DIRECTBUY OF MINNEAPOLIS

To sell this service they use a combination of many pyschology techniques that prey on minor flaws of the human mind that we all have. Google "Munger human misjudgement" a great quick read! I also read MANY online reviews. The themes are all the same - enormous fee to join, enormous promises by DirectBuy followed by enoromous disappointment. Hidden additional fees, inconvenience, poor service, higher prices, delayed deliveries, bad return policy. Once you join and pay there is less incentive for them to provide service, also if and when they go out of business will they refund your membership fee?

The pressure to join at the info. session was too much, but we did because we had just bought our first home and we planned many purchases. We paid about $3,000. We have recouped the cost of our membership in four years, but not without a lot of trials and stress. I have never felt that we made a great choice. The up side is that we have saved considerable on high end upholstered furniture. The downside is that the initial sales tactics were misleading. The margins for discounts on appliances and many building materials were way too small. By the time we'd factor in shipping and fees, we were often able to find better deals on the open market--these were on tile, laminate flooring and appliances. The hidden fees, shipped and long turn around times were excruciating--usually about 10 weeks. They once took a payment from us and waited 30 days to place the order from the vendor. We had a major dispute over a baby furniture order which couldn't be filled by the vendor. I wasn't notified for 6 weeks, cancelled the order, or so I thought, bought the same item on sale locally. The items showed up when my son was three weeks old and they wouldn't refund me. I wound up breaking even by selling them on Craigslist; what a hassle!

OK. I'm not sure it was the best investment. It depends on how much I use the service. I have had second thoughts, but am planning significant remodeling over the next 10 years, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

From the get go it appears to be a bit of a scam. You are lulled into believing that you can purchase the exact same products that you can from most any manufacturer for far less money by belonging to the club. It is very difficult to believe and you are not allowed to test their claims by actually looking at their catalogs or even comparison shopping before joining. You either join then and there or you are asked to leave and not come back. I have read nothing but horror stories about them and I tend to believe that they are true. There are just to many of them. I would be very wary about their whole operation.

Excellent. The staff was very helpful with all of their work.

I had a bad experience trying to schedule the delivery. They also gave me misinformation on whether or not they could install the washer & dryer (they said they could, but then they could not). The customer service was sub-par. I stated I would use them again, but only because the prices are so good and we paid a hefty fee to belong to the club.