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DirectBuy

1030 W Germantown Pike, Norristown, PA, 19403, US
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DirectBuy - 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, if savings of 50% off retail prices were really true and how long the 'presentation' was, the representative was vague and very abrupt.

I found this a little disturbing but I was interested to come up and check this thing out so I agreed to an 'appointment'. Big mistake! At the 'appointment' I had to endure this cheesy high pressure sales pitch video and presentation. The carrot dangled in front of me at the end of the 'presentation' of, 'join now or you never can' is high pressure sales to the extreme.

I was forbidden to check out their 'catalogs' to see of their claims were really true. This is not professional truthful sales practice. Most of the people there with me walked out. They saw thru the lies, the scam. I wish I had have! I fell for the high pressure sales pitch and joined up thinking I could save a lot of money.

I now know I made a huge mistake and no amount of haggling, complaining has worked. They will not refund my $4000.00. If you join up on the night, you are their greatest friend. If you don't join up they treat you like dirt, ignore you.

I have tried to buy a few things there with my membership, but the staff there give you very little help with shopping and quotes. Their customer service TOTALLY SUCKS. I have found the freight charges are ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS, like several hundreds of dollars on top of falsely claimed lower than retail prices. They do not give you payment plans and give no warranties. Crazy.

I have been in there 'shopping' thru the catalogs a few times and happened to use their kitchen on occasion. I have heard a few of their 'Directors' in their phone room screaming and abusing their sales staff, treating them like dirt. Apparently one staff member was physically assaulted and the offending staff member WAS PROMOTED! I have been informed that other staff people have questioned company practice and have been immediately terminated with no warning. I have been informed that they have a huge turnover of staff there. NO WONDER.

To anybody reading this, I say thru bitter experience: If you are contacted by Direct Buy Norristown or any of their stores, HANG UP THE PHONE OR DO NOT ANSWER. SAVE YOURSELF! If you have an appointment, DON'T SHOW UP! EVER! This is a deceptive company. They worship money. HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT

To 'Director Tracy' and all other Direct buy staff, get the hell out of there. Leave. Find yourself a job with a reputable, professional company. SAVE YOURSELF

Spread the word about this evil company. More people are waking up.

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ex db employee
Huntsville, US
May 26, 2013 7:55 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I agree with this, being an ex Db Corp employee and working for several scandalous owners that will lie cheat and steal to maintain their greedy lifestyle.

This is a great concept that became corrupt, esp at the corp level and from clubs from coast to coast esp the fake owners from Broward County, never met a person that lies so much. STAY AWAY FROM BROWARD DB FOR SURE

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So have moved on
, US
Apr 13, 2013 7:54 am EDT

I am a former employee of the Norristown Direct Buy and I am suggesting that you don't buy a membership. It is way overpriced for the average homeowner and unless you are working on a special project. It will take you years to break even on your membership. Sure there are some discounts but not nearly what they advertise. This is your hard earned money people! Be smart...don't put yourself in situations where you are forced to give in to impulses. No one should ever make you "sign on the dotted line today or shun you" The owners are fairly nice people but you are not their first priority...they are self-focused individuals who are living way beyond their means because of the manipulative empire consumers have allowed them to create. Just be smart!

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PaMike1
, US
Oct 23, 2012 7:26 am EDT

I've been a member for several years. Just like the writer before me, i was a member at the Newtown Direct buy. It was closer to me, so its kind of annoying to go to the Norristown showroom for certain things, and they don't have weekend hours. But besides that, it's been a great experience. I'm not sure how anyone can call this a scam because the prices are different. Yes, you can spend hours in the showroom, and recently, I've found it to be more organized and the staff was very helpful. But at the end of the day, they prices are less. I've paid $500 for a bathroom sink (final price after all) that would have cost me $700 anywhere else that I looked for it online. And they do offer a warranty of it. I've also paid $4, 000 for a highen kitchen, where I would have paid $8, 000 for the "highend" home depot version, which we all know, isn't very high end. I've also recently bought some nice, real SOLID walnut (not the fake crap wrapped in veneer) dining chairs made by Calligaris, and found the direct buy prices way cheaper then anywhere else i could find the chairs.

This direct buy isn't for everyone. If you're looking for "cheap" inexpensive stuff, like some crappy ikea quality, partical board wrapped in wood veneer furniture, and you want it even cheaper then you can get at Ikea, you won't find that at Direct Buy. If you want a long lasting, high quality, solid wood piece of furniture, but can't really spend the $2, 000 it costs, you can find that high quality piece and spend maybe $1, 300 on it. See the difference? You'll get the top tier quality furniture (and other things) but a better price. Almost what you would pay for the cheap stuff somewhere else. If you don't see the value in finely crafted, high quality furniture (and other things), then don't join in Direct Buy.

There are things you can buy else where after searching for it yourself online and you can possibly find cheaper. Then go after it. But there are lots of things you can get through direct buy that have a tremendous savings. Usually, the bigger purchases are where you'd save. Flooring, tiles, kitchen cabinets, and some expensive furniture pieces. The smaller things sometimes aren't worth the hassle and few saved bucks. But the big things pay back the membership fee pretty quickly.

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modris
Warminster, US
Jun 12, 2012 9:27 am EDT

I've been a member of Direct Buy for 5 years.
I used to go to the Newtown Store before it closed.
I never had anything other than a good experience there. Our new kitchen was designed with the help of their wonderful kitchen consultant, it's top of the line, and cost the same as the estimate from Lowe's for the junky stuff.
We've bought many materials to redo our house through Direct Buy and saved a ton of money...windows, roofing supplies (we got them cheaper than the roofer could get), flooring, appliances. The company is not a scam, it's well worth the price if you are redoing your house or a large project. I don't know about the Norristown store specifically.

