Don't make our mistake

ComplaintsFurnitureDirect Buy

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

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  • 0
    wondering mind
    My Father called me today and told me that someone from Direct Buy called him and his wife.. And offer them free gifts jus to visit their store. This was kind of odd to me Cause people jus dont give away free trips n gifts without knowing the person first...I personally believe that this is a major scam. Wht do y'all think?/ help the wondering minds out before dad drive 2hour to direct buy.
  • 0
    No Thanks Direct Buy!!!
    To join Direct Buy, pay up front fees and expect to save it's really obscure. There is no savings for most people. All their reviews are controlled and if they were really honest they would  not get you in one of showrooms as you are going to buy timeshare vacation. I agree with others who state that this is a scam.
  • 0
    Yes Cha Cha
    You nailed it on the head Cha Cha - ***financial stupidity - we fell for it and will regret it forever - waiting to see them all close down ( which they'll do after they file bankruptcy to protect their scamming butts) don't make our mistake.
  • 0
    nunya
    | 2 replies
    The good thing is that nobody on this complaint thread can even spell or use proper grammar, so how can you even be taken seriously? So sad!
    • 0
      Seriously replies to nunya
      | 1 reply
      Right, I've been going through reviews all day after feeling instant regret of signing up last night. I feel like if people have all this money to buy the high end DB merchandise, they should have some grammar skills. We looked into prices of thing that they showed us last night and found the exact same products for the same price with no shipping or handling fee on the internet, so we are cancelling our membership today. Maybe if one of the positive reviewer could show an ounce of intelligence with proper grammar or even just correct spelling I would find them more believable.
      • 0
        duped replies to Seriously
        The same thing that happened to you happened to my spouse and I last night.  We signed up yet have not attended their orientation meeting -- scheduled for two days from now.  We have buyer's remorse...  don't feel that we will be able to take full advantage of the membership...  You indicated that you were going to cancel your membership ... how successful were you?  Our contract indicates that it is non-cancellable yet I believed that we (in Ontario) have a 10? day period over which we can rescind.  Any advice?  Written notification?  Thanks in advance.
  • 0
    Brenda
    I think it's a scam too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They say they save you money but that's not true.  I bought appliances through them and only saves 110.00 total.  My second flip I did; I called a local store and they were able to meet the prices and give me a better shipping price and work with my schedule and needs better.  I would NEVER recommend them to anyone!!!! NEVER!!!!  Did I say, NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Brenda
  • 0
    Get out
    | 1 reply
    If you think you have a legal complaint with Direct Buy and would like to get out.  Get in touch with your State Attorney General.  It will not cost you anything to do this.  I did and in about fifteen days it was over with.  I have been paying Beta Finance $121.00 a month for about year.  I told them that I didn’t even want any money back I just wanted out. I'm out, thinks to the State Attorney General they will help.
    • 0
      Tippy replies to Get out
      What state are you in?
  • 0
    sandra
    I lost 6200 I hate direct buy
  • 0
    david
    We have belonged since 1996 had have never had a problem. Ever. Its wonderful.
  • 0
    no membership = no gift
    after spending 90 minutes for the presentation and then refusing to join, I was told they were out of the gifts and that it would be mailed in 1 week. One week later I called only to be told that it could be 1 to 2 more weeks. Well it has been a month and no gift. I guess I made the right decision, if they can't provide something that was promised in one months time how can they provide any product. My guess is that they do not have a good relationship with some of their suppliers. The gift was to be an Android Touch Pad, maybe DB should check Amazon or NewEgg just to mention a few well known suppliers for a supply.
  • 0
    Yonk
    It's note a scam but I can see how people might think so.

    I got my membership 3 years ago when I bought my new house. I knew a little about DirectBuy from the commercials but not much other than that. I had planned to go check it out by myself but they would not let me schedule an appointment without my wife. That set off a little alarm in my head (reminded me of timeshare sales tactics) but I convinced my wife to go with me. Once we got there and listened to their presentation it seemed like a good deal. Then they dropped the news on us... it would cost $5000 for membership. AND... we would have to make our chance... right on the spot. No time to think about it or anything. I nearly walked out right there. I hate that sales tactic and I can see why people would call them a scam... from that alone.

    After discussing with my wife, using their computer kiosks and comparing prices of items we wanted to buy with prices I could find on the Internet (from searching on my phone) and running through some other numbers, we decided it COULD be worth it so we got the membership, Believe me, I agonized over that A LOT once I got home. I started reading these forums online about how it's a total scam and felt a sense of dread as I thought I just got took for $5k. Everyone thinks they're pretty smart so you hate to think you got tricked and screwed.

