DirectBuy review: poorly run business and a rip off! 81

I've had pretty much the same results with the addition of the fact that if you want to order blinds or window coverings, they want you to use their person to measure and install, all with extra fees including a trip charge, none of witch was told before committing to the contract. If you need an appliance quickly, forget it, and if the time for delivery(to the warehouse) is correct in the catalogues, you will wait 6 to 8 weeks for most items.

It's all a big joke. There is no convenience and very little if any savings. For example, i priced microwave ovens on-line through direct buy by manufacturer, and decided on the magic chef stainless steel. It was priced at $199.00 plush shipping, handling, and tax. Before ordering i shopped around locally and found that home depot and lowes had the exact item for the exact price, less the shipping and handling. That's just one small example!
"beware"

Totally agree. Is there anyway to get out of paying the rest of the membership fees without out wrecking your credit? Further more they could keep all money that I paid to date. I need a way out of this night mare...

I join Direct Buy in March 2007 with all the hopes to save money. When I started to make research to buy articles, I realized that the real savings where not really there and then when I made some research on the web about Direct Buy and that I saw all the complains, I freaked out...then I could see my $4,960 membership cost that I paid entirely going down the drain. I immediately call Direct Buy, Ottawa, where I took my membership. It was 12 days after that I joined the club. I talked to the owner and explained that there were no real savings on the articles that I wanted to purchase to renovate my house and told him that I would like to cancel my membership. After few persuasions, he said to send him back all the documentations that I received from them and that they would reimburse me...which they did. So I guess that I am one of the lucky one with Direct Buy and that there is few good people in this company.

I think you should do your research before joining. Also In most cases and most provinces and state there is a grace period of 10 days after you sign a contract to cancel.

My wife and I joined Direct Buy after doing no research. We were sold on their membership by their pitch about saving 50-70% on most items. We paid $4200 for the membership up front using our credit card (their payment plan option charges 19% interest!)

After doing some research, we found that the savings is only really about 10-30% for most items. Ordering things were very difficult because they don't deliver to your house. You have to pick everything up at the warehouse, including appliances and furniture. Or they charge you extra for delivery even though you just paid 8% for "freight and handling". We did save a few hundred on a toilet, mattress, and some dinnerware. They didn't have a lot of brands we wanted and searching through their catalogs is overwhelming. We found that the inconvenience and long shipping times were not worth the small savings.

Luckily, we got a full refund through our credit card. We filed a complaint through BBB also but there was no resolution from Direct Buy. We originally just asked for a prorated refund but since Direct Buy would not comply, we just went through our credit card company and got the entire amount back.

Afterwards, we did price out some high end Hunter Douglas blinds (Luminette). You can save quite a bit on those but you still have to spend a lot. Our specific quote was $30,000 from a local retailer. Through Direct Buy, we could get the same thing with the measuring and installation for $14,000. If you are getting cheaper woven or standard blinds, then the savings is not as great but for the specific Luminettes (which are kind of overpriced) the math works out to be a good deal if you join Direct Buy.

Guess what the price to join Direct Buy is NOW 9/28/07 - $6000! Sorry this is a rip off...and the bottom line you do not get 50% off on most things they run from 20% to about 40%. You can do as well through a Interior designer if they offer the full discout. This is really a rip off company.

Can someone out there post what the shipping and handling fee markup % is?

I agree. They don't give you enough time to research before you commit. They want you to make a decision right then and there. My wife and I were a couple of their victims back in 05. Don't expect to get quality furniture from these people. You'll end up with furniture that looks like it was dragged in from across town. And don't expect them to have a customer first kind of business. It's all about their pocket book. They won't replace it, these idiots say that that they will fix it so it kinda looks brand new. Now tell me if this makes sense. You drop about $4,000 for a membership and about another $2000 to order an entertainment center. It comes in looking like it was totally manhandled. (Oh, and they still expect you to take it home) They see that your unhappy and that they know some people who are good with woodworking and they will go ahead and get them to fix it. Not replace it, FIX IT! This was not a one time deal with me. The entertainment center I ordered was a 6 piece purchase. 4 out of the 6 were damaged. It took 4 months to get NEW, UNDAMAGED pieces. If you like getting screwed, stressed, p**sed off and raising hell for months on out, then join. These criminals are waiting.

