Real Consumer Reviews and Ratings
Direct Buy Reviews and Ratings
Consumer Ratings - Page 10 of 26
Rip Off/Pyramid ?
8/18/2007 - Bruce of Texas, USA writes:
We singed up for Direct Buy open house. They called again and again to remind us. I tried to call 3 times to reschedule, and no one answered or ever called back. Finally I got them on the phone and they said "all appointments are full". I told the guy either I am coming in Sat at Noon or never intend to purchase a membership. His attitude changed to "Ok Sat at Noon then". I asked him for the prices. He said they do not give them out until after the "presentation" and "tour of the showroom open house" Red Flag We went in rather skeptical. After milling about for a few, they greeted us nicely. Gave us name tags like some high school reunion-ridiculous! We sat at a table and the man tryed to launch into his sales pitch. We insisted unless they told us the price of a membership right NOW, we were leaving right NOW. He said "it is an investment of several thousand dollars". We said "you are crazy" got up and left. End of story. If you buy this you are stupid.
A narrow escape
8/13/2007 - Alice of California, USA writes:
My husband and I signed up for a visit to one of their locations. Now, let me establish the fact that we are both highly qualified professionals, but we nearly fell for this one. We went in for the presentation and were greeted by the "Marketing Director" who I would not hire even as a clerk. Dressed all dapper, but I knew from the get go that this was going to be a high pressure sales pitch. We were not allowed to ask any questions during the presentation, or even look into my purse when the phone vibrated! After the presentation when we were attacked by individual sales reps, I asked them to show me solid examples of how their prices were better than the retailers. They let me peep into a catalog which was some ordinary wicker furniture which was actually more expensive than what I saw in stores and if you add shipping, it's just plain stupid! We eventually signed up (mind you - they dont let you read the contract while you sign up which says you can go back in a full refund within 3 business days)thinking we could use this opportunity to do some major remodeling on our new home. I know - totally stupid. That evening, when I got home, I read every letter in fine print on the catalog and it was stated clearly that you can get a refund within 3 days. We went back the next day and boy - were they disappointed to see us! We got our full money back and some great lessons learned. Guys - this is a bogus scam directed at milking the consumers. Please use your best judgement and know that retailers do have the best prices ( unless you are shopping online because they dont have the overhead of a store), and because retailers purchase products in mass quantities from manufacturers, they will almost inavriably have the best prices. Paying $6000 for membership to sit in a swanky room surrounded by catalogs, picking furniture out of a catalog is a lazy man's route. Be real, get out there, have fun exploring your retail options and stay clear of Direct Buy. There are other ways to spend money wisely. Good luck.
Timeshare sales tactics
8/12/2007 - Anonymous of Florida, USA writes:
After seeing the ads on TV for weeks, we signed up for the open house. We were greeted by one of the family members who own the local store. She was very nice. She showed us around to different areas of the showroon (furnishings, flooring, cabinets, etc) It all looked professional and normal. Although, looking back, i did not notice anyone "shopping", just being shown around. There appeared to be thousands of product catalogs that would be available to us if we joined, she said they were from all the manufactures with their entire line of products (I have no reason to not believe this). At the end, we sat for several professional infomercial type videos. I now felt like I was in a timeshare presentation. She then gave us "examples" from newspaper sale flyers on what is advertised and the savings if we bought that item from DB. Then the deal breaker. You have to decide to pay us $5,000 for a 2 year membership BEFORE YOU LEAVE, or never have the opportunity to join again. When I questioned her on this, she became visibly annoyed and she could not understand why I would not give her $5,000 without leaving to discuss it and comeing back tomorrow to sign up. What type of business model will refuse your $5,000 membership fee two days later after you thought about it???? She explained the reason is that we would use the information we gained to hurt the retail industry and that is not fair to the manufacturers! What clandestine information did we recieve??? It will also take 5-6 weeks to recieve what we buy. The saying is simple, "Buyer Beware". It may be good for you. For $5,000 and no time to think about it (other than in the store) I was not willing to take that chance. I have had softer sale tactics from car dealers.
