Complain about a product or service

DirectBuy

Judie of Beverly Hills, FL August 29, 2009

I received a call from Direct Buy inviting me and my husband to an open house in Woodbridge, Va. My husband is deployed and I am handicapped and confinded to a wheelchair. My parents are here with me now until my husband returns from Iraq. I was told that I could not have my parents accompany me to the open house, even though I am unable to operate the wheelchair myself. I have contacted the Department of Justice, the Attorney General's office and the ADA. Wee will see if I get a response. I also sent a scathing e mail to Direct Buy.

elvis of metter, GA August 29, 2009

i was pressured to purchase membership for 5000.00, after becoming a member i tried to purchase some items the cost seems to save me 20% off retail however, they didnt mentioned that there will be an 8% charge plus shipping and handling, the shipping and handling was ridiculous after all said and done i was only saving 10.

Jeff of Rugther Glen , VA July 2, 2009

This is an update to an earlier post regarding Direct Buy of Richmond. After extensive dilaouge with Direct Buy of Richmond over our dispute they have decided to provide us a full refund of 4,900.

Igdalia of Kissimmee, FL June 29, 2009

I purched membership and paid 5,000.00 for memberish to Direct Buy. I was informed that their was a Direct Buy in Puerto Rico were I own a town home that needs new cabinests. When I arrived in Puerto Rico in late December 2008 I searched for a Direct Buy store and there was none. When I returned to Florida in late I wrote the Direct Buy Co requesting a refund of my membership paid. I returned their membership care including it in the letter I wrote them but to this day I have never goten a response from them.

I then wrote the Better Business Bureau were they are headquaters and never got a respone either. I am now writing you. I hope you can help me before I place an FBI complaint on this company. Thank you so much for you attention on this matter.

Edmond of Eatontown, NJ June 23, 2009

High Pressure Sales Tactics with Lies! They kept calling us to make sure we were coming in to their "open house invite". My Wife and I walked into DirectBuy center to see what they have to offer as they claim to be way below retail and actually manufactures pricing. The envirement felt like a whole scheme of actors playing customers and busy(even after business hrs!).

They totaly controlled the tour without giving us a chance to think or ask questions. We were rushed into a salesman and video presentation where the salesman Chris was showing us at least 6-7 various products on laminated paper from a bulletin and each one showing how even on sale with retaile , DirectBuy will cost at least 45-50% off! Plus 45min into presentation they mention very rapidly that there is 8% handling fee as well. Plus that once we walk out the door we can NEVER become a member!!Membership they tell us is around 6,000! what a great physcological sales technique! We were in a ugly trance the entire time and felt completley flustered and pressured.

After that we sat with Krista who says she owns the franchise and not giving us a chance to think about it. She said if we leave we can never come back. It put us on the spot and we didnt want to lose the chance. She made us sign an agreement and the second we walked out we realized we were completely tricked . We felt hypnotized at their place! 5,874.30 is way out of our budget and they even said if we pay it through time their is about a 20% interest rate on it! crazy ride.

Besides, we checked into many retailers Especially Costco and BJ's to see if its really true that you can save around 50% off, Costco's markup is only about 10% of manufacturers prices! What a con well done by DirectBuy! they put 8% handling fees on top of that plus Krista told me they have their own trucks to deliver to us and she and Chris had no clue of how much for delivery prices! wow! We will continue to save other people from being victimized. INTERESTING to note that the #2 search on the web of DirectBuy is "DirectBuy Scam , I wonder why?

Save your money. Please help me get my Money back.

Rita of Dale City, VA May 30, 2009

We were overcharged with shipping. On first purchase the shipping charge was double, subsequent purchases should not have had charges at all. We were assured a refund over a month ago, but it is clear they won't repay.

Pat of Newark, DE May 13, 2009

The representatives that accompany you on your first visit, the person that gives the little seminar and the contract do not convey the same messages. I want to gather as much info on people's experiences with this company so that I can start some kind of activity against them. I'm out 4500.

Jeff of Ruther Glen, VA May 9, 2009

We recently purchased a membership at Direct Buy or Richmond on May 2nd, 2009 for the amount of 4,900. We have two major disputes about this transaction.

1) During the sales process we were told that that we would be able to do “90% of our shopping on the Direct Buy website”. We received our login to the website on Tuesday May 5, 2009 at which time it was apparent that less than 60% of the products were listed on the website and less than 30% of the products had a price listed requiring that we visit the showroom. The evening of the 5th I contacted Bank of America and flagged the membership fee transaction as potentially being disputed. I spoke with the Direct Buy Showroom Supervisor the next day, Sarah Kelley, and she explained, apologized and confirmed that 90% of the shopping cannot be done on the Direct Buy website. Regretfully, this did not rectify being deceived during the sales process for us. The promise of being able to do 90% of our shopping through the Direct Buy website was one of the primary reasons we chose to purchase a membership.

2) During the sales process we were led to believe that we would receive lower than retail prices on every item sold by Direct Buy. During the sales process we were told that the pricing in the member catalogs would be the price that we pay. During a visit to the showroom we compared two items from different categories as a litmus test and found that the member pricing was higher than standard retailers. When we raised this concern with Sarah Kelley she told us that they have to look up actual pricing on a tool that only Direct Buy staff has access to; a far cry from the what-you-see-is-what-you-get sales pitch promise.

These two examples are the concrete examples that we encountered. There are also several inferences and exceptional examples of savings that are implied to be the norm. The Direct Buy sales model forces customers to purchase their membership before being able to preview the actual savings of the membership. Overall the Direct Buy staff established significantly inflated expectations and deceived us as potential customers then when we requested a refund based on these deceptions Direct Buy refused our request for refund. Direct Buy is refusing our refund request based on the fact that the membership agreement form states that the membership dues are non refundable. Our key objection is that the service we received was not as promised at the time we signed this agreement. We met with Sarah Kelley on Friday May 8, 2009. We attended a private new member orientation and this is when we did our comparisons to other retailers and observed the significantly greater number of products available at the showroom as opposed to the website. It was during this meeting that we outright stated we have no confidence in our relationship with Direct Buy and requested a refund. Sarah Kelley stated that this “would not be possible.”

We have yet to make a single purchase using our membership and have no intention. We have disputed the charge on our credit card with Bank of America and through the help of Bank of America, Visa and the BBB we hope to receive a refund of our membership fees. We also hope that through raising this concern through consumer affairs that Direct Buy adjusts their sales practices to more accurately describe their offering and avoid this situation with other potential customers.

Sonia of Bronx, NY April 15, 2009

Sonia of Bronx NY (04/15/09)
I signed this contract under duress. I was pressured in the sow room to sign a lifetime contract. I was told that if i didn't sign up today that i could not reconsider later. I was told that the sales associate was flown in from Florida to complete our contract. I was tricked joined Direct Buy with the hopes of using advertised warehouses to remodel my home. I made several trips to Manhattan showroom to purchase cabinets to remodel my two kitchens. I was told that someone would contact me to measure my home for the cabinets and carpets.

No one ever called me; I made several more attempts to contact to schedule an appointment with no success. When I called again to ask for the sales associate that was supposed to handle my project, I was told that no one with that name or number worked there. At this point I was at the height of frustration. I have been paying Direct Buy and have gotten absolutely NO service from [them]. It seemed like once they heard I was from the south Bronx that they werent interested in coming to my home. I have gotten no service for the money that i have paid out.

Direct buy threatens garnishments and to ruin my credit.

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