Went to the local home show and was high pressured into purchasing a membership into the “exclusive DirectBuy” members club. I didn’t bite but I am still curious. I have now been mailed my “visitors Pass” and I want to attend but think its just a high pressure sales job after which I write a check for membership. Anybody care to fill me in on the real deal. What does membership cost? Did you sign up? Is it worth it if you are doing a major remodel. Come on give me the skinny, am I wasting my time even going just to look. I don’t cave-in to high pressure sales tactics so I won’t be tempted in fact,the more pressure I see being applied just sends me the wrong message. If is so great why high pressure and that leads me to the conclusion that,if its so good word of mouth should be all they need. Please post ASAP pass is only good for this thursday,yeah right! Tell me I’m just a cynic and that its a good thing.
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Do a few google searches and you'll have been forewarned.
I checked after watching the TV commercial, thinking - "what's the catch?"
Apparently you may well have no recourse in terms of warranty, delivery date, quality of goods, etc.
Sounds like a big huge stay away - don't even bother letting them get all over your case at the open house - worst case scenario - they might actually talk you into it.
Do the google, check bizrate.com, maybe resellerratings.com and your local better business bureau - chances are you'll find enough reasons not to risk the hassle.
JT
If it looks too good to be true. You said what I was already thinking. Only the fact that I already said I would attend would make me go. I an on the phone right now to cancel. Thanks for the info. Just for your info I was on the phone when your message came and asked my caller her opinion. I can't repeat what she said,I would get my mouth washed out with soap for using that kind of language. Take care and thanks again for your help with a quick response.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/remodel/msg1123291219990.html?3
Thanks for info. I called and canceled my "free visitor Pass' . They put me on hold for 5 min. and transferred me twice until someone answered. They asked why and I told them about all the negative feedback,the agent quickly gave me advice to call the local BBB which I declined. Can you imagine telling a client,that you dont even know, to call the BBB and that you had resolved the current claim issues. Also asked to be put on the "do not call" list and of course they promised to do so. I am of course expecting a call from my "agent". I saved all the sites I was sent to regarding the negative feedback because I will take her call and make sure she fully understands why she should NEVER call me again. Thanks again for the help.
I've seen the commericals... it's kinda like they make you "special" and "let" you join their club like it's a resort or something only for the "few" when my mom use to come home and proclaim "it was 50% off" my dad would always say 50% off of what? my wife is the same way now... when all these huge stores have 50% sales I have to think about the guy the day before that paid full price...
and while I'm on a rant... when i'm at the supply house and they have 6 different prices for the same item i'm ticked off... even if they tell me I'm getting "best price" ( NAPA auto parts is real bad about this...) because 1 you never know if you are getting the best price and 2 you shouldn't have to ask... yes i understand if i'm buy'n a full bunk of 2x4's I should get a better price than they guy buy'n 6 boards... but if 3 of us are standing there each buy'n 500 boards we should all get the same price (if none of us are yankees that is)...
"retail price" means nothing ... double pricing is standard in many industries on the first sticker thats ever on an item it's marked $199.00 that is crossed out and $99.99 marked under it ... like it ever was $199... you just saved $100 by spending $100 fun...
p
p
Ever get the feeling you're really at a flea market in Mexico?
You bringing up the question probably casued me to save 'thousands'.
LOL
I read it just for sh^ts and giggles .
Man , thats bad , real, bad .
Tim
I'm glad this thread came up because I have been almost tempted to get one of those 'free passes'. Just seemed 'too good' though and I'm always a little gun shy when they don't disclose the price right off.
Gave me an incentive to doo a little checking up. Now I don't feel so bad about all the money I missed saving!
I checked into it after seeing the TV add & the two things that stuck out is that they never tell you how much the membership costs (it's in the thousands) until you visit on your "free pass" & and you have to decide at that moment if you are going to join or else you can't join for a period of time (4 years?).
I will now have to live with the heartbreak of never knowing how much I could have saved. This is going to keep me up at night for at least 30 or 40 seconds. I just feel sorry for the people who attend trying to do home repairs on a tight budget and this bunch of sleazy operators take the first 3 or 5 thousand off the top. What is wrong with this country,why do we allow such underhanded things to exist? You know if this was the gaming commissions area to administer you would see those adds they run about gambling addictions. But it falls under consumer affairs and we all know they are asleep at the wheel. If the private sector wrote the consumer laws you would never hear from these operators again. They would run at the site of an inspector. They all would go get real jobs and do something positive for the good of the consumer. I would love to hear from the so called industries they claim to sell for. How does a G E or a large carpet mill feel about these two bit cheats. Is that what corporate America calls their "customer base" How can they allow this to take place. I guess a sale is a sale is a sale and they just count the coin. You know it would take one phone call from one company president to another to stop this cold. They would agree to not allow this kind of middleman. They would support the franchises they sell to that are legitimate operations and we would all be better off for it. Come on Corporate America lets remember the fundamentals of good honest consumer relations. Did you ever think that once someone signs up for the direct buy system and then gets burned buying your product that they are going to be back. I would just assume you are in on the take with them,nice cozy little scam,they take the heat and you have a sale. Only one thing wrong with this idea,sooner or later it catches up to you. Ask the auto makers how it worked for them when they ignored their customer base. Nobody thinks twice anymore about off shore cars,ask why not how.
Corporate business today measures everything by the size of the silver dollar.
Might make a good tagline.
Just look at Krispy Kreme.
They are pretty good donuts. Had a great rep. Old family business got taken over and the franchiseers took over.
They have now closed all seven or eight KK stores in Houston and lot's of other places after a lawsuit between the company and store owners over contract issues.
Best I heard it stated was that Krispy Kreme was more focused on making money from the franchisees than in helping them sell donuts.
Basically, they killed their golden goose.
If you are going to do a LOT of purchasing for a home you will make your money back. If you are just going to buy little things forget about it. We have a membership and made it back three-fold. The first was with faucets and fixtures in a new house including a whirlpool tub. We made it back again with kitchen/bath cabinets and counters. We had estimates from 6 separate design houses (high end to basic) but all with the same cabinet plan. Between cabinets and counters we came in about 7K less than the lowest of the other 5 estimates and these were for paint and stain cabinets with no particle board.
Having said that, there have been a dozen things I priced out through there that just didn't result in a savings. Now that our big stuff is out of the way, I don't expect to use the membership much if at all. I do have a friend that swears by it but I don't think she shops around.