Direct Buy- Beware-Carefully crafted scam
8/9/2007 - Kyu of Florida, USA writes:
I am remodeling our newly purchased home and thought we should take a look at DirectBuy based on the ads. I was called by the store rep who scheduled an appointment for me and followed up to confirm the appointment.. never had so many follow ups and emails which I thought was good to begin with. The storefront was quite nice what we would have expected, we were treated in the professional manner and introduced to the sales rep. Although I did not realize at that time, retrospectively I admired how carefully the entire meeting(scam) was staged and acted out... almost to perfection. These guys immediately gain control over you with thier set up so that you will soon be begging to be thier member. They enforce the rules quickly to put you in your place such as making sure they will not wait for you if you are late, forcing both my wife and myself to come together for the appointment, carefully checking our ID to see we are who we say we are. We sat down with another family and viewed a nice presentation by the "marketing manager" who gave a well practised speech with no information expect to say how they will save you money and how everybody else is screwing us. He explained he had 900,000 customers...but surprisingly we saw no "normal" members in the store!!Only potential new clients. And ofcourse there we these good natured good looking "members" who were contractors who "happen" to walk back and forth and vouched for Direct buy. Best part of this came at the end. The Marketing manager came to us and acted pretty dis-interested in our membership but was willing to do us a "favor" by taking our 5000 dollars for our membership and we were stunned to hear we had to sign the contract right then and there or dont comebacK!!!! I have to admit they never lied...only hid information such as how much shipping would be and the logisitics, 8% service charge, sales tax info, lack of warranty etc. I admit that it is stretch to call this scam but thier carefully staged show at "open house" and high pressure sales tactics of getting you sign the contract on your first visit and hiding the neccessary info borders on scam. They make themselves sound like some kind of amazon store...but they are not once you pay the membership you have basically have access to a website in which you will get access to what manufacturer is trying to get rid of in the first place. It is best to go with traditional American way of shopping- shop around and look for sales and buy when the price is right. Do yourselves a favor stay away from these guys.
Terrible!
8/7/2007 - Martin of New York, USA writes:
Do not sign up! Do not allow their pressure sales work on you! Their customer service is terrible and you have no way of elevating a complaint!
For Most....A Waste of Money
8/6/2007 - Greg of Washington, USA writes:
The quote from "Investor's Daily" used by Direct Buy on their web site says it all; Though the membership fee is steep... "If you're building a house or furnishing a whole house, you easily save money," she said. If you're buying a few pieces of furniture here and a few appliances there, forget it...you're better off internet or retail shopping. The shipping charges are usually gargantuan, you have to go get the products, and there's little to no service should something go wrong. I keep trying to use my membership to make up some of that membership cost, but usually to no avail; I can usually come close somewhere else. Unless you're completely outfitting a home, I don't see how you can save money. They're trying to sell this to the general public, when it really only makes sense for a limited population. It is a scam!!
"Under Pressure"
8/6/2007 - Zak of Ontario, Canada writes:
The one thing that prevented me from letting myself commit to purchasing a membership was that they wouldn't let me think about it and come back the next day. They used the following rationale for such a policy: "If we let you leave without buying a membership you could go to the retailers and tell them you know how markup works and demand the manufacturers price. Then the retailers would complain to the manufacturers that they are allowing DirectBuy to give out the prices that retailers pay. blah, blah, blah..." Gimme a break. Any organization that won't give you a reasonable amount of time to think things over is hiding something. I felt tremendous pressure and had trouble saying no. But I thank God I did.
ever directbuy different
8/5/2007 - Anonymous of California, USA writes:
I read some of the other reviews and i was shocked at some of the things that were mentioned. When my husband and i joined we were asked to attend the open house together, and when i asked for the reson they said (implied) that it was better we make these decisions together since its suff for the home that we both live in... we joined and have had exceptional service and have saved about six time my membership in just a couple of months!! I suppose ever centers service is different, but the savings would be the same. TRUST ME THIS IS A GOOD THING IF YOU ARE RIGHT FOR IT!
Cabinet savings made it worth the cost
8/1/2007 - Peggy of Arizona, USA writes:
It is a heafty charge that will only be worth it if you purchase cabinets. I got bids prior to buying them through Direct Buy. We have a large kitchen and a separate bar area. Our quote was $45,000 for cabinets from []. They were not nearly as nice as the ones we eventually got through Direct Buy for $14,000. Would I continue my subscription? Well, I did for another year because we need to do more cabinet work. The granite was also quite a bit less. But, for just everyday purchases, you can shop around and get better pricing. If you have the time and patience to shop around, do it. We didn't get our appliances through them because we would only have saved about $100 per item. Not worth the hassle or the wait. It seems that people in various parts of the country have different experiences with Direct Buy. I was very impressed with the carpet selection and pricing, for example. But, we haven't actually gotten that far with our remodel.
