scam artists
Direct Buy lied to get me to sign up.Took salesman aside to make sure they had contractors that worked in my vacation ski resort condo area that I was planning to remodel. I even showed him on a map. He assured me that there was no place they didn't cover. They work with contractors in any town on the map. I also asked him if they carried Natuzzi furniture. He told They carried all manufacturers. I told him I had to be sure they had people in my area as that is the only reason I would sign up. He assured me it wouldn't be a problem. Would not refund when I found out there was no contractor that services my area. Complained to a worker there and she stated she heard the salesman make false statements all the time. When I questioned direct buy at showroom they said the salesman was probably a little confused because it was a fairly new store he might have made some mistakes, but didn't mean to. I tried working with them for awhile on kitchen design, but it was so frustrating and a long drive to showroom I went to Home Depot and got an estimate from them. I gave a copy of estimate to DB designer, and she gave me an estimate that was more than HD. When I called to question their 40% off retail ads they accused me of taking their estimate and showing it to HD so they would beat the price. They did eventually come up with a contractor they said would work in my area and they have clients that live there. I called a few times to ask contractor about my ski condo remodel with no response. I asked kitchen designer and she didn't know if he worked that far away.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
fraud
There are probably thousands upon thousands of complaints on DirectBuy. I will add my two cents of how much of a scam they are reflecting the opinion of many.
Their membership fees are $5000 which they do not disclose till the end of a very boring, annoying presentation and tour that they make you take. Ok fine that is their business model and I will accept that. But they are fairly pushy when getting you to sign, essentially threaten you by saying you can never come back and sign up again for the next 5 years and in our case, we were mislead be a rep saying that their online website was getting a makeover and would give us access to all their products availabel in the catalogues.
Let me tell you, THAT IS NOT TRUE! They have the worst website and what they dont represent clearly is though you are getting products at the manufacturer's rate, they charge 8-16% in handling fees and then regular tax of 8% or so. So you might say well, that might not be too bad but wrong!
For the online generation thisis the WORST way to shop, you cannot find most products online, there inventory represented online is never up to date with pricing or pictures or product. You have to go in physically each time to possibly only one locaiton in your area, you cannot take friends/family for tehir opinions, you have to be married and only then get in, and after all that you are sifting through the most archaic way of shopping - physical catalogues that are such a STUPID way to shop in comparison with online shopping and using keyword searches.
DIRECTBUY IS A SCAM. Even if you see it in the catalogue, you hvae to search around all over teh place to find that product physically somewhere to get an idea of what it looks like and almost everytime you will find that same product online cheaper! Online stores do not have the same overheards that are associated with physical storefronts and often times they will take a loss for volume sales which directbuy will not.
I do not forsee DirectBuy surviving the era of people shifting to far more sophisticated methods of online shopping - they are misrepresentative, pushy, they scam you into a decision of membership with little time to think it over and use pressure tactics, and in our case misrepresented the online functionalities, and if you are smart shopper you can find ANYTHING online cheaper than DirectBuy.
We obviously learnt the hard way. PLEASE DO NOT JOIN DIRECTBUY, IT IS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY AND YOU CAN ALWAYS FIND IT CHEAPER ONLINE!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Direct Buy has [redacted] intercept consumer complaints. [redacted] then assures consumers that the highest levels of Direct Buy's leaders will address consumer complaints.
This is false. Here is how Direct Buy Elmhurst addressed my concerns.
I was in Germany mid-July, 2010 and my wife Vera could no longer live in a disheveled home waiting for Direct Buy's shipment of furniture. Vera called the showroom and announced that she was coming to talk with the company's leaders.
One of these, apparently a partner in the business, a woman named "Miriam" met Vera at the showroom. Miriam stated that Vera was known to cause trouble and that Vera has upset all of the employees at Direct Buy in Elmhurst.
Miriam raised her voice and told Vera, "You are going to have to go it alone."
For the $5, 000 membership fee, this conduct was unacceptable.
Vera confronted Miriam as to which employees complained of her and not one employee stepped forward. Therefore Miriam was lying in order to control Vera's behavior.
This regulation of consumers is a hallmark of Direct Buy. Consumers who paid high prices and were mislead about the quality and availability of goods are muzzled either through global mechanisms like the intervention of Direct Buy in [redacted]'s listing of consumer complaints or through local action like Miriam's.
Also, I received two book cases that do not appear to be the book cases Vera ordered. This will add fuel to the problem as there is no return policy for erroneous listings of furniture items. All orders are made via catalogs and the consumer can only go by the description and a picture of the furniture item. If the item is not as it appears in the picture or the description, the consumer takes it in the shorts.
Direct buy is not truthfull in disclosing Our Right To Terminate Membership. When I purchased my membership I asked my salesperson if I had three days a consumer to cancel. She told me NO the state of Michigan does not give the consumer the right to cancel, once you purchase the membership from the moment on you are a member. Well she lied, Michigan does have a right to cancel in three business days for consumers rather they initiate the sale or We initiate the sale. PLEASE don't get taken like me. Use your right as a consumer and cancel if you change your mind!
We were warned by friends that they were cheated out of about $5, 000 for a DirectBuy membership fee. They forked over all that money because DirectBuy told them that they would be able to buy things for their new home at the manufacturers' price -- at a 50% to 60% discount. Little
did they know, after DirectBuy tacked on hefty shipping and handling fees, they were able to find most of the items for sale through DirectBuy at the same prices, if not lower prices, at retail stores like Lowes and Best Buy!
If you were scammed by DirectBuy, like my friends, you should contact the law firm Craig T. Matthews & Associates at cmatthews@ctmlaw.com or 937.434.9393. That law firm has sued DirectBuy before in both Ohio and
Indiana (where DirectBuy's headquarters are located), and it's conducting an investigation about DirectBuy's misleading promises. If you want your membership fee refunded, you should contact Craig Matthews to pursue a class action case against DirectBuy. No matter what state you're from,
his firm should be able to help you. Be warned!
Yep...DirectBuy got us, too. I always thought we were wise consumers until this happened and we're out $6000.
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.
misleading & not delivering on promise
Direct Buy is $5k hard sell for a service that is extremely time consuming with marginal results. You have to look at their show rooms, shop the retail stores, figure out the differences of the quoted product and the one you found, pay for shipping, hope it comes in undamaged, and then arrange for your own local delivery. Service seems very good, but the results are more important when you are trying to recoup your initial cost. Stay away. Keep the money in your pocket.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I have been a member of Direct Buy for 8 years. I have saved over $21, 000 (net after deducting the Direct Buy fee) furnishing our home. I did a significant amount of competitive research so I know the savings are genuine. While I do not recommend Direct Buy to individuals who are not planning on making a significant amount of large purchases, it was a good financial decision on my part.
Time for a class action lawsuit! This company needs to be shut down! I don't know one person who has had a good experience with Direct Buy or actually saved any money. BEWARE! anything that sounds to good to be true probably is!
scam, scam, fraud
Stay away from this company. Everybody is so nice to you during the presentation and up until the time you sign the contract. By the way the contract is 5000, I repeat 5000. When you sit with sales person they seem to forget to tell certain things about the membership, but you can overhear another sales rep telling somebody else something different. Be...
Read full review of DirectBuy and 9 commentspoor ordering communicatin
I was very excited to use the new direct buy. I had communicated on several occasions with Cheyenne about my various orders, and she seemed to very helpful, until I ordered a big ticket item, a custom leather sectional sofa. I had e-mailed the manufacturer to request if they made a particular sofa model I liked as a "sectional sofa". The manufacturer wrote back stating"yes". So, I requested Cheyennne to find out the price of the model of the sofa as a sectional sofa. Cheyenne on many occasions directly contacted the various manufacturers for pricing info. I had faxed Cheyenne my requests on two seperate occasions, and she telephoned me with the price, and I immediately sent her off a check. Now, 1-2 days later, Cheyenne phones me that she now needs a new order refaxed to her. Well, low and behold, I do not know the exact name etc of the sofa I have requested her to check on, so I fax her down the model name that I know of the sofa. So, of coarse, unknown to me, the wrong sofa was ordered, a, single sofa? After, a huge a battle with Amy, the manager, I of coarse, am at fault, as the final order that I sent is ALL that they have, so I screwed up? Dahhhhhh? I have copies of all my comunications, and the best they can do is split the cost with me, No, this is not acceptable, as I cannot afford to split it with them, and then attempt to repurchase a leather sofa. Now, mind you, when I attempted to order a mattress and thought that I only needed one mattress, the sales people, who guided me, said "Gina, you need to actually order two of these mattresses to get what you want". OK, so why wasn't the same guidance given to me again. Is that not their job.? I, too, work with the public on a daily basis, and would never expect a family member to understand nursing home lingo, or medical terminology. IN return, I do not understand retail/ordering business. At what point does this company acceot responsibility?
