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
In the year and a half so far, we’ve gotten nothing but hassle.
First and foremost, most of the staff who work there have no idea what they’re doing. We’ve gone in on a few Saturdays – that being the only day we have available to visit their ‘showroom’ – and we struggled with getting any help. We were told to make ourselves available on a weekday to talk to presumed ‘renovation experts’ and ‘electronics experts’ who don’t work weekends. The problem is, is that my husband and I have jobs that interfere with our weekday availability.
Secondly, there is no return policy when the staff make a mistake. Their kitchen expert had botched measurements for our kitchen, to the point where our contractor was unable to fit in many of the pieces that were custom made for us, and when we approached DirectBuy about it, we were given a hard time. I spent over half an hour on the phone with their kitchen expert
trying to get her to just come out and see what the problem was, and remeasure the kitchen. She then also expected us to spend more money on buying pieces to replace ones that were ordered wrong from her end. After much persistence, she finally agreed to replace it for us, but not after a condescending lecture about how we, the customer, should swallow the cost of her mistakes (valuing at a few hundred dollars) when considering the thousands that we’re saving on this room’s renovation.
We’ve dealt with two different locations of DirectBuy, one in Mississauga and one in Brampton (Ontario, Canada). The reason why we left the Mississauga location was because of the incredibly poor customer service that we received from there, as well as us realizing that the staff, at best, are inept. By dealing with this second location, we’ve come to realize that this seems to be a common thread throughout the chain.
DirectBuy's gimmick is that they 'dont make a profit on anything they sell, just the membership fees' - but this has become an excuse. Abiding by this policy allows them to make whatever mistakes they want, and in tern, the customer looses hundreds of dollars (or more) because if their ineptitude.
I’ve been looking at a few links regarding DirectBuy and how they do business, and am glad to see that we’re not the only ones unsatisfied with the way they do business. It's unfortunate that we've spent the $4000 membership fee though before finding this out. Despite the fact that we've saved a substantial amount on our kitchen and other items that we've bought, it’s more stress than what it’s worth, and I would very much discourage anyone from even considering dealing with this company.
Thanks for reading, I hope this is shared and helps people in avoiding to
deal with DirectBuy.
This company needs to be stopped, there are so many angry frustrated upset people all over the country. Everything I have tried to buy I can get much cheaper elsewhere without the hassle.
My advice to everyone is don't give up and do all you can, we must band together and make an impact, $5000 for most of us is a severe loss of hard earned money and the loss of it causes some serious stress.
This company is clearly unethical and gets away with it because of their horrible contract probably written up by some unethical lawyer. They only give you 3 days to cancel and its not enough time for anyone to go thru their membership policies, extra fees, shipping prices, handling prices, long waiting periods to get anything, and a NIGHTMARE to return anything! Especially most people with big families and full time jobs to investigate and research the company, 3 days is not enough time! I have never ever heard of any company only having a 3 day period to cancel something. That should be against the law! 14 days should be the minimum!!!!!
Once one finds out all that's involved its too late and then direct buy threatens to destroy your credit if you dont pay.
I advise everyone to submit a complaint to the better business bureau in your area. Its NEVER too late and you have nothing to lose, its easy to submit a complaint. If enough people do it there will be an impact! dont just GIVE UP, keep going and write bad reviews on every site that you can. Call them daily and harass them, write them emails every day and keep after it, don't give up!
WRITE A COMPLIANT TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND THEN THEY HAVE TO INVESTIGATE WITH THE COMPANY, EVEN IF YOU DON'T WIN, BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU WILL GET THEIR RATINGS DOWN AND MAKE THEM OWN UP IF ENOUGH PEOPLE SEND IN COMPLAINTS.
major home improvement project which included cabinets. We had priced Omega
cabinets at a couple of locations prior to going into DirectBuy and they did a preliminary quote which indicated that we would save about $20,000. When all was said and done, we probably only saved about $5,000 on the cabinets butwhat we found is that DirectBuy offers absolutely no assistance in product selection and service with their vendors, especially when it came to the Omega cabinet line. (When we were done, the warehouse guy told me I should have ordered Brookline)
The Omega cabinets had many quality problems and DirectBuy initially refused to assist us. When we went direct to Omega, they refused to deal with us claiming that DirectBuy, as the dealer was to provide that service. Our project was delayed several months because of the runaround we got. We would have received absolutely no cooperation from DirectBuy had it not been for the fact that we backed out the entire charge with Visa until the issue was resolved and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
We made many other purchases through DirectBuy for the remodeling project
and found that once DirectBuy added on the handling and shipping charges, my savings was 10% at best. Many items were in fact cheaper and faster for me to order through other sources. Of course, I was disappointed many times when DirectBuy did not carry the brand I wanted so I ended up purchasing the item elsewhere.
