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
I agree that a class action lawsuit will help put an end to DirectBuy's antics. The cases do take a long time because DB has been trying every stall tactic they can. The benefit of joining a class action case is that you do not have to put up any money as all of the attorney fees are recovered through the settlement. If the plaintiffs lose the case, we still don't have to pay the attorneys...."they eat their loss of time and labor" This is why the class action attorneys don't take on cases that they don't think they have a good chance of winning.
As mentioned before, there are a couple of other class action attorneys working to get DirectBuy tried in court (in addition to Craig T. Matthews (listed above):
Jeff Nobel, Seth Klein & Matthew Taccillo (Attorneys)
Law firm of Izard Nobel / Hartford, CT
1-800-797-5499
860-493-5499
www.izardnobel.com
John W. Davis, Attorney at Law / San Diego, California
619-400-4870
www.johnwdavis.com
email: john@johnwdavis.com
I know that somehow, some way we will all band together against DirectBuy and get our memberships refunded. It may take some time to get these cases through court, however, I believe that justice will prevail. Good luck to all of those following Trudy's advice. She's the master and has done a lot to help other people. We're both passionate about ensuring that others are educated and don't go down the same path we did. I am glad to see that DirectBuy hasn't gotten to this site yet......I know we'd all revolt if that happened!
If people don't try to get their $ back, then db thinks that you are happy.
The ones who just joined, & realized right away, find out about the law on this site, & are getting full refunds.
Even arrogant, lazy lawyers have told people, there is nothing they can do, "buyers regret"
The best power that we have VS. db is the power of word of mouth, warning people & referring them to this site.
When people depend on lawyers, the specific scam tactics do not get exposed. For example, people need to know about Rita, on the 1st pg. of this site. The slimy tactic was to promise her a 3 day cooling-off period, but conveniently forgot to give her the password to access their prices, until a week later. She immediately found cheaper $ for the major appliances that she had expressed (before joining), that she desperately needed.
She is still fighting them, with the help of this site.
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The class action suits are for people who have joined a long time ago.
So far, absolutely nothing has stopped them or deterred them from their ruthless tactics.
They have changed their name, previously UCC TOTAL HOME CLUB
They are all franchised, so the corporate offices do not respond to complaints either.
They pay off the BBB for excellent reviews.
They bought INFOMERCIALSCAMS.COM, & erased the nearly 1,000 complaints.
They still try to trick people into making their complaint on their site,
& to give them all of your personal info, inc. e-mail address.
They reserve the right to reject the posting of any complaints & they respond privately to your complaint,so that it never reaches the public.
They even post disgustingly sick fake complaints.
********The scammed, must find out the law & act quickly.
Since they are franchised, they have the right to change rules, & declare bankruptcy as a response to the class-action suits.
Then no one gets a penny back.
You expressed "my thoughts" exactly. I hope the class actions are tried in court soon so that DirectBuy does not have the chance to file for bankruptcy and change their name again. I feel that all of their scams will be exposed and that we should all continue to band together to warn others to stay away and stive to get money back for those who have been victimized and ripped-off.
Yes, I hope someone does put the whole presentation and slimy pressure sales pitches onto YouTube......It would be great if some university journalism student would do a story on it! Thanks for spreading the word & keeping people away from DirectBuy!
Do you know if the Jeff Nobel class action is seeking refund of memberships? I had heard that action is *not* seeking refund of memberships. I also believe the named plaintiffs in that action are closed. The only national class action I am aware of that will seek refund of membership fees is the one Craig Matthews is filing. Let me know if I am wrong about that!
Some folks have tried to get a refund and have not been successful. Class actions are for every member, whether they joined recently or a long time ago. DirectBuy could think of nothing better than to scam thousands of people across the country, only give back a refund here or there after someone takes the time to do their research and then wait to see if they get lucky, and then continue scamming who knows how many thousands of others. A class action, and only a class action, would force DB to change their ways. They have way too much money to declare bankruptcy - they reported merchandise revenues of ONE BILLION DOLLARS recently! Members need to band together to help others around the country. United, members can make DirectBuy change its ways and help prevent thousands of other innocent consumers from falling victim.
The suit Davis filed in California is for California members only. :(
Last I heard the Izard Nobel class action did include membership refunds and was a Federal case. As far as the Davis case goes, DirectBuy wants to keep the case in the California courts, however, I believe the case originated in Federal court & that's where the law firm wants it to stay. I haven't spoken to any of the attorneys in a while, so if you hear otherwise, please post the updated information.
Thanks for keeping all of us in the loop!
"They bought INFOMERCIALSCAMS.COM, & erased the nearly 1,000 complaints."
it is still all on the net, nothing every really goes away from the net.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071009142937/www ... irect_buy_scams
http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.infomercialscams.com/
That would be a great idea, but DirectBuy policies prohit recording or videotaping and require each person who attends agree to hold everything they hear in confidence. Dumb DirectBuy is not!
I hope someone does it anyway, so far I don't see db going after anyone that is telling what happens at the presentations ( on this and other forms) just letting persons know the cost up front would put db in the hole
I HOPE YOU GET THIS MESSAGE BEFORE YOU MAKE A HUGE MISTAKE BY GOING BACK THERE IN PERSON.
It is just a big joke to them for people to argue in person!!!!!!!!!!!!
They love to use verbal in their favour
REG"D LETTER ONLY---IMMEDIATELY
Addressed to the owner/director- signed by both of you
Mentioned that your attorney will take action if..in this case, I would suggest giving them 72 hours to credit you
*******BY THE WAY, THE TACTIC THAT THEY USED ON YOU IS A NEW ONE.
THEY ARE DISGUSTINGLY ,ALWAYS FINDING NEW TRICKS TO CONFUSE PEOPLE.
I hope this helps. Please update us soon.
Thanks for the info, wow I found over 400 legit complaints about db.
I was looking for Trudy's letter, dated 05/15/08 & 05/10/08,
But the dates on the sites that you list, end in Feb. 2008.
Is there any other way to access, the later complaints? Thanks, if you can help.
I hope that we can help you, & you have definitely come to the right site.
If you give a bit more info, I will try to help.
Where do you live & when did you join & was there a cooling-off period?
Did you keep a copy of your letter, was it sent to owner/director & signed by you & a co-signer? You do have laws to help you & db boldly breaks them all the time. I will check in, within the next day & try to help.
Can you please tell me where I can read more about this lawsuit because I have tried different leads & I can't find anything about it. Thanks