What a joke! I went in today to their "open house" or as I like to call it "sleaze bag sales tactic of the year" and it all seems so great, big discounts, everything you can imagine, but the last 5 minutes is where the truth comes out. "TODAY AND TODAY ONLY" , no real business would ever make you decide that day. I walked out laughing, they actually make you initial saying you have declined your membership and are never able to join or come back again. The reason they make you decide that day is so you can't do exactly what I did, go home and google comments on them. I have read over 50 and only a handful are positive. Also, I remember right when the presentation started they mentioned how they were part of the BBB, I don't know how that is possible with all the negative experiences I have read. It sounds like a good idea, just structured wrong. WHAT A SCAM, DON'T GET SUCKERED, DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU GO TO THE OPEN HOUSE AND YOU WILL SEE. STILL GO TO THE OPEN HOUSE SO YOU CAN LAUGH LATER AND THE DIRTY SALES PEOPLE.

I agree. Big mistake for me. We should spread the word so that about Direct Buy immoral business practice!

My husband and I were in Direct Buy today and we had an awful feeling that we were about to be duped if we signed on. So, we rang home and asked our son to quickly "Google" Direct Buy for complaints. This site came up and he read a selection of articles to us. We were convinced to leave the building immediately! So thank you for being such caring consumers as you helped us keep our hard earned $5000! We will have a better Christmas as a result and we will take our time researching each purchase in our up-coming renovation!

I've heard of people paying huge fees to join DirectBuy, but the more you squirm and look like you want to leave the lower the price goes. My wife and I paid about $2600 because we look young (to salespeople this equates to poor even thought both of us make very good salaries) and I kept saying, "Let's go, this is a TOTAL scam, and if it wasn't they'd let us think about it." I'm not stupid enough to join some ridiculous scam like this, but my wife insisted that we would save a lot of money. In six years we have saved about $1,000. You definitely *can* save money, but you have to go for big-ticket items like leather furniture, hot tubs, etc. I priced tires for my truck online and in local stores, and I was well over a thousand bucks, minimum, installed and balanced, before taxes. I bought these high-end all-terrain tires for $546, taxes (which are much higher in Canada than in the U.S.) included, and my dealer installed and balanced them for $80. That's a total of $374 saved on one purchase, and equals about a tire and a half for free. If I'd dropped $4,000 plus on a membership, which I wouldn't have, regardless of what my wife said, I wouldn't have saved anything, but we're building a house this year and in windows alone we'll save about $4200 according to the builder who's factoring in installation and framing. The most important thing for people to know about DirectBuy is that despite having told us that it was our only chance to join, we've been invited to the open house at least ten times since, even though we're already members. So take your time, get organized and know what you want to look at before you go so that you can get an idea of what you're going to save before you pay anything. If you need time to think about it, leave. Chances are, your membership costs will be haggled down until either you walk out the door or you think they're reasonable. Read the reviews and you'll quickly notice that the people who complain about DirectBuy the most thought they'd save money magically without spending any. Suddenly they walked out onto the street and said, I was cheated out of $4,000. How did that happen? Well, my friend, if you're too stupid to use your brain in a high-pressure situation, then my God, what did you pay for your last car? By the way, I've only reimbursed my wife for the money I've saved on the stuff I've bought, and we agreed that if we surpass our membership cost in savings I'd pay the balance of my half. Doubtful, but we don't buy anything, and you have to buy in order to save. I'm optimistic that we could do it if we tried.

I agree with these complaints about Direct Buy(Canada)this was a Con Job on the part of their Salespeople,the $4,000 fee is a big rip off by this Company. I contacted them about getting garage doors installed and they charged me $35.00 for an estimate,I asked if the customer has to pay for this service and I was told it was normal for a site inspection,when the company arrived at my house,they did minimum measurements and we discussed the product and the possible addition of adding a garage door opener,They told me it would have to be the product that they made and I could not have a Chamberline Product.I found this to be rather odd as they insisted on thier products,the short story is that I had another company quote at no charge and I went with them,even though they they did not make the Chamberline products they agreed to sell this product and install it with other items that we selected,and they were cheeper than what Direct Buy was offering us,SO I URGE BUYERS TO BEWARE OF DIRECT BUY and their scams and MEMBERSHIP COSTS>

Alf Ash

My husband and I are in the process of building a new home and I was going to attend the showroom using the "Free Pass" but after reading all the the complaints I will steer clear of this company. This site has been a blessing. Thanks to all of you that have posted.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2007/09/with-directbu-1.html

Don't believe anyone, except the non profit people, facts are clear. This is a rip off, SCAM...

