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Kirby review: scam scam scam 6

J
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1:27 pm EDT
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watch out when the dealer comes to your home to "present" the kirby vacuum cleaner and give you a free carpet cleaning. what the consumer does not understand is that the factory distributor pays only $250.00 per machine and will turn around and sell it to you for about $2000. also you will be buying a piece of crap that does not last the 50 years that the salesman is promising.

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6 comments
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JGraceyStinson
JGraceyStinson
Orillia, CA
May 06, 2009 1:54 pm EDT

I don't know about the wholesale pricing versus retail, but I'm sure it's quite a markup. But I'd dispute the quality of a Kirby vacuum - I know a couple in existence that are well over 30 years old and still going strong. That, of course, is the models manufactured years ago. Today's models could easily be poorer quality. It seems like everyone thinks "plastic" is the way to go. Cheaper to manufacture, but they sure don't last as long. Sometimes, progress isn't the best thing.

I also wouldn't buy from an in-home rep either.

C
C
Cait
Grayslake, US
Jul 03, 2009 4:52 pm EDT

I worked for Kirby for officially a week - Biggest mistake of my life. It put a strain on my BF and I... I caught onto the scam when my 'manager' (who resembled some slimy mob boss) had us sign paperwork - Not one tax form. Sure we were 'independent contractors' but there IS a tax form for that even... Then we went door to door, begging to go into peoples home. One kind women let us in, and I felt so horrible, after my manager left, I looked at her and told her 'look, I'm just going to clean your floor. I'm not gonna try and sell you anything', and that's what I did. The next day I quit - I'm a writer, in college, and no idiot. I saw the scam the first day but tried riding it out to see if it could be worth while - not at all. For anyone who was scammed into buying this machine, I'm really sorry. I wish I was never a part of this pyramid scheme... They even tried to force my 85 yr old grandparents into buying one, who my grandfather despite being a retired NASA engineer, didn't have the money to spend on it. I'm so glad they didn't. This company is such a huge scam.. I'm going to make a petition to have them shut down.

T
T
TC2305
Middletown, US
Apr 03, 2010 4:29 pm EDT

You only worked there for a week so you cant even say that my husband has been working for them for 6 months and he completed a 1099 form after he completed his training it is people like you who give the company a bad name. You might have gone to a bad office but Kirby's are great my mom has had her's for about 30 years and it still works. You get what you pay for if you want a cheap vac that wont last go to Wal-mart but I now own a Kirby and would never give it back.

P
P
pcshappygirl33
zeeland, US
Apr 29, 2010 2:53 pm EDT

@ Cait, you said you are going to make a petition to shut the Kirby company you worked for down because they are a scam and tried to force your grandparents in to buying a Kirby. What you should be doing is petitioning that after your grandfather worked for and retired from NASA, shouldnt he be able to afford a Kirby? Dont they deserve to live in a clean home after all these years of pushing an inefficient vacuum. Very selfish of you dont you think?

M
M
missingyoursoul
US
Apr 26, 2011 8:16 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hi Everybody!
My name is Jennifer Banks.
I would like to share my experience with Kirby Vacuum.

I first heard about the job on Craigslist, the job was very vague, and said something about receptionist, so I thought I would check it out.

They scheduled me for an interview, and they explained the different job openings they had.

They told me how much I could make as a receptionist, and then they showed me how much I could make cleaning carpets.

I CHOSE the cleaning carpets myself, because I wanted to make more money to get out of debt.

I went to orientation Wednesday, listened to the distributer talk about the company, and I was impressed.

He told us we don't have to worry about trying to sell them all because we are new, we just have to show the people the vacuum, and he will close the sales for us, he told us he is a very good salesmen, and he will close all of the sales, he just needs us to do a good job showing the customers the vacuum :)

Well I was in orientation Wednesday through Friday. (Not paid, and he told us we wouldn't be getting paid) I was okay with that. I really wanted to learn how to make all this money, so I stuck with it.

Saturday I got to take the vacuum home, and practice doing demonstrations at my families house, and friends house. They all fell in love with the vacuum, so I got to sell a few, and got some cool bonuses :) Like a free gift certificate, and cash! Plus whatever I made on the 2 vacuums. lol.

Then Monday came around, our first day of real work.

It was definitely different, it isnt your average job. Me the owner, and 3 other people all got into the van, and we drove 45 minutes to a small town, and the owner got us all into our own houses, on the spot. When I got there, I was kind of nervous, but tried not to show it. I cleaned the carpet for the old couple, and explained to them, the different tools, and showed them all the dirt.
I was trying to be friendly, and nice, then after 2 hours the owner came, and talked to the customers, and they bought it! I sold my first vacuum, and I was so proud of myself, the negotiated the price a little bit, because they were seniors, but yeah! I was very proud of myself.

This is how we got paid, if you sell 3 Kirby's a week, you get $300.00 guaranteed. Plus you get money from each Kirby you sold!