Appointment Rules All You Need to KNow
7/30/2007 - Brian of California, USA writes:
I called the 800 number to get a catalogue. I indicated that it was all I wanted--no phone calls or other contact. When the person kept asking for my phone number--"It's just one of the required fields"--and then my wife's name (another "required field"), I knew that this was just another "timeshare" style, "get you in the room and squeeze" gig. Sure enough, within 24 hours of my request to receive a catalogue, the phone call came. When I said that I specifically stated to the phone rep that I did not want a call, the person said, "Sorry," then sent the catalogue. The catalogue has lots of words and pictures, but it just keeps repeating general statements, without telling you anything specific. Don't waste you time unless you expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars on furniture and a remodel. In most cases, a good shopper who compares prices and does their homework will do as well or better without the huge membership fee.
5 years of review...
7/26/2007 - Bill of Michigan, USA writes:
I signed up for UCC Total Home (now called Direct Buy) back in 2002, which is now Direct Buy. I paid $2900 at that time for my membership and just came across this blog for Direct Buy. I wanted to lend my experiences. I now pay $159.00 a year (after years 1-3 being covered under the larger $2900 I paid in '02. The initial sign up fee was a stretch back in '02, but my wife and I had to buy quite a bit of stuff over the next few years and wanted to see how long it would take to break even and save from then on. NO BS tally from 2002. I bought carpet, furniture, TV's, electronics, and other misc. items. Total spent $19,000, the retail on all items was $25,600. So we've saved our membership and more. Granted we've not spent as much as most, but it does work. Now, I will advise that you don't save a ton on some items, (electronics, smaller items) but for furniture/larger items, you're getting it 30-50% under retail or right at the retail lowest price. Now, for purchases over $250 I shop it thru DirectBuy and retailers based on how fast I need it. But, the common thread of this review is that you do save, and it seems to me that those upset are the ones unhappy with paying the initial membership, which increases every year. Let's face it, the savings wouldn't be there with this private club. Direct Buy couldn't demand the same wholesale pricing if anyone could pay a small amount of money, say as much as a [] membership. Do your research, Direct Buy has no competition, so they can command the hefty inital membership startup. They're in the money making business which all companies are. Why wouldn't they charge a large signup to bank when creating the sales relationships with every manufacturer they sign up? All you need to do to see if this wholesale purchasing is right for you is try to look at larger purchases for the next 10-20 years, do your math on how much you'll spend and honestly take an average of 20-30% off and you can determine if it's right for you. The program haters seem to be obsessed about signup fees, that if you're a conscious consumer understand are piddly if over the next 20 years will consume say a minimum of $50,000+ in home needs. In all I am glad that I don't have to pay new startup membership fees, b/c I've heard it $5400 now. That being said If I had to signup now, I would still break even in 2-3 years many more years of normal purchasing to keep more in my pocket.
Discriminatory
7/26/2007 - Kelly of California, USA writes:
We made several appointments to go to an Open House. After trying to reschedule (our fault) for the third time, I suggested that I come alone without my husband. The girl doing the scheduling said no. She said that if I went to the Open House alone, they wouldn't meet with me. Apparently, Direct Buy doesn't believe that females can make "big" decisions without "permission" from their husbands/male significant others. She told me that the owner would probably come out and try to reschedule my appointment or turn me away. I then asked if we could bring our children. She said no that we couldn't. I asked her what they would do if I was a single woman and she said that she didn't know. I really couldn't believe my ears.
Please Use Caution
7/24/2007 - Kelly of California, USA writes:
Thanks to websites like this one and other Internet posts, my husband and I just exercised our California 3 day right to cancel our DirectBuy contract. We are normally very fiscally reserved and would not even consider paying almost $6000 for this type of membership, but I believe we were so worn out from trying to find the best deals for our new custom home building project, that we simply "wanted" to believe the sales' pitches, and thus were completely taken in by it all. Thank goodness for the 3 day California cancellation statute, and I strongly encourage anyone who can take advantage of such a provision to consider doing so. For those who have not stepped into the process yet, please proceed with caution. I am sure some members are saving money and legitimately satisfied with the service, but we could not ignore the negative feedback regarding lack of significant savings, customer service, and timeliness. In hindsight, nothing in the contract or the sales pitches guaranteed that we would save money , find the products we wanted, or get decent customer service in a timely fashion. We plunked down $6000 for the "hope" that we were buying [] pricing with [] service. Lesson learned -- that which is too good to be true generally is. And read websites like this within 3 days of purchasing!!!!