I just saw a commercial for DirectBuyCanada (today Jan.26, 2008) on television. It looked legitimate, promising tons of savings. They had a 1-800 number and their web site (www.shopdirectbuy.ca) so I decided to have a look online. I expected to find a catalogue with their prices, and then when I found no mention of $$$ anywhere, I realized there was something fishy. Without price transparency you know they are trying to hide something. Even Costco lets you compare prices and annual membership fees so it's easy to see if you would really save and how much you need to buy.

This DirectBuy commercial was just A HOOK to get you to order their
"Insider's Pass and Visitor's Guide" and drag your ### into a showroom, where they would use high-pressure sales tactics to make you sign into a "MEMBERSHIP" of some kind. However, nowhere on the website did it mention any membership costs, or prices of items, so there was no way to compare and see if the savings outweigh the membership fees.

Then I decided to GOOGLE DirectBuy and thanks to all these messages, I avoided a huge waste of TIME AND MONEY following up with these RIPOFF artists. The more comments we write about them, the more often it will appear in a GOOGLE SEARCH. I am amazed that they are still getting away with this stuff, and that consumer-protection laws are not able to deal with this obvious scam.

Based on the huge variation of membership fees that people are reporting, they probably don't have a fixed fee. It seems like they charge a membership fee for whatever they think people are willing to pay, just so they don't walk out the door without paying something. If you come in wearing jeans and a ripped up shirt, maybe they make you pay less than if you look like you are in designer clothing and have a Mercedes parked outside.

If you want to be a good samaritan, visit a showroom by signing up at www.shopdirectbuy.ca, and then go there to warn all the innocent gullible people that it really is a scam. I would like to see a news show on them where they bring in hidden-cameras and expose everything. And keep the negative comments coming until there is a "Streisand Effect" (further negative publicity from company responses).

See the wikipedia.com article on DirectBuy...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectBuy

why have do i pay if i want to look and give me a time to pick which i want... why i have to pay 4000... if i want to buy just coffee table and endtable.. not cost over 4000... bull ###... costco cost less 50. dollars. i dont believe what i read.. wow... i disagree 100 percent for sure.

I have been asked many times to come to their open houses and take a look. And many times, I have declined. I am not about to spend $4K to join without doing a lot more research. Three words, come to mind: THIS IS REDICULOUS.

Yikes!

IF YOU ARE EVEN CONSIDERING DOING BUSINESS WITH DIRECTBYE, THEN READ THIS. Everyone needs to check out their so-called "lawyer" and his C&D letter (typed on a MS Word template - not even a company purchased letterhead. How cheap can you get.) threatening legal action.
http://www.citizen.org/documents/directbuycd.pdf

and the defendants response
http://www.citizen.org/documents/directbuyresponse.pdf

This from Consumers Reports may or may not be of any interst

With DirectBuy, it will cost you a lot to save

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2007/09/with-directbu-1.html

-In US, a court found the membership contract "grossly unconscionable" and that "Club membership is nothing more than a cleverly disguised method of selling nothing but hopes and dreams."
http://www.mlmlaw.com/library/cases/mlm/state/nyniemiec.htm

-In Canada, a provincial court found the membership agreement untenable and unenforcable because it violated the Consumer Protection Act, the Sales of Goods Act, and The Trade Practice Act. Read this at at paragraphs 13-20 of the ruling.
http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgments/pc/2002/01/p02%5F0197.htm

-In Ohio, Directbuy was sanctioned, fined, and the AG effected a change in Directbuy's apparent predatory sales tactics.
http://www.ag.state.oh.us/press/08/02/pr080213_a.pdf