Sincerely,
Gina Ruhl
I've had the same experience as above. I waited six months to get a was and dryer. It feels like once they get your membership they could care less about you. Anything you buy takes forever to get and to get any kind of service is like pulling hens teeth.
We placed an order for are shutters which happened to be the last two of our 10 ordered and of course they are wrong and now DirectBuy Sacramento that was in Rocklin unexpectedly closed there doors with no known prior notification to the local members. Now the headache begins. Been trying for a month to get the correct shutters swapped out but now we are working with Direct Buy out of Texas but have not heard back from Stephanie the manager supposedly in charge of helping those of us out of the Rocklin store. Starting month number two of trying.
I agree with everything you have complained about. I too have used Direct Buy several times and for the most part have been satisfied however customer service is non existent. They are only there to place orders and nothing else. You have to be very careful about ordering and do a lot of home work. It is time consuming and sometimes considering the fact that you can not send it back and get a refund if the order is not right or you are not happy with it and still have to pay for shipping and handling fees it is better to go and get it from the store and pay a little more. They have a wide selection of merchandise and if you are willing to spend hours scouring catalogs and then waiting weeks for your order then this is the place for you. If all you want to do is walk into the store see something you like and buy it and have it the next day, don't join. Many times most items can be purchased on line with not shipping charges and no tax and free returns cheaper than Direct Buy.
Susan
I also am a member of Direct Buy and after my last order I decided I do not want to keep paying the yearly fee to be treated htis poorly. I have been dealing with and order that started last year March until this day, my order has not been completed. Communication is HORRIBLE! They never call back! I have called and left messages with different people, warehouse, manager, sales and noone is proactive here! I was not doing so bad when I was a member of the Seattle office but after mmoving to Sacramento I had to deal with the Rocklin office. This place is ridiculous! Absolutely NO SENSE of responsability. Very dissapointing. And honestly the Manufacturer's Price they advertise is not any better as if you buy it at a retailer during a sale. They add 8% of service fee, tax and shipping fee. After adding all this prices are some times even higher than a retailer. So think twice before becoming a member. By the way they membership is insanely pricey too. $3999 back in 2005.!
fraud and scam
My parents were recently held hostage at Direct Buy for over 8 hours, not allowed to go to the bathroom, and then separated into different rooms before they relented to give their captors the 5, 000.00 membership fee. They are in their 70s, and were looking for options and alternatives to an upcoming house renovation.
Facts - Direct Buy staff kept them separated against their will, and would not let them speak to one another to discuss their decision.
They were kept at the 'showroom' for 8 hours, and not told until sales pressure time the cost of the membership. They were not given the opportunity to make an informed decision. Instead, they were separated into two sales rooms, and were told that they could not speak to one another.
They signed the contract to membership under duress, with the intention of exercising their 72 hour right of recision allowed to them in Florida Statutes Title XXXIII Chapter 559.3903 which governs the specific rights of persons entering into a contract of membership.
They exercised their right of recision within 48 hours by certified mail, well within their right of cancellation. They have not received a refund. This was before thanksgiving 2008. Florida law gives the member full right to that refund within 10 days of notification. It has been 2 months.
Florida Title XLVI Chapter 825.103 section 1 pertains to the criminal act of exploiting an elderly or disabled adult. This statute says exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult means:
'Knowingly, by deception or intimidation, obtaining or endeavoring to obtain or use, an elderly person's or disabled person's funds, assets, or property with the intent to deprive such individual the use, benefit or possession of the funds by a person who reasonably should know that the elderly person lacks the capacity to consent.'
Florida state law defines this as a criminal felony in the third degree punishable by up to 5 years in prison. under chapter 775.082.
Govern yourself accordingly, DirectBuy.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
For the $4700 membership fee and promises of any product up to 50% is a lie. The selection is limited to mostly ridiculously high priced products, and by the time you pay for shipping and finding products in their catalogs the savings are very small. You are much better off buying products other than the brands they carry, or waiting for a sale on what you are interested in. Should have checked it out before I accepted their now or never offer of membership. Learned my lesson. Unless you are building a house, you will never see real savings. BEWARE!
Direct Buy is a real scam. First you have to either submit a huge payment of 4998 dollars. However if you don't have that, they allow you to make a first time payment of 500 plus. Then if you want to pull out of the scam they stick you. They harass you via phone. It's funny, they always call after work hours. And it always sound like someone calling from a home. I believe you should not have to pay for services you never used or products you never orders. Is there anyone out there with a direct buy card that was never able to afford it? I too believe there should be a class suit launched against money making scam of business.
The ad for this bogus operation should come with a warning label. If anyone thinks they got a good deal here, they didn't shop around. My daughter joined (and paid a hefty fee) after a cult-like presentation and is now just trying to break even. The only great deals to be found are the fees lining Direct Buy pockets.
Shop the sales, join Costco but, for heavens sake, don't get sucked into this scam. No one pays the manufacturers suggested retail price for furniture, electronics, appliances etc.
Direct Buy always points to the full retail as a cost basis for their "deals".
I have recently joined Direct Buy and I have not been completely satisfied. It seems as if every time I go and make a purchase initially it seems like a wonderful deal until they give me my form back with the shipping cost. All of my savings that I think I am getting ends up going to my shipping fee.
I made one purchase for $85.00 and my total after shipping and taxes was $153.00! There went my savings I thought I was getting. Another purchase of 2 items that cost $231.00 each had a shipping fee of $150.00 each! I was shocked.
I was informed in my introduction that I would have to pay shipping fees, but was told that they are usually very reasonable and with some retailers it would be free. I do not think the total price should double after shipping fees. That is not reasonable and they should not lead people to believe that.
I am having a hard time seeing the good that is coming out of my membership. I have not saved any money yet. I'm not giving up hope just yet though. I'm going to attempt a few more purchases to see if they work out better for me. If things go as they have been though I will definitely declare Direct Buy a rip off!
Help stop this company! spread the word, there has been a class action lawsuit filed against them! the lead attorney is Jeff Nobel, email is jnobel@izardnobel.com, phone# [protected]. Good luck! I hope everyone gets their money back and this company goes out of business!
your daughter has only just begun to find out what a mistake she made, tell her to check the BBB website, there are so many complaints about the company it's unbelievable. But there is good news, a class action lawsuit has been filed against them, help spread the word to stop this company! the lead attorney is Jeff Nobel jnobel@izardnobel.com phone# [protected]. Good luck! I hope everyone gets their money back!
We're out $6000 and I heard of other franchise locations that charge up to $10, 000 for a membership. What a ripoff.
DirectBuy is a nightmare & scam!
Help spread the word & get involved...
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.
Thanks for sharing your comments. Hopefully, we (us who have been duped) will be able to help people steer clear of DirectBuy. We're out $6000 but I found out about these attorneys who are suing on all of the members' behalf.
DirectBuy is a nightmare & scam.
Help spread the word & get involved...
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.
DirectBuy is a nightmare & scam. That's horrible what they did to your parents. Although, DB is so desperate for members that I wouldn't put it past them to go to these extremes.
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.
Holy Lord, you could probably bring some kidnapping charges against them, too. Go for it.
sales pressure - rude
I was invited to an open house, and told I could possible win $50, 000, and get two free gifts just for comming. Me and my husband went, and although we were open to the pitch, we were also thinking that this was a scam. After the pitch, which included the "join today...or never come back..." and after a tour of the showroom, we me with the store manager ( they are all "managers" apparently, because when my husband dared to ask what the commission was and refer to them as "Salesmen" we were belitted and more or less ushered out the door. This was because they knew we wouldn't join and I believe fearful that we would sway the other couples who were sitting down about to sign to leave. We were almost out the door when I remembered the $50, 000 key contest and my free gifts. I did not win the $50 grand but did walk out with a free dinner and movie tickets for two. I was happy, after all I ended up with at least something for my time, and I can get a good laugh everytime I think of the pathetic SALESMAN who seems to think I would be impressed by his self assigned title as store manager...he was reallty just a rude a hole who I feel sorry for, had we been interested in joining his attitude would have been enought to kill the deal. Long story short..if you want to go to check it out...do so, its worth a laugh and you could get a free dinner out of it. BUT DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO SIGNING UP...THE SAVINGS ARE NOT GUARANTEED. AND REMEMBER...THEY CAN SAY ANYTHING THEY WANT TO REEL YOU IN, BUT ARE BOUND LEGALLY BY NOTHING! BUYER BEWARE...YOU WILL BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PYRAMID...