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luckyus
Bradley, US
Jul 02, 2011 2:02 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been watching their ads for a couple of years. I went to their website and that is where I smelled a rat. If they want customers they sure don't know how to get them. I avoided them just on my gut feelings and I am glad I did.

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LUIS DEL NODAL
, US
Mar 11, 2011 3:51 am EST

Today March 10 2011, my wife and me, go to the appointment Direct Buy, this is a fraud, for you make a tour for the merchandise, you need pay $5, 500 dollars like a down-payment, and after 150.00 a year how membership but this is not in the promotion, all is a false history, and the representative was incorrect, they only want your money, my interview was only 3 minutes, no more, we don't recommend this company DIRECTBUY one more time this is a fraud all the promotion. NEVER MAKE A VISIT TO DIRECTBUY, OR GO, AND AFTER WRITE HERE YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Luis.

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Been around this track before.
Miami Beach, US
Feb 07, 2011 6:05 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Well it's Monday morning and my bank advises me that grace periods don't mean much once the money has been paid out which it has. So now it's on to lawyers and the Florida Attorney General. I'll keep you updated.

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Been around this track before.
Miami Beach, US
Feb 06, 2011 2:40 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I should have known this was a scam when I heard the pitch, money up front for promises in the future. Having owned several medium sized retail businesses, I also know how business works. Many big box chain stores' buyers will work with and even recruit smaller merchants to move much of their merchandise even before they buy it. They do this to get better pricing and terms from the manufacturers, particularly overseas manufacturers where ocean freight costs are a factor. Both sides of this "trans-shipping" arrangement understand that it is mutually beneficial. The big guy moves enough merchadise to get the best deal from the manufacturer and the little guy gets a better price than he could get from the manufacturer even to the extent that he will eschew payment terms and "floor plans" he would get if he was direct with the manufacturer. This means that the pricing you see in Direct Buy's catalog is not a true representation of the "wholesale" price a store would pay. It depends on the store, the size of their orders, etc. There is no one wholesale price. There are many, even many different "wholesale" price lists from the same manufacturer. This of course includes special incentive prices, shipping deals, etc. So if you know how to shop (shop around and be tough) you can do as well as Direct Buy says they can do for you (after the ancillary charges) without paying a $5000 membership fee. That's the reason for the hard sell. Get you to fork over the money, sock it away in the bank while you wait for "indoctrination seminars" and other time wasting stalls while whatever grace period your credit card company offers for you to opt out of the deal runs out. Thankfully, I discovered this website while my grace period is still in effect. Monday morning I will cancel my membership. Yes, I feel like a fool but at least I'll be a fool who got back his $5000. Take my advice. Steer clear of these "pay me now and I'll get you a great price in the future" buying clubs. Do your own shopping and remember, it's a buyers' market out there.

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PissedCustomerPhiladelphia
Philadelphia, US
Sep 24, 2010 3:53 pm EDT

Unfortunately I also made the mistake of calling them after watching a TV infomercial.

The representative, Jennifer, who contacted me was beyond rude. First she was talking too fast on the phone, sounded almost like she doesn't even care about what she was telling. So I politely asked her if she could speak a little bit slower so that I could understand. Then she started eating something and I heard her swallows between each of her words.

Couple other things happened, too. For example one of the questions was about my marital status and so I said I am engaged and said we don't live together and because of that I didn't wanna give my fiances name to them. So she started questioning how come we don't live together! Seriously!

Then I had it up here so I asked her what her last name was because I told her that I would report her unacceptable attitude to her manager. First she prentended that she didn't hear me and kept explaining what else they offer at Direct Buy. Then I asked her last name two more times, and she said why and added she didn't do anything wrong. So I said:

"If you believe that you didn't do anything wrong then why do you hesitate to give me your last name?"

She couldn't say anything, and after a silence, she said she's the only Jennifer at the Direct Buy Norristown Office, still not giving me her last name.

Anyhow, on the day of my apointment with them, I got stuck at work so I called them and left Jennifer a voice message thru their office's general mailbox because there was noone to answer the calls, which is fine because I called them at 5:30pm. The day after that, Jennifer called, started talking way too fast again... I am at work, I am desigining something, super-duper concentrated and trying to understand what she was saying. After she stopped talking, I seriously still somehow was able to answer her question very politely and I said I left her a message thru general mailbox. Sarcastically she said she never got it, laughed, and I told her to check their general mailbox. Then she asked me if I like to reschedule my appointment. And because I am pissed at her attitude, I said no, thank you, and she just hung up the phone on face! Wow Direct Buy!

So I called their Norristown office.

Jessica, the service manager, answered the phone and I told her about my horrible experience with that specific representative and her attitude. Jennifer apologized and told me she would talk to her.

So then, because I was so pissed, I called Jennifer back and told her that this is the girl who you hung up the phone on her face. Also added that I talked to her manager and hoped that this would teach her a lesson. She was so chill, laughed and asked:

"Huh, you think this would teach me a lesson?"

I have nothing else to say to you Direct Buy! Where do you find these high-class(!) representatives?

Merci beaucoup,

and have a great day!

XoXo

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satellite23y
, US
Aug 18, 2010 12:40 am EDT

there sweepstakes only allow people who have an anuall incom of 35, 000 and above or eles if poor you canot enter with anything less then 35, 000 to 60, 000 That's not right. people would love to enter but they ask why do they have to make so much just to win 50, 000 dollars.

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