Cheyenne Distribution, Platinum Distribution, Empire Distribution, Aka Kirby. 5 Weeks of Work and No Pay Make Michele a Crazy Woman Loveland, Fort Collins, Cheyenne Colorado and Wyoming

I took a couple days of training and decided not to pursue working for the distributor.

I have some tax and business experience and have discovered that their contract withe the dealers is illegal. Both at the state and federal level there is a legal defintion of an employee and an independent contractor. The contract that dealers sign with the distributor is so restrictive that under the law the dealers are defined as employees.

That means that the distributor must withhold federal and state income tax (if your state has income tax. The distributor must also pay their share of medicare and social security tax and federal state unemployment tax.

You should file a complaint with your state department of labor and department of revenue.

If you are classified as an employee the company owes you the minimum wage for the hours you worked or at least 40 hours a week.

If you have filed a tax return as independent contractor you should go the website www.IRS.gov and download form SS-8, fill it in and send it to the IRS.

I took a couple days of training and decided not to pursue working for the distributor.

I have some tax and business experience and have discovered that their contract withe the dealers is illegal. Both at the state and federal level there is a legal defintion of an employee and an independent contractor. The contract that dealers sign with the distributor is so restrictive that under the law the dealers are defined as employees.

That means that the distributor must withhold federal and state income tax (if your state has income tax. The distributor must also pay their share of medicare and social security tax and federal state unemployment tax.

You should file a complaint with your state department of labor and department of revenue.

If you have filed a tax return as independent contractor you should go the website www.IRS.gov and download form SS-8, fill it in and send it to the IRS.

I took a couple days of training and decided not to pursue working for the distributor.

I have some tax and business experience and have discovered that their contract withe the dealers is illegal. Both at the state and federal level there is a legal defintion of an employee and an independent contractor. The contract that dealers sign with the distributor is so restrictive that under the law the dealers are defined as employees.

That means that the distributor must withhold federal and state income tax (if your state has income tax. The distributor must also pay their share of medicare and social security tax and federal state unemployment tax.

You should file a complaint with your state department of labor and department of revenue.

If you have filed a tax return as independent contractor you should go the website www.IRS.gov and download form SS-8, fill it in and send it to the IRS.

Just as a follow up here.  I got an email message from the city manager that he was contacted by the investigating officer last night and that he authorized the officers to revoke the city permit from these scammers representing Kirby Vacuum Co.  He also thanked me for promptly contactiing the police last night and we hope that this is enough to rid of these scammers here in our town. 

I'll recognize the van from these scammers and will report them to the police if I ever see them again in town. 

Please be very careful with anyone representing Kirby Vacuum Co.  To those defending Kirby in this forum, please do something about cleaning your own company and its terrible association with criminals.   We can all benefit from that. 

My wife and I had the unfortunate opportunity to welcome these sales rep from Kirby Company (based on a distributor out of Cheyenne, WY) to our home.  They came to our door to perform a vacuum demo.  My wife being the sweet gentle person that she is, let these two young men to demo a Kirby Sentria vacuum system.  Complete with multiple filter papers to demostrate the efficacy of the cleaner, one young man did his very best to convince us that its the best vacuum around and that its a worthy investment.  One of the first quetion I asked was the price and was absolutely floored of the $2695 quoted price.  I immediately thought to myself that this is not right.  I went online and researched the vacuum including checking with Consumer Reports, Amazon.com, etc.  I knew right there and then that this is a scam. 

Not to pissed off scammers or obviously questionable people already in my house,  I kindly asked the young man(left alone by his partner by this time) to please leave and wished him luck.  He slowly started packing his equipment while making a phone call to his supposed manager.  This manager arrived shortly and wanted to put his spin for a sale.  I told him that we're not interested.  He asked me as to why?  I told him that first of all, they are charging way too much for a very similar product featured from Consumer Reports an being sold at Amazon.com.  He then asked me if I would be willing to pay those price.  By this time, I'm absolutely certain that this is not right.  This time I was a bit more firm in asking both of them to please leave our home because I'm not interested in buying a $1300.00 vacuum cleaner and certainly not from them.

