L&R MERCHANDISING IS OWNED BY A SLEAZY, LYING, POMPASS CRIMINAL WHO TRAINS PEOPLE TO STEAL YOUR MONEY!! CONCORD New Hampshire

    During the short time that I was employed as an independent contractor at Kirby of Concord, I thought that I was treated fairly. First of all I would to qualify a little before I share my short experience working under Rick Smith. I for one was much older than many of the sales staff. My work experience was a bit more extensive than most working there. 

      After a few days of training, we were asked to set up at least 8 demonstrations. If you completed 6 appointments you would receive your salary of $600. 00. You would not receive any commission from any sales. I did sell two units. I also obtain referrals as well. Your referrals are what keep you in business but you must ask. I was successful selling Kirby Vacuums but my age and my illness did not allow me continue my efforts to be come a distributor. I could have chosen a salary but I made more made on commissions and bonuses. Of course every week was different. 

       In my second month I had the opportunity to become a distributor. I was top sales person during the first two weeks of November. All I had to do was keep going. If I would have been 10 years younger I could have opened my own store. Sales is a lot of work. Kirby is a great product. It is very tangible. You can see it, feel it, and know that you selling the best cleaning appliance on the market. 

       Rick Smith was not perfect. But he was fair, honest, and shared his talent with every new trainee. He was there every day ready to work. He demonstrated the Kirby in side and out without a blink. He went out on the road like everyone else. I just wish I could have held in there to make it work. Rick gave me all the tools and support to be successful.   

Ok take a look at everyone who has posted something bad about kirby do you see a trend THEY CANT SELL KIRBYS... Get over your selves the only reason any of you post s**t on here is because you couldn't cut it knocking on doors and talking to people to sell them a vacuum hell you dont even really have to sell them all you have to do is show it to them and find a price they can afford how do you think car dealers work. you should go work for one and see how that goes.If the vacuum got sold at msrp there would be no money to pay the sales rep or the crew leader if that was the case the distributor might as well sell them him/her self but now were would the kirby opportunity be.As far as all the sales reps that have gone over the limit with their customers is a bunch of bull s**t and THANK YOU FOR f**kING IT UP FOR EVERONE.But i cant be held responsable for someone elses actions but can tell you i have never treated my customers with nothing but respect and there are lots of sales reps who do to.Im on my way to the top and gonna be promoted to dt here real soon  so shut up go work your life away while the rest of us succeed.  
                                                                                                            

THINK POSITIVE

Curtis v

I worked for L&R for 2 weeks and I'm already seeing the BS and rip offs.... they take no taxes out so by the time u take ur own taxes out ur only making about 20 bucks a show if that. They do make it sound like a good place to work and the ppl are ok but they set all ur appointments and u have to do 15 a week to get the 510 if they dont set u 15 shows a week and u dont sell any vacuums u dont get s**t except a little bonus if ur at all the morning meetings that week.

i can say i have never been yelled at by rick but he and the trainer told me there was a branch opening in Jan. in Manchester but i just looked online and it says there is already a branch there so they pretty much lied to my face about that. Idk if it was for their gain or if the just didnt know but i got a pretty good idea which one it is.

They also do tell you there is no pressure to sell yet when u call them at the end of a demo they will just keep offering different deals and try to make the  customer buy it. They make what they call special deals when you are doing the family and friends weekend which is another bunch of crap i have seen them offer lower deals to complete strangers which makes me feel like s**t for even doing the demos for family. 

I had to make a profile on this site in order to set the record straight and prevent a good man's name from being dragged through the mud. Let me tell you just what kind of person Mr. Rick Smith is. I was an employee of his for about a month in May of this year and I had a lot of trouble selling the Kirby vacuums. Rick and his associates did everything they could to help me improve my skills including spending extra time after meetings to talk to me and arranging for extra training for me with one of the best guys in the branch. He was always supportive and patient with me and drummed up the positive improvements I made while helping me work on the negatives.

Every morning, we would have a meeting that focused on things that people were doing that work well and how to improve the way we relate to customers. To my knowledge, all of the customers of L&R Merchandising including my parents and relatives who own Kirbys are very happy with the product and the quality of service they receive from the office.  

 I ended up leaving the company due to both my inability to reconcile the cost of the vacuums with the amount of value I could build for them and the timely finding of another job that was a little more suited to my personal strengths (which I never would have been able to get without my experience at Kirby and a great reference from Mr. Smith). On the whole I sold 3 vacuums and bought one vacuum so if anything, the company probably broke even or lost money on me. Rick never once yelled at me and it seems like if he would ever "scream at" anyone, they probably deserved it for saying bad things about the company in front of him or cheating their customers or the company.   

I was paid for everything I sold including bonuses. I never made the $510 salary but that was due to my not wanting to work the amount of time required to get it. The bottom line is that Kirby is a commission based sales job and if that doesn't work for you, don't work there. Sales is tough and it's not for everyone but if that kind of thing appeals to you then I couldn't recommend a better place to hone your skills and become a champion in the sales world. If you are a Kirby customer then Rick Smith's branch will take better care of you than any other branch out there. Rick's repairs department took my vacuum apart and buffed out every piece of it so that it looked and ran brand new even though it is 15 years old and did it all for free and I know the same service is available to every customer that walks in the door at 56 Old Suncook Rd because I would see it every day.

