DirectBuy review: class action lawsuit info 80

My fiance' and I were coerced into signing. A week after the contract was signed, he had heart issues and was taken off of work. I called the company and they refused to help us; avoiding our phone calls and so forth. Now, we are told we have to pay. I want to be part of this.

After reading the zillions of complaints about Direct Buy, it should be fairly obvious that they are indeed a total scam operation. As an ex-employee, I know for a fact that all of the complaints are valid. Although I have relocated to the west coast, I worked for Direct Buy Jacksonville a number of years ago. The husband/wife ownership there want your membership fee. Period. They count the minutes until your 3 day 'buyer's remorse' period expires, after which they celebrate, process your payment, and you become a complete NOBODY to them. Their membership sales staff follow a VERY carefully constructed sales script, and are purposefully vague and non-committal about how 'the program' works. For customers dumb enough to actually join... the sales people receive HUGE commissions. Customers wise enough to decline are routinely insulted in the most vulgar manner behind their backs.

The Jacksonville ownership works in tandem with another couple who run the Orlando Direct Buy. How they became affiliated, I am unsure. Most likely at a gay/lesbian function, or a work/release program. The secondary male owner is pompous, arrogant and self-absorbed, not to mention thoroughly corrupt. His wife, who is actually entrusted to 'keep the books' is an uneducated, clueless pig. I regret stating this fact, as it is an insult to uneducated, clueless pigs elsewhere.

Bottom line - if you desire to completely waste 5 to 6K, by all means, join Direct Buy. If you have half a brain, tell them to stick it. Multiple litigation is looming against Direct Buy, and their illegal activities will soon be shut down.

My roommate was employed by DB Jacksonville for 9 months. She worked 6 days a week, and often when above and beyond what she was called to do. Over half the staff there did not have their own car so she would even go and pick them up and take them home. She really is a people person and was told at one point the only bad thing that could be said about her is she is too nice to people. When she 1st started there the owners did not work there often. She personally was held responsible if people came in but did not join or if they left early, but if a person join she got a 10 bonus, while the sales person got the big money. The turn over rate is so high at this location that it is hard to keep up with how many people work there at any given time. Then after putting so much into this job, she gets fired by the owner Brandon Cover (aka Randy)(his wife is a swinger with him)(so as stated by I am here to help, they most likely did meet at some type of GAY/LESBIAN party) the BS excuses there is no work. So they why did the same day there stop being work for her they hire a former employee who strips to do the same job as my roommate.When she tries to take legal action she gets told that as long as they have less than 15 people working for them it is legal. So we which y'all the best of luck at getting your money out of this company. The script that they have is very careful worded. She would get in trouble if she did not follow it to a T. And we know of times when they would process the payment before the 3 day grace period. For the person who wants to do stop signs for there show times hit me up I will tell you.

I've emailed and ask the owners of the Johnson Co Olathe KS location to buy my membership back or sale it for balance owed...not heard back from them yet...I did however let then know that I may owe the financing but they would not get any of my business.

I wish I had found this website before I got suckered. Everything I have read is spot on. I even asked if I could have a couple hours to think about it. Go have dinner then come back. Yeah, like they would let that happen. High pressure sales is what it was. Much worse than any car dealer I have ever worked with.

I worked at the Lancaster, PA club. Scam is an understatement and that's not just consumers, employees get screwed too. I was 19 when I started so I admit I was a little naive to the ### they fed me but I realized quick how horrible these people are. Every aspect, from the owner down to the lowest position in the call center, is a money hunger cold hearted mess. It took me a couple months to realize how they were screwing with my pay and commissions and all type of personal drama that should have never been in the work place to begin with. At that club, it's all a matter of who your willing to have sex with, what your willing to do when they ask and if you'll lie and ### and keep your mouth shut about it. I wasn't interested in any of that stuff so I of course got messed with left and right. Screwing my hours, inventory, pay and I never knew from day to day if I'm gonna get yelled and cursed at for something that I had no control over or if I could get fired because they WOULDN'T provide the proper inventory and therefore my production was what they wanted. They take/steal the consumers money and do WHATEVER they can to make sure you can't get a refund then they steal it from me and keep it for themselves and the real issue is that there isn't anyone who can stop them because the corporate office only knows what each franchise sends them. So my member John Doe gets a gold paid in full membership, I should get $125 for that but my shady manager erases my name and puts her name by it then submits the change to the HR then she pays my manager and corporate only knows what the HR sends to them. Then I ask for a copy of my commissions (member name, level, down payment, etc) and almost got fired that day because my shady manager blows it up to be a big argument and in the end I never get paid for that member and I never see his name anywhere again. They screwed themselves because I no longer work there and they will not pay me for commissions that I should have received on my last check and little do they know that I took a print out of my members info and I contacted the guy and I should have gotten paid for it and now they have a mess on their hands. I highly recommend to stay away from them as a consumer and someone looking for work. Unless your desperate and need the income that bad to where you will work under some of the evilest and nastiest people under the sun, DO NOT STEP FOOT ANYWHERE NEAR ANY DIRECTBUY EVER! I hope this steers someone from ever having to deal with these people. I just wanted a simple job while I went to school and it turned into such a mess. Please stop these people anyway you can everytime you can!

