K Designers High Powered & Misleading Sales Pitch Phoenix Arizona

I received a telephone call from a lady with K Designers who told me that they had a new permanent coating that they would like to show me, or words to this effect. Since I realized that I needed to have some very extensive wood trim re-painted and that the Arizona sun had made short work of the painting I had done almost three years ago, I made an appointment with them.

I received several additional phone calls to reconfirm the appointment, including one to advise me that they would be late. I told the last caller that if they had any idea of selling me anything that day to forget it. Nonetheless, two young men duly arrived. After engaging in some considerable chit chat, I suggested that we get down to business. At that point, the two men, one supposedly a trainee, asked to look at the house and I led them around it.

Returning to the house, the lead salesman began to give us a lengthy sales pitch about their amazing product which consisted of essentially a white primer which had titanium dioxide, a super caulk, and a paint or coating from Sherwin Williams which had a lifetime guarantee. We were supposed to believe that Sherwin Williams had given K Designers a special authority to use this unique coating and that it was guaranteed to last a lifetime, later admitted to be the owner's lifetime.

A sample of the caulk and the coating was shown the coating having been applied over the primer on a board. Further, photos were shown us of houses they had painted previously, but after I pointed out that any house freshly painted would look like that, the photos stopped. I asked for a copy of their warranty but the trainee said that he didn't have it with him. I had expected that they would show me studies of their product to support their claims but none were ever offered.

Finally, they asked for time to examine the trim in detail to take measurements, which I assumed would be the basis of a price estimate, and they went out. When they returned the lead salesman remarked that I had as much wood in my trim as would ordinarily be found in a small house. This was a major job. And then, we began again to hear a sales pitch about their great product. In spite of my wife's remark that she was a bottom line person, they went on, and on, and on.

Finally, after some pushing, the lead salesman got around to a price. He said that they could do this job for only $30,000. We were astounded. That was simply out of this world, and I told him so, making it plain that we wouldn't consider such a price. After a lot of additional selling, we were told that they were really impressed with our house and wanted to use it as an example of their work, so the corporation would put some money into it and the price came down to about $28,000. That was still absurd, so after more selling and explanation and a request that we agree to let them show others our home and sign a letter to K Designers of appreciation, it turned out that they could perhaps do it for $24,000.

I began to laugh at them, and after more of the same, it seemed that they could do it for $15,000. We told them that they were on another planet, and we said that we wouldn't sign anything that day (Thursday). They said that if we waited until Monday the price would then be $18,000. They were willing to wait until my wife checked out bak account! Of course, like any salesmen, they wanted our signatures that day.

The whole thing had long since become ludicrous. This was obviously a kind of encyclopedia kind of selling and I recognized it. Moreover, it appeared to me that this was most likely a real rip off. After all, I could get a professional paint job for $3-5,000 so this was simply outlandish. However, the selling didn't stop and we both finally got up.

My wife dramatically told them that she was going to have to take something for her headache. I began to wonder what it was going to take to get them out of our house. After carefully picking up the paper with the financial scribbling on it to make sure I could never prove anything I suppose, eventually they left. But not before the lead salesman having turned surly.

After a little on-line checking, I quickly determined that indeed Sherwin Williams offers a lifetime' coating Duration which I could buy myself. Moreover, Loew's has a Valspar with a similar guarantee. A quick look in at Loews's turned up a caulk with a fifty year guarantee! And I have no doubt that a good primer could easily be obtained, if one is needed at all. Nothing I found suggested that there is anything special about titanium dioxide which is a standard paint pigment with anti-ultra violet properties.

Two days later, the lead salesman called and talked to my wife who told him that we were not interested. She stopped him by telling him that we could easily buy the paint ourselves from Sherwin Williams. At the end of the conversation, he couldn't resist sarcasm, remarking that I guess your husband prefers a Chevrolet to a Mercedes Benz!

K Designers had apparently been largely into siding and windows previously, but that doesn't sell very well in Arizona where stucco houses predominate. So, they now push coatings here. People should be warned about this outfit. You will have to put up with a three hour minimum sales pitch and an outrageous price. If you receive the same treatment we got, at best you will get a super paint job and at worst a poor one. Either way, the price will be many times the price you can get from someone else for a professional paint job using similar if not identical materials.

Charles
Tucson, Arizona
U.S.A.