American Eagle Corporation - Kirby Distributor RIPOFF very high pressure and deceitful sales techniques which the Kirby company seems to condone. They certainly were unsympathetic to my problem. Cleveland Ohio Ft. Myers Florida

I was ripped off by James Joyce of Kirby Vacuum. The Judge awarded me a settlement and Mr. Joyce refuses to pay.

I know that that calling the police may seem the obvious solution, but I have read of so many people getting snagged by this I think a real psychological paradigm takes place, similar to manipulation techniques used by cults.

They upset a persons equilibrium, use an organized peer group, make fantastic claims, invade a persons 'space', Apply interpersonal pressure to promote conformity, manipulate the the person's social environment by invasion of their home, ie safe place, and use guilt and other techniques to make the person submit to the sale.

Why else would you read about house wives neglecting their kids or people putting up with this stuff for hours????

There has to be a real applied Coercive persuasion dynamic here.

I totally agree that the these high pressure sales would loose a lot so steam if it were forced on them a law to allow a 30 day cooling off period...not 3 days. Thats just ridiculas.

As it is...I personally would not pay.
Just give them back the product and write to the credit agencies about the scam. It will be disregarded as it should be.

Under the advise of a lawyer, I wrote a detailed notarized letter to Charlie Crist, Florida's attorney general, and claimed protection as a consumer under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

I also gave the vacuum back, got a receipt, albeit grudgingly given, along with registered letters to the credit companies stating I am a victim of a scam to offset any and all marks against my credit with a receipt for the returned vacuum.
I also sent a copy of the letter I sent to Crist to Kirby.

I only hope that the Attorney general puts a stop to this kind of thing.

I think if everyone did this, Kirby would soon be reeling in unethical sales personal.

Oh...and I also put a 'no solicitors' sign at my door.

~M~

I was unemployed for several months one time, got suckered into working as a salesperson for a Kirby dealer in Washington. Even their hiring process is a ripoff, they make the product look like something you just can't live without.
We were required to memorize a four page set of responses to excuses why the consumer can't buy, won't buy, or otherwise. Believe me, I could see this wasn't going to be an honest effort. I quit after just a few days. In my book, if a person wants the product, fine. If not then I'll go on my way. I just couldn't perform the ripoff tactics that were taught to salespeople in order to separate customers from their money.
After-sales concern for a customer? HA. The manager had his own dictionary of names he used for customers...he was a real sleaze.
The vacuum itself is a real overpriced, clumsy, heavy and hard to maintain piece of equipment. It doesn't work any better than your $200 vacuum you can get at walmart or sears.
I really feel for the lady that got ripped off, and I hope she can sell it. I would suggest to anyone who is being pressured to buy anything they don't really want (be it a vacuum, car or whatever) to just be mean. THAT is what it takes to get rid of the pest. Don't worry about what they say or how rude they are, at least you aren't out any money. Great websites like this one can then be used to expose the critters for what they are and warn others to be wary.
By the way, Kirby is a subsidiary of the Scott & Fetzer company. I've seen another product line that is sold by them using the same sleazy sales tactics. Everyone would be wise to avoid any product sold by Scott & Fetzer. They're a big company, but they didn't get that way by having a good product in any line...

Don't feel too bad about not using your Kirby, they don't work particularly well anyway. You can pretty much do as well with a broom, and you won't have to change the belt every 15 minutes.