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I also fell for the “free laptop or tablet” offer from Direct Buy. It turns out that you must log on to ElectronicsClaimCenter.com and, after choosing your “free” product (without any description or specs) and agreeing to their terms, you can print out a Voucher Activation Confirmation Form. Within 5 days, this must be signed and mailed (certified!) together with a copy of your ID and a SASE. Within 30 days, they will mail to you a Product Certificate and instructing you to keep the envelope and to log on to another site (not specified until you get the mailing). At this site, you will be able to print your Activation Confirmation Form. Then, within 15 days of the postmark on the saved envelope, you must mail to them your Activation Confirmation Form, the saved envelope and a U.S International Money Order (USIMO) for $9.95 Activation Fee. When they recieve these, they will instruct you to provide a shipping and handling fee (not specified until then), also by USIMO. They will ship within 2 weeks of receipt of the S&H fee.
So if you jumped through all these hoops and are lucky, you will get a “free” item that is worth what it cost you in fees and postage, but you will not know until you get it (a pig in a poke?). But since they only accept USIMO payments, you have no recourse. Yet another scam perpretrated through Direct Buy. Caveat emptor!
Don't get sucked into buying a membership. We bought one knowing we were going to make some major purchases for our home. Sales presentation makes you believe they really can get better pricing. But, the truth is, you're better off shopping retail. We replaced a fence using a popular local (South Jersey) fence company. DB's price WITHOUT installation was as much as our installed price... dinnerware they sell in their catalog was less expensive direct from the manufacturer! (via web or catalog). Direct Buy doesn't guarantee the consumer anything... BUYER BEWARE! and they have a NO REFUND policy... don't waste your money!
We made our appointment to check out what Direct Buy is all about. We went in to have the 45 min presentation, since we plan to do some major renovations to our kitchen and baths in a few years but nothing at this time. The spresentation person said after the presentation we should look around the store because they have access to millions of things and Cris a salesperson would be with us in a few. When the sales person came up to us I asked the question: If I dont pay 50 dollars now to start a membership can I never come back to become a member at a time closer to renovation time. Sales person Cris turned his back and said I will escort you out since you dont want to be a member now, I tapped his shoulder and said:(Sir what I'am saying is my wife and I dont know anything yet we have not seen anything and cant deside blindly why we need to pay out $6, 000 and sign a 10 year bindable contract.He jumped back and claimed I grabed his arm and I am not welcomed at the location so please leave. I asked his name ( he would not give it)and requested to talk to Mgr who came up to me and proceeded to hustle me and my wife out the front door, I stated (so what your escorting me out before I, ve seen anything about the membership or true money output to join)I asked for you so I could complain regarding service practice of his employee Cris when I tapped his shoulder to ask a question he jumped back as if I was there to Hit him and claimed I'am not willing to spend money to join so I NEED TO LEAVE NOW. He stated If you dont want to join now then never again will I be able to return, I stated that's FuXXed up after the time I have invested to go to the location and cant even see if there are any product lines I need .He told me I need not come back because I used the F word outside to him although no other people other than my wife and the shift mgr. were in the conversation I feel that no matter what the savings might have been for us we will never do business with people so rude and thier only goal is to get the new members to sign a contract prior to seeing any product is BAD FOR BUSINESS. and I did expect more than thier crappy way of presentation.
We were told up front that some catagories of products offer more savings over retail prices. We have found this to be true. You won't save as much on electronics as on furniture or home improvemnet. We don't feel that they misrepresented the membership. That said, we would only recommend them if you are planning to purchase new furniture and do some major remodeling as those catogories have the most savings. We've also saving on sporting goods. It does take a long time to get most products, so if you need something right away you'll be stuck. Our dishwasher broke and we got a good price on a 'club exclusive' but didn't get it for 5 or 6 weeks :-( Also, you save more if you are going with higher end products.
At the time we joined we were planning some major remodeling, but that didn't happen. We are hoping that we will still be able take advantage of our membership and make it worth while, but as of now it has not paid off because we haven't used it how we thought we would. If they go bankrupt from all the lawsuits I guess that won't happen. Other members we have talked to (people who have $$ to spend) are happy with theirs.
We purchased a Direct Buy membership back in 2017, when the price to join was within reason. The first purchase was for Bathroom cabinetry, marble sink, etc. We were pleased with the purchase and felt we made a good decision in joining the "club". We then moved to a new location and started delaing with another Direct Buy office - this is where the nightmare begins. First purchase we bought a set of curio cabinets. When we received them they were just about identical, however, we found over 12 variations of the design, be it the location of shelves, locks, the top, bottom legs, and the pane sections for the front doors. One unit sat really nice, the other wasn't racked properly and the color was off between the two. After 3 months of going back and forth with the Purchasing team at Direct Buy, the manufacturer cut us a check for one of the units. They were made in two seperate facilities - hence the difference. We felt that they were seconds asnd shipped as seconds by the manufacturer. We then picked up a set of bureau drawers for our kids. Once came in with a forklift hole through the unit - they didn't notice it nor did they notice the broken leg on one of the units. They ordered one new bureau and had a wood craftsman come out and fix the broken leg. Then we ordered a sleeper couch for our home office. This piece is really nice except for the fact that the seat cushions are off center to the back cushion, so you have to really squish the seat cushions to make the back cushions line up, which again makes it look like we received a second. And finally, my wife ordered a real nice teapot, and the first time she boiled water in it, the steam, instead of coming out the spout end and whistling, came out the lid and burnt her hand. The lid was bent where the external and internal pieces came together. Then there was the color, looked like it was not uniformly coated. We went around Direct Buy and contacted the manufacturer who provided us with a call tag and sent us a new tea pot.
For the money potential "members" would pay now to join, find someone who is a member and ride their membership - Direct Buy had a good idea, however, it has gotten greedy as an organization and lost sight of what it was trying to accomplish.
I put in an inquiry for Direct But about 2 weeks ago. Since then they have been stalking my phone. The call me from different numbers at least 5 times a day. When I try to call back the number is not a business number and has no voice mail. They must have hundreds of phone numbers set up. I talked to a woman on the phone and told her my project. I went to the office during a very inconvient time and told me by husband had to be with me b/c they were going to hit me up for a membership that was between $85-150 a month for 3 years. I turned around and walked out. That was a definate waste of a few hours.
We bought a whirlpool washer duet and it was a special, free shipping. Unbenounced to us they shipped it to DirectBuy. We don't have a pickup so they want to charge us $75 an hour to deliver it to us which we were under the impression it was coming to our door. In trying to resolve this we call, leave messages and they don't return our calls. You very seldom get a person. Very disappointed in DirectBuy, would not recommend it to anyone even large consumers. If you shop internet you can find great deals and delivered to your door without the hassle.
We were strong armed into joining without knowing all the details. We are kicking ourselves over and over for falling for their B.S. We are building a brand new home so we thought it would be worth the membership fee but we have not found ONE thing that we couldn't get just as inexpensive and as good a quality elsewhere.
I would never recommend direct buy to anyone. We are recent members and I do not believe that we will ever break even, much less save any money.
We have bought furniture which you are supposed to save the most on, but by the time you add in shipping, handling and delivery costs, you are up to the usual price of a furniture item on sale in a furniture store.
Also, you are limited in your selection and if you don't like an item, you are stuck with it. A furniture store may be willing to exchange the item.
The sales pitch insinuated that the delivery charge would not be large, but that was not true. They wanted $130 to deliver a mattress and box springs when the mattress company was advertising free delivery from retail stores.
