Don't make our mistake

Complaint

-1
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.

Comments

  • 0
    bob
    and do it quickly, send one more certified letter to them letting thenm know you will be small claimsing them soon if they do not refund you, put in a blank copy of the forms you will be filling in for small claims to let them know you are proceeding. do this fast, dbs are dropping off like flies, if they close and declare bankruptcy you are likely beat for your money.
  • 0
    NEW QUESTION
    How can we disgruntled, conned members of DB get a Facebook page up?  To discuss our concerns about regretably becoming hooked & deceived by them.   I'd like to reach out and correspond with others who are not happy...
  • 0
    buried Question
    How does one go about getting a discussion group up on FaceBook re:  DB?  
     I'd sure like to correspond with others like me, in the same boat... conned!  and still not over it..
  • 0
    Which DB's have closed Bob?
    I am interested to know how many DB's may have closed down.  sometimes they just move to another location with new franchise owners..
     This one in Tampa FL is still up & conning I think... never go there anymore.. learned my lesson.... Don't sign a flipping contract for thousands of dollars before you sleep on it... Buyers Beware - Don't Join
  • 0
    Tonia
    Trudy,
        I have seen many cases where you were able to help others get refunds and was wondering if you would be able to help me.We got a membership back in 2009 right after my husband got home from a deployment from overseas. We had three small children and were there for hours on end. We were rushed into making a decision and sent home right after we signed so the next group could be helped. We got it in Arkansas but recently moved to California. We have not yet used our membership. And currently could not afford it due to me not working from a horrible back surgery. Would we still be able to get out of the contract.
                                                Thanks for your help
  • 0
    Foolish Man
    Trudy,
    I live in South Carolina and is where I got my membership from. It seems as though South Carolina does not have the 3 day cooling period. I sent a complaint through the Attorney Genearal here and just got a reply back today stating they can't help us because the contract said that it was a non-cancellable contract and we signed it. Also direct buy wrote that the state of South Carolina does not have the 3 day recession law so they did not include it in their contract but yet offered it without telling us. Please Trudy I really need your help. What can I do?
  • 0
    Charlene Brown
    Direct buy is a scam. When my husband and I joined their membership, we went back to cancel our membership after three days. When we went, we were treated with disdain, we waited for a long time before anyone spoke with us. We informed the lady that my husband has lost his job and will not be able to afford the membership. She was not concerned about that, she kept telling us about the discounts that are available and how much we will save. We also saw the gentleman who signed us up and he basically mentioned, "I don't think that you will be able to cancel the membership". Even though we insisted on cancelling our membership, they did not give us the time of day. We left the showroom, and went home, We were sent a letter in the mail from a company named Crelogix, informing us that we owe $4,999. These people should not be allowed to come into Canada and scam people in this manner. The Government of Canada need to do something about Direct Buy so that consumers are protected and not scammed.
  • 0
    thomas_lindley@msn.com
    My wife and I joined the Bentonville AR club October 4th 2011. We did not know of a three day cooling off period nor does our contract have any mention of such a policy.
    Since our joining, we have made two purchases. Both were made at our orientation visit, two days later. One item was received by us sometime
    the first part of November. We have yet to receive the second item of our order.
    Part of our joining the club was to purchase a home entertainment system.
    After comparing their prices, and without even checking the cost of their shipping, handling and taxes, we purchased at a much lower price from Amazon.com with no charge for S/H. After making this purchase we visited
    the club to ask about cancelling our order and our membership.
    We were willing to pay a penalty to close our contract. The Marketing Director said they would try to cancel the order but had no policy to cancel our membership although he would speak with the store manager. I telephoned the store Four times during the next ten days. He was never there or at a meeting. He never returned any of my calls. I phoned the
    Corporate Headquaters and inquired there about cancelling. I was told the stores are individually owned and they could do nothing, but that they would send an e-mail to the store about my complaint. We got no reply.
    We have since learned the store has moved to a new location. We were never notified of their closing or of the address of the new location. Also, we have never received our order or a refund for it. No communication from
    the store what-so-ever.
    We made a $350 initial payment and a contract for rhe remaining $3140. We had expected to pay off the balance to save the $299 finance charge, however after our  experience with them we have not paid the balance only two payments hoping there was a way we could get out of our contract.