-From DirectBuy's Membership Agreement, read carefully:
"
IMPORTANT MERCHANDISE TERMS:
- The Club disclaims all warranties regarding the merchandise
- Any need for subsequent repairs or service, after receipt of merchandise, is members’ own responsibility.
- MERCHANDISE MAY NOT BE RETURNED.
- The entire merchandise price plus handling fee, estimated freight and sales tax is required as a down payment at the time of placing an order with the Club.
- Suppliers reserve the right to change their prices without notice.
- From time to time some suppliers and services are dropped and others are added
- Only the supplier has the right to cancel an order.
"
http://edumacation.com/DirectBuyMembershipAgreement

- Court decisions
- Attorney General Actions
- No warranties
- No returns
- No guarantee of savings

All this for $5000.00 up-front membership fee?

Glad this seems to be a great deal for Mr. X. It may or may not be a great deal for others.

It doesn't seem like it is a good deal for a lot of people.

I certainly got scammed. I joined Direct Buy on Feb 2007 and paid $4,600 in the Elmsford, New York location. The hype to sign up is unbelievable. They have bagels and coffee for potential "victims". They do not allow you to look around until after you have sat through their one-hour session about how much you are going to save and how it easy and convenient it is. What they don't tell you is that whatever it is you want to buy, you have to research it in the books -- this means going through books for hours and without any help. Then you have to figure out how much would the item would cost, so you have to bring your calculator to figure things out. They claim to have contractors, which they don't. I spoke to several of their alleged contractors, who were referrals through them, who were not licensed. I spoke to a closet maker they referred me to and after setting an appt. they never showed up. I informed the Owner of the Elmsford location, who told me he could not believe that had happened since no one had ever complained before. This has been a horror story -- the wasted hours, the false promises, the aloofness from the onwers and the staff, once you sign on, leaves a lot to be disired. I purchased kitchen appliances and was told that I should go to PC Richards, pick them out and then they could get me a better price. They quote the wrong prices, which I have in writing and have a message from one of their employee, yet they inform me that I misunderstood. I play the message to them and then they state they do not have the paperwork. It has been one scam after the other. Whatever you do, do not join. Anyone interested in bringing a class action against these scam artists, I am in. We need to stop scams!

I disagree with most of the complaints on here. I got a Direct Buy membership after learning about DB from a high school friend who works there. I was lucky enough to be better informed. I found out all about the one time sales pitch before hand from my friend. I strongly disagree with their sales tactics but I do see the point. My friend has related plenty of horror stories of how a visitor drives over to Future Shop and demands a new plasma at cost right after the visit. Heck, he has gotten angry calls from Future Shop about impatient members who do the same thing. The Ottawa location lost a garden supplies provider when a member took a confidential Direct Buy quote and drove over and demanded the same price so she could save delivery time. Her membership was revoked and that business dropped DB as a sales channel. She violated the rules and other members lose out (we cannot access that supplier). Yet she is probably going to be complaining on a forum like this soon.

When I joined, I had him price out different items I intended to buy which allowed me gauge my potential return. Lastly, I found out that since all DB locations are franchises, each one has a different membership fee. The newest locations tended to have the lowest fees but the highest annual renewal fees. Luckily one of these new locations was in my area. So I purchased the membership for around $3500 CAD in Aug 2006. I plan on renewing at a location with a cheaper annual rate. Find a new location, and you will definitely not have to pay $6000.

I have benefited immensely from this membership. I bought a new condo and I did purchase all my furniture and appliances from Direct Buy. By my estimation, within 2 years I have recovered my fee. They had all the brands and the models, the type of furniture (a Nicoletti couch - only sold in Montreal) and rare items I could not find (an LG combo washer/dryer that was withdrawn from retail). In fact, I am always overwhelmed by the amount of choice (for example colours and materials on furniture) that I have at DB.

The location I joined at, advised potential customers not to join unless they had major purchases and were likely to recover their investment. The reality of DB is that it takes some compromise and elbow grease on your part to enjoy those savings. This means you have to do the research before you buy. You have to pick up and install purchases yourself. And you have to have items you need to buy, (ie major appliances or home improvement items) or non-traditional items (like the aforementioned combo washer/dryer) that you would like to have. And you have to have major purchases to make. Unless, you are likely to purchase at least 15 000 dollars worth of merchandise in the next two years, you are unlikely to recover a satisfying portion of your membership.

