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
We want to be reimbursed, not imprisoned in a longer DB membership...egad
If you ain't going to be spending $10,000+ per year on household merchandise, DON'T JOIN.
You'd all be in the same boat, kicking and crying, bawling and whining, if it were a $4000 membership for a country club. You'd be glitzed by the wonderful ballroom, the golf course, the friendly decor, and the offerings in the pro shop... but soon after joining... you realize you'd probably have just as much fun at a nightclub downtown - for free. So you panic, feel ripped off, get on websites like this and try to fight for your membership fee back from the country club with all the other poor people who never should have joined. People who never would be able to continue and USE the country club, buy golf clubs, rent golf carts, pay discounted green fees - cuz you don't even GOLF !! But you joined and thought you'd live the high life soon enough... it takes MONEY, and you need to have a PURPOSE to joining.
Enough with the country club analogy. You get what I'm saying. When I joined, specific people of extremely certain incomes and company jobs got the "Open House" invitations. People who BUY STUFF all the time!
It's not rocket science...furniture is marked up 100% in stores. When it's "on sale" like a $400 sofa - it's still only $200 from the factory, and always was! Even when it was not on sale for $800 ! DirectBuy members like myself have seen this from the inside, cuz I see inside the pricing books that your local furniture store hides under the counter. This isn't complicated, people. Over the years I've bought tons of furniture, home electronics, appliances, a hot tub, a pool table, curtains, etc... all with EASY 30-50% differences from local stores on the same items. That's WITH shipping and handling! You people claiming a 10% discount over retail - you're nuts. Or you were looking at cheap cheap cheap brands that are loss-leaders in retail stores, basically sold "at cost" because retailers only mark them up 2% or something. You do know what loss-leaders are, right? They LEAD people into the store.
Case in point, one of my latest purchases in Nov 2010 - Panasonic 3D BluRay player (the BDT350, their best)... direct from Panasonic... $313 total. In stores and online new: $499 minimum at a super online discount bargain place...or as high as $649 at Best Buy. Saw a used one on Ebay sell for $400.
My KitchenAid appliances were nearly half price. I went totally stainless steel, pro series, gas range... like $3000 for fridge, range, dishwasher, delivery to my home included. In stores that series a) wasn't available cuz they don't carry stuff that nice in stock b) they could bring it in (Sears Home Furnishings) for like $5500 + tax. They wanted $1900 for the range alone! Direct from KitchenAid it was like $1050.
Look people, DirectBuy is a tool you use IF you're into buying [***] all the time. Nothing is going to "offset" that big initial membership fee if you're not spending at least 10K a year on stuff. At least for that first year. My opinion anyway.
This financing (OMG) of the membership gives me chills. If the people have to finance the membership, they shouldn't even be at the PITCH SESSION !! Not to sound elitist, but I guess I am a little. I make good money and always have. I have disposable income and I use it. But the people I see getting pitched today when I'm at the DB branch? Kinda shocks me. 20-something skidrow couples with ripped jeans and goth-like haircuts? As a member, MY beef is where they have taken the company. Not what they do, or if they get kickbacks, or if they use high pressure. Never had to use high pressure on me... I got it the first 2 minutes I walked in the door. *I* was asking how to sign up. But back then it felt exclusive, and the people joing around me were just like me. The mood was different.
Anyway, my 3 cents worth. I'm going to get bashed because the mob here is pretty hearty. I only came here because I googled to check on the latest DB lawsuit stuff (which is a bunch of po folk who never should have joined, never bought anything, and had no business thinking they were going to).
Kevin, CANADA
If you ain't going to be spending $10,000+ per year on household merchandise, DON'T JOIN.
You'd all be in the same boat, kicking and crying, bawling and whining, if it were a $4000 membership for a country club. You'd be glitzed by the wonderful ballroom, the golf course, the friendly decor, and the offerings in the pro shop... but soon after joining... you realize you'd probably have just as much fun at a nightclub downtown - for free. So you panic, feel ripped off, get on websites like this and try to fight for your membership fee back from the country club with all the other poor people who never should have joined. People who never would be able to continue and USE the country club, buy golf clubs, rent golf carts, pay discounted green fees - cuz you don't even GOLF !! But you joined and thought you'd live the high life soon enough... it takes MONEY, and you need to have a PURPOSE to joining.
Enough with the country club analogy. You get what I'm saying. When I joined, specific people of extremely certain incomes and company jobs got the "Open House" invitations. People who BUY STUFF all the time!
It's not rocket science...furniture is marked up 100% in stores. When it's "on sale" like a $400 sofa - it's still only $200 from the factory, and always was! Even when it was not on sale for $800 ! DirectBuy members like myself have seen this from the inside, cuz I see inside the pricing books that your local furniture store hides under the counter. This isn't complicated, people. Over the years I've bought tons of furniture, home electronics, appliances, a hot tub, a pool table, curtains, etc... all with EASY 30-50% differences from local stores on the same items. That's WITH shipping and handling! You people claiming a 10% discount over retail - you're nuts. Or you were looking at cheap cheap cheap brands that are loss-leaders in retail stores, basically sold "at cost" because retailers only mark them up 2% or something. You do know what loss-leaders are, right? They LEAD people into the store.
Case in point, one of my latest purchases in Nov 2010 - Panasonic 3D BluRay player (the BDT350, their best)... direct from Panasonic... $313 total. In stores and online new: $499 minimum at a super online discount bargain place...or as high as $649 at Best Buy. Saw a used one on Ebay sell for $400.
