Don't make our mistake
Complaint
Polly Globe
Country: United States
We attended their presentation and after some calculation decided to pay for the membership which was $4990. We wanted to update our kitchen and bathroom cabinets, as well as bedroom furniture. We put down about $1000, and the rest was financed through their lender Beta Finance.
A month later we started planning our purchases and realized we were about to pay more by buying through them than we would otherwise. What the don't tell you on their presentation is that while you save about 10% on furniture they add 8 % handling charge in addition to 7% tax, and that doesn't include shipping.
I am now trying to get our membership money back. Do not become a member! Buy from other stores.
A month later we started planning our purchases and realized we were about to pay more by buying through them than we would otherwise. What the don't tell you on their presentation is that while you save about 10% on furniture they add 8 % handling charge in addition to 7% tax, and that doesn't include shipping.
I am now trying to get our membership money back. Do not become a member! Buy from other stores.
Comments
What I don't have is the time to retype our contract 'Agreement' to post it and I'm not that computer savvy to scan it and post it.
But Trudy or whoever doubts we are not 'members' with an Agreement Contract and don't know what it says - this is a fact - We DID NOT take the time to thoroughly read the Agreement before signing and becoming members.
That's the biggest lesson. Not studying it. And, yes, they gave us 3 days to cancel. I agonized about utilizing that option but thought maybe DB would be worth the money to help us remodel.
We have no one to blame but ourselves.
I think educating on this site is important. And the chance to commisserate with others who regret their DB membership.
We should always be leary of their kinds of sales tactics (DB) and don't ever spend that amount of money without given the time to think it over before deciding. Not on the day of presentation.
Yes, they do get you locked into their showroom where you can't leave to come back later. To tell you the truth, I was appalled about the huge fee to join. I trusted my husband who told me they would get our kitchen remodeled. (He's the fall guy) Yes, he was misled as well.
Now we know, everything is extra, the designer, the measurer, the contractor, the deliverer, the installers, S&H, etc.
Nope, in our case paying over $5 grand for their services was a grave mistake. We could do better financially remodeling with the local stores around here. Lowe's, Home Depot etc. and the local contractors. Hope this clears up the disclaimer that we don't have a contract. ?????
It's kind of you to be compassionate for us that regret joining DB.
Your angels were looking out for you.
I am serious about Dateline NBC. Does anyone know how to contact them? I looked on their website and it was confusing. I would like to see them go in with their hidden camera to several different locations, expose their scam and embarass the heck out of them on National TV.
so far, I think the networks think of advertising income from scummy db ads above integrity
You may be right but ripping off the public is something I know they have done investigations on before. I would think in this especially bad economy with so many people out of work and loosing there homes that they would be even more interested.
Diana
I joined this "club" in June and have yet to see any of my furniture.
Their advertising and inducement to enter into a contract was misleading. They emphasized their size and their ability to buy manufacturer’s goods at low wholesale prices and pass significant savings to the member. The reality is that upon close inquiry, their selection of most any goods is limited, savings are miniscule and their delivery times are excessive.
I ordered a Sony television and learned that the price break was only a few hundred dollars. Then, it took from mid-June to early-August, 2010 to actually receive the unit.
I ordered three pairs of shoes in mid-June that appeared August 12th, 2010.
I ordered a grouping of book shelves and a wall unit in mid-June and these have not yet appeared.
I am unable to order a sofa because their selection of the higher end “American Leather” does not include sleeper beds. I need a sleeper bed and will have to obtain one in a regular retail store: something I was assured I would not need to do again.
So, the membership fee I paid ensured my having to wait for months for goods. I cannot see the goods until they are delivered by independent deliverymen and I am stuck to the manufacturer’s warranty if any. However, above all, price savings are insignificant and the wait times for delivery of these various items makes Direct Buy a curse rather than a blessing.
Lastly, they very aggressively protect their reputation by putting up bogus praise sites on the internet and belittle customers who complain to them.
I was on vacation, just returned yesterday.
Th name of the person I spoke to is T.Hadden at the corporate membership services office.
I aso noticed that Mr. B Fesperman got promoted last year to Executive vice president position. I am sure quoting him will have good weight and response from the owners of the franchise.
i wonder what happened with Alex and James.
Regards
Egnar
buying direct from the manufacturers' is for the most part missing from their recent advertising. a focus on home improvement and furnishings is now the game. the big tv advertising dollars now being funneled into print and internet ads. all is not well in paradise
400k members and 150 dbs are the figures for the past couple years, no changes. word of mouth has done damage to dbs reputation. declining new memberships have db owners putting pressure on corporate[the hefty price a person pays to buy a db is justified by corporate promises of heavy national advertising] db will not exist much longer, the game is over. its fun just thinking about the db owners crying foul to corporate, im sure the contracts that corporate has with the db owners are as smelly as the contracts that db has with its members, very difficult to get out.