In my experience (and having inside knowledge from an employee), those who complain have entirely unrealistic expectations and a poor understanding of how DB and retailers operate. The fact that many contractors use DB says plenty about how cost effective they are. But there are bound to be compromises. You don't get the brand you want sometimes , they don't sell low end merchandise, you cant return anything (they are not a store with a warehouse, they are a club), and you have to cart it away yourself or pay for delivery. If you want to join you have to weigh these issues out. If you are choosy on brands (ie Sony is not offered but Samsung is), DON'T JOIN. If you need to visit a showroom to buy an item, DON'T JOIN. If you need to talk to sales people, and you are not an independent shopper, DON'T JOIN. If you want everything to delivered the next day after you pay for it, DONT JOIN. If you don't like to set up and install things yourself, DONT JOIN. And if you have no major purchases to make, DON'T JOIN. If you are satisfied shopping at Walmart and Ikea, DONT JOIN. Direct Buy does not carry brands that can compete on price with gypsum board furniture.

Lastly, your expectations have to be realistic. Electronics tend to have markups of only 15-25%. The Direct Buy price compares well on the cost price for many electronics at retailers like Best Buy (I have a cousin who works there and I have compared prices). Occasionally, however, retailers like Best Buy do sell below cost so it will be cheaper to shop there than DB. This is however, the exception, not the rule. With items like furniture, or home improvement and building materials there is no comparison. Italian made furniture sells for 30-40% of the retail price. Granite counters go for half the price of outside contractors with more choice of materials and finishes. Tires for my car are over half off. On a set of winter tires, that over $600 in savings. A single purchase like that every year, could recover your membership value over time.

In short, you have to time and effort to put in, to truly materialize savings. And you have to money to spend. DB is not meant for bargain basement shoppers. It is meant for those who are value conscious (not price conscious - there is a difference), who make informed decisions and take the long view of purchases they make (granite counters add value to your house, a new plasma tv does not). If you are not this type of person, do yourself, the staff and other members a favour, and stay out of the showroom. The rest of us have some shopping to do.

ps. I posted the above comment as annonymous in various locations. I think the crap being posted about DB is entirely unfair and uninformed. The only reason I posted as annonymous is to protect info about my friend who works tehere who went to great lengths to help me decide if joining was right for me.

We started to see their commericals here in northern Illnois starting last year sometime. Did not give them much thought until we decided it was time to
remodel the kitchen so we thought we'd check them out and see if they had any better prices on contertops and cabinets than what we had already priced at a variety of sources.

I emailed via their website and got their "catalog" with the pass card in the mail. My husband's first comment looking at the catalog was.. that's nice so where
are the prices and their membership fee, if they don't put it up front what is the problem or what are they hiding. When I thought about joining Sam's Club
or Costco years ago I called their customer service number and asked what their membership fees were.. they told me right over the phone or I could go into one of their stores and get the pamphlet and it was in there as well.

Called DirectBuy told them I had their mailing but we would like to know what the membership fee was and who they used locally to source the kitchen
stuff like counters and cabinets. I got one big run around and vague reply that kept going back to .. membership fees are different for different areas .. what sense does that make ? other than to hit people that seem to be able to afford more by the area they live in vs. those in more downscaled areas ?

Setting up the appointment for the open house ... I have never dealt with such pushy people other than car salesmen. We had to cancel a few times due to
our own business which is a 7 day a week thing.

We finally went and were dumbfounded not to drive up to a large warehouse operation but a small rental office in a office complex that was more empty with
For LEASE or SALE signs then any sign of people there doing business. Everything inside was loud and hard pitched sales. The presentation was "interesting"
to be nice about it.. they elude to a lot they provide very little in fact.

What they do well is try and force you into getting that membership filled out and signed and paid for. THAT is their one and only goal period . When the presentation speaker concluded our open house meeting with a big smiling face and comment that our membership fee for that area was ONLY $4900 ! my husband and I had all we could do to keep from laughing out loud. He did some quick math in his head and said.. counters, sink fixture and new countertop stove.. there is no savings here for us if we shell out $4900 in membership fees, its a waste of our time and money... we want to sell the house, means we would be moving out of this state and no anywhere NEAR another one of these to justify the outrageous membership fee.