Direct buy claims true wholesale pricing. What they don't say is that pricing has added shipping and handling costs will boost the price by 12 % ( the catch). In the past year I've bought items online that were 10-20% less than at Direct buy. So how can they claim true wholesale pricing? Never mind the 6-8 week wait, and if you don't like it, good luck returning it. I bought a bed from Stanley through Direct buy which clearly had a defect but was overruled by them which left me only one option, to threaten legal action. They clearly didn’t want that so they ordered another bed. Needless to say after almost six months, we received another bed with a different defect. We we're utterly exhausted over the ordeal and ended up taking it anyways. The money you'll save at Direct buy, if any, is not worth the anguish, stress, or initial membership fee of $3500. I realized I've overpaid my kitchen cabinets, wood floors, tile, and appliances and started saving more than Direct buy through internet and local furniture store sales. You can do the same.
scam artists
I'm ashamed to say that I ever worked for this company. They are a scam from the very first contact call they make to people... "claiming" that the person on the other end has been selected in a drawing as a "finalist" for a $50, 000 home makeover! There are potentially hundreds to even thousands of calls made each day, all being a "finalist"... and if you...
Read full review of DirectBuy and 5 commentsbad experience
My wife and I went to a DirectBuy warehouse tonight after being invited to attend an open house. The center manager was a really friendly and personable guy from Missouri (the show-me state). We both signed in, received a name badge and were introduced to our "host" who was the center manager's son-in-law. He interviewed us and we shared with him that we were remodeling and would be purchasing carpet, tile, windows, kitchen and bath appliances. He said DirectBuy would be able to save us money and seated us in a room with a TV monitor. There were two other couples in the room and the meeting started out with a seven minute informercial on what DirectBuy does - in short, they claim to save money by bypassing the local retailer and purchasing direct from manufacturer - the proposition sounds cool (emphasis on the word "sounds").
The center manager speaks for a while, shows us another video and then proceeds to show us a wall of products covered with post-it notes. Each product has two post-it notes with a suggested retail price shown and the DirectBuy price underneath. They showed us furniture, washing machines, pots and pans, vacuums, mattresses etc. The DirectBuy price offered averaged 20-50% less according to the center manager. BUT, I wrote down a few prices and the magic ended when I researched the first item, a 46" Sony Bravia - the manufacturer's retail price matched DirectBuy's example - MRP $2799 but the actual DirectBuy price of $2251 was still more than my local Circuit City's price, $2099. The second item was a 21.8 cu. ft. refrigerator - the manufacturer's retail price matched DirectBuy's example - MRP $2299 but the DirectBuy claimed price of $1419 was lower than the $1900 retail price shown on the internet. The third item was a Jacuzzi - we were particularly interested in that one since we had priced them two days ago at all the local retailers. DirectBuy's price of $1131 was blown away by Lowe's price of $974. [Note that we didn't know the prices on the TV and refrigerator at the time we were at DirectBuy's office but when we we did know the price of the Jacuzzi] Needless to say, the Jacuzzi sowed some seeds of doubt in the process. And it got worse from there...
After the price game, the TV was switched on again and we were treated with a list of DirectBuy member rules (if we were to join). "Be nice to retailers, don't leverage DirectBuy prices against retailers, blah blah blah and then we got to rule #6. Rule #6 is a slick sales tactic that says, You can only decide to join DirectBuy right now. If you said no today, then it was no forever. DirectBuy said it was to protect their retailers. . . you decide. Not good. But not the end of the world. Maybe they are committed to making me happy. So I asked, about their written Customer Satisfaction Policy - "What happens if I am unhappy with my DirectBuy membership". The answer was that they don't have a satisfaction policy as to your membership. However, they will replace a defective product (well, so will Sam's Club). In my mind, I am thinking - they want me to decide RIGHT NOW and they won't guarantee my happiness. Bummer, could it get any worse? The answer is yes because they finally revealed their membership fee - $4500 for two years. And guess what, they want the $4500 today. In DirectBuy's defense, they did offer 10% down and they would finance the rest with no satisfaction guarantee.
Additional fees revealed by DirectBuy in their example was a $110 delivery fee (based on $70-90 per hour delivery rates) and a "handling fee" which worked out to a little under 9% in their example. The concept of buying at cost is a compelling one - I really would like to buy at cost, but I also don't want to be taken advantage of. So, I figured out a win-win for this bad situation which I offered up to the DirectBuy sales team (the center manager and the son-in-law) I would generate a list of what I wanted to buy with dimensions, stock numbers etc. and they could give me an aggregate price (so they would not have to disclose confidential manufacturer prices). If their aggregate price justified the membership fee, I would join. Not only did they turn me down, but they started getting smartass and asked where I had priced out my Jacuzzi - I told them Lowe's and Home Depot and the son-in-law said, "that explains it - we can't compete against the big box home improvement retailer".
Well that's my experience - The handshake was good as was the soft drink (did I mention they had free soft drinks). And they started out by being very nice.
I would recommend checking them out for yourself ... maybe you will have as much fun as I did.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My wife and I went to a DirectBuy warehouse tonight after being invited to attend an open house. The center manager was a really friendly and personable guy from Missouri (the show-me state). We both signed in, received a name badge and were introduced to our "host" who was the center manager's son-in-law. He interviewed us and we shared with him that we were remodeling and would be purchasing carpet, tile, windows, kitchen and bath appliances. He said DirectBuy would be able to save us money and seated us in a room with a TV monitor. There were two other couples in the room and the meeting started out with a seven minute informercial on what DirectBuy does - in short, they claim to save money by bypassing the local retailer and purchasing direct from manufacturer - the proposition sounds cool (emphasis on the word "sounds").
The center manager speaks for a while, shows us another video and then proceeds to show us a wall of products covered with post-it notes. Each product has two post-it notes with a suggested retail price shown and the DirectBuy price underneath. They showed us furniture, washing machines, pots and pans, vacuums, mattresses etc. The DirectBuy price offered averaged 20-50% less according to the center manager. BUT, I wrote down a few prices and the magic ended when I researched the first item, a 46" Sony Bravia - the manufacturer's retail price matched DirectBuy's example - MRP $2799 but the actual DirectBuy price of $2251 was still more than my local Circuit City's price, $2099. The second item was a 21.8 cu. ft. refrigerator - the manufacturer's retail price matched DirectBuy's example - MRP $2299 but the DirectBuy claimed price of $1419 was lower than the $1900 retail price shown on the internet. The third item was a Jacuzzi - we were particularly interested in that one since we had priced them two days ago at all the local retailers. DirectBuy's price of $1131 was blown away by Lowe's price of $974. [Note that we didn't know the prices on the TV and refrigerator at the time we were at DirectBuy's office but when we we did know the price of the Jacuzzi] Needless to say, the Jacuzzi sowed some seeds of doubt in the process. And it got worse from there...
After the price game, the TV was switched on again and we were treated with a list of DirectBuy member rules (if we were to join). "Be nice to retailers, don't leverage DirectBuy prices against retailers, blah blah blah and then we got to rule #6. Rule #6 is a slick sales tactic that says, You can only decide to join DirectBuy right now. If you said no today, then it was no forever. DirectBuy said it was to protect their retailers. . . you decide. Not good. But not the end of the world. Maybe they are committed to making me happy. So I asked, about their written Customer Satisfaction Policy - "What happens if I am unhappy with my DirectBuy membership". The answer was that they don't have a satisfaction policy as to your membership. However, they will replace a defective product (well, so will Sam's Club). In my mind, I am thinking - they want me to decide RIGHT NOW and they won't guarantee my happiness. Bummer, could it get any worse? The answer is yes because they finally revealed their membership fee - $4500 for two years. And guess what, they want the $4500 today. In DirectBuy's defense, they did offer 10% down and they would finance the rest with no satisfaction guarantee.
Additional fees revealed by DirectBuy in their example was a $110 delivery fee (based on $70-90 per hour delivery rates) and a "handling fee" which worked out to a little under 9% in their example. The concept of buying at cost is a compelling one - I really would like to buy at cost, but I also don't want to be taken advantage of. So, I figured out a win-win for this bad situation which I offered up to the DirectBuy sales team (the center manager and the son-in-law) I would generate a list of what I wanted to buy with dimensions, stock numbers etc. and they could give me an aggregate price (so they would not have to disclose confidential manufacturer prices). If their aggregate price justified the membership fee, I would join. Not only did they turn me down, but they started getting smartass and asked where I had priced out my Jacuzzi - I told them Lowe's and Home Depot and the son-in-law said, "that explains it - we can't compete against the big box home improvement retailer".
Well that's my experience - The handshake was good as was the soft drink (did I mention they had free soft drinks). And they started out by being very nice.
I would recommend checking them out for yourself ... maybe you will have as much fun as I did.
Any way of getting my $5000.00 membership fee back?
How can I get my $5000 back as I never bought a thing here after my 3 years membership.What a scam!