Is there a class-action suit that we might join to get some relief from the cost of joining Direct Buy?
We joined D.B. almost two years ago, as we were building a home after a disaster. We've also had the disappointment of hoping to find things we needed for the building project, and consistently found prices in the books that - even with the alleged discount - were lots higher than local stores. They also claimed to have, "arrangements" with local franchise building materials place/s that didn't offer better prices - or delivery terms - than either Home Depot or Lowe's or the local building supplies businesses. We finally bought, at a discount that totaled about 10% less, on Little Giant ladders, and a "very special buy" offer for two recliner-rockers that, now, won't ship for another three months !
Our membership price was a bit less than the $5, 000 many of the above complainants have been charged. But the $3600 we've incurred as a debt is still a price we've paid (on an installment contract that includes some interest) that has benefitted us very little. Access to the books has given us some perspective on price.
But the fact is, that we feel pretty exploited by a sales pitch that repeated over and over that we were buying access to "direct-from-the-manufacturer's" prices. It may be true that we would have been able to save a high percentage of the price for top-of-the-line goods such as carpeting or porcelain tile that was totally out of our price range, at the prices quoted. But our experience was never that we found, at D.B., prices for higher quality merchandise that equalled the prices for lower-quality goods in the local stores.
And, please note that this complaint is written in correct English, and correctly spelled. It's probably important to say that snobbery about grammar and spelling isn't a substitute for accuracy of the facts of this disgraceful business model.

My husband and I were scammed into joining Direct Buy at the Jersey Shore. It was $5, ooo.00 and a total ripoff. I wish there was a class action lawsuit to put them out of business everywhere. Our $5, 000.00 might as well have been stolen.

i too am embarrassed to say i am a sucker of direct buy long beach, ca. i went to their open house sales pitch and was convinced that i would save a ton of money by joining as i was in escrow at the time on a vacation home, which my family and i planned to use and rent it out to other vacationers. at their open house they led me to believe that the shopping was an easy process that i could do online as i work 7 days a week. was told that they had a partner warehouse in the next town that would deliver right to the room in the house where ever i wanted. also said that i could make purchases for friends and family and have them shipped any where in the u.s. first off in my defence, let me say that i always do my homework before making purchases, but was told at the open house that its a onetime offer and i had to join now. if i left to think about it, i would no longer be able to join...i know red flag. isnt making someone sign a contract under duress illegal. any way realized right away that you cant shop online, if you want it shipped to another address (vacation home), my reason for joining. JOKE! most of us know that when we do any online shopping, we fill out a section for delivery address and a section for billing address. they have no such thing at direct buy. so in my case i only ordered two items because i didnt have time to go into their warehouse and shop in their catalogs. They are all a bunch of damn liars. when i went to order something, i asked who had the fastest turn around time for shipping and delivery, and went with the company that was recommended, which was still 3 to 5 weeks. 8 weeks later still no sign of the bed. kept telling me its been shipped. i work in the transportation business and know that they were all lying. funny thing is, it seems during that time companies have all changed... or i was lied to all along. zippity zip their delivery warehouse in palm desert, is now excel in ontario. so instead of the warehouse being in the next town, its 100 miles away and only delivers out there on thursdays, my busiest day at work. had they not lied to me, i never would have made the purchase. i am so over the top angry with these people, as i see alot of other people are too, im surprised people havent gone postal on them. so i am now going into the 5th month since i ordered the bed, i still do not have it. they tell me that they are now gonna deliver it to their corona store for me to pick up. im a woman in my 50's with no access to a truck...OR I WOULD HAVE PICKED IT UP 3 MONTHS AGO. SUCH IDIOTS! i told them i didnt want it before it even arrived after 8 weeks and they told me that there are no curtesey refunds. so the bottom line is when my pregnant daughter and her husband go out to the house, they have to sleep on a mattress on the floor. plus direct buy has cost me thousands in lost rents.

