DirectBuy...

[[LaW]Maverick]

Ok, so I recently went to a DirectBuy open house and I decided to come online a gripe about it...because, well, it's what I do. Actually, they sent me a customer satisfaction survey about it, and that's what set me off. So, let me enlighten you all.

 

DirectBuy is an "organization" that got together to combine the purchasing power of lots and lots of people so that they would be able to buy directly from manufacturers at the same prices retail stores pay. This was a great idea as a manufacturer will not typically sell you something from their factory because you only want 1 TV or one counter top. There's no profit in it for them unless they are bulk-orders. Ok, so now you know what it is.

 

When you go to an open house, you have to make a decision that day on whether or not to join--which makes it a high pressure sales situation no matter how nice the people are. To keep myself from getting overly wordy, I'll write out a list of what's wrong with this place:

 

1.) The membership fee is first and foremost. Up front it's $4,900 that we're expected to pay THAT DAY! That's ridiculous!

2.) The alternative to the up-front fee was a monthly payment which was called the "New Home Owners Plan." With my handy Moto Q's calculator, I did the math and that membership would cost around $6,400 once all is said and done for the same amount of time as #1.

3.) They used every psychological sales trick in the book to get us to sign up

4.) acted like it was a tragedy when we didn't sign up hoping we'd turn around

5.) The Sharp LCD TV I looked up in their catalogs sells for nearly $100 less on NewEgg than it does from DirectBuy

6.) The lady on the video had the most evil smile I've ever seen in my entire life--and she kept on doing it even when she was talking!

7.) They only offer name brands that are of the "designer" persuasion. In other words, you could buy the same quality stuff for less money, but you wouldn't get the fancy name to go with it.

8.) Did I mention the ridiculous membership fee?

 

Oh, and to add to it, the associate trying to dupe us into signing up for this thing said that we could call our credit card company and ask them to raise our limit so that we could put the membership fee on our credit card and pay right then and there!!! That was his response to us not being able to afford it right now and saying we couldn't cover it on credit. I mean, holy crap!

 

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know to avoid them in case you've been seeing their adds recently--seems like there's been a lot more of them. I can go into much greater detail--both mathematical and anecdotal--as to why you should stay away, but like I said up there, I'm trying not to be overly wordy.

[shoot]

I almost went to one of those... It wasn't an open house, but on an "appointment basis" only, where they played out like they're really booked.

 

Fortunately, I ran in to some people that were coming out of the previous session and told me pretty much what you just said. Walked to my car peeled out of the parking lot.

[dwEEziL]

Thanks for sharing.

[Unclean]

We've got a DirectBuy retail location about 2 minutes from my apartment. I was curious about it, but after reading this, no ty.

[[LaW]Maverick]

Glad I could help some of you out!

 

Don't waste the time...and all of the "Open Houses" are on appointment basis only...and you even need a pass to get in....I don't think they understand what "Open House" really means....

 

 

In the words of Inigo Montoya: "You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[Preacher]

I've heard them advertised a few times on CNN and on the radio. I was actually planning on going to one that is here not realizing it was ran by insane people lol.

[Playaa]

I actually know people who do this. They're the type of people that are always involved in pyramid schemes and things like that. As soon as I found out they were doing it I realized I didn't want to be anywhere near it.

[stutters]

i don't see the problem with it. i went to one of these open houses a few months ago and signed up that day. i ordered a new refrigerator, stove, washing machine, and trash compactor. they threw in the extended warranty plan for 50% off, too. seems like a really good deal.

 

[Bubblegum Bandit]

i don't see the problem with it. i went to one of these open houses a few months ago and signed up that day. i ordered a new refrigerator, stove, washing machine, and trash compactor. they threw in the extended warranty plan for 50% off, too. seems like a really good deal.

 

 

Dude, that was an Apple Store... they usually only sell computers and stuff...

[[LaW]Maverick]

Hahaha....