If you are building a new home from ground up or gutting and rehabing a complete house it might pay off if you do a lot of the work yourself espeically in reasearch to make sure you get the best prices. But even then I'm not so sure. This is for the "do it for me" crowd.. here I paid you - make it easy for me and do it for me and let me know when it finished.

A little reasearch on my end with computer, sale papers, phonebook and phone and I can get what we heed and even have it installed for less than what could be
had via DirectBuy and not pay them $4900 for using their books on site.

We decided it was not for us and started to leave after the presentation - talk about someone blocking your path to the door out.. it was outrageous.. we told them NO we were not interested but they kept insisting... we had to push our way OUT Of there to get out and away from them.

Since our little adventure husband has come across 3 people that have joined and used them... none of have been very happy - one was so-so ok with the whole thing, noting that as owner of his company and what he makes in Salary the 4900 was no big deal to him and he saved a little since they did a big rehab job but
he could not see any savings in smaller jobs or items and had had it not been for the big rehab of their house he would not have even considered it. 2 others were still
kicking themselves for being talked into it - they didn't need much to be done and could have found it cheaper elsewhere and are now stuck with the 4900 memberhsip at a high interest finance they are paying off long after their furniture was delivered. One lady said everything dealing with them has been a disaster since she signed on the dotted line and all she has to show for it is furniture she is NOT happy with, took weeks longer than they told her to arrive and she had to pay outrageous delivery fees since she does not have a big vehicle to use to pick up and now she has years to keep paying on a membership she will never use again.

Buyers beware.. if it sounds to good to be true, it always is !

Yep! I saw the infomercial..(late-night)... on tv last night and decided to look into this venture. $$$Thousands in savings! No middle man!, were repeatedly shoved in my face. Nowhere did they mention a $4, 000 membership join-up fee! I kind of expected a joiners fee, but 4 grand? I think that's not gonna happen! Anyway, I Googled Direct Buy and clicked onto this site, my best move all day. Thanks to all you guys and my little voice, I will never be their sucker. Read the letters mentioned by Sammy Urban and see for yourself the incompetence of Direct Buy and their ill-informed, misleading lawyer..pronounced.."liar".

Directbuy is a JOKE...I worked there..I should know off hand, I worked at Vancouver location...the management is POOR and the ownership is beyond unprofessional! If U were thinking of joining...DONT..everything always comes in damaged, late, half of the items are missing and sometimes they order you the wrong thing and then they try to fix it but ends up coming in 4-5 months later then it was suppose to come in..The atmosphere and always negative, the owners dont know the first thing of running a business, they dont appreciate their workers or the people who have joined..they are only after ur money...please if you read this tell everyone that you know that not to joing Directbuy...it will be the worst mistake that u have made...

I would have to agree with the last person...Directbuy is a joke, its was hell when i was ordering my flooring and that little lady that does the flooring has the WORST people skills ever! I dont know where they hired her from but if you dont know how to deal with people...you shouldnt leave your house..

My husband and I joined Direct Buy about 3 months ago. We were in the process of buying a fixer upper home and we very impressed with the savings they promissed. Off course we were hesitant when we heard the membership fee but they do know how to press and force you to make a decision right away. So, we made the BIG MISTAKE of putting money down and signing the contract and getting financing for the balance with them. We did purchase the kitchend appliances with them, we saved about $600 total, then we decided to order the kitchen cabinets with them, the DB arquitect gave us the total cost of the cabinets if we were to buy them elsewere, he said they would cost us $19, 000 but since we are buying through DB they were only $6, 800 including delivery. We were really pleased with the savings but at the next day I decided to go to Lowes to compare apples with apples... I got the quote from Lowes for the very same cabinets and they were $6, 900, however Lowes also had a promotion that month where for every $1, 000 spent on cabinets, they will give you $100 store credit... that means if we were to buy the cabinets at Lowes we would have ended saving money. My husband after 20 phone calls and 5 appointments, was finally able to be seen by the owner, who claimed that they had made a "mistake" with the cabinets order and they refunded us a check for $400... even with this refund, the cabinets could be bought at Lowes for about the same or lower prices... PLEASE DO NOT JOIN... I am really not interested in going near DB anymore. I just think in the $3, 700 balance we have to pay and I am looking to cancel this contract... Please send me any suggestions as of what we should do to terminate this membership.