    Is it possible to get out of the Direct Buy contract?
  • 0
    oscar
    Hi Trudy
    I just got DB in November 21 2011 and I trying to cancel my Membership I call Beta Finance here in Seattle WA and they said that the can't do nothing a battler to call DB. can you help I'm trying to get my $ back I pay $1000 dollar down payment.
  • 0
    Don't throw your money away!
    I've come to the conclusion that those Direct Buy members that say they are satisfied either have extremely low standards...or they're blind!  We've been members for five years now and we have had a problem with almost every item that we have bought.  We bought televisions, bedroom armoire and headboard, kitchen chairs, several high end light fixtures, washer and dryer, small kitchen appliances, etc.  Almost everythng had issues...Both my husband and I are very busy people.  We have better things to do than invent problems where there aren't any...but believe me this company is nothing but trouble.  Plus, Direct Buy is not really interested in whether your happy with the item you've bought or not.  Once they have your money they couldn't care less. The proof...if you receive an items that has lousy workmanship or that looks much rougher than the photo in the catalogue and want to return it... the fees are excessive.  So, in other words they want you to keep it and be unhappy with it as long as they have their money.  Not too long ago I decided to test the whole Direct Buy thing...I decided to buy three expensive pieces of furniture that Direct Buy sold...but I bought them through a decorator near where I live. I paid about $150 more for each piece than the Direct Buy price. They arrived and there wasn't a problem with any of the pieces. It was well worth the extra not to have to deal with Direct Buy. Personally I believe that manufacturers are either sending Direct Buy 'seconds' or 'substandard' product.  The very large Murray Feiss light fixture we bought had to sit straddling two diningroom chairs because of it's size and we waited over a month to get the missing part so that we could hang it.  I think most of us entered into this in good faith...It's just unfortunate that Direct Buy isn't doing it's part.  They're just another greedy company out there to get rich at the expense of others!
  • 0
    Mallory
    I need help Beta Finance has been calling me non stop for payment when I tried to cancel the memebership a month after first getting paperwork on it and they said they wont cancel it and that I have to pay the 3600 owed for the direct buy membership and like many others we were pressured into buying it and we will never use it. We were told that we couldnt come back if we didnt sign up.  How do I get out of paying them a dime cause I have never used the membership and feel I shouldnt owe them anything.  Please help me I got it in Oklahoma. Email (xoxocowgirlxo@aol.com).
  • 0
    Dave
    We are 70 yrs. old and will not be buying like when we were younger. My wife has had many illness' the big one. When we went to the program we got tied up in some excitement of maybe our kids and grandchildren could injoy but looking it over and the 5290.00 fee we realized this,was not good. Tried to call them and no answer for two weeks, pressed every number and finally got ahold of theshipping department he was kind and did not know how to helpdo to no answering. If a company  is in business for the people than why no answering severice at least. I have had heart problems and never thought this could affect me this bad. We have wrote bought regular office and corporate and called many times corporate never answer's. With all these complaints why isn't the govenor or some one helping all of us?
  • 0
    Tammy
    We signed up about a 9 days ago and we just received the info for the website and realizing that this is completely not for us.  They also stated they sell hot water tanks and woman's sneakers which they certainly don't.  Not sure what to do.. Was going to go in Monday and speak with someone but just realized there not open.  Now thinkin of speaking with an attorney to find out a resolution of what to do.  I signed up in the Greenville, SC store.
    I was thinkin of following suit thou with cerified mail and stating this is a complete misrepresentation of what they said this was going to be.   And on the contract it stats "you agree to pay the price for your membership on terms above and acknowledge that your membership is not cancelable and your membership fees are not refundable..."  so stating it's not cancelable is an unfair trade act?
  • 0
    3-days Corp policy of cancellation
    If there's nothing on the Agreement/Contract you signed stating you have 3 days to cancel (ours has it on the back), the one you signed is not legal.  get those registered/certified lets in to your store, Direct them to the owner's name, keep all your paper work together, start the process of getting a refund because you have a better chance esp. if they gave you an outdated contract to sign.  Still work on them to get out of the deal with your refund..
     You'll have to fight them.  The franchise owner will not want to lose the membership fee you agreed on.
     That place really sucks and we're out thousands of dollars but it's way in the past.  Sorry you didn't see this site before you got suckered into signing up with DB.  They bait the public and don't let you out their door so they can get the victims to fork over the money.  
     Just waiting to see our local joint close down... (Florida)
     
