With DirectBuy, it will cost you a lot to save

Your town or city might have been blanketed recently with newspaper ads and TV commercials for DirectBuy. The nationwide buying club, with headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana, promises members access to 700 brand-name manufacturers of home goods and the opportunity to buy merchandise with no “hidden store markups and middlemen costs.” Ads invite you to an open house, where you’ll see “confidential” wholesale prices. “We can’t show you the brand names and we certainly can’t show you the prices,” read one ad. What it also doesn’t show you is DirectBuy’s steep membership cost.

The Real Deal
To evaluate the pitch, we went undercover at two DirectBuy franchises in New York. Both gave us the same hard sell and offers of up to 70 percent off retail prices if we were to join. Only after an hour and a half of sales pitches and video testimonials from members did we learn the membership fee: $4,900 to $4,990 (plus tax) for three years and then $190 a year for seven more. Financing is available at 17.75 percent.

After the fee disclosure, we discovered that we had to sign up on the spot or never come back. We couldn’t bring DirectBuy’s “confidential” prices elsewhere to comparison shop, the representatives said, because this would likely anger retailers who might then retaliate against the manufacturers by refusing to sell their merchandise.

The fine print in the DirectBuy contract says you cannot return items, cancel orders, or terminate your membership. When we asked if, after plunking down $5,000, we could cancel and get a refund, a salesperson said, “You’ll have to check state law.” A review of New York state law revealed that the three-day cooling-off period for canceling contracts wouldn’t apply in this case.

Tacked onto the cost of merchandise—which you select from catalogs since DirectBuy has limited showrooms—are a 6 percent handling fee, shipping fees, and tax. Goods are typically shipped only to your local center, so you might pay additional fees to actually get your new stuff home.

Just how good are the prices? We compared them against those of other retailers. Prices for electronics and appliances were often only slightly better than those at online retailers and in some instances higher. For example, a 46-inch JVC flat-screen TV selling for $2,586 on DirectBuy’s site cost $2,095 elsewhere. We did find deep discounts on flooring and high-end furniture. In fact, one member we interviewed estimated that she saved about $50,000 over several years on furniture and a kitchen remodel using DirectBuy. Yet the club did poorly on some basics. We found a Kohler bath faucet for $300 less on a kitchen-and-bath Web site.

Some DirectBuy members complained to us about poor customer service and long waits for merchandise. But since DirectBuy outlets are franchises, service varies by location. Most outlets have a good record with the Better Business Bureau, though some have a poor one or have been suspended from the BBB.

The Bottom Line
The lack of price transparency makes it hard to evaluate whether you’ll save by joining DirectBuy. But even if you were to save 25 percent on purchases after joining, you’d need to spend more than $20,000 just to recoup your membership fee. DirectBuy might save you money if you’re furnishing a house from scratch or doing a major renovation. But since you can’t shop around beforehand, you’ll be joining blind.—Chris Fichera

This article first appeared in the September 2007 issue of Consumer Reports Money Adviser.

Comments

[Gelcys]

We learned about DirectBuy from the comercials, and their website is not much better. After going to an Open House last week, and discussions after leaving, we decided not to join. The fact that it's such a secret and you don't get all the info until you let them play out your game made me decide to post all that we found out during our experience there. I have nothing against our sales person in the Savannah office, but I do not like the overall program... and we do have a choice not to join, but I think they could be more upfront, so I may have arrived more prepared... not not have spent my time visiting them at all.

We are doing a couple of remodel projects at our home with a tight budget and decided to check out what DirectBuy could save us. Hearing that we both had to come together, we were sure we'd get a sales pitch and pressure to join that night, but had no idea it was NECESSARY. We were happy we were going the night of an Open House, so we wouldn't be completely alone. It was scheduled for 7 (the sign on the door says they close at 8), a salesperson met us at the front and too us around and chatted until about 7:20, and then we had to sit through a presentation in which most of the time spent was to tell us how much we'd save and on what items we'd be most likely to save:
UPTO 20% on appliances, electronics
UPTO 30% - I can't remember what was at this level
UPTO 50% on home furnishings and flooring.
You still have to pay tax. You MAY still have to pay shipping from the manufacturer, and you MAY have to pay an 8% "handling fee" on items that the manufacturer does not want to ship to your house and only wants to ship to DirectBuy. They claim not to mark anything up, but what's that 8% really? AND...

How do you know if it's at cost? My husband caught this, my head was swirling by the time they showed us a manufacturer's book where you pick your items from - at the front there's a multiplier - so you know how much under 100% your price is - so let's say .713 and it may also say if you have to add 8%, then you flip thorugh the book to your item and it shows MSRP, which you multiply by the multiplier to get your price... how do you really know what AT-COST is? Maybe they are still marking items up? I don't know.

Finally they breezed over the fact that it would cost $5150 (my husband pointed out these numbers put together is was the police code for crazy person!) for the first 3 years, and thereafter if you want to renew it would cost $198. They said there were ways to finance that, but we didn't get that far. Then the video said that once they share their confidential pricing with us, if we decided to leave and not join, we were not welcomed back... so to please stay as long as it would take to make our decision that night. How do you know they'll stay in business long enough for you to recuperate that? They make ALL their profit to pay their employees from initial membership fees... really?

Essentially - do you have $5000 in extra change to spare tonight? I don't. I have a tight budget and want to know what I will be saving - which means I have to find out what everything I want to buy will cost, and see tha thte savings was going to equal out to more than $5000... all tonight. I told our sales person my concern, and that I wanted to make an educated decision but I thought it would take hours, and at this point it was after 8 pm, and there was no way we'd have the time to figure this out that night. He asked if he could look at my prices and if he could compare anything for me at this time. I decided to share with him a big ticket item, which I didn't think he could beat. What Home Depot is good at, like Walmart, is getting one item in bulk for cheep. I on't think we will even be able to beat them with an online retailer for an instock item since htye have such buying power. If you need to special order, they are definitely not the least expensive - our faucets will be less from plumbing supply stores locally and online. So.. the item I wanted to share first was the Home Depot in stock American Standard Lifetime Whirlpool. The salesperson searched and could not find it. He said the designers had already left for the day and they would be able to locate it. I asked about the cabinets we were going to get - Mills Pride or another low end in stock type for a kitchenette - he said they only had high end cabinets... end of discussion for the night - if you can't show me the savings, I can't decide. He was great at this point - he asked that I email him a copy of the items I wanted to buy, and he'd research and price check them for me. That's what we should have heard before we even stepped in the door and spent as little time with the fluffy presentation stuff as possible.

We went home and thought about it - the fixtures we're intending on buying would cost about 20k, if they could save us 30%, that would be $6000. Already we knew our kitchen appliances would only be UPTO 20%, and the kitchenette and master bathroom cabinets didn't have anything comparable in their store, AND some of the places I may be buying from are online which means I don't have to pay my 7% sales tax, and may offer free shipping... so it was going to be pretty unlikely we were going to truely be saving that large membership fee.... that was very intimidating - if it was $1000, it would be more easily attained. I called him in the morning and said it wasn't for us at this time - I didn't want to waste his time. He said to keep us in mind for the future. I said I thought we were banned, and he said, no we can come back in 7 years.

I hear people say that if you're building a house you'll save a lot... I don't know about that. I think if we were just getting out of college and moving into our first house, with no furniture or window treatments - we may have made the membership up. The fact is, you need to already want to spend the money on high end furniture and name brand window treatments (they showed a dining room that could have cost 13k and through them it would have only been 6k - I furnished a living/dining room together for that much!). If you are normally frugal and shop around, and don't buy out of catalogs or impulse, I think you'll do fine on your own when you fugure in the menbership and their 8% handling, taxes, and possible shipping fees.

I hope I've demistified the Open House for you - feel free to check them out, but arrive there WELL educated with what you're intending to spend on your items, AND if you can, talk to your salesperson before you go in and send him the items so he spends the time researching them before you step in the door. It's not for everyone, it wasn't for me, but I'm sure some people feel they get suckered in, and others really do save and do well there... no matter if there is a handling fee, or if the items aren't at cost, despite the huge membership fee.

[Thomas]

I had a neighbor recommend Direct Buy based on what they thought were huge savings they reaped on some recent purchases. Guess they don't shop around and negotiate too often.

We just attended a Direct Buy presentation this week in Texas. So, can you say "time share sales scams" comes to the retail sector? Bogus savings model based on inflated expenditures for household durable goods per annum. They really did not want us to look at the catalogs, only talked about big savings -- trust us the discounts are tremendous. They don't carry top brands in jewelry, home updating or electronics (such as Jeld-Wen doors, Pella doors, Nikon cameras, Rolex watches, most imported tiles, etc.) The kitchen cabinets on display had $2.00 drawer slides, no frame and panel cabinet construction -- basically low dollar quality, brute force manufactured big box store like stuff.

They were really vague on returns, warranty servicing, lead times. Should I remember correctly, the fee was $6700 for three years, $299 a year for years 4 thru 10. NO SALE HERE!!!

[Jeff]

The people who have claimed that DirectBuy is a good deal remind me of every person I have known in my life who claims they got a "good deal" on a car... even though they paid just a little bit under the MSRP. The lesson there is that nobody who knows what they are doing when they buy a car pays anywhere near the 'MSRP'. But as P.T. Barnum said, "there's a sucker born every minute."

I checked out DirectBuy because my neighbor swore it was a great deal. I must admit that I was skeptical right from the start. But it only took a few minutes for my suspicions to be confirmed. When my wife and I first arrived for our "open house" I asked the sales rep two questions; "how long will this orientation take" and "how much is the total membership cost." The rep side stepped my questions and tried to start his rehearsed response, but I stopped him flat and repeated my two questions... but he did not answer them.

