Direct Buy?????

Anyone know anything about it?? I signed on for info since there is one in Pensacola...but now it's starting to have that "time share" feel.....:idontno:

My daughter researches these things on the internet as a hobby. She told me that this is like the buyers' club from hell. You get in, but you can not get out. I think she said you had to pay some ridiculous membership fee and then the prices were not that great.

http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams

I don't have personal experience with Direct Buy. We have one locally. But I know someone who used them when she gutted her kitchen and she was very happy. Said she saved quite a bit of money.

My daughter researches these things on the internet as a hobby. She told me that this is like the buyers' club from hell. You get in, but you can not get out. I think she said you had to pay some ridiculous membership fee and then the prices were not that great.

http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams

They must be owned by AOL. 😀

Well, I'm in Illinois, but I think they are the same pretty much everywhere. Years ago when we were re-doing our house, we joined. It was then called united consumers club. The cost at that time was around $650. to join and then there were yearly dues. We saved a lot of money, but we re-did almost our entire home. Last year, we went to one of their meetings again (with some friends who thought it mite work for them) and found out the joining cost now is $5,000.Unless you are going to re-do a lot or are building a new place, I don't think it's worth it. They do have name brands (furniture, cabinets, appliances, tile, wood flooring, carpets, etc.) and everything is picked out of catalogs. You also have to pay for shipping and most of the time find a delivery person. Again, good products, but costly to join. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the answers. We are building a new house, but I really don't have time for a big "sales" job. I just need it done. I'm kind of thinking ....NO!

I do know that if it's like that to join, I'm definitly out!

Some close friends of my parents swear by Direct Buy. They joined prior to building their house and they say that when you total up how much they purchased and what it would have cost, that they saved something like $25,000.

Well, I'm in Illinois, but I think they are the same pretty much everywhere. Years ago when we were re-doing our house, we joined. It was then called united consumers club. The cost at that time was around $650. to join and then there were yearly dues. We saved a lot of money, but we re-did almost our entire home. Last year, we went to one of their meetings again (with some friends who thought it mite work for them) and found out the joining cost now is $5,000.Unless you are going to re-do a lot or are building a new place, I don't think it's worth it. They do have name brands (furniture, cabinets, appliances, tile, wood flooring, carpets, etc.) and everything is picked out of catalogs. You also have to pay for shipping and most of the time find a delivery person. Again, good products, but costly to join. Hope this helps.

That sort of system would really be great years ago. But with internet, and a little bit of time, I would think that you could come very close to their prices today. But some people do not have the time, so the $5K is a good deal in that case.

Anyone know anything about it?? I signed on for info since there is one in Pensacola...but now it's starting to have that "time share" feel.....:idontno:

What/who "ecouraged" you to even consider Direct Buy (TV or newspaper ad, telemarketer, "friend")?

What are they charging you for membership?

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With the current economy and dearth of new construction, I would think anyone remodeling a home could get some great deals without having to shell out 5 grand for the privilege.

With the current economy and dearth of new construction, I would think anyone remodeling a home could get some great deals without having to shell out 5 grand for the privilege.

And Beachmom has enough talent and smarts to do this herself, and better.

She should start her own Directbuy. This girl finds better and cooler deals than anybody I know.

What/who "ecouraged" you to even consider Direct Buy (TV or newspaper ad, telemarketer, "friend")?

What are they charging you for membership?

.

Just ads here and there, curious what it was all about. Don't know how much for membership, I guess you have to listen to their sales spil for that- which I won't be doing.

And Beachmom has enough talent and smarts to do this herself, and better.

She should start her own Directbuy. This girl finds better and cooler deals than anybody I know.

:rolling:Lookin like IKEA to me!!

:rolling:Lookin like IKEA to me!!

:clap:...all I could think when I read this Direct Buy stuff was...

Run Beachmom, Run! 😱

Now, run to IKEA!

Just ads here and there, curious what it was all about. Don't know how much for membership, I guess you have to listen to their sales spil for that- which I won't be doing.

