the way to the end and they then ask for you to join for a fee of 4490. What? yes you read it right and they have several high end options you can pay them. We did not join and i advise anyone not to join, if we would have read the comments before we drove almost 200 miles, we wouldn't have went, but we learn from our mistakes and never again would we fall for anything like this. Oh by the way, you cant use your key, or get the free vacation packet, or scratch off your seal if you don't join. SO PLEASE BEWARE DO YOUR RESEARCH.

AMEN - been members now for a year. How come this rip-off company still exists in our town of Tampa, FL - ? or anywhere? Guess I'll never get over blowing 5400 for NOTHIN.. STAY AWAY from DB's. horrible.

We couldn't agree more with these sentiments and stories, we joined this insane organization 3years ago at a cost of 5, 000 and of the 10 purchases we made only 1 has gone through without issue. Every other purchase has been the wrong item, damaged, warranty issues after purchase that apparently no one from head office down has any idea what to do with it for straight warranty exchange, does that not say something about an organization that cannot even tell you how to go about warranty claims but swear when you sign that it is no different then if purchased from a retailer...it is a lie, all of it. The aggravation and stress is not worth it, and from what we have experienced buying various items is that any savings you might think you had get completely absorbed by the additional fees, handling, shipping and whatever else they deem necessary to add it on each order you make. Unfortunately we did not check more carefully before we did this and couldn't be more sorry as we have often gone and bought retail because we get what we want when we want and if there is a problem they actually will assist you rectifying the problem. The time consumption alone spent back and forth with these people is beyond logic, they do not have a plan other than to take your membership fee and after that you are on your own.
Horribly disappointed
Laura and Dave

I called the number on the tv.ad and came to find out that because my income was under 35.000 I did not qualify for the contest! If I had the money to begin with I wouldn't have tried to enter the freaking contest would I? ! It pisses me off how I was treated;I am disgusted with the little information you put on your tv ad;it does not specify that you have to make so much before you are entered!

I once worked at Direct Buy. They are a rip off. Beware they are not cracked up. Their coorporate office does not have any clue what they are doing or what the clubs are doing. They are a rip off they can't get you the greatest deals all they want is your money. They go through employees at teh corporate office due to their disorganization and they can't refund members their money on a timely basis. There centers are not organized beware you may never get your refund. They work their employees like dogs. BEWARE AND STAY AWAY

I felt very high pressured when I joined. I was told I had to make a decision right then or never return to the club. You don't have the option of going home to think about it. I should have walked out. I was in a very vunerable place emotionally and gave in to the sales pitch. After looking at the 5000.00 that it cost to join. I am very sorry I did. I am 66 this year and do not see how I will ever make purchases that will allow me to make this investment back. I am not building a home. I don't plan to buy a home. I may refurnish a couple of rooms, but that is not going to make up this money for me. I am unemployed, on retirement and SSB income. I cannot afford the 223.00 I am required to pay each month for two years and then 250 a year to remain a memeber. What am I paying for. I have not used the club to date. When I go on line to look at merchandise available through Direct Buy, it does not appear to be too much of a savings. Most things are no different than what you can find by researching yourself online. I am going to contact my Direct Buy sales rep. If I can't get anywhere there, I will go to the Attorney General in my State. This should not be treated as a purchase, because I don't have anything. It is a club membership and one should be able to cancel membership (only paying prorated for time in club).
What are your thoughts?
M. Jackson, Michigan