After doing this little back and forth a couple of times I asked him why he couldn't give me a straight answer, and why he was wasting my time? I also said that high pressure tactics have never worked on me yet, and that his approach reminded me of a part-time used car salesman.

Well, I left the place because it is an obvious hustle. No retail sales or membership store needs to use these kinds of tactics. And neither does any internet discount wholeseller. But the worst thing about this experience was that the salesman continued to call my cell phone for three weeks even though I asked him not to. I counted 47 calls to my phone (all but two of them went unaswered by me), and on one day there were 8 calls just in the course of about two hours.

This place is a scam. Beware!

[Jette]

Thanks for a great article. I wish I had read it before we wasted our 2 hours yesterday afternoon at their presentation.
We do not appreciate high pressure sales techniques - so we walked out after the presentation w/o signing up for a membership. But most of the other couples did not (feel sorry for them).
Did we miss a "great" chance saving money? As soon as I got home, I checked the company on the net. They have changed name several times (red flag), there are over 700 complaints about them and a ton of lawsuits. Here is a quote from one of the court findings:
"the membership contract is "grossly unconscionable" and the club membership is nothing more than a clever method of selling nothing but hopes and dreams."
It's a gimmick, it's a scam - call it what you will. Buyer beware!

[Bob]

I work in a plumbing wholesaler and a Direct Buy has set up in our city a few months ago. You'll be intersted to nkow that they call and order from us to resell!!

[Paul]

I am a member of an exclusive club called Direct Buy. I guess that is supposed to make me feel better for the high cost of membership and the lack of real savings for the average consumer.

Direct Buy is only for people who buy high end (read grossly overpriced) merchandise and are remodeling or furnishing an entire house. The quoted savings will be taken from the highest estimation of retail price whether or not the product was ever actually sold at that price. (Read the fine print in a Macy's sale add and it will state the product may have never been offered for sale at the price stated before discount.)

One thing I quickly learned when I ordered furniture was that the shipping cost averaged around 30 percent. That quickly turned a great deal into the same price as the local retail outlet but included a 4 to 6 week wait. Oh, and you get to pick it up at the warehouse and haul it house yourself. The staff at the Corona CA Direct Buy told me I needed to consider where the furniture was being shipped from as shipping from the East coast - where most quality furniture is made - is prohibitively expensive. Yet when I priced a moderate kitchen table and found a $300.00 savings shipping was $290 despite the fact the manufacture’s regional distribution center was twenty miles away. I paid ten more dollars and picked up my table at the retailer that day instead of the long wait at Direct Buy.

With this and other experiences I cannot believe shipping costs are not a profit center for Direct Buy. Do they really believe that the local retailer pays the same retail price as I would through Direct Buy and their total mark-up is only $10.00? Give me a break.

There are good deals in Direct Buy but you will need to invest a lot of time to really search for them and buy a large volume of high end merchandise to recoup the cost of membership. And with the limited hours the warehouse is open that can mean several days invested to buy a single item.

[Karen]

I saw the DB ad on TV, and thought it sounded great. I called to set up the Open House appointment. When the paperwork arrived in the mail, my husband took one look at it and said that it looked fishy to him, sounded like a timeshare presentation...and wanted to know how much the membership fee would be! I decided to do some research, and I am so glad I found this site. This is definitely enough to convince me. We won't be keeping our Open House appointment tomorrow afternoon!

[LevelHeadedChick]

OK, so maybe I'm just too logical as an engineer to relate to, but here's my two cents.

I just bought a new house, and have several rooms to furnish. I went out to the stores, did my research online, and had an idea of what I was looking at for needs/costs. Then I saw the DB commercial for the 80th time. Now being in a position where I could more easily relate to the examples (if you notice, they are typically either affluent or have completed a serious remodel or redecoration), I decided to add it to my data set for costs.

When I went to my appointment I REALLY RESENTED THEIR SALES PRESSURE!!! That's just a horrible way to get people to sign up. Realizing that every business or transaction has both good and bad sides, I set my emotional response aside (anger and feeling trapped) and sat down with the facts and the numbers.

I went to the center in Englewood CO, and the sales person I had was very, very upfront with me. They have charts everywhere with the average discounts by retail category, and state very clearly that they are not always the right answer for certain items (electronics, etc.), or every consumer profile. The salesman sat me down and asked me what I was specifically looking to purchase. I told him I was looking at remodeling three bathrooms and a kitchen, and to furnish several rooms. He stated point blank that I would need to spend around 10K on average in those categories to recoup my membership price ($4990). Over the next several years, I will be spending that kind of money or more, so that started to make the membership price something that I would be able to make up. Since it's fairly inexpensive to maintain the membership long term and they have a wide range of other items (watches, luggage, gifts) it may continue to be profitable in a longer term sense.

We went around and looked at the kitchen cabinets, countertops, sinks and flooring examples. The brand names were different than what I had seen in the stores, but by the same manufacturers. I was fairly impressed with the prices. I am not in the retail or construction industry, so I don't have the same resources that many on this site have to acquire cabinets or other similar items. So once again DB seemed to be a value-added resource.

Then I spent HOURS going through the books to look at similar or identical items, and the prices were reduced in the cases I found. I could not find many of the things I was wanting to use for comparison, but the selection was still impressive. I also realized I was most likely not going to be spending less, but would probably be spending about the same and getting a higher quality item.

So, these are the main points I took from everything (hopefully this helps wade through the emotion and insults I have read on this page):

- If you are looking at several large projects or purchases in the areas of higher markup (furniture, flooring, cabinets), then DB would be beneficial.

- If you are looking to buy items that you intend to get many years of use out of, then DB would be beneficial. There the higher quality items for the same price ranges would be a benefit

- If your budget for renovations / purchases is under about $15K over several years, or if you’re looking for only a few items, then DB is not beneficial.

- If your major decision factors in making a purchase are tactile (sitting on the couch, playing with the drawers) or revolve around the level of customer service DB is not your best option.

- If you can walk into a retail store and find many items on sale or clearance that you are interested in, you are a good or gifted negotiator, or have friends in the area you are purchasing, DB may not be the best option.

- If you are looking for a WIDE selection of items, then DB would be beneficial. In the furniture areas I looked through there was a wide selection, but not the same items that I had been looking at in the stores. I'm looking at middle price/ quality items.

Overall I would reinforce the statements on this page that say to go to the open house prepared, knowing what you're looking for and what your budget is. This will help you to be less overwhelmed by the selling techniques and mare capable of making a reasonably informed decision for you and your family.

For those looking for a guarantee on the level of savings or longevity of the business itself, I would liken it to a gym membership. When you sign up, there's not a specific guarantee of weight lost, muscle gained, or health improved. You sign up knowing that you have to use it, over a long term, consistently to reap the full benefits. And as with DB, there is usually an option to pay for a multi-year contract up front, or to finance it across the contract period.

On a side note, I resent the implication that a reasonably well-spoken person must be working for DB, ill-intentioned, or deceitful.

Look at the good, AND the bad and make the decision for yourself, with your needs and circumstances in mind. If you are willing to let an opinion page on the internet totally make the decision for you (one way or the other) without checking things out yourself, you might want to examine how much you think for yourself or look for validation from others. Just a thought...

[Amy]

I canceled my appointment based on the reviews. I'm glad I didn't waste my time!

[Jarret]

I have a question about how Directbuy does business.

CR found that there was a lack transparency in how they do business and in an article, Consumer Watchdog in Hartford, CT found:

"More disturbing to me is that DirectBuy attempts to hide the fact that not all savings it sees from manufacturers are passed on directly to members.

By reviewing the 260-plus page agreement with its franchise owners, I learned that DirectBuy reserves the right to keep rebates, discounts and other payments from manufacturers and suppliers.

It also keeps early-pay discounts, and all DirectBuy purchases are paid by the member at the time of ordering."

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-watchdog0511.artmay11,0,3450527.column

My questions is, perhaps someone could explain how their keeping "rebates, discounts and other payments from manufacturers and suppliers" is a good deal for the consumer?

Thanks

[Karen]

I cannot believe that your site is trying to discourage people from joining DirectBuy. Directbuy has been a blessing to our family. We had a house fire and wihtout DirectBuy we would never have been able to afford all the wonderful things we bought for our home. I saved my membership fee just in the first couple purchases!! I can get just about everything there!! They had everything to re-build our house from the ground up. I also liked that I had a much larger selection than in the stores. I could choose from manufacturer's entire catalog instead of just the items the stores stock (so I don't have the same generic items everyone else has.) Also, it's a great shopping tool. I know the actual cost of an item before I go shopping, so I know how much the retailers are marking them up! I had no idea before DirectBuy that retailers make so much money from their mark ups and overhead, even on simple items such as locksets! I would whole heartedly suggest for anyone who may be remodeling or building to check DirectBuy out! When we came in for an open house they even invited us to bring specific model numbers to compare pricing on the items I was hoping to purchase. All these people who say that DirectBuy is a scam are obviously either NOT MEMBERS, or were stupid enough to join and not make any of the purchases they had obviously planned on. Seriously! It's because of bad publicity (like your website) that many people become so closed minded that they wouldn't join even when they see the obvious savings. The biggest peice of advice I can give anyone who is out there and may be interested in saving money: visit a center near you and make up your mind for yourself. You may be surprised what you'll find!

[Austin in Cincy]

I just got back from their "open house". I've never felt so dirty from such sleezy and obvious high pressure sales tactics. Aweful experience. Even their cherry picked examples were no savins at all. Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer? Retail sale ad said $299. DirectBuy said $245, save $45 over their sale price! Go to Amazon and they have the SAME mixer for $239, brand new, no sales tax, free shipping, and no "handling fees". Their 46" Samsung flat panel beating best buy's "sale" $2199 with $1799. Best Buy actually has it truly on sale for $1899 and you can find it online at several reuptable dealers from $1595 to $1699.

