DirectBuy Club of Albuquerque

We've been members of Directbuy of Albuquerque since 2007.  It's quite expensive to join, and there is an annual fee, but we have saved more than we spent to join over the last 7 years due to a fixer-upper home.  The items that we have purchased and all been of good quality, the staff is friendly and helpful, and the issues that we have had with materials have all been resolved quickly and to our satisfaction.  However, Directbuy recently referred us to and individual to do some plumbing work involving a water heater and water softener.  Directbuy referred the individual without doing any vetting of the individual, and we were sold "a bill of goods".  To make a long story short, the individual that we were referred to has since left town, we had to have the 'water system' removed, and we have nothing to show for the money that we spent.  A quick internet search showed that this individual had many court cases over the years, all related to money, and the individual had no state licensing to do the work that he did.  Directbuy hasn't done anything to help us remedy the situation.  Their response is that it was our responsibility to make sure that the person they referred was above board.  So, if you consider joining this club, there are many good aspects, but beware of who they refer you to.

Terrible.  First, there was a 90 minute high-pressure sales onslaught one-on-one from a slick salesman in a silk sportscoat.  After insisting that I must must decide today, he brow-beat me into buying a $5,800 three year membership promising huge savings.  I walked out back into the sunshine and it felt like a dream that turned into a nightmare.  I went home and began to look at items we needed, and was struck by how high the prices were with shipping and "fees" added.  I searched the exact same items on the internet.  Oddly, they were lower in many instances on the net.  So, the next day, I went to the office and tried to order a water heater and was told, for the first time, that an 8% fee was added to each order.  I told them that they had not disclosed this fee, and if they had, I would not have purchased the membership.  
The owner became instantly defensive and rude the minute I asked for a refund.  They refused to refund our money, even though they had never disclosed an 8% fee on top of shipping costs until we tried to order very first item.  They were combative, rude and acknowledged that the 8% fee had never been disclosed.

Really, a truly disgusting customer experience on every level.  We was robbed!

You can buy things at the warehouse price and they also have contractors that work for them. The people at the store are very friendly and helpful. You look for the books there and then they order because they don’t keep stuff on site. The products can be as high or low end as you want to go. We bought a higher end flooring than we would have purchased with a more local company. We got a good price on the flooring and appliances. The store itself is decent but our interaction with their contractors was not the best. Otherwise, they try pretty hard. The contractor hasn’t really gotten back to us about finishing up one little thing on the floor and the management at DirectBuy hasn’t been very helpful either. As of 4/13/11, the job isn't complete, contractor hasn't contacted us and neither has anyone from DirectBuy. I changed the "Responsiveness" category to a D because of that. When you're there, people are attentive. There hasn't been follow-through. Use them again is a yes, because of other types of purchases and the fact that we have a contract.

Good quality at a low prices. The cosumer has to do the leg work.