Another scammed client of DiectBuy looking for a way out. I've already paid over $7000 and now they expect another $217 a year and so far I haven't bought a thing from them as I have always found it cheaper elsewhere. Like so many others we will just have to eat it and pass it off to experience.
We went through the exact same thing yesterday! I couldn't wait to see what the price of the membership was because the video's that played endlessly throughout the store were leading up to something really big! Their membership $5790 for 3 years in Canada!
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.
I have to agree with Brick. I too am a former DBer. The 'High Pressure/Hard Sell B/S' at DB starts at Corporate with it's Franchisees, who trickle it down to their Centers.
Corporate likes to feed it's Franchisees with the thought that they're 'helping families to a better life style', when in fact they are putting them through a maze of burning hoops, to justifying the enormous amount of money they've charged them. The Franchisees assume that they're getting the best Boot Camp Training, since their life is made a living hell. Unfortunately 'The Originals' who made their money 'back in the day' and created this Company, never had any Business Training or any previous success at anything for that matter. They bought into the top of the pyramid. They remain stuck in 1980 mentality and still take money out of Franchisees pockets as 'Consultants'. Unfortunately, most of them don't fit a Mentor role, and are far beyond the age where their counsel is worth anything. That being said, when DB was sold last year, all remained on board Part Time, training and developing new Franchisee hopefuls, in the school of 'back in the day'.
The DB 'Now or Never' buying system would continue to work if it were still 1980, but Consumers are much more savvy these days. The laws are tightening, as the Federal Class Action suit filed against DB in Connecticut will attest to.
Unfortunately for DB, I have to agree with the Consumer. In these uncertain economic times, I have to think about a Membership before parting with that kind of money up front. In these hard times, DB has lost a tremendous amount of Manufacturers in 2008 alone. Who can predict how many will be left by the end of the year?
Directbuy continues to defraud the Public with fictitious websites attesting to how fabulous they are. In Directbuy's efforts to suppress all the negative Complaints on the Internet, they have hired 2 different Companies to create these websites such as 'The Truth about Directbuy. com", in an effort to establish an algorithm that will put true complaints on Page 2, rather than Page 1. They're banking, or should I say hoping, that Consumers won't read beyond the first page of the Search. These 2 Companies specialize in surpressing bad internet reviews, and actually create blogs to throw Consumers a curve ball.
In regard to handling fees, Guests were told that "They always paid that in retail. DB is just up front about itemizing your costs." Directbuy misleads Guests into believing that they make "No money off the merchandise". The Class Action suit is going to expose the truth about the Handling Fee, as well as the rebates that have been kept. In a statement issued from DB, "The rebates went to help our Members". I interpret that to mean they kept the money, unless they've managed to create a bogus Foundation dedicated to helping their Members.
If you want out of your contract, there are 2 ways: 1) Hire an Attorney to write a letter for you. DB is afraid of lawsuits.
2) File a Complaint with The Attorney General's office in your state. The AG keeps a log on complaints, and will begin an investigation if there are too many.
DB worked in the 70's when buying co-ops were 'all the rage'. Consumers have more options than ever before, and those who have the good fortune to make major purchases, can get a better deal than DB can offer.
Employees at my Center were over worked on the Service side, and on the Sales end pressured and even emotionally abused. They have however, the luxury of leaving and going on to a more honest environment.
To quote John Irving..."It's a good job to lose".
I just love reading how aweful people's experiences have been. How do I know that? Cause I use to be the one doing the sales pitch and pressuring unsuspecting, bright-eyed consumers that want a "bargain". Has anyone wondered what the business does with that 9% "handling fee?" I do. I'm upset at direct buy, but not from a consumers stand point. I leverage direct buy against the retailers all the time and it works about 75% of the time. I have felt guilty about the "truths" that I told to get people to join. The company calls it fluffing which they deem is not lying. I was part of the Direct buy family when it was UCC then UCC totalhome. Some things have changed, for the worse I see with the numbers people are ranting about. I truly do advise people not to join and also advise them to spread the word. The people in the infomercials probably represents about less than 1/2 of a percent of the total membership that has saved that much money. Its called marketing and now the are even doing pop-up on the computer. I have personally talked atleast 2000 people out of joining Directbuy over the last 5 years. I'm in an industry now where I'm speaking to a large group of people on a regular basis where consumer habit is usually brought up. I don't go out of my way to negatively talk about DB, but most of the time DB is brought up. When that happens, I tell them my first hand knowledge of the company. There is so much people don't know about DB and I'm hoping to help others. If some people are upset with the first hand knowledge that I have obtained, then you should have treated me better.
excessive time/unprofessional support
We ordered furniture in September and were told 6-8 weeks. We did not get a call about the furniture being ready for pick-up until 16 weeks and when we tried to speak with a manager about our previous calls to check on the furniture we never received any return calls. We then did not have furniture over the holidays and had company to entertain. We then asked to have it delivered instead of pick up due to the circumstances and we were charged an additional $215.00 for the delivery. We already paid over $3000.00 for the furniture. Thank goodness this is the end of the membership, we will never use them again and recommend others to stay away!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
WELL, BOTH ARE LYERS. DIRECTBUYS 3, OOO DOALLAR FURNITURE COST 6, 000 IN A RETAIL STORE AND YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT A DELIVERY FOR $215. THEN BUY FURNITURE MORE IN YOUR BUDGET. YOU ARE TOLD OF THE WAIT AND YOU SAY YOU WERE NOT. LYER. AS FAR AS THE FORMER EMPLOYEE. GOOGLE DIRECTBUY OF DUTCHESS COUNTY AND LOOK AT THE ARTICLE THAT SAYS THAT IT AWARDED THE MONEY TO SOMEONE FOR THEIR KITCHEN. GROW UP
Yeah they are a bunch of [censor] and as a former employee they use their telemarketers in a scam saying they will win 50, 000 dollars and of course they won't. They have this stupid whole "come down and try your key and receive your gifts" when really none of the keys work and they just paid us to lie to their "members"
bad membership business!!!
This firm is a definite High Pressure, one chance only Sell for Direct Buy Shopping Discounts. Everything is secret, and they do not even let you look at pricing until you pay. (Although at other locations I have heard people are allowed to see pricing before they purchase.) What they offer makes sense, but in actuallity I tried to purchase furniture, appliances, and flooring through them. They usually could not get what I wanted and said they had comparable to purchase. I don't think it's a bargain if I'm not getting what I really wanted. Other times when they could get the items I wanted, the cost was much more than I could get it locally without shipping costs even being considered or the time inconvenience.
I had problems from day one and wanted out, and they ignored me and did not return calls. When I tried to address the problems in person I was given the run around, told they would get back to me, or totally ignored. This was a major loss to the tune of almost $5000! It was all I could do to bite my tongue one night and stop another couple from being talked into a loan to join TODAY or they could never join later. It was exactly the same reasons as we were presenting!
After 18 months someone finally did contact me to tell me they were going to try to work things out, but it has now been over 4 more months - nothing has been done - everything is someone elses fault - and they still do not return calls.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS FIRM in Farmington, Michigan. As I check into them, some of the offices are very good, open to questions, and have great customer service - the the Farmington, Michigan location is terrible!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
thrown out of direct buy show room
We are in the middle of adding a second story to our house. We saw the advertisement of Direct Buy on TV and decided to visit their showroom to check it out. The main purpose was to find out what products they carry that could look good in our empty home. We have five bedroom to fill, one empty kitchen with no cabinet, no appliances. For all likelihood, we...
Read full review of DirectBuy and 3 commentsmembership open house experience
Our personal experience with a DirectBuy Open House in Knoxville, TN
My wife and I went to a DirectBuy warehouse tonight after being invited to attend an open house. The center manager was a really friendly and personable guy from Missouri (the show-me state). We both signed in, received a name badge and were introduced to our "host" who was the center manager's son-in-law. He interviewed us and we shared with him that we were remodeling and would be purchasing carpet, tile, windows, kitchen and bath appliances. He said DirectBuy would be able to save us money and seated us in a room with a TV monitor. There were two other couples in the room and the meeting started out with a seven minute informercial on what DirectBuy does - in short, they claim to save money by bypassing the local retailer and purchasing direct from manufacturer - the proposition sounds cool (emphasis on the word "sounds").