I am so glad that I found this and read about Direct Buy today. My husband and I were supposed to go for and appointment tomorrow. Needless to say, we will not be going. Thanks to all of you for your posts.

i joined direct buy several years ago. every time i tried to use it i found the items cheaper on line. they make buying from them very difficult and if you have to return something i understand it is very difficult. i never used the service and surely feel ripped off. if there is a class action suit where people who feel this way can get all or some of their money back i would like to get in. i was renovating parts of my home at the time and thinking of rebuilding a vacation home at the time i joined and with the long wait for delivery and the fact that i could always get it cheaper locally or on line it was just useless.

Big Scam, I became a member 2 years ago, and I have not purchase a thing yet... The renewal membership was supposed to be only $ 100 and not it went up to $ 203.30. Direct buy membership increases every year ? what a scam ... I will like my money back.

I became a member 2 years ago and I haven't purchase a thing... BIG SCAM that prices are lower ... The membership renewal was $ 100 and not it change and when up to $ 201.30 ... membership increases each year ! scam big time !

can we please have an update on all the direct buy club locations that have closed?

They got me, they told me that if we didn't get
the membership we had to wait 7 years and they dint tell me we were going through beta finance. My credit is bad so how is it that I got approved for a loan through them. I need help, I not once
made a payment and never used the service but yet I got a collection notice from them for $5000 please email me @ m.alonso1977@yahoo. com

I am so grateful to have found this site. I was scheduled to attend a showroom tomorrow but after your comments I will not. Thanks for the warnings and good luck on settling your issues.

DO NOT waste your time and especially your money on DirectBuy. It is definitely a BIG SCAM. The membership fees in Albuquerque were $5874.30 for three years plus $200 more for another year renewal. I have found items much cheaper online including delivery to my home. With DirectBuy you pay shipping and handling and delivery to the home is extra. If you live outside the Albuquerque area, figure in the travel costs to pick up your orders if you choose to sign up. Unless you have a huge home and plan to spend thousands to totally gut and completely refurnish it, you will never save what they tell you during the presentation. Contractors and fabricators charge extra for mileage to travel outside the area. DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY AWAY TO DIRECTBUY.

We belong to Sacramento and have had a great deal of good luck with it. If you are not strong enough to repel a hard sell, then I fault the buyer. We have redone our kitchen and lab area and all of our flooring in another area with prices that could not be matched anywhere else for the same quality. We had a 1 time fee, nothing like the New Mexico guy above and no new fees for 3 years. If you are not doing a complete remodel or building something new, it is not worth it. Buyer beware. Just as in any purchase you make, membership, service, or product, you must do your homework and make sure you are strong enough to walk away! No one forced anyone to sign their name on a contract. Personal responsibility is your responsibility!

they tried to get us today but the prices they quoted on items just purchased online was approx. 9% higher than what i paid online for the same item. with that kind of negative savings i could see why people get suckered into the big membership fees. As for myself i will shop the Internet and save my 9% and all the membership fees.

after avoiding being scammed for the membership the gifts were not near as promised as you can see in the pictures the retail value of $249.95 found for purchase at $65.09 much under what they promise and these things were made in bulk in china for direct buy there is no company contact info on or in the manual who made this thing. bad protecting plastic pull off said direct buy promotions made in china. a waste of 2 hours.. beware

Is there some sort of lawsuit still going on? We were suckered as well. My husband is in the military and we have a child in college. We have not purchased anything with the company and have even spoken to someone who I was told could help get our money back. No help. We got screwed like so many others. We were definitely pressured and unfortunately usually think the best of people. We have never really gotten any help with questions as it seems there is only one employee in the Chesapeake, VA location who knows how to do things or answer questions about ordering. While my husband and I were in there on a Saturday and I felt physically ill watching other people about to get screwed as well. I would have screamed to everyone there. But for fear of the police being called which would have ended my husbands military career. Any help would be appreciated!

Tony from Texas needs to know are there any Texas DB members in this lawsuit, and if there are, when can I expect mine. My wife and I have been the victims of these scammers for the last 2 years.