Interesting story I found online about Direct Buy. (Next financial crisis after subprime, Alt-A and credit card receivables might be the "Direct Buy" loan portfolios :cool:)

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My Wife and I went into the local office in West Palm Beach, and from the get go I thought that these people were too nice. But they showed us the hour presentation and told us that if we did no buy today we could not come back for life ( that’s a bunch of CRAP, PLEASE DO NOT FALL FOR THIS) I told my wife that we can’t afford there $5000 memberships. My wife talked me into signing up with the WORST COMPANY IN HISTORY. What we did was we made a $500 dollar deposit and we would pay it off in the next 2 years (sounds good right) Let me tell you what happens when you sign the contract, These people sold the loan to a bank that I have never heard of the first week. What I found out is that when you sign the contract you are giving these people the right to go out and apply for a loan in your name. This company went out and got a $4500 loan in our name at a 18% interest rate and we tried to cancel the membership and they said that there’s nothing they can do about it, because they already got there money. IF YOU ARE READING THIS PLEASE I BEG YOU STAY AWAY FOR THIS COMPANY THEY ARE CROOKS.
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Here's a story of how the sales pitch is carried out (Sounds a bit Time-Sharey...no?)

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My wife and I went to their closest franchise store, a 35 minute drive, this afternoon for their 90 minute tour. It started with a quick introductory meeting with someone who called himself a director followed by three video segments interspersed with pitches from a manager telling us how much retail prices are marked up and comparing their prices on a number of products. The video emphasized that they had rules and that we would not be allowed to shop their prices, also that if we didn't agree to join today for $6982 we would never be allowed to return. We were then taken on a 10 minute walk around the store which consists mainly of catalogs and some fabric and flooring samples. Then the four couples were separated with two couples each meeting together with one director. In our group the main questions were why weren't we told that we had to choose today or never and that if we didn't they would take our name tags and show us the door. I asked to look at the catalogs to see more about what they had and the prices, I was told that they are not a store and that the catalogs would be opened only after we paid the $6,982. The director then showed us the payment options which were in full now or financing over two years through a separate finance company, apparently from this site a subsidiary of Direct Buy, at what he said was a somewhat high rate (17.4% I think). When he asked us to sign up both couples asked for time to talk privately and we were shown to tables in separate rooms; after just a few minutes the man from the other couple found us saying that he was in the security business and could tell from looking at me that I was very suspicious, as was he. While he was talking with us the manager who'd given the presentation noticed, a hard look ensued, and our director quickly hustled over and stood discretely by, but close enough to hear what was being said. Even after the other man left and the director sat down the high pressure tactics continued even after I'd taken off my name tag. When we told him no he showed us to the lobby and said there's the door.

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But wait...there's more!

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Yes you are right. It's a scam, a variation of the Advance Fee Fraud scheme, parting people from their money. Here’s how it works:

The potential victim is enticed to enquire about more information after watching a compelling infomercial, hearing a radio-add, or seeing any number of slick internet spam adds promising insider savings.

An informative letter/packet is sent afterwards inviting them to an open house so they can see for themselves how much others like them have saved and how much they themselves would save, along with some form of an invitation to join, called a Visitors-Pass.

The letter and subsequent follow-up telephone calls promise rich rewards of savings by buying direct from the manufacturer, at cost, with no Mark Up, No Middleman, just like many other savy insiders do if only they were members of this so called highly esteemed and long time in business organisation.

Typically, the pitch at the open house includes mention the so called fact that tens or hundreds of thousands of other smart and savvy insider consumers have saved along with a slick selection of what they have saved. You, too, can begin saving as soon as you join this elustrous group by signing a membership agreement costing thousands of dollars payable in advance of receiving any benefits - you are told that amount is paltry compared to the savings you will obtain over a 10 year period - and you must sign the contract on a now or never basis. You are even made to feel stupid if you don’t sign - only a fool would not take advantage of the savings and be part of this special and privaleged Insiders club" -- spend a little to save a lot sort of thing.

