DirectBuy.com Discount Home Products Review

Overall 1.50 of 5 view all 2 reviews

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EcoMargaret
Philadelphia, PA

Make this your last stop when comparison shopping.

service oriented, expecting good, fair service, compare prices, Homeowner, conscious of quality & cost, I believe in honesty

Pros

Lower product prices

Cons

Sketchy details up front

NOV

2007

My spouse and I are planning to renovate our kitchen, so I've been doing a great deal of information gathering online. I was very excited when I looked at the website for DirectBuy.com. But you have to go to an open house in one of their showrooms, in order to find out full details about the service It is easy to request and to receive a printed invitation to an open house, but they also restrict attendance only to the invited person and their spouse, and you both have to come together. No uninvited friends, relations, or children. They say it is because they don't want to work with dealers or middlemen, in order to keep their prices low and as part of their arrangement with their suppliers. So I requested an invitation, scheduled an appointment, and read through their brochure. Being unclear about some of the details, I called to get more information. When asking for more details about the stores, I was told that everything would be explained at the open house. I also asked if we would be expected to decide whether or not to join their "buying club" (and pay the membership fee) at the open house. The phone representative was politely reluctant to say yes or no, so I asked to speak to her supervisor. The supervisor, in a very rude manner, confirmed that you have to sign up as a member before leaving the showroom after the open house, if you want to come back and shop there. I explained that we would be more comfortable having a day to mull over the commitment, but he accused me of expecting the company to make an exception to their business model just for us, without attempting to acknowledge our perspective. The phone rep at least expressed sympathy for our need to talk things over at length when making joint (and expensive) decisions. So I canceled our appointment. I never got around to asking about membership fees, which are set by the local stores. I did see on Yahoo Questions that some people had been asked to pay thousands of dollars just to join. I hope the discount on their purchases balanced the upfront fees. I wouldn't discourage anyone from checking out DirectBuy.com, but I think shoppers should be aware that to use this company effectively, you should make a visit to their showroom your last stop when comparison shopping and you should be planning on buying enough home furnishings, appliances, and goods to balance the membership fee.

DirectBuy.com Discount Home Products is not recommended by EcoMargaret

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Comments about EcoMargaret’s Review

a26c331 wrote on Jan 30, 2008 at 2:07PM

Inappropriate? Reply

Me too. I cancelled my appt when I heard it was $5000 to join and you had to decide on the spot or lose the opportunity forever. Sounds like a scam to me!

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