    **Don't call or contact your franchise owner except by reg.or cert. lts. Get your paperwork sent to them and take them to sm claims crt.  Do it soon.  You can also picket them but stay off their property.  It's extreme but has worked for some others.  So sorry tney got you too.  They're very deceitful and misleading.  
     BUYERS BEWARE - DON'T MAKE OUR MISTAKE....
  • 0
    I think..
    I think you work for DB  -  it's not for everyone... get off our complaint site trying to sell your ideas that people can save money.  
    No way.. Big mistake.. DB should go out of business.  These are hard times & they still bilk people out of thousands of dollars..
     BUYERS BEWARE - DON'T MAKE OUR MISTAKE..
  • 0
    BDave
    Trudy,

    My fiancee and I signed up for Direct Buy in July 9, 2011.  After signing the contract we quickly realized that this was a awful financial decision. So I called the location and said I wanted to cancel my contract.  The lady I spoke with said that there was nothing she could do and that the contract was going to have to be honored. That same day I called my bank and put a stop payment on the down payment for the membership. This was step 1 of 3.  Step 2 I called their corporate headquarters and asked them what their cancellations polices were as a coporation?? She explained to many that they have a 3-day cooling off or cancellation period depending on the state you signed the contract in. So I wrote the cancellation letter to the location and thought everything was cancelled and taking care off. Well 3 months later I am getting a call from the fiance company stating that we own like 7k!!! dollars.  I was beside myself, because this was suppose to be handled. Step 3 I called the owner of the location and they couldnt even find my contract, not to mention my cancellation letter.  The owner wants me to pay him $ 1700 dollars to cancel my contract. I think this is a joke considering we never gave them a dime nor have we ever used their services.  I feel like I have done everything in my power, and wanted an outside opinion on this.

    Thanks,

    BD
  • 0
    BDave
    Trudy,

    My fiancee and I signed up for Direct Buy in July 9, 2011.  After signing the contract we quickly realized that this was a awful financial decision. So I called the location and said I wanted to cancel my contract.  The lady I spoke with said that there was nothing she could do and that the contract was going to have to be honored. That same day I called my bank and put a stop payment on the down payment for the membership. This was step 1 of 3.  Step 2 I called their corporate headquarters and asked them what their cancellations polices were as a coporation?? She explained to many that they have a 3-day cooling off or cancellation period depending on the state you signed the contract in. So I wrote the cancellation letter to the location and thought everything was cancelled and taking care of. Well 3 months later I am getting a call from the fiance company stating that we owe like 7k!!!.  I was beside myself, because this was suppose to be handled. Step 3 I called the owner of the location and they couldnt even find my contract, not to mention my cancellation letter. So i called the owner back and he wants me to pay him $ 1700 dollars to cancel my contract. I think this is a joke considering we never gave them a dime nor have we ever used their services.  I feel like I have done everything in my power, and wanted an outside opinion on this?

    Thanks,

    BD
  • 0
    BD
    I am also trying to get out of my membership at the Columbia,SC. I have not paid them a dime, I have also sent them the "cancellation letter" which they strangly did not have. They couldnt even locate my contract, it took them 3 days to figure out who I was.  Let me know what you guys are doing to get out of your contracts?
  • 0
    Debbie
    I have been a member of direct buy for a few years,  I haven't bought much because of the way you have to up what you ordered at there site, which is about a hour away, it was in Hunt Valley, MD.  I paid $4500.00 to get in this club.  Well guess what, my club location has shut down.  My new location that I was never informed of is  now in lancaster, PA.  this is now even further for me to go, it is a hour and 20 minutes away.  The Club got my money and now they are gone.  If there is a law suit, please let me know about it.
  • 0
    we were scammed
    If the location where you joined has moved or shut down, they'll tell you to order off their web site. and then you can get what you order shipped..  It's not cheap for shipping so these are the questions new invitee's need to bring up at their 'by invitation only' presentations.

     If we only knew then what we know now.  glad, at least we didn't finance the money and our $5,500 is spent & long gone.  They use sophiscated, high-pressure sales tricks so they can get those membership fees.  Thousands of dollars to join a buying club is CRAZY... Go to court to get out of that financing contract/ sm claims..

     It's over for us, the lawsuits are pending, don't hold your breath, but it's good to know of another DB store shutting down.  Or else they'll go to another location and try again... ????   down w/ DB

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