So if I only sold 2 Kirby's for $1, 500.00 and the other for $1, 115.00 then my paycheck would of been $300.00 :) Because I got Half of over $1000.00 So anything over $1000.00 would be split in half with my boss.

Well, I kept working, and putting in a lot of hours, I was very dedicated, and made good money. The only problem I had with the job was that I didnt have enough time to see my boyfriend, so I had to quit. We were working sometimes until 10 o clock at night, and I had no social life. :(

If I was single, I would definitely still be there, because I made very easy money. All I had to do was be nice to people, show them how good the vacuum worked, show them the dirt, and they wanted it!

I don't know why people on here are complaining. I am sure there are a lot of businesses out there that are not running it the way they are supposed to, but that doesn't mean that EVERY Kirby business is bad. It doesn't mean that every person that sells Kirby products is a bad person.

I don't have any criminal backround, but I do see a lot of people that have had simple misdemeanors that are hired, and there isnt anything wrong with that.

Kirby has a law, where they CANNOT hire anyone that has a felony. You can call them and ask.

They will NOT hire a felon, they do backround checks. Maybe in the past someone did hire a felon, but now if they do that, they will get their business shut down.

There was a point in time where I made over $1000.00 a week.

This isnt a regular job. You have a chance to run your OWN company with this job, you have the opportunity to make A LOT of money. It just depends how MOTIVATED you are, and how much TIME you have to invest in this.

If you sell a Kirby you WILL make profits of each one.

M
M
missingyoursoul
US
Apr 26, 2011 8:21 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hi Everybody!
I would like to share my experience with Kirby Vacuum.

I first heard about the job on Craigslist, the job was very vague, and said something about receptionist, so I thought I would check it out.

They scheduled me for an interview, and they explained the different job openings they had.

They told me how much I could make as a receptionist, and then they showed me how much I could make cleaning carpets.

I CHOSE the cleaning carpets myself, because I wanted to make more money to get out of debt.

I went to orientation Wednesday, listened to the distributer talk about the company, and I was impressed.

He told us we don't have to worry about trying to sell them all because we are new, we just have to show the people the vacuum, and he will close the sales for us, he told us he is a very good salesmen, and he will close all of the sales, he just needs us to do a good job showing the customers the vacuum :)

Well I was in orientation Wednesday through Friday. (Not paid, and he told us we wouldn't be getting paid) I was okay with that. I really wanted to learn how to make all this money, so I stuck with it.

Saturday I got to take the vacuum home, and practice doing demonstrations at my families house, and friends house. They all fell in love with the vacuum, so I got to sell a few, and got some cool bonuses :) Like a free gift certificate, and cash! Plus whatever I made on the 2 vacuums. lol.

Then Monday came around, our first day of real work.

It was definitely different, it isnt your average job. Me the owner, and 3 other people all got into the van, and we drove 45 minutes to a small town, and the owner got us all into our own houses, on the spot. When I got there, I was kind of nervous, but tried not to show it. I cleaned the carpet for the old couple, and explained to them, the different tools, and showed them all the dirt.
I was trying to be friendly, and nice, then after 2 hours the owner came, and talked to the customers, and they bought it! I sold my first vacuum, and I was so proud of myself, the negotiated the price a little bit, because they were seniors, but yeah! I was very proud of myself.

This is how we got paid, if you sell 3 Kirby's a week, you get $300.00 guaranteed. Plus you get money from each Kirby you sold!

So if I only sold 2 Kirby's for $1, 500.00 and the other for $1, 115.00 then my paycheck would of been $300.00 :) Because I got Half of over $1000.00 So anything over $1000.00 would be split in half with my boss.

Well, I kept working, and putting in a lot of hours, I was very dedicated, and made good money. The only problem I had with the job was that I didnt have enough time to see my boyfriend, so I had to quit. We were working sometimes until 10 o clock at night, and I had no social life. :(

If I was single, I would definitely still be there, because I made very easy money. All I had to do was be nice to people, show them how good the vacuum worked, show them the dirt, and they wanted it!

I don't know why people on here are complaining. I am sure there are a lot of businesses out there that are not running it the way they are supposed to, but that doesn't mean that EVERY Kirby business is bad. It doesn't mean that every person that sells Kirby products is a bad person.

I don't have any criminal backround, but I do see a lot of people that have had simple misdemeanors that are hired, and there isnt anything wrong with that.

Kirby has a law, where they CANNOT hire anyone that has a felony. You can call them and ask.

They will NOT hire a felon, they do backround checks. Maybe in the past someone did hire a felon, but now if they do that, they will get their business shut down.

There was a point in time where I made over $1000.00 a week.

This isnt a regular job. You have a chance to run your OWN company with this job, you have the opportunity to make A LOT of money. It just depends how MOTIVATED you are, and how much TIME you have to invest in this.

If you sell a Kirby you WILL make profits of each one.

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  1. Kirby Contacts

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