I believe they should deliver what is promised, not just a petty talk, leuring people in.
I will be very happy when the day comes that these scavengers are out of business.
I have nothing nice to express, I purchased membership 2012. I have not benefited at all from this. I have compared prices with local retailers, Direct buy has similar products with double the cost. We'd like to get out of this scam, we still have 12 more months to go.
What would be the the correct process to getting rid of this membership?

What a sad situation for owners and employees of Direct Buy to be bound to a corporation that, nationwide
engages in deceptive, dishonorable, scummy, scammy practices which have caused hardship and misery to countless ill advised members. Who has the power and authority to OOB them?

Well we are not the latest victims of Direct Buy. They are still in business and thriving on ripping people off. We cancelled our warranty on Jan 20th and its now March and no refund. You try to call the company and no one is available. I am amazed how this company is not being affected by all the lawsuits and the state of NJ is unable to do anything to them. I guess we are all in the wrong business of doing things ethical. I never realized that you can get away with ripping people off and the law is unable to touch you.

I just read another article where an auto warranty company is practicing the same unethical standards. Here is a link to the article:
http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-attorney-general-sues-texas-firm-selling-extended-auto-warranties/276990761/

I now use MPP who was highly recommended to my BMW dealership and they have paid for repairs to my vehicle. You can go to there web site and find a dealership near you to purchase their extended warranty. Hope that helps.

I would love to see another class action suit, I felt the class action that was settled several years ago was a joke, I got one month free. My experience has been mixed. I found that if purchasing things such as furniture one can save 25-40% the catch is that unlike the local store with DB you have to add to the cost getting it shipped/ delivered. I found a manufacturer offering free or cheap shipping but DB would not pass that on they were charging approx. 1K for shipping fees. If the manufacturer offered the product cheaper then they would beat the price but not for shipping. Many other products I have checked prices on are close to what is available elsewhere and in some instances more but they have always at least matched or beat but not by a lot. Electronics have a very small price/ profit margin, so savings are little. The thing that has frustrated me the most is when I joined I was told that I would have access to EVERY manufacturer catalog, however, that is absolutely not the truth. I was able to buy bath items from Lowes cheaper than DB because I couldn't access the catalog even though DB carried the manufacturer. Here is a quote from a DB email, "Part: LT800PC unfortunately is not part of the DB assortment. You do not have access to it." I have gotten the same answer when comparing TV prices with those at the local Walmart.

Will there be another class action lawsuit. We too bought into this scam for a total of $5874.30

We also purchased a membership just under $6, 000. Didn't know they had closed the store we used or about the BK until we went into a tile store to make a purchase using our DB membership and were told that all DB stores had closed and only offered on line purchasing, and another company was offering DB members a discount without buying their membership, but they have very limited merchandise available. We found out that the franchise owners of DB in Anaheim Hills were given no notice and only a weekend to move out all of the goods at their location. They were extremely upset since they had established relationships with members. They are now operating OC by Design in Anaheim and giving DB members a discount whenever they can. Direct Buy gave us no notice of closing, and yet last week I got an email asking for my annual fee, which had also gone up a hundred dollars. Very informative young lady at OC said she is also a member and they will keep trying to have members pay even though they offer no services, so don't pay and fall for their deceptive ways, same with the travel part.
If there is a Class Action going on we would like to know and join, hate to be scammed!

The following email was copied to Direct Buy

Mr. Nobel

I am not sure if a Direct Buy class action suit is still in the works. If it is, please consider the following -

I bought a $3000 (canadian) membership which was sort of OK (see below) until the local catalog store closed abruptly and the membership was ``transitioned`` to 'concierge shopping' via the direct buy website. The membership then became worse than useless - it became a waste of time.

Prior to the store closure, some items were cheaper than in brick-and-mortar stores, as the Direct Buy store owner promised in his sales pitch (eg. some appliances, furniture). But others were not eg. cabinetry. In the sales pitch, these were said to be 15-25% cheaper through Direct Buy, but they were not. The prices were much the same as elsewhere when several quotes were obtained on the same plans. These were the big ticket items, the promised savings on which were a large reason why I signed up. When I took this up with the store owner, he acted confused, saying it is not usually like that. What else could he do - he was the one that told me to expect a 15-25% lower cost for the same goods just months before, which he clearly recalled. With respect to shopping the catalogs, it was laborious going through thousands of relatively poorly organized items. They were organized by manufacturer, which is not often the way one shops for an item. This was sort of what I signed up for. When I signed up, the store owner said they were in the process of getting all the catalogs items online - that the catalogs were temporary until the website could be completed. That was years ago - not much has changed yet in this regard. Except now we have no access to the catalogs.