My KitchenAid appliances were nearly half price. I went totally stainless steel, pro series, gas range... like $3000 for fridge, range, dishwasher, delivery to my home included. In stores that series a) wasn't available cuz they don't carry stuff that nice in stock b) they could bring it in (Sears Home Furnishings) for like $5500 + tax. They wanted $1900 for the range alone! Direct from KitchenAid it was like $1050.
Look people, DirectBuy is a tool you use IF you're into buying [***] all the time. Nothing is going to "offset" that big initial membership fee if you're not spending at least 10K a year on stuff. At least for that first year. My opinion anyway.
This financing (OMG) of the membership gives me chills. If the people have to finance the membership, they shouldn't even be at the PITCH SESSION !! Not to sound elitist, but I guess I am a little. I make good money and always have. I have disposable income and I use it. But the people I see getting pitched today when I'm at the DB branch? Kinda shocks me. 20-something skidrow couples with ripped jeans and goth-like haircuts? As a member, MY beef is where they have taken the company. Not what they do, or if they get kickbacks, or if they use high pressure. Never had to use high pressure on me... I got it the first 2 minutes I walked in the door. *I* was asking how to sign up. But back then it felt exclusive, and the people joing around me were just like me. The mood was different.
Anyway, my 3 cents worth. I'm going to get bashed because the mob here is pretty hearty. I only came here because I googled to check on the latest DB lawsuit stuff (which is a bunch of po folk who never should have joined, never bought anything, and had no business thinking they were going to).
Kevin, CANADA
Please Call. 408-391-1646.Rachael
I am from Canada ontario and was a member of direct buy. If you need any more complains against direct buy let me know
jeseberras@hotmail.com
DB defenders have just began to surface again.
All I want to say to them is
Shut the f*o&ii^ up!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You're on the wrong site, you bunch of lying losers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is a very helpfull outline for a registered letter
EVEN if you are anywhere in NORTH AMERICA
FIND YOU CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT AND/OR
UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICE ACT ---Some States combine both names
Since I did not bay in to the system too much, and I still owe DB, I just want the contract to be null and void and that they stop calling me. any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Since I did not bay in to the system too much, and I still owe DB, I just want the contract to be null and void and that they stop calling me. any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year to everyone. I also received an email regarding the class action settlement. It was not what I had hoped for. It looks like you have the option of extending your membership......WHO THE HECK WOULD WANT TO DO THAT???? However, I have not read through all of the documents. If you or anyone else have any light to shed on this subject, please let me know. Also, the law firm who is representing the class in the Federal Class Action lawsuit is Izard Nobel. The phone number listed for questions/concerns is (800)869-2687. I hope we are making a dent. Still have the faith to believe that DB will be punished & we will receive our money back......not just an extension of our memberships (which most of us never used in the first place!)
Just to be clear, DB compares all their prices with MSRP = Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price. This is usually the highest price a company will sell an item.
Here's a few Price comparisons.....
We bought bamboo flooring Goodfellow brand (don't buy it if you have dogs)
We went there for maple flooring....yeah, my wife again. $3.49 sq ft. Home Depot was 4.99 on special 4.25. Local flooring place was 5.25 on special 3.99
We bought Eurostyle kitchen cabinets with thermofoil doors from Home Depot because they were on special, close to home, 6 months to pay, plus $1000 gift cards (used to buy door handles) & lots of "free" help designing the layout = $16,000 taxes in. If I would have used DB, I would have been able to get "wood" doors from KitchenCraft for about $12,000 taxes in, no designer help (that would cost a few hundred), handles for 66 doors & drawers would be extra = $500.00. I would also had to pay the full amount up front like all DB purchases.
We bought appliances, Bosch, LG, Jenn-air. Difference in pricing would be like comparing Canadian & US products. So if the canadin price is $2500 & the US price is $2100, thats the price we would pay...but in canadian funds.(Yes I know the dollar is at par now....but if wasn't when we made the purchases)
Other smaller items were bought with smaller savings, but never more expensive.
Have we made our initial deposit & annual fees back with our purchases...? Knowing my wife....yes I think we did & we probably would have saved even more had we bought the cabinets there too.
I am certain if we loved to go store-to-store comparing prices.... then "no" we definitely would not have broke even yet. But we are also not even close to being finished the reno & furniture buying.
In the end, we all have our reasons for joining, So now that we are buying from them I think we made the right choice
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=91124
Don't give up. Keep telling people your DB horror stories. Warn everyone to stay away!!!!
May I remind you that this is a complaint website not a place to advertise. If you got such great service & love your DB membership so much, why would you be searching for complaint sites.......unless you are a franchise owner or corporate lackey trying to do damage control! If you're so happy, go start your own website. Don't muck-up ours.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/tronix_country.html
Scams everywhere.
Ran across this site while searching for complaints against tronix country, a friend told me about this "fantastic company" offering computer financing that he saw on tv.
Have seen the directbuy ads on tv and in print for years and had no idea, after reading 120 pages here, what a racket they seem to be.
Unfortunately it is sometimes a cruel world and more often than not it is people who are ignorant pigs that make it cruel.
Just a thought... i wonder if they discourage someone in law enforcement (police officer, district attorney etc) from becoming a directbuy member, do they do the opposite and not call you 5 times a day to confirm your appointment? they probably tell the person right off the bat that membership is 5000$