Don't waste your time
7/24/2007 - Tim of Virginia, USA writes:
(July 24, 2007) My wife and I attended an open house at DirectBuy last evening and left feeling that it was such a waste of our time. The open house begins with a slick video presentation, and ends with multiple phony sales reps pouncing on you. The membership fee is $5100 to cover the first three years, and $200/year for years 4-10. After year 10, the yearly fee is inflation based. Also, DirectBuy apparently charges an 8% fee for most every order for "handling" as well as charging for shipping, and sales tax. And, you have to go to the DirectBuy outlet to pick the orders up!! What really got me is the pressure and the insistance that you have to make the membership decision on the spot. The sales reps were obviously programmed automotons, and each wore a phony smile. I thought we were at an AmWay convention and at any moment we were going to hear a "whoa DirectBuy"!!! And once my wife and I began to indicate we would not make the impulse decision, two sales reps began the assault. We finally got a straight answer if you order something, there is NO return policy. You are stuck, but, as the sales lady said, "..with all the money you are saving, you shouldn't have to worry..", almost as if product satisfaction is irrelevant. I'm sticking to the internet. At least you can compare vast numbers of suppliers. And as a parting shot, the sales lady said in a trite way tha she was so sorry to send us back into the retail world. We told her we would survive!!!
Cult like mentality-crazy expierence...
7/21/2007 - Anonymous of California, USA writes:
DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM.. Unfortunately, my husband and I went through the trouble of signing up for their "open house". Fortunately, we could tell something just was not right from the beginning. As others have mentioned, I was told that my spouse "had to attend". I scheduled an appointment for a Saturday. Later I learned, that my husband really needed/wanted to visit his cousin who was very ill with cancer. I explained to DIRECT BUY (DB) that I make financial decisions all the time without my spouse/husband (i.e. I had bought a car by myself in the past even though I was married.) The reason we did not want to reschedule our appointment was because after this weekend, my husband will be out of town for several weeks and this Saturday was the only available day before he left. Because of DB'S very strict rules and after much headache, we arranged to set aside the 1 1/2 hours they claim it would take to attend their "open house". My husband and I thought, that way should we decided to join, I would be able to make purchases during the time my husband was gone. This way I could keeps the project we were working on rolling. By the way, DB was a 40-60 min. drive from our home--(I can only imagine now, how difficult it would have been for me to drive after work or on weekends to get to their stupid show room to even buy the darn stuff. At any rate, my husband and I show up.--to what I guess was the pre-screening. During this process, this lady proceeded to tell us about the founders of the company, etc.; my husband looked annoyed and with that the DB sales person, said "Are you OK? We need this to be a happy experience, and maybe if your not feeling well we should reschedule for another day." What????--"happy" "not feeling well" ?????-since when because someone does not eat-up whatever sale pitch you are shoving down their throat, in turn means you must not be feeling well. She again repeated that we should probably "reschedule". We said we just want to get to the "open house." The DB salesperson then stated that because we need this to b a "happy" expierence and this just may not be the right thing for us. Now, since when does being "happy" need to be a prerequisite to supposedly saving so much money? Wasn't that what this was supposed to be all about? The DB sales lady then repeated "because we want this to be a "happy" experience" we may not be able to continue. We assured her that all we want is to go to the "open house" so we could then decide whether to "join" or not. At this point, she said it was necessary for her to talk to someone else to see if we even could continue. She then took us to another area of the store and sat us down at a table. There we waited for several minutes for someone else to come over. This person then told us she was going to determine if we were even the right fit and that IF we were, she would then have us sit in for a "open house". Mind you, our appointment was for a 12:45pm to see the "open house" and it was already 1:20pm. So at this point, I said to DB sales person, "Now you are here, deciding whether you will ALLOW us to attend the open house,... because if that's the case, we no longer want deal with your company." She said, "OK". Out my husband and I went. Later, I was told by a friend to look online and to find many stories about this SCAM. I am just sorry I did not look this up before we wasted very valuable time driving there. At least, since we did not stay for the "open house" we were able to see our very sick cousin for a longer visit. NOT JOINING DIRECT BUY, WAS a WIN-WIN for us. I also could only imagine had I attended the "open house" I might have got roped in mentally, thinking that since we have quite a bit of remodeling to do, I would be able to save so much. From the sounds of things, there is not much savings. When before you see any savings you have to make up for what ever this crazy club cost to join. Also, I would have had to drive 40 min, just for me to sit there and look through catalog after catalog. DON'T JOIN THIS SCAM!!!