I escorted the two men out the door and as I turned back around to get in my house I heard the manager call me an "a*****e".  I heard it loud and clear and probably should've let it go.  But even then, I knew that these guys are no good scammers and will probably scam other good folks in my neighborhood/town.  I turned around and confronted the guy.  I asked him to please repeat what he just called me.  His response was that "I didn't stutter".  Right there and then I asked my wife to call the police.  Luckily, the two scammers had to wait for their pickup van.  They walked off from my house but this one rude scammer continued to use profanity directed to me.  Their pickup van stopped by my house thinking these two were still there.  By that time, the police was there and the entire crew was confronted by the police.  I reported to the police of these guys are definitely scammers.  Unfortunately, the police in my town couldn't do anything to stop these guys for "they have a city permit to conduct their business". 

I'm writing this to warn people of scammers like these guys representing Kirby Vacuum Company.  Something needs to be done and apprehend these guys/distributors from doing this.  This is without a doubt illegal and I just wished the city police in my town will take it upon themselves to protect the people from scammers like these guys. 

I will call the local radio station tomorrow and let tme know of these guys in town and will also contact the local newspaper to publish something about this event.  The best offer for solution from the two policemen tonight was that they will "try to contact the city manager if further complaints are filed or called about them".  I'm thinking in other words, they will sit idly while some poor sap or old lady will be scammed by this guys as they conduct their business in town.  

This happened tonight(10-23-09), Lewistown, MT.  I already emailed Kirby Company of this event.   

Any suggestions on what else I can do?   

Very similar circumstances to Michele. Spent 6-8 weeks working full time for Cheyenne Distribution. Sold $20,000 worth of vacuums. Got paid $250 total! Promise of a payday always just around the corner and out of reach of moving quotas. Big Scam. Beware.

I almost went into an interview w/ this company and just happened to google their name beforehand. Your rip-off report was the first thing that showed up on the google search and I read it along w/ everybodies rebuttals. I just want to say a couple things: I know those of you who are defending kirby and claim it is a great job. that's fine, i think you are right and maybe this job isn't for everybody. But just the fact that this company is complained about in this rip-off report forum is enough for me to make, what is in MY OPINION, a smart choice and cancel out on the interview and continue looking for a legit job. I'm not here to offend anybody, just wanted to speak my mind. obviously something is up if it is being disscused here.

Reading this rip off report made me feel no more sorry for Michele than I do people who buy a cell phone and the company says you have unlimited text messages and then you find out that it's only unlimited in the network and you dont think they told you but really you were suppose to read all the paperwork they gave you before you signed up for it.

I work for Cheyenne Distributing and I have NEVER known them to do anything like Michele has claimed the company has done to her. I have been treated more than great and have never had to worry about if I was going to get paid or not because I do the job that is required of me. EVERYONE is given paperwork explaining exactly how you get paid, since all of the dealers are independent contracters and get paid off of commision in the first place. When you are a dealer yes you do work alot of hours a day and sometimes 7 days a week for a month straight and that is why they give the dealers free training so that they realize if you have kids and you have other priorities that would interfer with the job, then maybe this kind of job isn't for you, since Kirby salesman are dedicated, hard working individuals. If you aren't up for the challenge and willing to do what it takes than why would you take the job in the first place? Everyone in Kirby is nothing but nice, and honest, and I am more than greatful that I found a job that I actually love. I couldn't imagine working for any other company and will stay working with Kirby for a VERY long time!!!!!!

I hope nobody Judges the Kirby company because of this person who misunderstood the company because she didn't read her paperwork or pay attention in training. There are salesman her that make WELL over $2000 a month by far, and greatly appreciate it because they know what they are doing and are good at it!!!