The center manager speaks for a while, shows us another video and then proceeds to show us a wall of products covered with post-it notes. Each product has two post-it notes with a suggested retail price shown and the DirectBuy price underneath. They showed us furniture, washing machines, pots and pans, vacuums, mattresses etc. The DirectBuy price offered averaged 20-50% less according to the center manager. BUT, I wrote down a few prices and the magic ended when I researched the first item, a 46" Sony Bravia - the manufacturer's retail price matched DirectBuy's example - MRP $2799 but the actual DirectBuy price of $2251 was still more than my local Circuit City's price, $2099. The second item was a 21.8 cu. ft. refrigerator - the manufacturer's retail price matched DirectBuy's example - MRP $2299 but the DirectBuy claimed price of $1419 was lower than the $1900 retail price shown on the internet. The third item was a Jacuzzi - we were particularly interested in that one since we had priced them two days ago at all the local retailers. DirectBuy's price of $1131 was blown away by Lowe's price of $974. [Note that we didn't know the prices on the TV and refrigerator at the time we were at DirectBuy's office but when we we did know the price of the Jacuzzi] Needless to say, the Jacuzzi sowed some seeds of doubt in the process. And it got worse from there...
After the price game, the TV was switched on again and we were treated with a list of DirectBuy member rules (if we were to join). "Be nice to retailers, don't leverage DirectBuy prices against retailers, blah blah blah and then we got to rule #6. Rule #6 is a slick sales tactic that says, You can only decide to join DirectBuy right now. If you said no today, then it was no forever. DirectBuy said it was to protect their retailers. . . you decide. Not good. But not the end of the world. Maybe they are committed to making me happy. So I asked, about their written Customer Satisfaction Policy - "What happens if I am unhappy with my DirectBuy membership". The answer was that they don't have a satisfaction policy as to your membership. However, they will replace a defective product (well, so will Sam's Club). In my mind, I am thinking - they want me to decide RIGHT NOW and they won't guarantee my happiness. Bummer, could it get any worse? The answer is yes because they finally revealed their membership fee - $4500 for two years. And guess what, they want the $4500 today. In DirectBuy's defense, they did offer 10% down and they would finance the rest with no satisfaction guarantee.
Additional fees revealed by DirectBuy in their example was a $110 delivery fee (based on $70-90 per hour delivery rates) and a "handling fee" which worked out to a little under 9% in their example. The concept of buying at cost is a compelling one - I really would like to buy at cost, but I also don't want to be taken advantage of. So, I figured out a win-win for this bad situation which I offered up to the DirectBuy sales team (the center manager and the son-in-law) I would generate a list of what I wanted to buy with dimensions, stock numbers etc. and they could give me an aggregate price (so they would not have to disclose confidential manufacturer prices). If their aggregate price justified the membership fee, I would join. Not only did they turn me down, but they started getting smartass and asked where I had priced out my Jacuzzi - I told them Lowe's and Home Depot and the son-in-law said, "that explains it - we can't compete against the big box home improvement retailer".
Well that's my experience - The handshake was good as was the soft drink (did I mention they had free soft drinks). And they started out by being very nice.
I would recommend checking them out for yourself ... maybe you will have as much fun as I did.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My husband and i went to an open house today March 25, 2012 in Huntsville Alabama. Membership fees-$4995.00 ! Salesman was very nice until we said that we couldn't justify the membership costs. He jumped up from the table and rushed us out.
WOW. I did not see this web page before but I went about 3 or 4 years ago. I too received the high pressure that I must "join today or be forever barred. I was thrown back by the then... on the spot demand for $3600.00--- in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Yes, that was a CLEAR Tactic and I made my exit. Thanks for all the posts. I recently saw one of their delivery trucks and decided to look them up.
I see the crooks are still doing their thing, but not on everyone!
Dear Past Worker-
Thanks for having a conscience and not continuing the scam. It's nice to know there are good people out there who won't "take the money & run".
Yes, I am also surprised that the FTC or Attorney General are not all over this. I am appalled that DirectBuy used to be UCC Total Home declared bankruptcy & then opened again as DirectBuy. My suspicion is that they will do the same thing again. "When the heat gets too hot, they'll take their toys and go home."
I have heard that the franchise owners abused their employees and often lied / cheated them as well. I know God is watching & they will get their punishment in the end. They cannot continue doing all of these awful things ripping off consumers and get away with it. I believe that the vast majority of the positive reviews on this company come from either the franchise owners or corporate office.
Thanks for helping expose DirectBuy for who they truly are. Together we'll get them!
I worked for them in a management position and this job requires intensive training, because it is such a SCAM...you must learn the slaes tactics, which are ### SCAM RIPOFF NONSENSE! DONT JOIN! go to big box retailers!~! THE federal trade commision should be all over them, it will happen soon, THE PARTY IS OVER SHORTLY...I had to much of a heart to continue working there, I will not rip people off for there money, no matter how high the compensation was...
Beware of the Salesman in nice suits and shoes, with the fake smile!
WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING...
than people are afraid to not continued paying there membership when they joined, they feel they are committed to save there 4500 or more!
RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
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.
I think GOD for leading me to this site. My wife and I had an appointment with them in 45 min. {03-28-2009}. After reading some of these comments I am glad I read them before we left. I think all of you for leaving your comments.
First of all nobody tells me what I have to do, I will never be pressured in joining any membership by short notice, for the fee that is mentioned the company sucks to do that to anyone. they should be shut down, closed forever they're a scam. 4500.00 to be a member what a joke that is. that should come with free delivery and 1/2 the handling fee, what are they handling? your placing an order not the company. you paid for the service through your membership, they are making more money then what they should be. thats why they pressure you that you have to join the night you come in to see what they offer. I think you can save better on the outside. retail stores donot charge you handling plus they give you free delivery so why should Direct Buy charge you membership fee, plus handling fee & delivery fee. where is all the savings? there are none its all eaten up by all the fees... becareful what you choose you will be mis- led... do yourself a favor DONOT JOIN THEY'RE A BIG RIP-OFF WHO WILL SCAM YOU IF YOU LET THEM BEWARE...
total rip-off
Direct Buy gets you to sign up and pay thousands of dollars for a membership promising discounts on big ticket items. In reality, you can get just as good or better deals by shopping around and you will NEVER recoup the huge fee you paid upfront. I found out that they have bought up or created websites with reviews that you find when you google them to make you thnk that most people are happy with their services, but if you dig deeper you will find many, many complaints about the company.
I totally agree. You get the orientation after the 3 days allowed to pull out of a contract. Then you find out about all the fees and everything you buy must go to their warehouse and you must pay additional money to have it delivered. I hate Direct Buy. I live in PA. Can I be apart of the class action suit. I will email Jeff Nobel and ask the question.
Good news! a class action lawsuit has been filed! Spread the word, here is the information: lead attorney is Jeff Nobel his email is jnobel@izardnobel.com, phone# [protected]. Good Luck! let's get them shut down!
fraud and cheating
Planning on remodeling my Florida kitchen, I paid the high price of joining DirectBuy in 2006 based on promises that I would save at least $5, 000 on kitchen cabinets. I spent 8-10 hours each week for several months in their showroom going through catalogs and working with their kitchen design “expert”.
There was a 3 week wait for a price update every time the design was modified to try to reduce the price. I wasted 7 months trying to get something within my budget. Also you had to find a contractor to pick up and install the cabinets. You had to be able to pick to appliances at their showroom.
Eventually I realized that there were not savings in the kitchen cabinets compared to other local companies. And there were not savings in their appliance prices compared to internet vendors. Most local and internet vendors deliver and/or install for free.
In the end, I went to a local kitchen design company and got excellent cabinets at $4, 000 less than the DB prices. Being a DB member was a very expensive, frustrating and stressful experience.
Don't be fooled by their lies and smiling salespeople.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
The franchise owners at DirectBuy of Providence scammed all their employees, for the first two years of operation, out of their overtime pay. Basically, the people who put in the ground work to help get that franchise off the ground were bullied into not getting paid for overtime through the threat of losing their job.
Having been the person who managed the time keeping system for all of 2007, I downloaded the time log spreadsheet, which clearly shows they owe me, alone, over $2, 000.00.
Furthermore, they pushed all employees to attend a conference down in Florida and lied to them saying that DirdectBuy corporate required all employees to pay their own way and that attendance was mandatory. Once at the conference, a pol of all other DirectBuy locations revealed that no other franchise employees had to pay their own way.
To make matters even worse, almost all of the original 'core' employees have been forced out for one reason or another.
Unfair practice? Hmmm...