They had us sit at a table for a while in the middle of all the books we were not allowed to touch. I noticed most of them were marked "Moderate Savings". The high pressure sales jerk (that called himself the director of marketing) later stated that some books were marked "Moderate Savings" and that meant you may be able to find better prices in the retail channels.

For love of YOURSELF, put your hard earned money in your tank and search better prices on the internet.

[Terry]

No matter what the subject matter people will never see things the same. Everything is an argument. Nothing is perfect.

It is a FACT that this industry has been around since 1971...1971! Thousands and thousands of people have bought merchandise through not only Direct Buy but other consumer clubs like it as well. Still to this day those same people continue to use the program, hmm I wonder why?

Direct Buy is not for everyone...but it is for a lot of people. Like anything in life I suggest you do your own research and base your decision around your own circumstances. I have actually been told that health club memberships are a scam too...wow what world are they living in???

If you don’t use something properly, don’t expect to get good results!!!

In most every company and experience I have ever had 90% of problems are created simply because the customer did not fully understand the details; so the first thing they do (rather than try harder) is push the panic button or reach for the rip cord while crying out this is BS!

In short Direct Buy does work, will save people money, not on everything, and depending on what you’re looking for the membership can be saved on a wide variety of merchandise with little expense.

Don't take my word for it as I said before. Do your own research and find out for yourself!! Good luck where ever you buy prices is only going to continue to rise.

[Terresa]

If you don’t like the product, tough. You are stuck with it. DirectBuy unlike retail stores has a no-return policy and provides no warranties. Sales books are not always up to date, and not every item is always available. More disturbing to me is that DirectBuy attempts to hide the fact that not all savings it sees from manufacturers are passed on directly to members. By reviewing the 260-plus page agreement with its franchise owners, I learned that DirectBuy reserves the right to keep rebates, discounts and other payments from manufacturers and suppliers. It also keeps early-pay discounts, and all DirectBuy purchases are paid by the member at the time of ordering. Imagine that, a buyer's-club keeping discounts. It seems Directbuy has some issues. If you are not saying scam by now, I think you should.

[Judith Ann Gould]

My husband and I joined Direct Buy last year since we were planning on doing some remodeling. Yes the membership price was high but we figured if we could save 50% on our product purchases we would be doing well and the membership would pay for itself at the end of the project. WELL, Yes, you do save on the price of the "products," however your savings usually gets eaten by the hidden costs, such as shipping/handling fees and primarily the labor for installation. As an example. We purchased a $1200(retail cost) Kitchenaid dishwasher from DB for $680, which was a considerable savings, BUT, it cost $85 for shipping to our home, another $300 for someone to come and install it, then a $25 disposal fee of the old dishwasher so the only savings we got from this one item alone was $110!! Not to mention all of my time involved in coordinating delivery, scheduling an installer and just the time it takes to get the product. The whole dishwasher experience took over a month to complete and it had to sit in the middle of our kitchen until an installer could be scheduled.
We're looking into purchasing carpet for three rooms. Well the price per square foot is 50% less than retail but the carpet is delivered to DB warehouse whereby we have to pay $85 delivery fee plus mileage(gas costs) plus we have to hire someone to install the carpeting(and pad) at prices varying from $5/sq ft to $20/hr, so the labor alone eats up the difference between the savings in the cost of the products. To purchase three rooms of carpeting from the local carpet dealer in our neighborhood installed was only $300 more than the entire DB carpet/delivery/install purchase. Not to mention the headaches of trying to schedule and coordinate delivery and installation crews for the same day.
If I had it to do over again I would not have joined, the membership is way too costly and the savings are not enough to off set your own time and labor to deal with keeping a major remodeling and/or new construction project on schedule. I've been waiting 4 months now for exterior lighting for my house with exposed wiring and receptacles. It is a major headache using DB.
Some call it a scam, well I don't necessarily think its a scam, its a busienss with an opportunity to purchase products below retail price which isn't a bad concept. The method in which they use to get you to sign up for the membership is "hard sell" for sure but after that you're going to be hard working to realize any savings and if you're doing a major project it is going to take you 2 to 5 times longer because of the inefficient manner in which you receive your products.
I would suggest anyone interested in using DB to analyse their primary objective for joining. If you have a project you're going to be doing and feel the savings would be benefical then make sure "YOU" are ready and qualified to get directly involved in coordinating your project to deal with DB's method of operation because they definitely DO NOT help you with coordinating your project and they have signs at their offices that tell you not to have installers or contractors scheduled until they call you with availability of your purchases. AND, YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR CONTRACTOR/INSTALLER PICK UP YOUR PURCHASES FROM THEIR FACILITY 'YOU' HAVE TO DO THAT OR PAY TO HAVE THEM DELIVERED. There are way too many variables in dealing with DB so please think it through.
One person commented how you need to think it through to cover all the details, well DB doesn't give you the opportunity to "think it through." It isn't until after you've joined and begin working with it do you find out all these "details" that aren't discussed or made available at the time of the presentation so naturally people are going to be upset after the fact. Even when you sign their contract none of the "details" of dealing with them are discussed.

[Observer]

I'm just wondering how anyone would sign up with "join now or be banned" policy? That's worse than a timeshare. Even with a timeshare, you can come back later (may lose some perks, but definitely not banned from returning).

What's their logic with this absurd policy?

[Tammy]

My experience with DirectBuy has been good so far. We are building a home and the savings I have experience has been enough that items I didn't think I could afford have now become affordable. Examples:
Fireplace insert- outside quote $1200, DirectBuy $820
Cabinets (whole house)- outside quote $34000, Directbuy $23000
Windows-DirectBuy sent a local distributor to the building site. I can't say enough about how happy I am with the product, service, and workmanship, and most of all price. The windows were installed last month.
I am still in the middle of purchases, but so far I have saved well over the amount to join. Customer service has been good.
Like others have said, Directbuy is great if you are building, or remodeling. I wouldn't have joined if it was only for everyday life.
The biggest savings I have seen was in furniture. A couch that I bought last year (before joining) cost me over $1500, at DirectBuy that same couch is $800.
One blogger here said you could get these deals outside of DirectBuy, I don't believe so unless you can talk a retailer to giving you slightly over cost, which is unheard of.

[Richard]

Direct Buy is a hoax. If your honestly compare true "apples to apples" (I am talking about Cabinetry, flooring-highend), it is actually more expensive at DB. I was a member for years and never saved any money. It is easier to work with a contractor and negotiate for big ticket items. Also, 90% of their items are extremely outdated, that is WHY they get such good deals. They pretend to cut out the middle man for it's member's but they are getting the end of the gravy train items. We purchased custom solid wood face cabinets through a local company and were able to save $5000 OVER DB. Our flooring (by looking around/geting a good bid) was HALF of what DB was (for the EXACT product, but had 25 year warranty to DB's 10 year-another outdated product). Every time we ordered anything (furniture), it was damaged, took months to get to the showroom and there was no way they would return a dented item without a fight. Then we had to haul it ourselves to our home, or pay MORE fees. It's 100% a very unethical outfit, they only want your membership fees and you have to spend hours, days, weeks looking through catalogues of "outdated" items just to shop. I rather see the products, touch the products, test them out, before purchasing. That is NOT an option with DirectBuy. You only get catalogue photos, or on-line pics. Again, the manufacture has a deal w/DB to sell it's unwanted, slightly damaged, unpopular lines/merchandise at a discount. Then DB adds shipping and huge handling fees and guess what, you paid more for last decades floral sofa and wonder why there are thousands (100 thousands) of complaints on the internet and with local/federal authorities. Unless you are easily buffalo-ed, and don't care about quality, you will see it really is NOT saving anyone any money. The company is extremely profitable, and it's because of the membership fees some of us got swindled out of. I tell EVERYONE, do your homework. If it sounds too good to be true, then it is. 99% of the member's regret having it!

[Heather]

I was a sucker to have joined DirectBuy of Canada. Since I joined a year and half ago, I've had nothing but nightmares with my orders.
For example, I ordered a fireplace mantle (top of the line manufacturer). The day it was to be delivered to the DB warehouse (2 months after being ordered) they told me that it was discontinued and not available. I was furious, since DB had my money for this order for the 2 months. Apparently that catalogue was old and wasn't kept up-to-date. I did get a refund but if this situation happened to many members, look at the interest DB earned on my money. No wonder they can stay in business!

[jason]

My wife and I are glad we read these postings before wasting our time going to a Direct Buy open house. There are hundreds of complaints regarding Direct Buy on various websites.

The positive comments (the very few, I might add) on this and other sites seem to have the same phrasing and wording. I would bet that these posts are written by Direct Buy franchise owners

[L from Utah]

My hubby & I have an appointment for Direct Buy this afternoon.
The girl on the phone said that if we came to the open house that we would get 2 gifts ( a Dell computer , 500.00 cash, ) and a chance to try our key to win 50,000.00 makeover or take the cash.

Did any of you get the computer for the free gift? Was it actually free and was it a real Dell computer??

[WeyrleaderZor]

L from Utah - How did the gift thing work out? My wife and I are in the same kind of "situation" out here in Arkansas and were curious about it, and DB in general.

[mike]

to sum it up, they sold me the skylights for about 30% less than home depot price
( delivered)

just a little computer work is all it takes.