If any of the unfortunate victims of this scam want to get some revenge, I sugest that they should gather as much pricing information for items sold by Direct Buy as possible and anonymously post this information on multiple web sites. Be aware that Direct Buy will most definitely attempt to have this "confidential" information removed and prosecute and/or sue those responsible for posting it so please follow these 3 simple guidelines to protect yourself and the web site operators hosting the sites where you post the information:
1. Post the information using a publicly accessible computer (such as in a library) or from a computer connected to a public wifi network (such as in a coffee shop)
2. Do not include any personal information or information that could be potentially used to identify you as the poster.
3. Post the information to sites that are hosted outside of the United States and Canada so that it will be much hard for Direct Buy to have the information removed

Hmmm, ask yourself what guarantees, if any, does Directbuy offer or is it true that in DirectBuy’s sales contract says:

"IMPORTANT MERCHANDISE TERMS:
- The Club disclaims all warranties regarding the merchandise
- Any need for subsequent repairs or service, after receipt of merchandise, is members? own responsibility.
- MERCHANDISE MAY NOT BE RETURNED.
- The entire merchandise price plus handling fee, estimated freight and sales tax is required as a down payment at the time of placing an order with the Club.
- Suppliers reserve the right to change their prices without notice.
- From time to time some suppliers and services are dropped and others are added
- Only the supplier has the right to cancel an order."

http://edumacation.com/DirectBuyMembershipAgreement

No Warranties, No Price Guarantees, No Returns, No Guarantee of any savings, 100% purchase price due upon ordering, "Suppliers" can change prices or cancel at any time, and no guarantee of "Supplier" availability; this just to name a few of the "benefits" agreed to in their sales contract costing what? $5000.00 or more depending upon the franchisee and the financing terms.

You guessed it: It's a scam!

Here's what the Consumer Watchdog in Hartford, CT found:

"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."

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

This might explain why some people are complaining that the expected savings are not really there.

If you want to confirm the wathdogs's information, look in Directbuy's publicly available UFOC - Uniform Francise Offering Circular. It contains disclosures on how they operate and that they do in fact received discounts and rebates without passing them on to the franchised location and members. These discounts and rebates include volume incentive discounts, quantity discounts, and pre-payment discounts, among others. Also, contained in the UFOC is a copy of their Standard Franchise Agreement. Conataind within that are contractual clauses that allow the franchisor to keep all discounts and rebates without passing them on to anyone, just as the Courant reported.

Here are two companies who collect and sell copies of franchise offering circulars:

FRANDATA Corporation,
http://www.frandata.com/shopping/products/default.aspx
and enter "Directbuy" in the search terms box. They have the 2006 and 2008 Directbuy UFOC available

FranchiseHelp, Inc.,
http://www.franchisehelp.com/Direct-Buy/public.showprod.cfm/productid/1768
brings you directly to where you can obtain the latest UFOC from FranciseHelp.com

Hope this helps everyone who wants to learn more about Directbuy

A couple of years ago our house burned. When we started to build a new one I told my husband I was going to buy everything I could on eBay. Then I saw a DB commercial & called for information. I was told I'd have to set a date, drive to Shreveport (3 hours away), and when I asked what the membership was the reply was "I don't know". Needless to say, we did not follow through. I would love to challenge DB to a competition with me buying on eBay vs. their merchandise. I can guarantee that I would win hands down. I bought a great many things, from 2 Rinnai tankless water heaters, solid oak flooring, top of the line vintage Baker furniture, hand knotted oriental rugs, wallpaper (including silk paper from Italy), sink fittings, light fixtures, fans, etc., etc. In fact, every room in the house, as well as the front porch & the garage, has eBay bargains. just a quick example: the lady who hung the silk paper said it would be $350.00-$450.00 per roll. I paid under $300.00 for ten rolls!
You know the saying, "Everything but the kitchen sink"? Well, I even bought the kitchen sink!