This complaint is about the violation of basic consumer right at DirectBuy. I and my wife saw an advertisement inviting us to visit the showroom at DirectBuy. When we got there, we were treated like prisoners. The basic right of a consumer to walk around a showroom to look at displays was denied us. When challenged, the store manager resorted to brute force in an attempt to kick us out. The incident occurred at the DirectBuy store in Mountain View, California on 12/6/08.
We are in the middle of adding a second story to our house. We saw an advertisement of DirectBuy on TV and decided to visit their showroom to check it out. we arrived at DirectBuy and were greeted by a host and the store manager. Then we were shown to a desk by the host for a short interview and to wait for the start of the infomercial presentation.
The infomercial was long and boring, but we found out how much the membership would cost. I was almost ready to pay that, if we find the right merchandises in the showroom. After the infomercial, we were walked to the showroom for more presentation on how low prices were at DirectBuy. Surrounded by interesting furniture displays, my wife started walking around to examine them. She did that also to escape the never ending presentations. She was bluntly told by the store manager that she is not allowed to walk around. We were offended by his action. We are not used to being told what to do and what not to do within what we considered our right.
After the presentation, we were told to fill out a survey. I began to feel that we were being herded around like animals. So I told the host and the store manager that we are not going to comply. The manger asked us to leave. We asked if we can visit the showroom to see the merchandises. He said we cannot because there is confidential pricing information there. I told him that I was only interested in looking at the merchandises and will not look up the pricing information in the catalogs which are kept in a separate library. He said no and quickly showed us out of the store.
While at the parking lot, I had a second thought. We spent money and time to arrange for a babysitter, drove the distances to get to the store, and set aside time from our busy schedule, why should we leave without seeing the showroom? I have a free visitor's pass to Direct Buy's showroom. I can challenge the store manager. I asked my wife if she wants to go back to see the showroom. She declined. S
o I went back in by myself and asked to see the showroom as part of the activities DirectBuy invited me to do. He was visibly annoyed by my challenge to his authority as the store manager (I later found that he is also the owner of the store). He called his security team to throw me out. Two heavy fellows and their security manager came. The heavy fellows grabbed my arms and started removing me from the store. I resisted.
Sensing that the manager's order was inappropriate, the security manager disobeyed him and stopped the forced eviction. He started reasoning with me. I gave my reason and he appeared to have understood it. He seems to be a more reasonable person than the store manager, who appears to be more concern about exerting his absolute power like a dictator. I also sense that he is so concern about his big ego that he is willing to drag down the corporate image of DirectBuy with it.
I told security manager that he has to call the police to get me out. I ignored their order and walked around the showroom. But needless to say, by that point, I was in no mood to examine any merchandise. I did that just to make a point that a consumer has rights. I don't know if he called the police or not. I am not a lawyer. I don't know what the limit of my right is within their store, and I don't really want to go to court to find that out. So I left after I proved my point.
Most stores treat customers with respect and trust. We can walk around freely in the showroom of almost any store because the store trusts that we would not do anything inappropriate. All DirectBuy needs to do is to inform visitors that it is not appropriate to look at the confidential pricing information during the visit, and almost all of us would have complied. For the few who do not, a case can be made to kick them out.
At DirectBuy, my wife and I were treated like thieves even before we have done anything they considered inappropriate. The so called “confidential pricing information" is just a poor excuse for a brute business practice. I frankly do not see what benefit DirectBuy could derive out of such a practice. That is why I was dumbfounded by DirectBuy's insistence that they had acted properly when I complained about this instance to the corporate headquarters.
I filed a complaint to the Better Business Bureau and ask for an apology as a settlement. Not only did the store manager refused, he accused me of “trespassing“ and “walking around the areas of the building that are off limit to guests". When DirectBuy invited us to visit its facility and we agreed, we assumed that both parties agreed to be abided by commonly accepted societal rules of conduct. For example, both parties would have understood that private offices of staffs at DirectBuy are off limit to guest, and bathrooms are not.
I continue to challenge DirectBuy's right to impose a new rule that its showroom is off limit to guests without clear notification in its advertisement that it has unusual requirements beyond standard accepted practices. Also, if the showroom is off limit, then it would be unethical to use it as an advertising tool to entice unsuspecting consumers to visit DirectBuy.
The charge of “trespassing" is also a way to justify the belligerent behavior. I have not yet left its parking lot and went back to challenge the terms of the visit, all within a period of 3 minutes. Again, common societal rules of conduct would not call this a “trespassing". Instead of trying to understand my point of view for the challenge, he used “trespassing" as an excuse and ordered my removal by force. Both I and my wife have engaged in many debates, disputes and contests through our career. Challenges and counter challenges are ways our society uses to settle differences. We have won some disputes and lost others; but we have not yet met an opponent who would resort to violence to settle differences.
An apology from DirectBuy would be a respectable way to end a bad business practice.
It's true, their "experts" are not worth anything. Thank God we ended up ordering better quality cabinets locally because DirectBuy's "expert" made such as mess out of everything that we felt we couldn't trust her. If the cabinets had been ordered & received, we would have been stuck with merchandise that was incorrectly designed & measured. We found this out when we hired a "real expert" who also did the installation for much less than DirectBuy. What was DB's response, you ask? They claimed that we didn't get the same cabinets (which we didn't...we got something better for less!) so they could not compare prices. We need to band together & stop these people from hurting others.
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.
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.
awful everything
I saw an infomercial on TV about the huge savings off retail prices for a whole host of consumer items (Claim of about 50%) that could be found at Direct Buy in Norristown PA and at Direct Buy outlets nationwide I made an inquiry about this and I was contacted by phone by a Direct Buy Representative. When I asked about the cost of membership over the phone...
Read full review of DirectBuy and 22 commentsscam and cheating
Wondering why a direct buy member needs to shop around so much for things to find the best price- shouldn't direct buy's price be the best available since you are supposedly buying direct from the manufacturer and cutting out the middle man profit. Why should you have to go to retailers to see if they might be cheaper if you just paid $5000 to buy through the supposedly cheapest source? I'll keep my $5000 in my bank account- there really is a sucker scammed every minute isn't there? Not sure why 100 words are required - one word should be sufficient and that would be SCAM!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
We agree that DirectBuy is a nightmare & scam!
Help spread the word & get involved...
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. By joining us, you won't have to start another case & will get the same outcome.
Totally agree with the comments. DirectBuy is a SCAM and fraud. Their total price is no way close to what they claim in their marketing. I am planning to put together a class action lawsuit against them.
fraud and cheating
I was trying to become a member of DirectBuy, but they act as they don't need members anymore. They demand things as: "if you're married, you cannot come alone or your husband cannot come alone to "the visit" (even if I don't have babysitter, and one of us need to be in home to take care of the kids!). The lady (I will preserve her name - because I'm more nice than her) asked personal questions that made me feel embarrassed. I'm very disappointed with DirectBuy, and I'll be glad to pay more if I have a better service!
I also think Direct buy is a SCAM!... my bf and I got sucked into there "script" of a presentation, they told us we would save big bucks on all of our hardwood, tile and granite amongst other things... well after paying our $5000 membership fee we realized that there was no saving on any of our hardwood and tile... we ended up buying it retail... and as for the granite, it was actually cheaper to get it at the same manufacture as direct buy!... We furnished 4 of our rooms with plasmas and it was A LOT cheaper to buy the t.v's @ best buy!... The pricing on all leather couches were ridiculous at Direct buy the only things i can honestly say were cheaper were the mattress sets and a hutch for our dining room(and might i add very very little selection)... very very sour... i wish these was a way to get out of this financed membership fee!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Any time you want to buy anything, you need to sleep on the information. Never make a decision at the same time the information is first presented. After 1 and a half hours of listening to a sales pitch, we had no resistance left and, regrettably, signed a contract! For what we must pay in joining fees and yearly dues, we could have bought all new stainless steel appliances, put in new floors, etc. What a rip-off! The interest is exorbitant and we were advised to refinance as soon as possible to a company with a lower interest rate by one of the salespeople--another red flag!
wow, they welcomed our children who sat through the seminar. Spouses are asked to attend because of the contract being signed and if you sign up as an individual your spouse can't benefit from your membership. We have shopped Direct Buy and saved several thousand dollars so far. Our children are always welcome to come shopping with us. Realize these are franchises, don't like the one you are dealing with, find another. I personally look forward to the huge savings that await when we build and furnish our home.
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.