[Rich]

We just got back from Mexico, where we ran into the same sort of hard sell tactics. It was a "vacation investment" scheme. The "resort" was in the process of building out the property and we had an "opportunity" to buy a membership. It had a similar high fee to join, a similar annual fee and similar non-disclosure of important details until after the investment was made. Is there some sort of school where one goes to learn how to practice such tactics? I might want to start up such a "business" myself, but I can't get past the ethics test.

[MIKE]

I find it interesting that the ads for db on the radio are by talk show hosts that ride the " moral high horse" like Laura Ingrams and Michael Savage.

I wonder if they know how db works, ( they probably do , but with the talk show hosts money takes front row to their "ethics")

[Larry-SAN JOSE, CA]

OK-
We joined 3 months ago - We bought a new home and are remodeling-
Our first purchase was yesterday- New hardwood flooring and washer/dryer
combo. Flooring- Over 50% savings, washer/dryer- 35%.
Do your research on line, get a general idea of pricing, check consumer reports on your choices- and save money.
Yes- big ticket items, and no electronics. We are not estatic, but satisfied. More CHOICES than you will ever find in any one store.Would I do it over again ? PROBABLY- I'll let you know in a year !

[Marv Alden]

I am a manager here at DirectBuy, and I have to tell you that while reading some of the complaints I was curious as to what center these people experienced their open house at. I have been to several DB Centers, besides the one I work at, and none treat people the way these people say! There is a lot of misinformation in the complaints. While I'm sure this site is very useful, I'd ask that all of you who visit this site not consider anything you read here, including my comments, as solid gold! Go to an open house yourself and experience it first hand. What do you have to lose? The open houses are free and you get first hand information, not second hand complaints by those who either didn't pay attention during the presentation, or couldn't afford the membership fee.
DirectBuy truly is the best way to buy for your home!

[Mike]

My wife and I joined DB just yesterday without doing much research - extremely uncharacteristic for me since I usually check out even relatively minor purchases on CR for "best buy" recommendations. Still, the prospect of saving "tens of thousands" of dollars appeals to me as much as having to spend more than $5k up front for membership repels me. I should mention that I hate time shares - I don't believe they offer much value for the money, but I have friends who are members and swear by them. Now that I've read several pages of comments, I have to admit that I'm having more than a little buyers remorse.

Not too long ago I read the book "Charlatan" about one of the US' forgotten but truly revolutionary sales geniuses, John R. Brinkley - a man who popularized both the implantation of goat testicles in both men and women as a boon to whatever ailed you (for nearly 30 years!) as well as much of modern infomercial advertising in fact. Here's a link to the NY Times review of the book, which I highly recommend: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/books/31maslin.html

So, today, I grateful that I opted to put down $1000 and not the full $5553, even though it looks like I'll be paying $224/month for the next two years, making my total "investment" another $1k higher. I'm also grateful that I wasn't around to listen to "Dr. Brinkley" broadcast from his Kansas clinic 70 years ago or I might have bought goat glands, too.

That said, we are looking at buying a shed for our garden and the prices look like we might save $2-$3k right away. Wish me luck, but after reading all the "scam letters" I'm feeling kind of baaaad.

[nsgirl]

I'm confused. If they require you to join immediately or be banned for seven years, then why have they called some people 47 times or so after they didn't join? Sounds as if the "join or be banned clause" is just another high-pressure sales tactic, and if it doesn't work, they hound you.

[Roj]

We spent almost 5 hours at the Direct Buy in Glendale AZ today. We recently moved here and are engaged in a major renovation of the 30-year-old home we purchased, hence lots of major expenses, new kitchen cabinets and appliances, bathroom fixtures, some needed furnishings and landscaping.

My wife responded to one of those icky infomercials and made our "open house" appointment. I thought to Google DB the night before and found lots and lots of negative commentary. The Wikipedia entry included some of CU's comments, particularly about how much one must spend to amortize the membership fee. Duly warned -- AND we are old hands at resist hard sells like vacation time-shares -- so no one was more surprised than I that we finally decided to sign on.

We had done a lot of shopping lately for things like bathroom fixtures, washers, dryers, dishwashers, replacement windows and window treatments, etc, so we had a few items to price check not just against list, but against the best deals we'd been able to find.

The young lady assigned to us was very accommodating, and got plenty of help from the rest of the staff. (They certainly took some of the sting out of their inherently hard-sell "now or never" proposition.) We priced out several items and found the DB savings to be at least 19% against the best sale prices to be found in this area, or on-line, and that was AFTER S&H and taxes. High quality custom doors and windows promise as much as a 55% savings!

OK, the buy-in is significant, and if you figure only around an average 20% savings, you need to spend $25k to $28k to break even, but if you're going to be spending the money anyway....

Their deals on kitchen cabinetry (and installation thereof) look good enough to stop us prom our former plan of installing an Ikea kitchen ourselves -- quite a relief for a retiree wondering if he was over-reaching.

One other factor is the shopping experience there. Though it is clearly wise to comparison shop and get to know your optimal choices before heading to DB, the DB experience itself seems pleasant and calm. You go through the manufacturers' books, specs and price lists while sitting in clean and comfortable surroundings.

Sure, a lot can go wrong, but there do seem to be a lot of satisfied members.

So, clearly not for everyone, but since we're in a situation where these kinds of expenses are on the agenda anyway, we decided DB is worth a try. We're still a little nervous, hence my reading through so much of the the commentary here, and we do still have the three-day cancellation right available to us, but so far I don't think we're going to take that out.

[Design guy]

I buy Direct from manufacturers. We are required, no matter who we are, to purchases at wholesale rates. There are typically 2 types. Retail or non retail buyers. Volume may account for up to 5% differential. But that's it. I would like someone to tell me a manufacturer, model, prices paid, suggested retail pricing etc. that Direct Buy told you. I'll tell you what I buy for, and what I can sell it for. Pretty simple, no? Try Any of the following manufacturers - these are big ones that should be easy. For example, I buy at about 60% discount form Robb and Stucky's selling price.

Lexington
Stanley
Century

Window Treatments - I'm a Hunter Douglas dealer - give me the measurements and the model etc.

Come on gang, let's do this. someone tell me and I'll give you the facts.

[Nancy]

DirectBuy Sued! A federal lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford against the national high-end DirectBuy franchise operation, accusing it of falsely telling prospective clients that they are getting furniture, appliances and other household products at manufacturer prices. In a lawsuit filed by attorney Seth R. Klein of Hartford, DirectBuy is accused of hiding the fact that DirectBuy receives rebates from manufacturers which are not directly passed on to their members, who pay as much as $7,000 to join for two or three years. The lawsuit, which seeks to be certified as a class action representing thousands of present and former members of the more than 100 franchises, was filed earlier this month. It follows a column on DirectBuy that disclosed the rebates, which are kept secret from its members and from those it entices to join through high pressure sales techniques. DirectBuy officials had no comment on the suit but had said earlier that it uses the millions of dollars it received in rebates to the benefit of its members. We will see what a jury has to say about that.

[If they mess up they take you to court...]

Lawsuits Lawsuits Lawsuits...stay away! After reading many many lawsuits to and from DirectBuy/UCC/Etc, I have only one thing to stay "Don't be a fool, any company that constantly ends up in court is a bad company".

[Ian Fong]

I signed up in October 08' because I fell the high pressure sales pitch. I am kicking myself in the ass for being so stupid. I was told that we would be able to shop online for everything that was in the catalogues in the showroom. Wrong. The website is extremely, poorly put together. More than half the items had to priced at the showroom and the pictures and descriptions were limited and vague. I spent hour online comparing prices and could not find any great deals to justify the $4800.00 I threw away. The majority of the manufacturers were so high end that the average family would not buy that stuff anyway. It is not worth the time and the extreme inconvenience to pay that much in membership fees to gain such miniscule savings if any. I feel as if I was robbed. I am more than willing to sign up for any classaction suit. I am so pissed. Dentist from Florida.

[Kim]

Hi,
I went to a Direct Buy open house today after getting a pop-up invite while searching for furniture on the internet. Full disclosure: before attending, I did not read through all the literature they sent and was therefore unaware of the policy that one must make a decision during the open house. Oops. Perhaps I would have been better prepared with prices for specific items I need so that I could properly evaluate savings (kitchen remodel for a garage apartment, entertainment center, desk, memory foam mattress, possibly a bedroom set, and a number of rugs). I didn't find the sales pitch to be high pressure, just a little gimmicky. We must have been provided 10 different examples of major savings following the (sordid?) history of retail that kicked off the group session. I believe that one or two would have sufficed to establish the basic premise, which is that DirectBuy Members purchase more-or-less wholesale. Unlike other visitors who've posted, I did have an opportunity to peruse some of the catalogs and the online website to try to get comparisons. But there were lots of catalogs and the website was slow so in the time constraints I wasn't able to get a comprehensive perspective on their styles, selection, and prices. If you can believe the sales people, the best savings are on kitchens, floors, windows treatments, and high end furniture. I was unable to verify that fact for a kitchen remodel because I am still in the early stages of deciding what I want and price shopping; their kitchen designer was also absent and therefore was unable to provide me with an estimate based on an actual configuration. Both rugs and furniture seemed to be very attractively priced, from what I could tell (not counting the incremental costs others have mentioned), but a camera I checked out was only ~5% less than at my favorite online camera store. The memory foam was 1/2 the price of a Temperpedic but I'm not convinced that off-brands aren't just as affordable elsewhere.
In the end, I stayed there for 5 hours (past closing, with a very patient sales person) trying to get myself to the point that I felt informed enough to take the plunge; it seems to me that the potential does exist to save with DirectBuy, particularly in my situation where I have a kitchen install and a few big ticket items. Alas, in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it based on the very strange requirement that I couldn't think about it for a few days and then complete my sign up when I was 100% sure rather than 60% sure. DirectBuy would likely benefit themselves by giving their propocts a bit more information up front, or by scheduling their open houses in the morning and allowing prospects the entire day to peruse the catalogs and decide...