If you’re not saying scam by now, you should be. Should you agree to participate in this Advance Fee savings scam, something will go wrong. Savings evaporate or wrong or defective merchandise will be ordered or order delays or order mishaps and screw-ups. You will not be allowed to cancel your membership and get out of the deal.

If you decide to order merchandise, money from you, in advance of receiving the merchandise an insignificant sum, really, in light of the windfall of savings about to land in your lap will be required to order merchandise without any written guarantees of actually saving money. You pay, you wait for the merchandise, and all you’ll get in return are more excuses about why the order is held up and assurances that everything can be straightened out if you’ll just be patient and wait a little while longer or send a bit more to pay for this or that price increase. Once you start making threats, these scammers will threaten to sue you if you don’t make good on your end of paying for the membership contract in full.

Beware that the Membership Agreement is in reality nothing more than a legally binding sales contract that may have been glossed over in light of all the savings you are excited about expecting. Carefully look at it - it contains NO GUARANTEES OF SAVINGS - instead there is a NO ORAL PROMISES clause: No oral promises or statements not contained in this Membership Agreement shall bind or obligate the club. It’s like a get out of jail free card - they can tell you anything pie in the sky in the open house tour or over the phone to get you to join, but once you sign the sales or Membership Agreement, you agree to the NO ORAL PROMISES clause! So what happens if it turns out not to be what you expected? Ouch. Too late. You’re stuck. That NO ORAL PROMISES clause comes back and bites you.

Want a refund? Beware that the Membership Agreement states: Members understand this program is not sold on a trial basis and that no refund of membership fees will be made. So you only partially paid on your contract and think that you’re just not going to pay the rest of the contracted amount? Beware that the Membership Agreement states further: Members do not have the right to terminate the Membership Agreement without paying the amount remaining for this Membership. And if you think you’re going to get a refund because you never found anything cheaper and therefore didn’t use the club, think again. There’s a clause in the Membership Agreement about this too: The Membership Agreement is not conditioned on the use of this Membership. In a nutshell, the con works by blinding the victim with promises of an unimaginable fortune of what others like them have saved, what they could have saved if only they joined earlier, and what they can expect to save by joining now.

Once the sucker is excited and sufficiently glittery-eyed over the prospect of what he or she would do with all the money he will save, he is then squeezed for however much membership fee in full at the time of joining or have the sales contract balance immediately financed by a separate finance company, actually a subsidiary of the parent scam company. The money the victim parts with willingly, thinking What’s $5,000 here when I’m going to end up saving over $50,000 when this is all done? He fails to realize during the sting that he’s never going to actually get the promised savings because all of savings are expressly disclaimed in the fine print of the contracts and merchandise ordering materials. The very sales contract, which the victim was at first eager to sign, now comes back to bite him with all those adverse terms and conditions.

All of this messing around is designed to part him/her from their money. Once the scam is explained, it seems so obvious a con that you’d wonder who would fall for it. Yet fall for it people do because they’re mesmerized by the wealth that will soon be theirs in the form of all the savings by not paying any markup or middleman costs - and how smart they are by taking advantage of the join now or never opportunity. They also fail to realize there’s a hook hanging just out of sight; at first all they see is that others are getting savings and they want to join this cadre, thus they’re ill-prepared to mentally shift gears when the con artists turns the tables. Because the premise of saving tons of money is wholeheartedly swallowed early on, it’s not at a later point questioned when things begin to go wrong with the transaction and the dupes who have been targeted find out the hard way that there is a no refund policy on all the money they have paid in advance of receiving these now questionable savings. Beware paying in advance for something for nothing, no written guarantees of promises made should send you running, especially in light of the tactics of Be like me, I’m a member and I’ve saved money.

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There's ALWAYS a catch to anything that "sounds too good to be true." :cool: It pays to be a skeptic when you're dealing with your money.

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$5K to join. 😱 The person I know used it many moons ago. I don't think she paid nearly that amount.

Crazy. I have no idea why my parents friends loved it so much... They're not affiliated, just buyers.