Direct Buy in Queens NY, which is owned by Consumers Edge, LLC is nothing more than a scam. I went there back in June 2009 because I was looking to renovate my kitchen, bathroom and backyard. I was convinced by the salesman "Shell" who also told me that he was the owner, that I could save lots of money but would never give me a straight answer on membership fees. I wish I had gotten up and left just then. He told me that Direct Buy doesn't make a profit from the manufacturers, but by the membership fees only. But before I signed any contract, I noticed that everything that was shown to me in the showroom were things for only inside my house. I asked it I could get things for the outside of my home and I was told by Shell, yes. We have fencing, roofing he said and I asked "how about brick work"? I want to get a brick patio in my backyard I told him. He told me yes, we do have someone who does that. I had already priced this work by another contractor and it was for $9500. I was hoping to get it for less through Direct Buy, but I would learn later that that was just a dream. So I paid the membership fee for $4370 plus tax and Shell told me that I should attend orientation which I did ten days later. At which time I asked Shell about the brick work. He asked me to put my name and phone number on a piece of paper and that someone would be calling me. I asked him, "and the name of the person calling me?" He said Alex. So the next morning someone named Alex called me. I made an appointment for the next day at 5pm. So 5pm came and Alex did not show up. I had no phone number for him, so I waited an hour for him and still no Alex. I gave him till the next day, and nothing. So I went storming back to Direct Buy and saw Shell who I then demanded my money back from. He told me no. I later learned that Shell wasn't even an owner of the business. So the guy is a liar to begin with. I was deceived into signing the contract because I don't even know if Alex even exists. Alex could be the same person that cleans their office for all I know. Then someone named Michael called me and offered to pay me back minus $1000. I just laughed. I then took Direct Buy to court where they did nothing but play games by delaying the process by requesting a new date. But this past December 2009, Direct Buy was a "no show" and I won the judgement against them. They had thirty days to pay up and they failed to do so. I have news for them, that I am not a quiter and I will fight tooth and nail to the end and since they like to play games, so do I.

They make you believe you are going to save a lot of money by showing you some examples but when I started looking for the things I wanted to buy, the were no big savings. I feel that I was ripped off with no way of reprisal. Hope somebody reads this and won't make the same mistake I did.

My wife and I just returned from the Direct Buy in Rockland Massachusetts. The "owner" was a rude little man who after a 2 hour presentation told us that if we joined today we could have the usual $6900. membership for $5900.. When I said that I would not give him $6000 after a 2 hour presentation he got rude and obnoxious. We were told on the phone that the 30 day free emmbership would allow us to purchase whatever we wanted, but then if you read the small print on coupon they give you it states only $1000 of product. This guy kept pressuring us to sign up today or we would lose out. This company needs to be investigated by the attorney generals office which I will call first thing Monday morning. Sleazy is the only word I can use to discribe this company.

I am not a member but in 2008 I did decided to go Direct-Buy showroom just check things out. I was skeptical of Direct-Buy’s claim of huge savings and after having attended their presentation I am much less inclined to believe what I heard. I was appalled to discover that the sales rep. of Direct-Buy pressured me to fork out $6000 membership right then and there. When I told that I needed some times to think I was rudely reminded that if walked out of that door I will never be allow back in. In my opinion Direct-Buy can shove their membership where the suns don’t shine. Direct-Buy’s pressure tactics is abhorrent in my opinion borders illegal business practice.

We went to Direct Buy and as of now the membership price is 6, 995 dollars. Their sales tactics remind me of a time-share where you have to commit right now or forever lose the deal. Any business that deals this way is no good! When we were going to leave we were told that we had a 30 day free trial mambership in which we could buy up to 1, 000 dollars of their products, but only from their single $ catalogs and we would have to pay another 1, 000 dollars for their membership if we decided to join in the 30 day period. So now our membership would be 7, 995 dollars. In addition, if we opted out of being a Direct Buy member we would be banned from their club, or whatever you want to label it, for 7 years. WHAT A HOAX!

DO NOT - I REPEAT - DO NOT GET A DIRECT BUY MEMBERSHIP. It is a rip off. The "savings" they claim you can get are eaten up in shipping and handling fees and delivery fees. I wish to God I had NEVER - I REPEAT - NEVER had signed those papers. Not only do I feel stuck, but I feel totally taken advantage of. It is worse than dealing with the sleeziest car dealership. I want to get my money back and I can't. I feel so stupid for letting those idiots talk me into get a membership that I could cry - and I actually did cry as I watch them suck my hard earned money right out of my bank accounts. It hurts so bad that I am embarrased to tell anyone what I did. I pretend like I don't even have a membership, I'm so embarrassed for what I have done. I am depressed over the matter and I have not bought a single solitary thing in the first year. I hate those people for sucking me into their trap. I HATE DIRECT BUY. I even hate watching those stupid commercials on TV. IT'S A LIE! IT'S ALL A LIE. DO NOT FALL FOR THE SWEET TALK. DO NOT BE A FOOL LIKE ME!

Whew! My "Open House" was going to be tonight, but I won't be going after seeing all of this. They just missed me! Thanks all.