[Barbara O'Connell]

My husband and I joined when DB was UCC. It cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $3200.00 I bought leather furniture and saved that much on the pieces I bought. I shopped locally first and found the couch and recliners I wanted. I bought high-end and am still using the furniture. I'm getting ready to order more furniture. This is where you save money, as well as on the cabinets. I also saved on tile for my kitchen. I purchased my China through them and saved a bundle. I'll keep my membership as I plan my orders. I make certain I'm saving as I first compare what I can buy the merchandise for on-line and in the local stores. I've bought luggage for the whole family and ordered Christmas gifts which they've sent directly to the recipient for me. Like the others have said, they fit a need and not everyone has the same need.

[Jennifer]

While I haven't read all the comments on here yet I am seeing some commonality with issues I have had. We joined fairly recently and even right after we joined I was feeling the pang of regret. Originally we had planned on buying a house that required a lot of reno but ended up with a pretty well perfect house so now we're just using DirectBuy for furniture, applicances etc. Most of which we do find there to be a savings. HOWEVER, I just ordered this amazing toy kitchen for my daughters for Christmas only to find it at Costco online for a final price $30 below what I had just paid at DB. I was about to order an electric frying pan for my dad for Christmas when I saw it at Walmart for $30 less than the total at DB. Also when recently looking for a playpen for my baby I had to get it through a retail store in order to get the one I wanted even though it was a new model and a company that DB carries..I don't know why they don't offer it. Not only that it was in the catalogue at the DB showroom, just unavailable to their customers. Basically I get frustrated and angry every time we shop there. I find the catalogues are difficult to look through and you can find similar items at retail stores for roughly the same price in most cases. Hopefully this site saves someone from making the same mistake we made. I am certainly learning that we need to research our decisions much better than we have.

[MIKEY]

DIRECT BUY IS A SCAM - BUYS OUT INFOMERCIALSCAMS.COM TO COVER ITS TRACKS !

Write your Review »
infomercialscams.com was strong-armed by direct buy and had to remove nearly 1,000 complaints about the direct buy scam. Why you ask. Cause when you google "direct buy" the informercial scam site was ranked #2 by google. All that is left on the site is the fake reviews by direct buy. I would say to be very careful with dealing with a company that is afraid of what it customers post about it on the internet. This company is a scam. Go there, read the contract, its all in the contract. The contract basically states that direct buy is bound to nothing and you are bound to paying the $5,000 member fee. SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM

nothing ever goes away from the net.

just check archives

http://web.archive.org/web/20080203104709/www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams

lets keep it in their (directbuy) face

[Cheryl]

My husband and I are so sorry we ever joined Directbuy and literally wound up throwing away $4,500. We joined just before we purchased our home and wound up having hardly any money to renovate after we purchsed it. We did all the labor ourselves, but either weren't able to afford the building materials at Directbuy, couldn't pay for them up front or couldn't wait 6-8 weeks to get them. Also, the few times we went there, we had trouble getting service or they told us we had to come back on a paticular day and time ex: when the window person who could help us was there. Now, our three years are up and we couldn't even afford the $203.30 to renew our membership another year and try to re-coup back some of the money we lost. We sent certified letters to Directbuy at the location we signed up at and the president at their main headquarters hoping for some response to our situation, but they didn't even have the courtesy to reply.

[John A]

MIKEY (above) is right. DirectBuy apparently has had considerable success in silencing its critics through legal strong-arming.

But their shady tactics go even further than that.

Consumer Reports may be interested to learn of a lesser known page called Consumer Reviews.org, which features a glowing review of DirectBuy -- average of 5-stars over 250+ reviews!

http://www.consumerreviews.org/direct-buy

People searching for DirectBuy on the net will encounter Google ads directing them to the above page for the "truth" about DirectBuy.

Okay, now attempt to visit the homepage of Consumer Reviews by removing the tail-end of the URL:

http://www.consumerreviews.org/

Very bare-bones, huh? "Copyright 2008," hm. Hey, wait, the search engine doesn't work... That's right, Consumer Reviews does not cover any other business entity in its "reviewing."

Obviously rankled by Consumer Reports' responsible reporting, DirectBuy has created a sham website to confuse consumers and prop themselves up. Just one more shady business practice that says "stay away."

[John]

Thank everyone for all of the posts.
This is all very simple, it costs $5000 for 3 years and $190 per year for the next 7 years.
If you will purchase a lot of furniture and flooring then you will do well and it will be worth it for you and even your friends and family if you are buying them "gifts".
If you don't purchase much and or it is electronics or appliances, it is not a good deal.
Is it a scam, no. Is it high pressure sales, yes it feels like the military when they are attempting to sell you. It did not feel good, but it will be worth it for me and this is America and it usually comes down to the $.

[Dan Knoine]

Direct Buy monitors this and other reviews websites and has an employee rebut all anti-directbuy claims with other "counter experiences" from "satisfied costumers".

[Wolfgang]

I looked at joining Direct Buy a year ago, after seeing some of their commercials. When they called, I found that my closest Direct Buy is about an hour away, in northern Illinois. I live in Wisconsin but travel to Chicago regularly on weekends, and thought I could schedule a visit while making a planned trip to Chicago. I was never offered any time to come that was convenient. No matter when I tried to arrange my "free visitor pass", they always insisted on a time different from when I had available. They were too busy for the next weekend but could not plan that far in advance to schedule a visit by the following weekend. This went on for months, with them calling me between 40 and 50 times. I finally gave up.

I own an expensive suburban home. I'm now planning on doing some major remodeling and was going to call them again. After searching for them on the internet, I saw that all the reviews, until I found the one for Consumer Reports, were glowing, had only reviews of DB, and different sites all had the same reviewers. I was interested in finding out what their membership fee was, and couldn't find that until I found this site.

I'm a good shopper. I am sure I can put the $5000 fee to better use negotiating my own deals. I have seen high pressure sales tactics before, and I don't care how wonderful their product may be, if it can't stand up to the scrutiny of "going home and thinking about it", then it's not for me. Neither am I interested in going to their location each time I want to make a purchase, nor having to haul flooring, carpeting, and furniture back to my place from their warehouse. Thanks, Consumer Reports, for making this information available.

[Lisa]

My husband and I recently joined Direct Buy and I am glad I didn't read all the negative comments before we did. Yes the intial investment is high but when you think of all the things you will purchase in your lifetime it is well worth it.

We are building a house and saved $8000 on our custom kitchen alone. There is no way we could have the kitchen we are going to have if not for purchasing through Direct Buy. We saved another $2000 in bathroom purchases. We haven't even ordered flooring yet but already know from doing our homework we are going to save a lot on them.

So if you are thinking of joining take it from a member you will save money but you must have patience both ordering and receiving your merchandise. I would recommend this to anyone building or doing a major remodel.

[Frankie2]

Direct Buy is a 100% scam, pure and simple. Let's review the facts:

1) Sued and eventually bought out one website that was critical (infomercialscams.com)

2) Created 3 fake review websites that shows up as a Google ad whenever you Google the company:

ConsumerReviews.org
UserBuzz.com
SavvyConsumer.com

They are ALL fake -- created by Directbuy

3) High pressure sales tactics

4) Numerous reports of lies, fraud, and unhappy consumers

[Phyllis]

I contacted direct buy, figured it was worth a look see...wrong. It was a high pressured sales job which immediatley raises a red flag along with the fact that it seems that they are trying to hide alot...the fact they become indignant( actually very rude!!) if you don't want to sign up on the spot is so suspicious! Once you pay them you are hooked into them and they figure you won't shop around since you have an investment there...it's a commission sales operation and unless you are getting alot of high end stuff...you can do better for almost anything, especially on line...don't be fooled!!

[MikeM]

My wife and I joined DB July '08 because we were renovating our home. I did a ton of research for the items we bought prior to joining, and all I can say is that we saved several times what the member fee is, but I agree that DB is not for everyone. We made large purchases (cabinets, vanities, flooring, etc.) which one usually buys every 10-15 years, so there is a good size mark up on the outside. For those joining that really don't have large purchases to make, they would be better off on the net or just negotiating with the retailers for good deals. Small purchases will, if ever, take too long to recoup what was paid for membership. As far as I am concerned, I'm ahead of the game because with the savings exceeding the fee we can now shop and save if we feel like it without having to feel like we must use DB to get our money's worth.

I feel the best part about DB is the fact that we were able to get better quality merchandise becuase of the savings. By that I mean instead of getting good quality appliances, for example, we opted for the top of the line (based upon extensive research) which still fit well within our budget. Also, I researched cabinetry from several sources, including a retail home center (the orange one), a custom shop and the net. I used the plans drawn up at the retailer to compare, and opted for the same cabinets from all sources. The best pricing I got was $18,485 for the cabinets (I installed them myself)--the EXACT SAME cabinets from DB came in at $9,045 including the fee's. I could have gotten cabinets from the orange store for less than $10,000 also, but, they would not have been top of the line with all the bells and whistles. The custom shop deals with the same cabinetry that DB deals with, but, of course, they wanted me to install custom cabinets for more than $25,000 (they had to install them since they would have been custom) stating that the DB cabinets are the best, but theirs were better since they aren't "mass produced."

That's my story for what it's worth. Like I said before, DB is definately not for everyone. I certainly don't think it's a scam and feel that anyone who does think it's a scam jumped in with both feet without testing the water first. Remember, any company that deals with the public is always going to have web pages devoted to how bad they are because no one can make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time.