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they are trying to make anyone who checks out their website think they are on a roll.
please excuse me now while i go change, i just p*ss*d my pants laffing so hard
Adding Direction® Catalog, a consumer publication produced by DirectBuy, to members.DirectBuy.com has contributed to the site's success - now members can make Direction Catalog purchases online with their MasterCard or Visa. The website continues to implement new features.
limited selection being available for actual online purchasing, their old line of being able to shop online is now totally partially true, the old line of being able to shop online meant just that, shop online but actually make the payment transaction at the showroom.
they are desperate they are playing catch up, too many complaints about the empty promises from db owners to be able to shop online i imagine.
the game is over soon
we are in the process of purchasing a house in woodbridge, va as first time buyers and i was expecting a call from the house design or similar store that our builder had informed me to expect for. so, when a person from direct buy called me, i thought it was them. she told me that they were doing a promotion and would like to give us a presentation of their company and would like to send us a welcome promotional key to win 50,000 makeover, etc. When the key arrived I saw it was just a mass mail/spam, so ignored this until they called me again and convinced me to come to the show room. nothing was said or mentioned about having to make a choice at the instance as well as having to pay a large sum of money, nor has she told us that we shouldn't come if we are not going to join. as i recall all she told me to do is to come and see the benefits. it was in the area of our new house so we decided to stop by. as we were seated down for a rep to come to talk to us, they treated us very nicely, offered a coffee, etc, then some guy came and sat us at another table and briefly told us that they provide their members with products directly from manufacturers, gave us some direct buy magazine to look at and told us that Philip, the representative, will tend to us shortly as well as answer all our questions. "Philip" never even bothered to even say hi, ignored us and then the same other guy came and questioned us on the type of job we do, what are we interested in, etc. Finally, the 3rd time he asked us to join the presentation. "Philip" was the presenter, asked to hold all our questions until the end, talked very chizzy, made some anti-gay conservative rhetoric, then when the presentation was over we were taken back to the show room to sit down and write a survey on how will direct buy help us and, of course, we were strongly and agressively pressured into signing a membership with them.. wow!!! i was stunned. we told them that they can't expect people to just do that at an instanse and pay them such big ammount of money. finally, we decided to leave, philip suddenly wanted to talk to us and as he didn't succede into getting us to join, he nervously chuckled and commented: "why did you even stay, you were told that you shouldn't've done this if not interested".... again, we were stunned, 1st he fully ignored us, 2.we were told through the whole process not to ask questions until the end, 3.then they made us sit through the dumbest presentation (i am glad i had my cell phone to entertain me at that point) and 4.then they tried to power preassure you into signing the membership, and 5.after not succeding, they insult you and get angry that they lost their time on you!? wow, wow, wow!!! and still, he says: you will be eligible again to become a member in 7 years. wow 10 times! finally, we were almost pissed off by that time and told him that no-one said anything about making that decision or even having to leave right away. then i just asked him if we even get to turn the key lock he said yes. he went to another room to bring tje lock out which is already odd as one would expect it to be on on display. but that's the least of our worries. i am super glad we had our logic with us that day (yesterday)!!! PEOPLE, do NOT waste your precious time and money for a SCAM!!!
Very interesting. That's pretty much the very same experience we had out here in California. They lure you in with this "try the key in our lock to win a $50K makeover" and once they get you there, they try to take you for $6K on the spot. Once they figure out that you aren't going to give them any money, they can't get rid of you fast enough.
This is just WRONG and they need to be stopped.
Diana
Tampa members, Lakeland members, all FL DB members who seek their membership fees reimbursed -
We need to network somehow and begin the picketing process. Let's do it. I'm tired of this whole ordeal and will gladly meet with other FL db members. Connect as citizens to make DB stop conning people from thousands of $$$$.
DB's a racket and we know now that they're racketeers. We've been used for their profits and more unknowing people will be used too.
I'm only one person (a member for 11 months)but with two or three other members we could help each other to make some waves. There's strength in numbers.
I've already contacted lawyers, the attn gen's ofc, consumers advocates, filed complaints, etc., but picketing may be more efficacious. INPUT???? (& yes, we know to call police beforehand and stay off DB's property) +++
any stories you have read about anyone successfully picketing and getting refunds have happened before the above mentioned and are isolated incidents. mass pickets are now something that db corporate is probably prepared for. they have bottomless pockets in the executive suite.