I thought Direct Buy was too good to be true...

I was right.

Don't do it!

has anyone making installment payments successfully cancel their membership with the scam artists of directbull****. please if you have any suggestions. thank you

I don't know about other states, but in MIchigan there is a 3 day recind law, so if you get home and decide you made a mistake, you can cancel the contract and get your fees back. Someone had stated that they called the next day and they said they could not cancel, not true in Michigan...all I can say is, don't let them bully you and use a credit card so you can cancel even if they say no to your refund...check your state laws and see if there is a 3 day recind law

Ok here goes, was going to go to San Antonio TX this weekend to "save some $" by joining a club for making purchases. I live 160 miles away and was not aware that the items do not ship to your door. What a suprise. Thanks for you site and thanks to all of those "red Flags posted even the maple leafs. Best wishes to all and buy Local from the little guys when you can.

Villa
I agree with NonnieMouse...send written correspondence registered mail. Keep up to date logs and copies of your correspondence and mail receipts. DirectBuy continues to do scummy things such as not answering your phone calls, being closed on Mondays so by the time you get to a "real" person, the three day cooling off period is over. Just be diligent in following NonnieMouse's instructions and strive to get as many "officials" on your side as possible. Good luck & keep us up to date with your progress.

Would someone please tell me if there is a way to get out of the Direct Buy contract? I have only paid the down payment and I'm willing to lose that money but not the remaining part. Thanks.

Pat-
I'm so sorry to hear about your awful albeit common experience dealing with DirectBuy. We're with you and also cannot understand how the Canadian or United States government can allow DirectBuy to go on doing business and ripping people off.

My wife & I also had a nightmare trying to design kitchen cabinets with a "designer" in the Los Angeles area. Thank God we found a local cabinet maker who gave us better pricing, materials, customer service and workmanship. If we had gone with DB, I am sure we would have had mis-matched cabinets made with the wrong measurements...we caught her writing down the wrong information on more than one occasion.

What makes my blood boil is that according to "sources" DirectBuy purchases sub-standard / damaged and usually outdated merchandise that retailers can't sell. They hire repair people to "hide" the damage and sell the merchandise to unsuspecting customers ("members") like us. In the end, they are the ones who are laughing all the way to the bank.

There's information on how to deal with DirectBuy on other blogs and complaint websites (reference: Trudy's posts on:
www.complaintwire.org) She always suggests making all of your correspondence in writing and sending it all registered mail. That way you start a file and paper trail. If they don't respond to your requests in a timely manner, they are the ones in trouble for taking your hard-earned money and running with it...instead of providing the services they advertise on tv. Trudy is also from Canada and lists several sources to contact to help you with your plight. We've had our membership for over 2 years, so we're way past the 3-day cancellation clause. We're hoping a talented attorney / law firm will be successful in winning a class action lawsuit. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I wish you and your wife luck in getting your issues resolved. Thanks for taking the time to share your story. Hopefully everyone who thinks about getting a DirectBuy membership will do their homework before they sign-up for the Open House presentation. I have no problem spreading the word and helping others stay away from DirectBuy. No one saves money. They do get frustration, heartache, etc. for the amount they paid to join.

Please post again and let us know what happens...

Personally I don't know of anyone to help you in Ottawa. Although, you might want to check the website www.complaintwire.org
A woman by the name of Trudy gives helpful advice on how to get your membership money back directly from franchise. She's from Canada and got a refund. Just follow all of her detailed instructions and hopefully you'll get your money back, too. Keep us posted on both sites.

I am searching for a lawyer to help me get a refund on my db membership in Ottawa. Has anyone had any success on getting a return? Does anyone have any Lawyer in mind?

To the New Jersey-ites who know better now...
I am so sorry to hear about your horrible experiences with DirectBuy. In the end, you probably weren't able to break even with all of the money spent on the initial membership fee...not to mention all of the shipping/handling and time you had to take to get your issues resolved.

I have to agree that the staff is nice to you up until the point of the "kill" then they turn, put on the pressure and will do anything to squeeze you for a membership before you leave.

As far as my wife & I are concerned, DirectBuy is pretty scummy. I read on another complaint board that DirectBuy gets $$ to take substandard, broken, & defective merchandise from manufacturers. They try to fix the furniture so that no one notices & sell it as new.