[Terry]

I am a lawyer in Canada (an "attorney" to those in the U.S.) and on more than one occasion I have had a client who purchased DirectBuy membership and the next day had second thoughts and wanted out of the contract. Our cooling off period laws don't apply. However, a strong letter from myself on behalf of my client, pointing out DirectBuy sales tecniques and representations, has always resulted in an immediate refund. I am convinced that DirectBuy really would prefer to get rid of a problem member, rather than face seeing their sales techniques repeatedly being the subject of public small claims litigation.

[Terry]

I am a lawyer in Canada (an "attorney" to those in the U.S.) and on more than one occasion I have had a client who purchased DirectBuy membership and the next day had second thoughts and wanted out of the contract. Our cooling off period laws don't apply. However, a strong letter from myself on behalf of my client, pointing out DirectBuy sales tecniques and representations, has always resulted in an immediate refund. I am convinced that DirectBuy really would prefer to get rid of a problem member, rather than face seeing their sales techniques repeatedly being the subject of public small claims litigation.

[DirectBuy Employee]

I work at DirectBuy and it is not a scam. It is just a really bad choice for consumers who are not remodeling or renovating their homes. We receive pricelists from various manufacturers and some of them do not even offer discounted pricing to our members. Consumers would be better off shopping around for the best price on their own.

[Terry Witoski]

I too fell pray to this scam in 2006. We tried to buy a few items and found that i could buy them elsewhere for far less and take them home now as opposed to waitng for them to be shipped to their warehouse. I missed one payment and they hounded me every and their beta finance hounded me every month after that and then i stopped paying them and now they call 2 times a week and make threats. Has anyone else had any legal dealings with them and what kind of outcome did you have?

[joycej]

I too feel victim to the DB scam. I joined in april of 2007 and feel that I have lost money instead of saving. I question really the 8 % handling charge which can be outrageous when you purchase large items. I probably could have come out even if it weren't for this charge. I agree with the person who said he purchased cabinetry for 10,800 but when you add the tax and handling charge ontop of what your membership cost you you end up loosing money. They really rip you off with that handling fee which I think is part of their profit on top of the membership fee. A total rip off, I wish I had never joined.

[matt]

I was wondering how much variance the was on membership fees from warehouse to warehouse

[joseph]

Instead shop with a family owned .Com

checkout: www.coralseaspas.com

[Luke]

All you people who joined have to be the stupid most uneducated consumers in the world. Buy online and install yourself and save.

[John]

I have been in furniture retail for about 10yrs. and I do come accross the poor customers that come to our Store (major retailer in Southern California), and shop us with their little notepad just to price us and see what the product looks like before ordering through them. Unfortunately for them, DB shows mostly pics. and catalogs. They claim 40 to 50% below reatail prices. well, let me inform you dear customer NOONE in the industry sales at a MSRP anylonger. It is naive to think that you are getting such a great discount when you arent. Sofa retail price set at $1500.00 (cost*3) sells for $999.99 at any furniture store ( @ 50% gross margin) if you ask for a cash discount we might let go for $849.99 (@ 41% gross margin). Now. Direct Buy sell that same sofa retail price of $1500.00 at a 40% discount for $900.00 plus a 8% processing fee for $972.00 if you want delivery an arm and a leg.... if you come to us we might even give delivery to you for free if you push hard enough.

Now, you make your decision where to buy your furniture!! please dont fall into their scam!!! you green dollar is valuable in this depression, make it work for you!!!

Not only, they dont give you the best price but they have no inventory either. They make their P.O. after your pay in full; in other words, they order merchandise with your cash. They risk nothing, you risk it all!!! By the way, furniture should take no longer than 3 weeks to be deliver to you if specially order. I wonder what they do with your money for 2 1/2 months.

P.S. Dear customer, please dont come to any store with cameras to take pics. and looking for sku's making our sales staff waste all their time trying to help you since you could not get any professional help at DB, so you can go back to them and buy. We know you are trying to get your moneys worth from that stip membership and the horrible decision you made. But, you did it to yourself!!!

[Direct buy Las Vegas ripoff SCAM Mike Yearty]

Went to the Direct Buy in Las Vegas and a Gay Big Fat, White hair guy with sausage fingers named Mike Yearty sold me a $5000 membership and I have not saved my membership yet. They say they are lower but the pricing is not that much lower. We have compared and found many of times some retail stores are very close in pricing. We don't have to wait 10-20 weeks for delivery and pay just 5% more or less. The service staff is wonderful but not worth the money. The Guy Mike would not let me cancel my membership. They say you can cancel but they ignored my calls so I would pass the recision period. I was excited about the examples they showed me but I came to find out that the pricing is so much similar to retail that I don't waste my time. I wasted 5,000 well let's say $10,000 after the interest on financing the membership with Direct Buy in Las Vegas.

[Rich]

I was considering DirectBuy. I saw their great review on ConsumerReviews.org. Checking this review site, I saw it was a phony obviously set up by DirectBuy to tout their rip off program. Legitimate stores don't need $5000 membership fees of $200/yr maintenance fees.

[sean]

If this were a reputable retailer/wholesaler then wouldn't they be putting other stores out of business? I am willing to pay a fee to get things at a discount (costco) but this is a reasonable yearly fee. Paying multiple thousands for the right to spend more money seems crazy, and when you add in the cost of the extra years you must pay, you spend in some cases near $7000???? How much stuff do you actually have to buy to "save" 7K and then more on top of that to make this worth it. I see lots of people saying they made back the money they spend on membership, but nobody says they exceeded it. They also assume that they would not have had any discounts on purchases elsewhere, an utterly crazy thought. I think I would rank Direct Buy up there with the other great scams.

[GAUDIER ELIZABETH]

HEY I AM LIVING IN THE CARRIBBEAN .AND I ALLWAYS SEE YOUR SHOW BUT I WILL LIKE TO KNOW HOW CAN I GET TO JOIN SO I CAN ORDOR AND HAVE IT WILL BE SHIP TO SAINT MARTIN?

[Sam]

Although most of the comments are positive in this blog, I would urge everyone to THINK HARD before even attending a DB seminar and purchasing a DB membership. As the article mentioned, you are pressured to purchase a membership when you visit the first time (otherwise, you lose the chance to join for two years) and it takes MANY purchases before you realize any savings to recoup the membership fees. And to continue as a member, you must pay an annual fee for a LIFETIME - unlike the showroom sales pitch when they say you only have to pay the initial membership plus an annual fee for the 8 - 10 years. Then, you don't have to pay anymore, essentially as if you were "vested". So, don't be fooled.

I purchased a DB membership for over $5000 about two years ago. (This does not include the $200 annual renewal.) I was not able to make use of it until recently to a queen-size mattress set for a little over $1300. And, unfortunately, the majority of DB vendors do not deliver to your home. So, I had to pay an additional $120 for a delivery company to deliver from the local showroom to my home.

I don't think DB is worth the initial membership and annual fees. By the time you add shipping, taxes, manufacturers handling fee, and additional delivery fee, the minimal cost savings is not worth it.

The hassle of making delivery arrangements, the inability to include immediate family members (like your parents, siblings, and children), the limited showroom hours, the lack of a local vendor services list, and a HORRIBLE web site make it extremely difficult to deal with DB. In addition, if you decide you don't want the membership anymore, you can't sell it to someone who IS interested. What is up with that? DB will continue to receive money for the annual fees, but they are greedy and want the $5000 initial membership fee.

I've heard about a competitor to DB called National Companies (http://bign.com/) whose membership fees are half the price of DB with no annual fee requirement and family members can take advantage of the membership discounts. In addition, they have discounts on services (like car and home insurance) and retailers (stores you shop at regularly). I'm planning on checking them out myself.

[Leah]

I am a designer and have a client that wasted their money on this so called trade secret. Even if you dont have access to the trade discounts, it pays to hire a designer to help select your furnishings,get their discount and be sa done deal no service fees no 190.00 fees etc. down the road and even factoring in the cost of hiring a designer you can still save $$$$ of what it cost to join this over exagerated TV commercials that have no basis of validity whatso ever!
My clients that have hired me are so much more happier with the end result and without the aggravation of TERMS and CONDITIONS of Direct Buy.

[Kumar]

I believe that Direct Buy is a total scam. We visited them yesterday for the first time and in stark contrast to shared-property presentations(which offer at least $200-300 for your time), there was some plain cofee being brewed but we were not asked to partake. They might have been good in 90's but today's Internet search engines will invariably yield the same or lower prices than they offred for sample items. A start up fee of $4990 pushes you into cornere to buy at least $15,000 worth of items based on their data where they claim that their prices are 33% below retail-sales prices. The truth is that with the current Internet search and recommendation engines, savvy customers will never be able to recover the post-three year fee which is $190 per year, let aloe the hefty $4990 for first three years. All in all they are major scams, rudeness not included. I have attended two time shared property presentations ... they pay well for your time ($200-500 in cash or kind for 2 hours)and are a lot nicer!!! Once they figured out that we are not interested in their membership, you had to see their curt and pushy behavior. I am surprised that they are in business for so long!!

[tom]

the company actually goes to the trouble of creating a fake "direct buy scam" site, and then floods it with bogus "testimonials" - you do the math!

[Roger]

Well, What I can say is don't buy Direct Buy when you can join Uniway for half the price and get better service and very close to same if not more of a selection. Uniway is a much better bargin. I have been a meber since 1989 and have saved over $10k. Thanks and shop smart.

[Walter]

Consumer Reports gives an accurate and fair portrayal. My wife and I are Direct Buy members and recouped our $5600 only by remodeling a town house including the kitchen plus furniture. Cabinets, flooring, lighting, and furniture are discounted enough to pay it back. Electronics and appliances are not.