    Eventually, I started buying things. Every time I bought I compared to prices I could find on Amazon, Overstock, Google Shopping, etc. I found that on furniture you saved A TON of money - like 40-50% cheaper. They mentioned this in their sales pitch that furniture gets marked up a lot and my research has shown just that. All of the money I've made back on my membership has been from furniture.

    I found some office chairs on DirectBuy for $239 one time and after shipping and taxes it would have been $289. I found it online for only $199 with free shipping. I called DirectBuy and complained and they contacted the manufacturer and got my price reduced to $120. After shipping and taxes it came out to only $135 or so... cheaper than the cheapest online option.

    On electronics etc, I haven't seen the price differential that is worth it. Yes, the price is cheaper but the shipping and handling you have to pay plus the time it takes to be delivered, I just buy on Amazon and get free and quick shipping with Amazon Prime.

    I have replaced flooring through a local vendor that buys from DirectBuy and partners with them. I think I saved a little money but I'm not convinced I saved a ton. But it's something at least.

    I have not done remodeling so I can't speak on that. Supposedly that's the other huge savings point.

    TL;DR version -

    Their sales tactics are horrible. Their website was extremely slow and has been upgraded but is still a little slow. Design still sucks so it's hard to find and filter for items.
    You  have to buy a lot of items and the right type of items to make it worth your while.
    It's definitely not for everyone.

    BUT... I don't think it's a scam.
  • 0
    Shadi
    I got a phone call from ph# 917 208 9936  on 07/01/13 at exactly 12:20pm and it was a voice of a mail I don't remember his name. So he is trying to give me som free trip or something so I politely stoped him an stated that I'm not interested so he said  ( [***] you ) and hung up.
    Then 10 mints later I got a call from the same # it was Andy this time so I said hold on I need to speak to a pupervisor  and explane why she Reply oh u wanna speak to a supervisor ok .... Click      Hung up
  • 0
    Leo Kringle
    We bought into the pitch and became members and then the local store in Omaha Nebraska closed down.  Direct Buy says you can do everything online, but when we bought the membership the salesperson told us that certain things were purchased best by coming into the store and we did go to the store a few times but then suddenly the store closed down. Complained to Direct Buy and they simply told us that we could do everything online so we didn't need the store; a different story from the salesperson.  We built a new house and found it very difficult to purchase anything from Direct Buy. When they sold us the membership we walked around the store and they had samples, chips, color samples, etc. and it seemed like we should be able to save way more than the membership on the building project.  Suddenly no store; very difficult to deal with via phone, and trying to buy some things online became difficult.  We would go to other stores, find things and then go to Direct Buy to see what their price was and most of the time they didn't have that brand. Several times they had the same items but it was actually more expensive than the store when you included shipping. Mostly what we find is that Direct Buy bases their savings off the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP), well where does any retail store sell ANY item for the MSRP?  As someone else pointed out, Direct Buy works with the high end retailers so they only offer the high end products, sure the quality is good, but in reality who wants their little kids bouncing around on a MSRP $10,000 living room couch that you bought for $7,500.
  • 0
    lani smith
    im a direct buy member for more than 5 yrs.. im happy to tell you guys.. he gave a good services.. i receive a lot of discount..
  • 0
    Kim
    How come there is no sueing thing about this club.  I would like yo find out and will be very interesting.  So lies, cheats and greedy.
  • 0
    LolDirectBuy
    Canada. It's worth it if you can split the membership with someone and if you're buying a house and wants to get new stuff.  The trick is to check outside what the stores are selling and how much then compare in directbuy website.  I admit we had best purchases and also had a bad one.  One thing I do hate though is their yearly renewal of $200US every year after you paid off the installment. It makes you want to buy something just to even the cost somehow.  That's why I tell my friends they can use my membership.  I was able to justify the cost because I split my membership with someone.
  • 0
    mina
    my husband and I went to their seminar 2 days ago and sales rep was so stupid. we asked some question even she doesn't know how to answer and keep saying :"do you want to pay huge amount for retail or you want to save money?" you will realized it is a scam if you just ask question. after her, 2 sales rep came to help her, try to explain how we will save money. when we told them we want to think about it then make decision tomorrow, they says if we did not get membership today we will not allowed to getting membership for next 7 years. we ask why? they says manufacture will think their costumer will always change their mind, after purchasing might be return or exchange. what a stupid answer. what manufacture? we came to their office how come their more then 500 manufacture will know who we are? even they know, ones we have purchased if it is not the right one consumer has right to exchange.........................

    DONT BELIEBE DB. ITS A BIG SCAM.

    I saw the sales rep disappointed face after we said NO, I can tell she felt she loose $300 commission from us .

    As a sales person I am sure its a legally scam
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