 

well, I would ammend my earlier statement and say that you COULD EVENTUALLY save money IF you buy a TON of fancy name brand stuff within that first 3 years, but you have to buy a ton of it, and you can save the same amount of money (if not more) with some very careful online shopping. When I sat down and did the math on the few items that they would let me check out when I sat down for the open house, we would have been losing a bunch of money by signing up (somewhere in the thousands).

 

That being said, the granite counter tops they sell at Home Depot are every bit as nice as the designer brand you'd get at Direct Buy, and they inherently cost less because it's not a designer brand.

[NOFX]

I can usually see scams a mile away. When I first purchased my townhome I would be in lowe's hardware just about everday. At this time I was still dressing professionally for work and I was in my early 20's. Did you know there are dudes that walk around lowe's trying to do a pyramid scheme on you? Im not exaggerating here. At least 6 different guys over the course of about 1-2 months came up to me and asked me if I would like to make any extra money on the side. I eventually started calling them out on it and asking them what they were really doing. I even mentioned to the cashier that dudes are trying to run scams on their customers, but they didn't seem to care.

 

And with the direct buy crap you see on commercials, it looks like one of those buy foreclosed houses now setup's. They say they want to help you save money. Do you really think their advice is given to you for your best interest? I will never buy anything if someone is trying to sell it to me. Never, not even if it's a good deal because

1) they are trying to sell it to me

2) its something I don't really need or else I would be looking for it on my own.

 

My buddy also fell prey to one of those direct buy type scams. He got caught up in the moment at a seminar, signed some papers and now has all these judgments on his credit because he never paid them the $4,000.

Edited July 10, 2008 by NOFX

[ConGregation]

I went to one of those things years ago. Probably 10 years ago, might not be the same company but it was surely the same tactics.

 

I have a long history with stuff like that. As a kid my parents took us along to several 'timeshare' type pitches to get the 'prize'. My parents could be suckers but they never went for that one.

 

Then on our honeymoon I actually rented a timeshare from someone and they made it sound like we had to attend this meeting. We are young and naive so we actually go. Boy did they lay it on think. We had no money but that didn't stop them. Being young we let them go on way to long. When our 'agent' couldn't make the sell they bring the big guy over. Boy did he look and act sharp. By now the place is empty and they can smell a sale. He laid it on thick. Talked about how his wife had just died recently of breast cancer and how he wished beyond anything that he had invested 12,000 dollars into a timeshare just like the one he was selling so he would've spent more time with his now dead wife. He was a snake! The story may have been true but I would be surprised. They even told us that in order to pay for it just to claim more deductions from my employer and we would have enough in pocket to make the payment. Absurd!

 

We finally made it out of there.

 

The one that almost got us was another travel thing where they sold surplus rooms, resorts, flights type thing. The numbers they threw at us was very impressive. My mom was with us (we were getting 50 bucks apiece) and she actually bought it. They kept coming down and kept coming down, I felt sorry for the 'bigger' suckers who bought it at the initial price. My mom bought it (it came with 2 extra free memberships so we would have got one). It was in Branson and we were at a family reunion. When we went to the reunion everybody started ragging on us for buying it and how it was a scam (I didn't tell everyone my mom had bought trying to make it more comfortable for her). It was a very unpleasant dinner. My mom decided to cancel so we go back over there. I ask her if she wants me to do the talking and she did. Sure enough, the first thing they did was offer a better price. We eventually got it all straightened out.

 

Funny thing is, I left the $50 dollar check in my pants and it got washed. My wife was furious. All the headache and we ruined the check. I pieced it together and mailed it to the address oon the check and I actually got a replacement check in the mail.

 

I would do it again. It really is kind of fun to pick up on all their tricks and point out where they are wrong. If the 'prize' was worth it of course. We though about doing it for our trip to FL. 90 minutes of saying no and you get a nice place to stay for 4 days.

[Unclean]

Just ran across this website... you guys aren't alone.

http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams

[nut]

yeah i have seen the commercials... But wow.. that is one stEEEEEEEEap membership fee.