A few specific notes:
- the entire product line is NOT available for many manufacturers,
- you cannot order at home from your on-line account,
- you pay in full at the time of each order,
- you pay shipping in nearly all cases,
- you always pay sales tax unlike some internet purchases,
- you usually pay an 8% order fee so discounts are reduced, and
- lead times to delivery are MUCH longer than a store or typical internet order.

I would not only dissuade young people or young couples from joining but also from attending their high pressure pitch.

[DirectBuy Employee]

Careful everyone. DirectBuy is only good for those people wanting to spend more than $15k on purchased for your home in the next 3 years. And, that's 15k in big dollar items, not laminate flooring or an IKEA desk. For instance, I saw a computer desk the other day a member bought for 10k... no lie, 10 thousand dollars! Good club for the mega rich. Bad club for the normal people. Also, steer clear of the Dallas Texas DirectBuy's. The owners, Randy Forker and Jason Jones have hidden markups to make extra money, is a shame corporate office doesn't do anything about this corruption. Want my advice? Go get a IKEA catalog and do your shopping that way.

[James]

$20,000 cabinets shouldn't be falling apart after 7 Years!!!!!!!!!

[eddie]

I set up an appointment for direct buy, and thank god I had the internet to reaserch the membership fee. Looks like I will not be going to that apointment after all...
This business sounds like a cult to me...grief!!

[Dana]

My experience with the Portland, Oregon Direct Buy was awful. I'd gone to their website and requested further info. Before they responded to my inquiry, I read customer reviews about them and saw nothing good said about them whatsoever, so my decision was already made against doing business with them (I know my process was backwards and I should've researched reviews first). When their rep called me on the phone, I politely listened to his sales pitch and then nicely told him that I'd talk to my husband about their service and we'd call back if interested. He was very forceful with me, tried to convince me that I didn't need to consider my husband's input, and that I should join right now. I repeated that I'd call back if we had further interest and he very rudely said, "Have fun paying retail then" and literally slammed the phone down! I couldn't believe it! I called back right away (number that was on caller ID) and when I explained what just happened, this other representative only answered my complaint with, get this: a loud belch and hung up!!
I am not exaggerating this story one bit - it is completely true. My family happened to be there within earshot and couldn't believe it either. We were floored and then laughed really hard about it because it was so bizarre!
Needless to say, I've got nothing good to say about this completely unprofessional, crazy, scamming "company".

[Paul]

I went to the invitation appointment and the staff were courteous but what turned me off was the middle of the presentation on the concepts of how you will save in the long run but the start up membership fees of $5000 for 3 years and $199 per year afterwards; this is for the Phoenix Arizona area...I feel if you make over $50K a year this may be for you but if you make less this Direct Buy is not for you; you really don't have much to see and leery of delivery costs and additional fees they will tack on...and their presentation/concepts seem to hide some additional costs. So becareful what you get into with this membership.

[Bill Doherty]

Thanks for all the postings on Direct Buy. I just bought a house and have been intrigued by the commercials...But being a faithful Reader of CU...the advertising didn't really pass the smell test.
First of all an almost 5000.00 membership fee is crazy. I could furnish a couple of rooms for that. Plus I am extremely fussy about getting what I want. The fact that you might receive damaged goods after waiting weeks for it is not going to do my blood pressure any good.
The Direct Buy pitch reminds me of the time share thing I attended years ago. Not interested in paying $20,000 for something I will never have title to either.
As PT Barnum said "there's a sucker born every minute"...

[Thomas Rooney]

My wife and I went to a Direct Buy Store in Southern California and we were not treated very well by one of the owners who insisted that we praise the store and sign up. We were interested in comparaing prices on some of the items we were looking for in remodeling a house but the salesman - part owner would not let us do any comparison. In addition, the individual would not let us alone to talk about the presentation we saw. At the end he abruptly ended our conversation and let us out of the showroom. While we were exiting, I commented about the high quality material and he told me not to patronize him. A we were leaving, he yelled "enjoy retail".

The cost to join was $5,890 for two years and $198.00 maintenace fee per year for eight years.

Even though we plan to remodel a house, too many variables exist with Diret Buy membership. Read other peoples comments before you go to the showroom.

[Lyndie]

I hope enough people will be warned beforehand and the prevalence of the www will help with research enough to save so many from the DB scam system that they will eventually either go out of business or have to turn honest. What a ripoff! It was a waste of time to go to their absurd open house. We remember, as young newlyweds, almost being tricked the same way by people selling vacation time-shares. "Do it NOW, or you'll be blocked for years!" Sure. If we wanted to walk in and buy a membership, I'll guarantee they'd take our money. However, we never will do business with people this dishonest. There is always another way to get a better deal. I personally think anybody who gets on these websites to sing the praises of directbuy is an employee.

[Jed K.]

It's a scam, and I'm surprised nobody mentions another aspect pointing at that fact: The lack of word-of-mouth advertising.

I don't know *anyone* personally who has signed up with DB and is glad they did. In fact, my wife and I are the only people amongst all our friends who have ever gone to a DB pitch (we went back in the early 90s when they had a different name, and while we were gullible enough to fall for their pitch, thankfully, we were too poor to afford it even when threatened with the infamous blacklist if we didn't sign up).

If this place were remotely legit, we would've heard about it years ago. I don't know that I've ever seen a Costco ad -- but I sure as heck have heard about them. Is there anything we consumers enjoy more than showing off our good buys?

States need to start a concerted effort to put into place protections for consumers that will give them a full week to change their minds and back out of "deals" like this.

Charging someone thousands of dollars for a service with no refund or cancellation policy, that they can't even price compare before they get, may be legal -- but that doesn't make it right.
And the saddest part is that because of the structure, if some poor sucker gets signed up, they have no way of getting out of it and have only one option left if they want to salvage their self-respect (and try to gain some value for their money).

They have to convince themselves it was a good deal.
I often wonder when reading the posts from DB employees, er, shills, er, satisfied customers, whether some of them really *are* from customers -- who truly have convinced themselves that they "saved" enough to make that shameful membership a good deal.

Again, if DirectBuy were legit, word-of-mouth would be their best form of marketing. In fact, they'd probably have some system in place where perspective customers would be connected with current, satisfied customers to hear first-hand how those customers saved. After all, if I had saved $40k with DirectBuy, I'd be shouting my savings from the mountaintop. And would certainly welcome telling some other curious soul all about it.

[Frank Curley]

I attended a Direct Buy today in Waterloo, Feb 7 2009. I was there for only five minutes but had sufficient time to hear a scripted sales pitch to another couple. Pathetic. I honestly thought they had to be kidding! We were not allowed to even look around for a moment because we had to go through the presentation process. The whole episode lasted 10 minutes because we walked out. Any company that relies on these tactics to get people to join I have no interest in joining. I believe the salespeople must have sold timeshares, man, these guys are so high pressure. We were told on our way out that we would not be offered another presentation opportunity. Great! I salvaged my Saturday!

[Cynthia]

I walked into the "invitation only" scam like a deer in headlights. I thought I was going to a "Costco" type place..didn't do my google search very well. I even brought a tape measure, thinking I was going to see furniture...After three hours and trying to say "no" one more way, I asked about the cancellation clause and in MN we have 3 days to cancel. The way they set up the "invitation night" and when they are open made the three day window tricky. I finally agreed to a 10% down payment and went home with a sick feeling of being scammed. I sent a certified letter cancelling my "membership" and when I called to see if they received it and if there was anything else I needed to do. I was told I had to return the membership packet. That wasn't mentioned in the cancellation information. I prepared another letter indicating I had sent the certified letter and contacted my credit card company and it still took over ten minutes to say no yet another dozen times once I got out there again. I don't think I could have gotten out of the sales pitch without becoming rude or threatening. It was an awful experience and I would never recommend Direct Buy membership to anyone. There is no room in this situation for reasonable buying, buying used, recycled or discounted items from any other entity. It is a pretentious way to shop and I regret I was taken by this scam.

[Ryan]

If you don't have access to dealer pricing how do you know how much you'd have to spend to recoup. You have no idea how much of anything is mark-up thus you may only have to spend 5000.00 on something to recoup. Case in point. If I buy a 10,000.00 bedroom set for 5000.00 then I've saved my 5000.00 membership. I didn't have to spend 20K to make it back because the markup on that one item was so large. We have a Bernhardt set that we paid 10K for solid wood. I know it was marked up at least 50% as I have a neighbor in the industry. Think a little harder in detail. DirectBuy is what it is. It may not be for everyone but if you are as savy as you think you are it may be a better deal that you think. Especially if it is for 10 years I know I've spent alot in a 10 year period and it probably equates to well over 5000 in mark-up alone. I think I'll go check it out for myself and form my own opinion not that of sampling of strangers whom I've never met and don't know the character of.

[john]

I notice when anyone here claims to have obtained a huge discount on something only generalities are used, lets see some details here, like make and type of flooring, price per sq ft from DB installed , that way we can decide if its a scam or not.

[Milo]

Well I finally made it over to the Burbank Showroom. I knew this was going to be at best interesting. After an hour of testimonials and pitches the bottom line was $6400 to join and 300/yr after the initial 24 months. That's a big nut to crack just for the privilege of shopping there. That was an hour of my life I'm not getting back. Unless you are doing a remodel where you were going to spend 10K+ recovering the initial fee is going to be tough.

[Paranoid]

In the process of renovating a home and online research I am noticing something really odd about Direct Buy reviews. All positive comments seem to have a similar heck, even same, writing style. I have been reading reviews on many vendors/products and those pro/con notes feel distinct. I saw this website http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams and almost everyone was gushing and seemed clone like... I see a similar trend by the proponents here as well. However, detractors seem to have a distinct style. Is it just me or someone else noticing this as well?