I was also shocked that they do not honor the manufacturer's warranties. If you buy it and it's broken, you are screwed. Thankfully, I have never made a purchse through them but are out $6000.00!

All-in-all, DirectBuy needs to be shut down!

what a scam, someone that got totally ripped off needs to post pictures of the ### that work for direct buy in their area so when they are out in public the can be redicuiled for being part of such a scam

Two and a half years ago I saw the ad for D.B. and thought it was worth looking into since we were in the process of remodeling our home, what the heck "it's free". I made the appointment and was a little annoyed when the lady told me that my husband had to attend with me, (?) but I made it anyway. When we got there, they gave us a tour and then called our group in for the presentation. The man explained how everything works, and how much money you can save, blah blah blah. A few things sounded strange to me like how they send damaged furniture to be fixed, (not returned, how stupid can we be). His explanation of their freight and shipping costs was fast and confusing, but he moved on quickly before our brain had a chance to wrap around it. Then of course he waited till the very end to bash us over the head with the membership fee, (4, 600.00)! After the presentation, we walked back into the showroom which as I write this I laugh because I still remember my dumb face in absolute shock and thinking to myself (what the hell did I get us into) when were bombarded by their employees, all with a smile of course! Each and everyone of them literally grabbed every couple who came out of that room before they ran for the door!

My husband and I sat down and the girl explained to us what we get when we join etc etc. We asked her to give us a minute alone (because they won"t give it to you on their own) and my husband told me he wanted no part of it, I, of course tried to make him see that we still had a lot of projects and how it might be worth it. A few more words and I agreed with him that we shouldn't rush into this. She came back immediately and we told her we have to think about this, it's too much money and we need to see if it's really worth it, when she sings us the song "It's now or never". Man were we pissed! They did what almost every person in creation hates! After another hour of talking and getting really annoyed with the girl who not leave of us alone, we agreed to join. Thier high pressure tactics worked! (by the way, at this point we looked around and realized we where the only idiots left). We signed on the dotted line without reading the contract of course! (we just wanted to get out of there) and drove home with a big headache, starving, and trying to justify our very big investment. We explained to our family that we got suckered in and made jokes about how secretive everything has to be and that if we told them anything we might have to kill them!
Over the next two years we made a few purchases. Some big, some small, and I will admit, you do save money, it depends on what your buying. I learned that it's a lot easier to look at what your interested in online before going there. It's also great because you can compare in the privacy of your own home and then go in to place your order (if you can get your hands on the book you need). No one at this point bothers you, (they already have your money) and are very nice and helpful. We never had a problem with anything we bought until now!
We purchased marble tiles for our bathroom and were very happy to have saved about 500.00 dollars. The tiles came in pretty quickly in unmarked cardboard boxes, wierd considering they were coming from a very well known company, but not enough to say we don't want them. Well, when my husband finally starts laying out the tiles before installing them he finds himself putting tiles aside and grabbing others because the tiles weren't lining up. After a half hour of this he starts to inspect the tiles and finds that not only were the tiles not square, most of the tiles were different sizes, and almost every single tiles edge was chipped. Basically, they send us the lowest grade tile! He tells me that he can't use them b/c everything will not line up properly and that they look terrible and he will not spend all this money and have to look at that forever. I was very upset b/c I knew this was going to be a long ordeal, and I knew that we were going to lose money. I just didn't know how much. He calls D.B. and they tell him to take pics of the tiles that are bad (which was almost all of them, and that was only 5 boxes). We try, but it was hard to show the damage, so he grabbed some tiles and his square and headed to D.B. to show the manager in person. It just happens to be, that the day he goes, there is a representative there from another tile company educating the employees about his companys product. The manager tells my husband "today is your lucky day" and brings my husband over to the rep and explains our situation to him, he takes one look at the tiles and tells my husband that they are low grade, he even goes as far as to use our tiles to show the employees what bad tiles look like! OUCH! My husband tells the manager that he is very unhappy with the tiles and that he doesn't want them. The manager takes his own pics to send to the company (they are the only ones allowed to talk to the manufacture) and tells him he will call us when they let him know what steps they want to take to correct this problem.
After waiting two weeks we call and he tells us that they will take the tiles back. Wow! Great! The manager tells him we will get a full refund but that we will lose the 150. 00 freight charge which we knew we would. A week or so later my husband calls again to find out how long it will take to get our money back and she said that they just cut the check, he asked her how much the check was, and she told him that it was 700.00 less than what it should be. When he asked why, she said that it includes the shipping and handling fee (which is how D.B. makes thier money) that we paid to get the tiles, and a charge of 395.00 to ship the tiles back. WHAT?! To add insult to injury she said that the manufacture did not feel there is nothing wrong with the tiles and that they took the tiles back as a courtesy without charging us a restocking fee! Yeah they did, they are calling it shipping cost! Well, needless to say that my husband asked for the manager and had a massive screaming match with him. The manager claims that he told my husband up front that it's under the discretion of the manufacture to charge what they want for shipping, he could not believe what he was hearing! He knows for a fact that he didn't, he just told him about the 150.00 shipping charge. I can tell you that my husband would never have sent the tiles back under those conditions, like everyone else he works pretty darn hard for his money! He would never say ''OH OKAY, let them keep what they need. It's allright"