Since the local store has closed, I may as well kiss my membership sign up fees goodbye!
The products in the catalogs, which constitute the vast bulk of their offerings, are not viewable online (despite assurances that they are working on getting all their offerings onto their website). I have since tried to buy several items through their shopping "concierge" - now the only way to get access to all items I paid my (fairly steep) membership fee to have access to. When requesting "concierge" assistance, I have given clear and detailed explanations of what I am looking for. Sometimes I have had no response, sometimes they offer five or so options, though often inappropriate items - not remotely resembling what I was after - even with respect to basic things like furniture dimensions - eg. ask for a 7 ft item, they send a few 5-foot options. If one tries to work with them to clarify, the "concierge" seems to either lose interest or become irritated by your request, and the thread dies. If I had the option, I would rather not trouble the concierge. But with only a fraction of what Direct Buy has available visible on their website, avoiding the ineffectual and impatient ``concierge`` is not an option. It is, simply put, not possible to use my membership to any kind of effective level since the local store closed. I have tried to shop using ``concierge`` shopping 5-10 times, with nothing to show but frustration and wasted time.

Prior to the closure of the local store, the system was barely adequate. Since the closure, I feel ripped off. At the least, Direct Buy should list what they have online so we could search through all the offerings which they said we would have access to when they sold the membership. If they were to do right by their paid members, they would not only have all their offerings online, but they would develop a finely tuned search engine on their website so that we can effectively search the various parameters of the millions of items they claim to have in their inventory. None of this is technologically impossible, all online retailers do it. With their current model, I can't see how their business could possibly thrive.

So, if you take Canadians to be part of your legal complaint, please send further info.

Sincerely

Chris Outram

I would like to sue Directbuy and looking for anyone interested in joining. They have closed all "Members clubs" which offered all the special treatments. I was suckered into this a few years ago and since I was young and dumb I have been paying every month for something I never used or will use since its not that much cheaper. I strongly believe Directbuy has now violated the deal that was made we are no longer offered a club to walk into and see a "design specialist" or view the private books or the in house "concierge". Enough is enough its time to stand up against them and quit wasting money. I still have 1 year left of payments with Beta and they no longer control the agreement a company called UAS does. After speaking with UAS they told me I can cancel but they need a letter from Directbuy. I'm not looking for a refund I just want out of this mess and for it not to ever affect my credit. Send me a Email Leoindaga@gmail.com I will be contacting a lawyer to over look the fine print in the contract for a way out. I have spoken with Directbuy and they are not willing to cancel or offer a early termination fee.

I agree with all of the comments above. We were also suckered in at the last minute. Had to make a decision right then and there. My husband is a disabled veteran and they said that they were giving us a discount. It's been several years and I had forgotten all about DB. I just got an email that reminded me of them. I would like someone to start a class lawsuit against them. We paid several thousand dollars but we were not able to use it.
I did call stores and went to the stores like they said to find what we wanted only to find out that it was cheaper to buy the items from the store.
What a waste and a Rip-off.
Call us if you start a class action suit.
Regards,
Thomas Clare

I'm interested in a class action. I too have had our membership proven to be worthless, especially when they closed the store-fronts, which was only 2 miles from our home. It was convenient, and we did buy things through them, but now it's worse than Amazon. I was also stupid enough to buy into their trave offering, which we have never used because I can find the services cheaper on websites. So, how do we proceed. My email is dan@mahoney.net. Let me know if you know how to proceed.

I agree with all the comments that the Direct Buy " discount" club is a scam. Please, we should stop this nonsense and start a class act lawsuit to get our membership money back! We all members know that we were ripped off our money. lots of money, around 6, 000 $ !
I found one comment about a class act with an attorney Izard Nobel. Does anyone know if this lawsuit is still recent?
We should not let scammers get away with our money..!
I.K.

Well it is 2023, and it appears they have not changed their scamming policies! I joined online 2 months ago and paid a 599.00 membership fee. I placed my first order with concierge who states it will take 6-8 weeks for delivery. I have not received my products and we have exhausted the 8 week mark. I have contacted the escalations department who repeatedly states they haven’t received an update from the vendor. I requested to speak with a manager in the escalations department and was told it would take 48 hours to receive a callback. 48 hours then turned into 72 hours and now awaiting a callback from this manager. Needless to say, this has been a frustrating and unsettling experience.