I got the same feeling from them right off the bat! And all I did was schedule for my "free open house pass". So I decided to do some research to check things out... I couldn't believe that Children were not allowed and what really bothered me was the fact that you "have to bring your spouse of significant other with you" I am very happy to say that myself and my spouse will not be going to the open house after all the research I gathered! I will be Blocking all emails from there website as well!
Thank you!
SP- Woodinville, WA
waste of time even on phone
I received a call from a Direct Buy telemarketer who told me I had been selected to get into a contest in which I could win $50, 000. It had to do with getting a key that would open a box or something at their showroom.
I thought about it for a minute, I had heard about the membership costs, and knew I wasn't going to sign up. But, I am doing some upgrades in my home over the next few months, and the guy on the phone was vague when I told him what I had heard about the membership fees. He gave me examples of people he knew who had bought a $700.00 couch for less than $400.00, and I should have stopped right there. I've seen $700.00 couches, and that was not what I was looking for.
I eventually said that he could send me info, and that I would like to participate in their contest, although at the time, I didn't exactly know what my obligation would be.
Ok, here's the clincher, after talking to me for almost 15 minutes, the guy asks me my income range, 20, 000-40, 000, 40, 000-60, 000, etc. When I told him my income was between 20-40, he said I didn't qualify for their contest and hung up. Just that fast.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Oh mine was worse than that .When I told him I lost my job and was unemployed I was told I did not qualify. I proceeded to tell the person that it was a scam. They said no it's not a scam. I then got even madder said Thank you, good bye and I hung up. Then I blocked there number from getting through to my number. Oh the joys of VOIP telephone service.
money grab and no customer service
My Mom and I are members of Direct Buy in Canada. My frustrations with DB began when I ordered a wedding ring mount and bands for my husband and myself. The trouble began when the DB sales associate processed the order wrong and I had to go back to pay more shipping. A couple of weeks go by - at this point we are less than a month away from our wedding and I am informed by telephone that the associate made a MATH mistake and that I actually owe them MORE money. I am about to leave on vacation two provinces away - I do NOT have time to deal with this. Anyway, I said fine, voiced my displeasure at THEIR mistake and said that I would pay the difference when the rings came in. I spoke to the Manager and made it quite clear that if the rings weren't in by the particular date stipulated (at this point I had been waiting longer than what the expected delivery date on the invoice was), I wanted someone's head to roll because they were going to ruin our wedding. I left for my trip and as I travelled to my fiancé, I got regular calls from DB staff telling me that the manufacturer had confirmed my rings would be in well in advance of the wedding. 3 week vacation goes by, fiancé and I are in town to get married and, guess what, NO rings! When I called to see where the rings were at, I freaked out when I was told they weren't received. I was told someone would call back. A couple of hours later, this very cocky young lady returns my call and says "Well at the price you paid for the rings, I hope you realize you are NOT getting a diamond" to which I responded in a not very calm voice that she needed to learn to READ because I hadn't bought a diamond, only rings.. Anyway, to make a long story short, we had to push our wedding back by 3 days thanks to Direct Buy's incompetence and BS. You'd think that after that episode I would have learned my lesson and not ordered anything further but no, I couldn't resist.
On September 3, 2007, went to the DB showroom and placed an order for a 4 piece John Thomas dining set. I was told that it would take 4-6 weeks for delivery. I received the set December 22, 2007 and when we unpacked it, it was so damaged it was hideous and definitely not acceptable. I immediately contacted DB after the Xmas holiday and had to provide all kinds of pictures to prove the damage. I was initially told that I may not get a refund - that it was up to the DB adjustor and the Manufacturer to decide. The person I was dealing with prepared me for the worst scenario - that I might not get my full money back but would likely be offered the damaged set at half price. I said I wanted a replacement set. I was told that the manufacturer agreed to send a replacement set. This was mid-January. At the end of March 2008, I received a call that the replacement set had been received and thoroughly inspected to ensure it was not damaged like the first one. My hubby and I borrowed a minivan and brought the damaged set back and were about to load the new set when I insisted that the boxes be opened so "I" could inspect the new set. The warehouse guy didn't want to, stating that they had already inspected it. I was adamant so he didn't have much choice. When he cut the tape, I noticed that the cheapo packing paper and foam had not been moved at all, which meant that in reality, the set had not been inspected as I had been told. I moved the paper and foam and right away pointed out dents on the white tabletop. Needless to say, I was NOT happy and left both dining sets there at the warehouse. I immediately emailed the lady I had been dealing with to tell her of the situation and that I was INSISTING upon a FULL refund. To make a very long story short, I have had to chase after my refund for two months. I spoke with someone in their accounting department who told me the cheque had been mailed April 28. I waited and waited. In-city mail takes 3-4 days. As of end of May, I had not received my refund. I left a message for the owner who NEVER bothered to return my call - one of his underlings called and told me that the cheque had been mailed May 13 - I freaked out and called them all *** liars. Anyway, the cheque never came so I insisted they draft another and that I would pick it up. I FINALLY got my money on May 30th.
This whole ordeal left me with a very poor impression of the company, even poorer impression of the people they employ and overall just a very bitter taste in my mouth. Both Mom and I wish we'd never set foot there!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
File a Complaint with The Attorney General's office in your state. The AG keeps a log on complaints, and will begin an investigation if there are too many.
Overview of DirectBuy complaint handling
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DirectBuy emailssshragal@directbuy.com100%Confidence score: 100%Supportmembercares@directbuy.com94%Confidence score: 94%social@directbuy.com75%Confidence score: 75%communication
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DirectBuy headquarters8450 Broadway, Merrillville, Indiana, 46410-6221, United States
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Two weeks I went to an open house. When you first arrive everybody is so nice and personable. You are assigned to an individual who will sit with you in a room to watch a video, which I'm sure nobody paid attention to because the only thing you interested in is the cost for joining. Also, after viewing this video you are told that you can't tell anybody and if you decide not to join at that time, you will not be allowed back into the facility.
I sat down with this individual and I explained to him what my goals were and the reason why I was interested in this company. I was told about the shipping, handling and taxes. I was also told the items would be shipped to the facility and I should come there to check out the merchandise.
I was told the membership fee would be 4750.00 if I paid in full, but if I could not do this, there were other options. I opted to take the installation payment. I must also mentioned once I signed the contract, these people would not have spit on me if I was on fire. I was no longer important to them. However, two days later I found out that I was not told the truth about the freight charges, which means I would be responsible for freight, shipping and delivery to my home.
If the correct information was given to me, I would have never joined this bogus company. When I called on the second day after signing the contract, I was told somebody would contact me, which never happened. I called the next day and the person I dealt with during the open house answered the phone and his attitude was quite nasty and rude. He told me I should have been watching the video.
I called the corporate office to make a complaint and I was told it was out of their hands. However, I did explain to this individual that I was not going to roll over and die or disappear.
I've currently contacted the BBB, local television stations. I will be forwarding all information I have to New York State Attorney General. I was also advised to contact the FBI because this appears to be an across state federal crime, due to the large amounts of money which is being scammed from each member.
check out ' Natuzzi price fixing' on google
You should all know that its been reported today that;
'Cary Benson has resigned as president of Natuzzi Americas, a spokeswoman for the Italy-based upholstery manufacturer confirmed. The company has not announced a replacement. Officials could not immediately be reached for comment.'
http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/395177Cary_Benson_resigns_as_president_of_Natuzzi_Americas.php
How convenient not having ANY Officials available for comment. Couldn't possibly be because Natuzzi have been reported to the SEc, and the US Dept of Justice and the UK's Office of Fair Trading, facing potential fines which could total up to $200m, and extradition and imprisonment for Italian directors? Resigning does not escape from a jail sentence or at least it shouldn't!
Glad to hear you didn't join DirectBuy. On behalf of those of us who were duped, thanks for spreading the word in keeping others from having a horrible experience and spending tons of money on empty promises.
DirectBuy will do whatever it takes to get you to sign up. They'll tell you anything and then either ignore you or deny it later.
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.
I can't believe that DirectBuy is still in business. We have to band together and continue to let others know what a scam this is. DirectBuy is a nightmare & they lie about their "no retail mark-up" merchandise.
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.
Direct Buy does high-pressure sales. A friend of mine signed up as well, and even though she double checked to be sure contractors could cover her area, and even though her address was right in front of the salesman, sure enough, no contractors traveled out to her residence. She decided she could at least get some furniture and the catalog was a crappy photocopy with hard to see pictures, and the one clerk nearby was sitting on a stool and refused to get up to help her. Waste of money.