In conclusion I would like to say that Rick Smith got where he is by being a great employer, treating his employees and customers like family, and through the belief that his product really does help increase the quality of people's lives. My experience with Rick Smith and Kirby has helped me become a more responsible person and a better man and has given me skills that I will use for the rest of my life. Rick, if you are reading this I just want to say thank you for everything you did for me and I hope that in some small way my report here can help clear your good name because you were the best boss I ever had.

My name is Jeremy Mercier, and I am a current employee of L&R Merchandising.  I have worked there for about 7 months at the time of this rebuttal, and I have never been short changed in my check, never seen a promise broken, and never seen a person who works hard and follows the program get anything but good results.  I myself was never top dog as far as sales go, but I came to work every day on time with a good attitude and guess what? Rick Smith gave me a promotion, an office, and an assistant.  He saw where my talents were and found a place where I could put them to use to the benefit of all, including my wife and two daughters. 

As far as Mr. Rozz is concerned, I have seen the police reports and the statements from customers who have been ripped off my Adam Rozz, and anyone who believes any of this muck he is spewing about L&R can call either Mr. Smith or myself to get the facts of that situation. 603-229-3131 exts 12(Rick) or 11 (Jeremy).   Sincerely, Jeremy Mercier, Current L&R Staff Member

to the above, ive worked there quite a while, and I have to add this!-the "sentria" IS a "small appliance" as it is a; vacuum,shampooer,sander,buffer,polisher,air pump,wood floor waxer,etc. just to name a few, it also has accessories such as small plumbing tools, rust removal tools, and outside painting and gardening accessories... how many "vacuums" do that? I'd also like to mention, that as L & R is a d/b/a title, therefore, the accurate company name for the business, is a company required to state the products they represent in their company name?? What is "Applebees"? anyways-just a silly comment to the above poster, probably Adam-

As far as "Adam Rozz's" posting above! Who do you think you're kidding? We all know who you are, and if I were to drop to your level, I would post as to exactly the type of person you are, as well as how your run your "Done Right Construction" Company, but for the sake of your son, I won't, but you should really think about what what saying such horrible things about a person who helped you on such a personal level will do for your karma! :-)

Why do you HIDE youe true name Kirby and falsely call yourself a factory outlet? BTW the BBB is the first recruit of the dishonest merchant. Why do you say, small appliance rather than vacuum cleaner? Rethorical.....Everyone knows why.

My name is Richard Smith, and I am the owner of L&R Merchandising Inc., d/b/a Kirby of Concord. I have owned and operated L&R Merchandising Inc., d/b/a Kirby of Concord for more than 7 years. Prior to that, I worked as a Kirby dealer for 5 years. Kirby of Concord is a proud member in good standing with the Better Business Bureau of Concord, NH. We take great care of our customers. Kirby of Concord takes pride in the fact that not one of our customers has registered a complaint against me with The Kirby Company.

While Kirby of Concord gladly welcomes hardworking and ethical people of any educational background, we also provide excellent opportunities for college students to earn additional money and to earn scholarships. Kirby of Concord conducts background checks and provides comprehensive training to every dealer before he or she begins any sales activities. The commission schedule is in writing and reviewed thoroughly with every dealer.

When a dealer proves to me that he or she can run a business professionally, ethically and successfully, I promote him/her to a distributor trainee, the first step in creating his or her own Kirby distributorship. Over the course of my distributorship, I have promoted eight distributor trainees.

As with any business, Kirby of Concord has dealers who succeed, and those who fail. In every case, Kirby of Concord has provided all the tools necessary for the dealer to succeed. Kirby of Concord has and always will continue to conduct its business legally and ethically.

I urge any consumers with questions or concerns to call our office during the hours of 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Kirby of Concord's phone number is (603)229-3131. Feel free to contact The Kirby Company in Cleveland at 1-800-494-8586 during the hours of 8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Thank you.

I too worked with Kirby of Concord, which is owned by Rick Smith, although I must say that my experience was much different than Adam's. Although I only worked there for 3 months during my summer break, I found the training to be very professional and helpful. I also made a very good amount of money which helped a lot with my tuition, not to mention the valuable sales knowledge that i gained, which has helped me tremendously with my with my business degree that I still pursue today. While I worked there during the summer I also received a $500 scholarship bonus that helped with my books for the following year.

Mr. Smith always runs good, educational, positive morning meetings, and gives awards for sales and money awards for leads. In the morning meetings Mr. Smith always trained us how to show the Kirby professionally and ethically. Many times he would put up daily and monthly bonuses for us to achieve (which I won a PSP for doing a good job one week) He always stressed the importance of doing full-factory demonstrations + good customer service.

Overall my experience with Kirby of Concord was very beneficial, fun, and financially rewarding, and I would recommend it to not only college students, but to anyone looking for work.

My Question to "Rozzy", would be that you wrote that you worked for Kirby of Concord for almost 1 year. If what you wrote i true, WHY would you work there for that long??? Why would you allow yourself to be "ripped off", "lied to","screamed at" and be trained "how to scam people" for close to a YEAR?
I am very confident that if Rick Smith was running a company that way I would have been aware of it within days, and would have been done immediately, not stayed for close to a year??? Something just doesn't sound right???

In closing... I would suggest that any questions or concerns regarding this letter call Mr. Smith @ 229-3131 & schedule a face to face meeting with him, and possibly review some documented material he may have regarding the this letter, as well as the legitimacy of the author or authors.
Sincerely, Alex