I am also an ex-employee of Platinum Distributing/Cheyenne Distributing.
I cannot imagine that you are talking about the same place. My experience was the complete opposite. I was thrilled to receive all the training I did, and since salespeople are actually really independent contractors, I wouldn't have expected to be paid for it. The promise of $1995 was great but my goals were even bigger. I was soon working toward bonuses of Free Kirby's and bonuses where I made 1/2 the proceeds of the sale. The company provided vans, gas money, inventory, paperwork, supplies, etc. I had to do nothing but show up. When we went on trips out of town they even paid for my food. Because of the bonus programs I made well over $1995 for the first month. This is easy to do if you are following the program provided in the free training. If you are a likeable person who has done your homework and knows how to properly demonstrate the machine, you will build the value in it. It is easy to make a consumer understand that $1800 for a Kirby that will last 30-40 years is a much better deal than a regular $50 vacuum that gets replaced over and over and over. I was NEVER told to mislead anyone. In fact, all the employees and supervisors were very strict about being honest and teaching us that if we weren't, we would not be associated with them anymore. I was even paid weekly which was great. I just don't have enough good to say about them and the experience I had working with them as I worked through college.

I had a small feeling I'd find Platinum Distribution aka Cheyenne Distribution on here. I was right. Here's my experience.

I had only completed about a day and a half of "training" before I left never to come back. The whole "training" session was basically a high pressure sales tactic in itself. I had just left my previous job the day before the so-called "training" began. The ad and the interview were vague. They really didn't seem to ask much before saying that I was hired. I came in the next day, and there were 30 or so people in the room. I was expressing doubts when they finally said we'd be selling Kirby vacuums. But what the heck, right?

That first 4 hour training session was rather uneventful. The talk about the pay seemed off to me. Too much emphasis on the money you could make. I think I'd heard this before. Like those late night real estate scheme infomercials on late night TV played out in full. I'd also said I'd give some kid a ride home and a ride there and back the next day. I was pretty skeptical at this point, but whatever, I'd pretty much committed myself to the next day.

So, the kid called me up the next day asking for a ride. After we arrived at "the office", I asked myself "What kind of company would hire this kid?" And I'm trying to be kind. If I was in charge of hiring, I would not hire him. As for the next day of training... we put together vacuums and watched a horribly dubbed video about dust mites. And when I asked when the pay period was, I was told "after your first month doing 60 demos". Absolutely not. I gave the kid a ride back home and Googled the Kirby corporation. EVERYTHING I'd suspected was proven pretty valid real quick.

The whole place just seemed absolutely ramshackle. They had also mentioned they were a new location and had just arrived in town. This complaint is evidence against that. And honestly, the whole business just sounds like bad news. I'm glad that all it cost me was 9 hours or so of my time. I'd stay away like it's carrying the plague.

I feel empathy for the four agonizing weeks you spent trying to make kirby work for you. I have been in the Kirby business for almost four
years.
I began much like you, on a van, making personal sales right after I graduated from high school. I thought Kirby was such a great company that I decided to skip college and jump right in.

My story is quite different than yours though. Thankfully I had successful but honest distributer who took me under his wing and showed me how to make a comfortable living by using Kirby in an ethical fashion.

I've never had to decieve anyone to sell a kirby. It bothered me when you made the comment that you didn't get paid for orientation.The orientation and training is desighned to help YOU understand how the business works and better yet, how you can make it work for you. That is valuable in it's self.I am often thankful when Kirby doesn't charge me for going to their seminars just for the simple reason that the education is almost priceless.There are only a couple plausible reasons you did not succeed in Kirby; not performing enough demos, you could have been showing the machine incorrectly, or incompletely. Or you could have been selling unqualified prospects. I'm not implying that any of these reasons were your fault. If I were your manager I would have definately tried to fix the problem to put money in your pocket.


Althogh your situation is sad, it is not typical for everyone so please do not try to stain other kirby peoples'reputations. I am a hard working,successful, tax paying, young contributer to society who happens to sell Kirb y Vacuums door to door for a living.We are not all bad people just because of your short experience.