Glad I Found This Site
7/18/2007 - Jeff of California, USA writes:
I just signed up for my free tour and decided to do some research. Thank God I found this site. If there's one thing I hate it's a high pressure sales pitch. Of course I was immediately skeptical of Direct Buy when I read the fine print on the Visitor's Pass which states, 1) "..."both spouses or finacee's must attend... and 2) "...Please understand that becoming a BirectBuy member requires your choice at the Open House you attend..." This thing smells like a timeshare to me.
This is a Pyramid Scam.......
7/16/2007 - Robin of Tennessee, USA writes:
This is a Pyramid Scam……. I hope you are reading this before you go to your open house appointment. (Forewarned is Forearmed) My husband and I attended a DB open house yesterday afternoon and our experience was similar to the others listed here. I for one got a creepy feeling right off. If you have ever received a chain letter telling you to send $1.00 to the name on the top of the list and add your name to the bottom and send to 10 friends, you will be familiar with the tactics of this company. They have to keep pressuring perspective members to fork over the large membership fee upfront in order to make any profit. This is the only way for them to keep DB from collapsing like a “house of cards”. Who knows if they will be in business 10 years from now. We sat through a very high pressure sales pitch with a lot of info glossed over and no time to ask questions. The last time I got this feeling was when I was twenty and had a vacuum cleaner salesman demonstrate his product in my living room. I was very impressed with how easily the vacuum moved along the carpet until I glanced behind me and saw that the salesman was pushing it along with his foot! We left DB soon after the movie presentation and so only wasted about an hour of our time. DB might work for people who have a really large project, lots of extra time to go through catalogs, and an extra 4K+ lying around, but we are glad we walked out without signing anything. I plan to warn everyone I know about this company.
Direct Buy-worst high pressure sales experience
7/15/2007 - Adrian of Ontario, Canada writes:
I have been a salesperson several times in my life and am well aware of the techniques used to sell. I have never, ever, been exposed to the level of pressure that Direct Buy uses. I was literally grilled for 3 hours by a salesperson who at first seemed like a sweet old lady. I don't know why I just didn't walk out, but I was just riveted to the spot. I couldn't believe the gall of her. The basic story has been repeated by everyone else on here. First you get pre-screened, then you have to watch a stupid video, then the high pressure sales presentation starts. The crux of the presentation is that you cannot leave without buying their several thousand dollar membership. If you leave you can never come back. I never went back, and after reading everything on here I am so glad I didnt purchase their membership. Obviously the owners make all their money off the membership sales and shipping. How else could a company survive if all the membership was sold at cost!
Direct Buy or Direct Bust?
7/15/2007 - Marie of South Carolina, USA writes:
Okay....so everyone's seen the commercials they have been playing the heck out of for Direct Buy. Oh, you can save so much money! Whatever! My husband and I are in the beginning stages of starting a remodel of our home. We thought we'd check out Direct Buy since you can "save so much money". We went on-line - filled out their requested information and received a pass to come to their open house. During that week - we had 5 phone calls from various people at Direct Buy confirming our visit for Saturday. This was my initial red flag - do they think we are idiots? I am intelligent enough to remember that we have an "appointment". So - we get there on Saturday and are greeted nicely. When it's our turn - we are taken to a table and talked to for a few minutes. Then we are all corraled into a room to watch a cheesy DVD. They don't want anyone asking questions. They go through this whole thing and then flash up a 3 second blurb about an 8% handling fee and they make their money from membership fees, blah, blah blah. Then they get to the $4,200 dues for the first two years and $200 for the following 8 years. I almost crapped myself right there. They are crazy! They give you about 3 minutes to stand in this room and look at the money saving comparisons they were using as examples and then you are whisked away back to the table. You aren't allowed to walk around their showroom or look at samples or anything. They want to prove to you that they are going to save you money - so they whip out catalogs and show you price lists, etc. A total bunch of BS! I am so glad my instincts told me this was a scam and we kindly told them we were not interested at this time. The sales guys attitude changed quickly and we were basically told "see ya". I wish I would have gone on-line and found this web-site before I wasted three hours of my life I can't get back!
Great if you're planning on remodeling a kitchen
7/13/2007 - Rani of California, USA writes:
We joined over a year ago and cringed as we handed over our $5K for the membership. However, we knew we the long run we were going to make it up because we had (2) kitchens to remodel. With this company, a kitchen remodel is the ONLY way you will make back your money and still save. We priced out the exact same cabinets (manufacturer and layout) elsewhere and we saved $15K on one kitchen and $7k on the other. If we didn't have the kitchens to do we would not have joined. The savings on everything else don't amount to much and the lead times are too long (sometimes 6-8 weeks).
