Showroom Closing
Complaint
Edward Andrews
Country: United States
I have belonged to Direct Buy for several Years. I have had a good experience with them through the years. However last weekend my wife and I went to the Savannah, Ga. showroom and found the doors locked and a notice on the door stating they had closed down 3 weeks earlier. They claimed I could keep shopping through them online and through a Home Shopping Service which you used via telephone and e-mail.
Herein lie the problems:
My e-mails remain unanswered {2}
There was no notification attempt made to inform us of the closing.
There is not enough information, images, pricing, or even a complete list of manufacturers to choose from.
The closest showroom is 150 miles away.
I guess a lawsuit will be my next path
Herein lie the problems:
My e-mails remain unanswered {2}
There was no notification attempt made to inform us of the closing.
There is not enough information, images, pricing, or even a complete list of manufacturers to choose from.
The closest showroom is 150 miles away.
I guess a lawsuit will be my next path
Comments
1) Make sure you are complying with local laws for protesting.
2) Make a nice picket sign.
3) Show up on Saturday by 9:30am just before they start selling.
4) Tell people your story/experience.
5) Be truthful, and don't over embellish.
6) The manager/owner will write you a check to get rid of you.
How do I know this???
That's what a guy did in Burbank CA.
The manager/owner wrote him a full refund and got rid of him.
Owner would lie and use hard pressure techniques to get people to sign up. Once someone signed up, he would conveniently forget any agreements he discussed in order to get people to sign up.
Owner would hold members money for weeks before placing the order. Often this would happen when he knew a price increase was coming and then have his staff call members to collect more money.
Owner would use catalogs of major brands to help sell the membership when in truth they had no account with that vendor. They would use an outside showroom to obtain the product at prices that were more expensive than what a designer could get.
If furniture came in damaged they would "repair" in house and have the staff call the members to tell them that another one was being shipped.
Staff that sells memberships are commission only. Part of your membership goes to them. This is one technique they use to get the staff to pressure people into getting the membership. This commission is not disclosed to prospective members.
Shipping was marked up, higher than the actual cost from manufacturer.
Any rebate from the manufacture was not passed on to the member but pocketed by the club.
This location is crooked as the day is long. The corporate office WILL NOT assist you with issues. As a former employee I must say DO NOT PURCHASE a membership with DirectBuy. While there are some members that will benefit, for the general public it is not a good value. You can get your appliances and electronics cheaper at many other places. Cabinets are a good value but if you shop around you can find a cabinet maker that will be cheaper than the name brands with just as good quality.
the franchises that have been closed.. Aren't they going
to suffer and struggle and have difficulty paying
their bills ?