Consumer warning, beware of Direct Buy

[uncommonlytasty]

I just wanted to warn everyone about a company called Direct Buy.  This is a so-called members only club/store where they promise you huge savings on everything from appliances to furniture to building materials.  They use high-pressure sales tactics to pressure you into purchasing one of their memberships.  At the end of a presentation filled with ridiculous sales pitches and exaggerated claims, they demand that you sign a contract for membership on the spot or you must leave and not come back for 7 years.  The cost for membership is around $4,700 for a period of several years.  One of my family members was just duped by this company.  Please help spread the word so that your friends and family are not suckered in.  Do a search on “direct buy complaints” and you will find hundreds of horror stories about this company.  

[drewstar]

i've seen them adverstised on the HGTV and DYI networks.  A few months ago I went to the website and sent in my name to get more info, but never heard back from them.  

I assumed they were a buying club, and that there "Showrooms" were simply catalogs.  I wanted to know what thier price was for joining. It's  $4700? wow. That seems excessive.  The7 year thing is priceless.  

[ndabunka]

Sorry to hear about your relatives experience.  This actually sounds like one "sales presentation" I would WANT to participate in simply so that I could bring all such "nefarious" issues up in front of the rest of the "participants" to help protect them from the preditory practices.  Of course this would probably piss of the presenters and they would try to shuffle me out of there ASAP but my first sentance would set the tone that any "emergancy departure" would essentially be proof that this is a scam should get most of the other people running out of the room all the while protecting their pocketbooks.

[uncommonlytasty]

From what I have read about other people’s experience, they separate everyone after the presentation.  If anyone starts to ask questions in front of the rest of the group, they are quickly ushered off behind closed doors.  
They are like a buyer’s club and you need to order most of the items from magazines.  The prices for many appliances and electronics are the same as a regular retail store, plus you must pay shipping and wait for delivery.  When asked about this, they stated that retail stores buy in bulk and receive volume discounts.