I never did purchase appliances through DirectBuy because I was concerned
about after-sale service. The owners suggested a contact with ABT in Chicago for discount pricing for DirectBuy members. I discovered accidentally that I was better off going into ABT as a regular consumer - pricing was better. This is very suspicious to say the least.
There have been times, when I wanted to purchase something and the
color-match information, etc. was not available at the store. This is frustrating when you spend time driving there, going through all of the books looking for what you need, then to find out you don't have what you need to order. Again, there is no assistance so if you expect help and service, this is not for you. Also, if you are a savvy Internet shopper and live in a large metropolitan area, you will likely do better without this membership.
Remember, DirectBuy will say they don't have a markup but in fact, most
everything is marked up at least 8% for handling, then you also pay shipping and tax. I think when people say they saved a lot of money at DirectBuy they are comparing to retail but I rarely pay retail anyway. I always wait for the sales and deals so if you are that kind of consumer and expect some service, then DirectBuy membership is not for you.
DirectBuy is proud of their web site but I think it is cumbersome to use
from the standpoint of searching and comparing products. It is a waste of time unless you know exactly what you want and then, not everything is on the web site so you really can't shop from home.
I believe what I experienced at DirectBuy is a reflection of their business
model. They make their money up front with the big membership fee so they
don't need to service their members afterward. DirectBuy is a marketing
organization, not a service organization. I suspect their renewals at 2 years are extremely low. My membership renewal is due this November and I don't think it is worth it for me to renew for $200.
What u did you go court a complaint for your refund member ship fee or not.
Thanks
None
Shipping and handling. Direct buy is a scam.
Don't buy the member ship.
Yes, sometimes the service isn't A+...but the price difference is worth it. Even though were not supposed to shop around being a db member I still do. I bought high end appliances and saved to the tune of $4000.00 I price shopped at 4 different places. Direct buy was still cheaper...
For those of us that have patience direct buy is the way to go.
When approached to get a refund for the 2nd and 3rd year, Suffolk wqshed their hands of it.
Joining was a big mistake for me.
This company needs to be stopped, there are so many angry frustrated upset people all over the country. Everything I have tried to buy I can get much cheaper elsewhere without the hassle.
My advice to everyone is don't give up and do all you can, we must band together and make an impact, $5000 for most of us is a severe loss of hard earned money and the loss of it causes some serious stress.
This company is clearly unethical and gets away with it because of their horrible contract probably written up by some unethical lawyer. They only give you 3 days to cancel and its not enough time for anyone to go thru their membership policies, extra fees, shipping prices, handling prices, long waiting periods to get anything, and a NIGHTMARE to return anything! Especially most people with big families and full time jobs to investigate and research the company, 3 days is not enough time! I have never ever heard of any company only having a 3 day period to cancel something. That should be against the law! 14 days should be the minimum!!!!!
Once one finds out all that's involved its too late and then direct buy threatens to destroy your credit if you dont pay.
I advise everyone to submit a complaint to the better business bureau in your area. Its NEVER too late and you have nothing to lose, its easy to submit a complaint. If enough people do it there will be an impact! dont just GIVE UP, keep going and write bad reviews on every site that you can. Call them daily and harass them, write them emails every day and keep after it, don't give up!
WRITE A COMPLIANT TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND THEN THEY HAVE TO INVESTIGATE WITH THE COMPANY, EVEN IF YOU DON'T WIN, BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU WILL GET THEIR RATINGS DOWN AND MAKE THEM OWN UP IF ENOUGH PEOPLE SEND IN COMPLAINTS.