[Brian]

I walked into a show room today without an appointment. I told the DirectBuy reception guy that I was interested, so he started signing me up for an orientation. When I asked, "How much is membership?" he told me that I would get that information at the orientation. So I said, if you cannot tell me the price up front, I am not interested. He said "OK, have a nice day." I got back to work and read this blog, I am glad I walked out!!! Thanks!!!

[Sam the Man]

Interesting to see the various fees being paid for membership. After reviewing this information my wife and I went to a Direct Buy to find out. Yes, indeed the membership fees CAN be negotiated down. What started as a $6000 fee for 2 years became a $2400 fee for 2 years with $200 a year starting with year 3. We walked out but I am sure with a little more haggling we could have gotten the fee reduced further. We were told the merchandise was returnable but knew that wasn't true after reading it here. We were also not told about any kind of handling fee which is also mentioned here. When they "demo" the prices, they carefully pick out items that are heavily discounted. When my wife asked about a specific make, model they couldn't find the item in question, even though they carried that manufacturer's catalogs. Be careful. And make sure to negotiate the membership fees down to a reasonable level.

[Linda]

My husband and I decided to check out Direct Buy last night, knowing that it would be a high pressured sales pitch and that the fee to join would be quite high. Still we needed to know if we could really save and if this was something for us.
They kept telling us that we needed to compare apples to apples and weren't forth coming in showing the catalogs. The showroom left little to be desired. I wasn't seeing the quality that we would want in our new home. My husband had a TV in mind when they asked us what they could show us in regards to savings. They never produced the catalog containing the TV. I was interested in area rugs, and although our sales person took us over to look at the catalogs containing rugs. I would need to spend endless hours looking through the catalogs to find a style.
At this point in time, we just couldn't say yes to joining. We told the lady that perhaps in a year the answer would be different and she told us, "sorry you can't join up later." It was now or never! After spending and wasting 2+ hours there, we left feeling in my husbands words "violated". We are smart consumers who do research our decisions. If you decide that Direct Buy is not for you, after two hours of having words crammed down your throart you leave feeling deflated and like a loser. Our sleep was restless last night but in the light of day we made the very best decision that was right for us. Plus after reading this Report on not being able to get a refund on the products purchased, does this company make sense?
Buyer Beware!!
To Direct Buy sales people, a few words of advise. Why not say something like this, "Direct Buy is NOT for everyone but it is for everyone to learn more about us." Closing in this fashion would have been preferred, "Thank You for coming in tonight and giving us the opportunity to share more about us." "Let me walk you to the door." Shame on you Direct Buy for your guilt ridden approach!

[Sara J]

Lawsuit Claims Buying Club Took Kickbacks - Team 5 Investigates …
Nov 26, 2008 … BOSTON — A class action lawsuit claims DirectBuy members actually paid more than the wholesale prices they were promised.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/investigative/18151130/detail.html

http://www.truveo.com/Lawsuit-Claims-Buying-Club-Took-Kickbacks/id/2156112047

[FLILGUY]

I looked into DirectBuy. I was unhappy with the fact the "local" stores, were all over a 100 miles away from my home. I'm glad I said no to them. If I lived closer to a store. I might want to fool with it. I also felt like I was making a deal with the devil.

[Semma]

We joined Direct Buy because we were remodeling our bathroom. The bathroom at Direct Buy was more money than the same exact tub I found online, so I bought it online. The contractor I was working with matched all my prices on vanities for the bathroom. By the time you add in the 8% handling fee, taxes, and shipping charges, it's not that much cheaper. The best deals are in the Direction catalog which comes out quartery, but for a price tag of $5,000, it's not worth it. You can find deals just as good online, unless you have a big kitchen and are remodeling with new kitchen cabinets.

[Semma]

We joined Direct Buy because we were remodeling our bathroom. The bathroom at Direct Buy was more money than the same exact tub I found online, so I bought it online. The contractor I was working with matched all my prices on vanities for the bathroom. By the time you add in the 8% handling fee, taxes, and shipping charges, it's not that much cheaper. The best deals are in the Direction catalog which comes out quartery, but for a price tag of $5,000, it's not worth it. You can find deals just as good online, unless you have a big kitchen and are remodeling with new kitchen cabinets.

[Semma]

We joined Direct Buy because we were remodeling our bathroom. The bathroom at Direct Buy was more money than the same exact tub I found online, so I bought it online. The contractor I was working with matched all my prices on vanities for the bathroom. By the time you add in the 8% handling fee, taxes, and shipping charges, it's not that much cheaper. The best deals are in the Direction catalog which comes out quartery, but for a price tag of $5,000, it's not worth it. You can find deals just as good online, unless you have a big kitchen and are remodeling with new kitchen cabinets.

[Don]

For all those trying to balance the good reviews with the bad, remember that the good reviews are often written by representatives of the company itself, in order to make itself look better. My personal experience with DirectBuy was a total scam. Misleading, high-pressure sales tactics to get people to join should be enough to convince anyone of what they are about.

[lisa]

My husband & I joined Direct Buy several months ago. We are building and furnishing a vacation home. I have had quotes on cabinets, appliances, flooring, and outdoor furniture. The flooring is the only place we could have saved any money. It was quite substantial but after you add in the 8% surcharge, I only saved about .05 per square foot. Not so good anymore. I would say the people that have positive experiences are few.

If you are considering joining or going to a sales pitch, know that your shopping will be all out of catalogs. It is quite tedious. The only way you will ever find what you are looking for is to know the manufacturer before you go in or you will be in the showroom for hours "shopping" through books.

If you have the time to spend, and I mean lots and lots of time, and you know exactly what you want you might save a few bucks. I think it is highly unlikely I will recoup our $5000 membership fee. I consider it a huge loss!!!!!

[Steve]

Our Direct Buy is similar. People are nice, but the hassle, shipping fees to Direct Buy showroom and again to your location kill any savings. It will take a lot longer than 10 years to get the $5K but plus $198 / year renewal. Hard sell. Stay away.

[Darren]

Even if some people save some money, why would anyone want to be involved with a company that takes the official stance of "if something is wrong, or if you're not satisfied, we don't care and there is nothing you can do about it". That is the lowest of the low of lack of integrity and lack of business ethics. I'd rather pay a little more money and deal with a company that will make things right if the customer isn't happy. Their high pressure sales tactics they use are so sleazy. Reputable businesses don't have to do that. It might not be a total scam, but something is definitely wrong with the way they do business. BUYER BEWARE

[Mr.Airport]

Okay Amy, it has been a year. Where is the update on your savings?

[Laura]

After moving to a new home I wanted to buy some new furniture for a few rooms, so I replied to one of the mailings and went to the store. I was foolish enough to think I could just order want I wanted. After waiting with others for half an hr I went in line and since I did not bring my husband I was told to leave. Thats it "leave". Well I was now very interested in this apparant so called club. So I assured them that my husband could care less what I bought and they still said leave. I refused and wanted information as to why he was needed and why they were discriminating againist me, a woman. Again they said leave. Wow what an experience I had at the Corona, Ca. location. So I dont care how much I spend, I would rather go to a store that wants my business.

[Ed]

Just a short note here! We were signed up to go in this coming weekend and after reading what it takes to sign-up and maintain a membership with this DirectBuy group we won't even entertain the idea. This kind-of reminds me of signing up for a dish or cable company. They shove in language and music channels that you don't understand nor want....but that's part of the package, like it or not. Nope, we'll stick with Home Depot, Lowes on on-line buys, thank you very much.
Cheers! Ed

[arlene mckinnis]

Today is Tues. March 17th 2009. Just wanted people to know we had a direct buy experience that was not too good. We signed up at a home and garden show. The lady who signed us up seemed ok. She never said to much about it; just that it was a good deal and we could win a prize for signing up and save on money for purchases. Well anyway we arrived and the sales pinch started. It seemed very informative but something did seem amiss. You could save but you had to make a desicion now before you left. For me and my husband that is just plain wrong. I do not know about alot of people out there but I for one; like to think about the decision i make about the money i spend and i do not like being made to feel as if i am wrong in wanting time to think about it. well anyway when we left we thanked them for their time and left. I did not even want anything from them but to leave as gracefully as we could. Most of the employers are just following policy or so I hope. Anyway just incase there are other planners out there just beware I wish I would have done more investigating on direct buy not just on things i could get.
signed
wiser now

[Frank]

The aggravation and irritation generated by the frequency (and length) of the Directbuy CBC commercials made me swear never ever to subscribe to the ridiculous outfit; furthermore, these commercial have become so terribly horrendous to watch and even hear that from the moment they start showing (generally in middle of late movies) I simply quit watching CBC altogether at those times.

[Alison Lear]

Thank you all so much for helping me decide on if I should go to the direct buy showroom for my presentation!!! I cannot afford the membership fee of 5000 or the hidden fees. My mother told me if it's too good to be true, its a scam. And this reeks of scam!
I will save my Saturday for shopping locally instead of making the trip to Lancaster PA! Thanks again to all who showed me the light!

[Andrew Jay]

We just did a major kitchen renovation. We purchased everything, KraftMaid cabinets, flooring, countertop, appliances & lighting from Lowe's.
We have been extremely pleased with, not only the prices, but the service. For example; when choosing cabinets, the knowledgeable salesman spent literally hours with us. Going over every detail and questions we had. During the installation process, I would receive 2-3 phone calls daily and visits from Lowe's department heads twice a week to make sure we were satisfied. True, we spent a lot of money, but overall their prices were generally less than competitors.
But the quality of product and service were more than we expected.