Well with all of this I finally sat down to read the contract, and we finally decided to google D.B. (a lttle too late, don't ya think)? and found this website. After reading both, I see that D.B. does not take returns so I am grateful that they took back the tiles, well the manufacture did, but at a very high cost. I know we did not lose a lot of money here, but we returned these tiles b/c they were badly cut, not b/c we didn't want them anymore, so we really feel robbed and defeated b/c they have our money and are doing with it as they wish. Don't get me wrong I don't hate D.B. b/c of this, it has not been bad until now. I cannot sit here and put all the blame on them. We are the biggest fools of all for not listening to our gut instincts and walking out of there and more importantly not reading and understanding the contract. No one should be put under pressure like that, not when it involves so much money, but, we allowed it to happen, there were no guns invloved here either!

So in writing this very long story I hope that you see the point of it all. (1) Do your homework with everything you do, we have no excuse, we have what were using to read and write this story. (2) Don't ever let anyone put your back up against the wall! (3) Read everything, inside out, and in between. I know it's hard when you have someone breathing down your neck, but it's our name on that piece of paper not thiers! We have all done it, probably more than once (I know we have) but this time we paid a very steep price for this lesson. READ! EDUCATE YOURSELF! ASK QUESTIONS!

We have called three times to speak to the owner (in one day) but apparantly she is a very hard person to get a hold of. Let's see if she can get this bad taste out of our mouth and restore our faith in people and in Direct Buy. Even though we still think they are very sneaky! By the way congratulatons to you if you are reading everything that everyone has posted, good and bad. At least your smarter than we were, and your doing your homework! (Hopefully)!

We were prepared to make significant purchases as we were doing a major remodel and replacing literally everything in our home. DirectBuy pricing may be lower on some items but once you tack on the handling fee, it is always significantly more. Also they don't carry everything that we wanted or they carry items that have been discontinued. They don't back up manufacturer's warranties, so if it breaks (or you receive it broken) you're stuck. We worked with one of DB's "designers" who completely screwed up our kitchen cabinet planning. Thank God we didn't end up purchasing the cabinets from DB as we found a local person who did the job with better materials / workmanship for significantly less $$.
Stay away from DirectBuy.
DirectBuy is a nightmare & scam!
Help spread the word...
A Federal Class Action lawsuit against DirectBuy has been filed by Izard Nobel LLP. Contact information is as follows
Lead Attorney - Jeff Nobel
email - jnobel@izardnobel.com
toll free phone# - [protected]
Please contact them so justice may prevail & we can get our hard earned money aka "membership fees" back.

We have been in our contract with DB for almost a year now. We have ill feeling on giving them anymore money and therefore was have not made one single purchase out of fear. We too experienced some similar stories as other have mentioned. Every time we find what we like to buy it’s either out of stock or discontinued. The salesperson has no knowledge as to what is in the catalogs and/or how to use them. We decide to cancel our membership .You would think if the customer is unhappy with their purchase or if it takes to long to arrive they should get a full refund ASAP but not at DB. We also believe customer service is the important which we didn't find at DB and getting someone on the phone is not an option at DB. Can anyone offer advice on how we can get our money back or release from this contract?
Furious

Wow! I can't believe the garbage being written here! DirectBuy advertises quite clearly that they are set up to benefit families who are making SIGNIFICANT PURCHASES for their homes...so why waste anyone's time going through the Open House when you're not in that category? Save the visit for when you're making those types of purchases!

