Husband gets sucked in too easily

[StratusRose]

Ever heard the saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”? Well, my husband obviously has not. Last year he got us sucked into this pyramid scheme which he finally saw was a scam after a few months, we didn’t lose a lot of money but I thought he’d be more careful about scams in the future.

Now, he’s interested in the “Direct Buy” warehouse business. Does anyone know anything about this? He wants to join because he wants to get inexpensive furniture for our house and new cabinets for the kitchen. Some “representative” said it would be worth it to get the membership. But I don’t buy it. It seems too good to be true. I googled it yesterday and saw a lot of negative comments about this business. Does anyone else have any experience with this type of business? It doesn’t seem ligit to me.

 

[jrabs]

I wonder the same…no where can I find membership information.

In the summer, I received a card in the mail for an invitation to tour the warehouse. Instead of making it an open invitation whenever it was convenient for me, they were so bold as to actually schedule a time that suited them. say 3:30 on a weekday.

Yeah - like I am seriously taking time off work to tour a store.

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

**We were interested in that too but decided against it.

For one, the membership fee was astronomical (but I can’t remember how much) so would only be worth it if you were furnishing or remodeling your whole home or have VERY expensive taste).

Then there was their “secrecy” issues. They wanted us to come for a “tour” before they’d give us ANY info (so we were lucky to have found out as much as we did) and then scheduling the tour was a problem.

To top it all off we discovered by accident that we would have to make a decision ON THE SPOT if we were going to buy the membership because once we left the store the offer was closed.

Way too much hassle and games for us…

Malia

p.s. funny story about how men really do get taken in…

you know those phone calls you get where they offer you a “free gift” for coming to a “presentation” with no strings attached? Well, when i answer the phone I always say no.

Well hubby answered once and got hooked by their promise of a free digital camera. I was so mad. I told him that it was going to be a huge waste of time and the camera was either going to be non existent or a piece of junk…

Well, after 3 or 4 hours of listening to them drone on and on about a time share opportunity that we could never afford we received our lovely thank you gift. A KID’S DIGITAL CAMERA that took worse pictures than if a little monkey was inside drawing them!!! There’s 4 hours I’ll never get back, lol.

But it certainly cured hubby of the “fall for anything” bug!

**

 

[StratusRose]

I wonder the same…no where can I find membership information.

In the summer, I received a card in the mail for an invitation to tour the warehouse. Instead of making it an open invitation whenever it was convenient for me, they were so bold as to actually schedule a time that suited them. say 3:30 on a weekday.

Yeah - like I am seriously taking time off work to tour a store.

Yep, they did the same thing to us. The scheduled it the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when we’ll be in South Carolina. My husband actually suggested leaving early to make the appt! I was like heck no!

 

[Sierrah]

I don’t know anything about direct buy but I would quote “buyer beware” and the universal saying…“you don’t get something for nothing”. If your husband really wants to get the best deal start going to garage sales, thrift or charity stores, furniture outlets, ebay or craigslist.com or estate sales. I’ve gotten the best deals at garage sales of which I’m a veteran…my parents started me out as a kid. My dad recently got a solid oak drafting table for $20 it was an antique but it was in perfect condition. He also got a patio set orginally from Crate and Barrel for $100 and it retailed originally for at least three times that. I myself got a chest of drawers from an estate sale for only $300 with would have been more like $800 if I had purchased it new. Anyway good luck

 

[jrabs]

**Then there was their “secrecy” issues. They wanted us to come for a “tour” before they’d give us ANY info (so we were lucky to have found out as much as we did) and then scheduling the tour was a problem. **

I hear ya. It’s a store for cying out loud. Do they not get that they need customers?

 

[StratusRose]

I don’t know anything about direct buy but I would quote “buyer beware” and the universal saying…“you don’t get something for nothing”. If your husband really wants to get the best deal start going to garage sales, thrift or charity stores, furniture outlets, ebay or craigslist.com or estate sales.

Oh trust me, he is a craigslist/eBay JUNKIE!

 

[whatevergirl]

Ever heard the saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”? Well, my husband obviously has not. Last year he got us sucked into this pyramid scheme which he finally saw was a scam after a few months, we didn’t lose a lot of money but I thought he’d be more careful about scams in the future.

Now, he’s interested in the “Direct Buy” warehouse business. Does anyone know anything about this? He wants to join because he wants to get inexpensive furniture for our house and new cabinets for the kitchen. Some “representative” said it would be worth it to get the membership. But I don’t buy it. It seems too good to be true. I googled it yesterday and saw a lot of negative comments about this business. Does anyone else have any experience with this type of business? It doesn’t seem ligit to me.

I’m very familiar with DB, as my neighbor worked for one of their locations out of PA. It is not a scheme at all, really…I am not sure how it works from an outside participation perspective though? Does he have details? I thought they were a wholesaler.

 

[kage_ar]

From what I see, it is like getting a really good deal on the most expensive things. If you want to buy the kind of things that mansions are decorated with, well, you can get a discout off them.

For example, they could get you a 10,000 dining room table for 7,000.

The thing is, you could go find a perfectly beautiful dining room table for way less than that at a NORMAL furniture store.

My advice, if they will not give you a free pass for the day to shop once and check it out (think of the way Costco or Sams will let you in before you buy a membership) - run away.

 

[TIME]

I agree with Kage_ar. If they only sell high-end stuff fine, but the profit margin on high-end furniture is about 50-60% for full retail price.

Also if you have not already, check out Clark Howard, he is a very good consumer resource and has a consumer forum as well.
clarkhoward.com/inside/about_us.html

 

[3GirlsRUs]

My sister and her DH joined. But they were buying A LOT of furniture becasue they just bought their new house. Basically, they saved enough that it paid their membership fee about 2 times over. And they got some “lifetime” deal. She said it was worth ti for the deals they got on their new furniture…plus if any of us need anything and want to use it, we can go with her and use her discount basically.

but I would agree…if you’re not in the market for a whole bunch of new stuff and all that jazz, it’s probably a HUGE waste of money.

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

plus if any of us need anything and want to use it, we can go with her and use her discount basically.
.

**From what the rep told us that is not allowed. One more reason we didn’t think it was worth it…

Malia**