Last New Year's Eve I found out how much the membership is from an aquaintance whose son has opened one. When he told me $5000.00 I nearly fell out of my chair. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing in his face. What I did took time, but it really paid off . I bought things I could not have afforded at retail. Oh, and if the young man who bought the franchise I mentioned sells a certain number of memberships in 2 years he gets a Lexus to drive for 2 years.

To all positive COMMENTS...
N I C E T R Y !
...beter luck next time.

For those NEG.
Thanks alot on your help!

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 May 11 Watchdog 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.

we just got back from our direct buy sales pitch..so boring..we r putting in a nu kitchen and figured we would look into direct buy. We did no research until right now, i am so glad we didnt join..17% interest rate on a 5k memborship..really..the prime rate is down to 1%, they tell u to charge it w/ a low rate credit card...no thanks, i do believe u save $ by ordering alot of stuff, but u need to spend alot of $ to save..just go to a member and order thru them..

just got back from a direct buy sales pitch, join now or else..goodbye, 5k w/ 17% interest ..gee lets think about it for 2 seconds, , no way...i feel sorry for the sales people they r leaving in droves b/c no one is joining ..how could anyone join in these tough times..direct buy is a franchise ..something i didnt know..if u want to buy something go thru an existing member..save $

It's been 2 years since we became members with DirectBuy. It was the same line, "You have to join today or never have the opportunity again. You will save thousands of dollars, yadda, yadda." We spent 2 hours there adding and figuring and decided we would save money because we knew we would be remodeling in 1-3 years and thought we would definately recoup the membership fee of $3600. But we are very unhappy with them. We ordered 2 bedroom drawers and waited 6 weeks for them to be delivered. Luckily we had a truck by that time. When they arrived we opened them in the warehouse as they told us to do. one piece was damaged so we sent it back (wait another 6 weeks) and the other piece was ok. When we got the replacement I checked again in the warehouse and everything looked ok. When we got it home we noticed the wood color was not matched properly on the front and one drawer has a defective slide so using that drawer is frustrating. It seems the manufacturer sent out their worst stuff because they knew it would be difficult for the buyers to get it replaced etc. The same pieces in Penneys were about twice as much. But looking back it would have been a better quality set. Penneys would not have accepted that furniture from the manufacturer. We have been in several times since then to look at buying many things. One thing that sort of worked out was the bathroom tile for our DIY project. But the extra tile I bought by mistake could not be returned. The other big problem is the people in this store are sort of weird and not very helpful to us. Also, at the end of the original sales pitch on that day 2 years ago the owner gave a religious pitch for his church. We thought that was really out of line and totally inappropriate. We should have listened to our inner voice back then. I don't think we will recoup the money, because we are so unhappy about being in the showroom and having to deal with all the ordering, shipping and waiting hassles.

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 Caifornia), and shop us with their little notepad just to price us and see what the product looks like before ordering through them because unfortunately for them DB shows only pics. 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 dont have any inventory. 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 store with cameras to take pics. and looking for sku's making our sales staff waste all their time trying to help you beacuase you can not get professional help at DB, so you can go back to them and buy. We know you are thrying to get moneys worth from that horrible decision you made. But, you did it to yourself!

went to a open house in Fairfield, ca. Store "Manager" they were all managers apparently..was rude and hostile when me and my husband asked questions regarding his commission and the reality of price savings. When showing us and the other ocuples the price saving on mini blinds, asnother woman asked him to proce a specific brand which they had just recieved a quote on..he refused and showed her a pre determined example (RED FLAG)We were more or less thrown out of the showroom and had to ask for our free gifts, which he reluctantly and grudgingly gave to us. I was happy because I got a free dinner and a movie out of the deal, and the lifetime of laughter when I think of the pathetic salesmen and the song and dance they have to perform every night in order to eek out a living. DIRECT BUY IS A SCAM...THEY ARE RUDE AND SECRETIVE. DO NOT FALL FOR IT...

Why are companies like Directbuy continually allowed to operate in the manner that they do. I think that in every city there's a Directbuy we should get as many disatisfied customers together with signage close to but not on Directbuy property and warn prospective "new" customers about how Directbuy operates. Maybe if a lot of noise is made publicly where TV media could be alerted they might rethink their position on refunding memberships.