I myself, like several friends who are members have saved thousands of dollars since joining! If you don't mind shopping by catalogue to save the mark-ups that you have to pay as a consumer in the stores, then it will be for you too! And being able to browse the internet site as a member has saved a lot of trips to my local showroom where the staff is knowledgeable and always courteous.

I'll never regret taking that 90 minutes to go in and attend an open house, it was definitely the right decision for my family!

I too feel Direct Buy is a big waste of money and time. My husband and I went to a presentation and against my better judgement we got talked into a membership. At the time both of us had fairly good jobs and we were okay. We were hoping to use the membership to purchase renovation materials to finish the basement of our newly purchased home. Before we had a chance to even go in and check out prices my husband's company closed and 1500 people were out of work. When he finally did get work it was at a tremendous decrease in income($20K less) and we are now in danger of losing the house that we never did get a chance to renovate. We approached Direct Buy with our dilema and asked to be let out of our contract they refused. We did not ask for money back just to be given a break. They don't care they have their money and our membership cards(I returned them in good faith when we asked to be let out) and now I probably won't even have the house we got the membership for only the nightmare and monthly bill. Warn everyone you know stay away from Direct Buy.

We also feel Direct buy is a waste of good money, the hassle of dealing with them and their customer service is a nightmare. Workmanship is poor very poor and forget about any type of follow up.
It is too bad we didn't see these reports before we dished out over 5 grand...

I went into their show room and they sold me on the % discount. I signed up March 14, 2009 giving them $5029.50, which they took out of my banking account on March 16, 2009 telling me that I would recieve my membership that following week. Well it is April 2, 2009 now and no membership cards yet.
I have called them, left message's and again no return calls. Tried e-mailing them but it keeps coming back not delivered and bounces back to me.
It seems that the only way that I can contact them by e-mail, is to order something from them, which I don't want to do now.
I'm going to a lawyer now to get my money back!
To whom it may concern, don't get caught like me!
Store purchased membership from, (Kingston, Ontario)
Not a happy person

If you live in Ontario and feel that you have made an unfortunate mistake of signing a contract with Direct Buy, don't despair, all is not lost . If you are within the 10 day cooling off period as provided by the consumers protection act or if you have been mislead into signing the contract you can probably get out of it.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, you have the right to cancel an agreement and have your money returned to you if:
The contract is subject to a cooling off period. You have the absolute right to cancel (for any reason) within 10 days of receiving a written copy of the agreement.
The vendor has made a false, misleading or deceptive representation about the goods or services you agreed to buy or lease.
The information about the goods or services, or your rights as a consumer required by the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, are not provided to you in the agreement.
For more information the web address below may be helpful, good luck!
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_050017_e.htm

After reading all the complants I agree they gave me no time to think and wonted me to sign up that same night, I really didnt now antthing about the company I did my research befir my 3 day grace period ( normanlly supose to be 10 days) we made the right choice to cancel the contract so if you get to read this befor your grace peroid is up do not stay a member with direct buy it is a scam you can get cheeper or the same prices buy shopping around be smart at what every you do and read fine lines before signing anything!

Wow, my wife and I were supposed to visit a show room today, after reading all of this no way are we going. We are renovating our home which was built in the 1940's, so we have a lot of upgrading to do. Sounds like we are better off just going through our local merchants here. I am so glad I did a little research before going to see the showroom today. I had a feeling there had to be something more to this and $4000 membership? huge red flag. It is stressful enough when people are doing their own renovations, especially on a home that they have all of their money sunk into already...hopefully something can be done about this place if they are screwing people over!

Oh Gosh. I contacted them because I am in the process of closing on my first house and thought why not try and get all I need from my one place plus save some money while I'm at it. But after reading all the horrible complaints and the fact that the membership is about half of what I have set aside for my upgrades there is no way. I will definetly cancel the appt I have to come see their showroom on Feb 22 cause it really makes no sense to pay that much to get a something at a bargain.

We too just became members and our first order is a nightmare. Why is there no class action suite against them?