Kirby Company Beware of sneaky way they talk their way into your home! Knoxville Tennessee

I live in NE Tennessee, and yesterday I unknowingly allowed a Kirby sales team into my home.  What a mistake!  This is how they work:  A fast-talking, southern-accented woman came to the door, explained she worked for a company that cleans rugs, and she would like to do a demonstration.  I balked, but she explained she needed to do five demonstrations per day and only needed to do one more (this was later in the afternoon), so I relented.  She “sweetened” the deal by giving me a bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid. 

She came in, asked what types of flooring I had, was very complimentary about the house, and I decided to have her do my large, polypropylene braided kitchen rug, as I knew it would be the dirtiest.  She then went to get her “assistant” (who was waiting in the car, and I had no idea he existed).  He came in with a large and small cardboard packing box.  Once I saw “Kirby” on the side of the larger box, I knew I’d been duped. 

I immediately explained that they were welcome to clean my rug if they wanted, but that I was not interested in purchasing a vacuum cleaner.  (He then cheekily pointed out that it was not a vacuum cleaner – it was a FLOOR CARE SYSTEM.  It came with enough attachments it build a house.)  The woman then used my vacuum cleaner on an area of my kitchen rug and left (as in no longer at my house).   I retreated into my office while the demonstrator was supposedly cleaning my rug.  In reality, he vacuumed over one very small area (maybe 18” square), frequently replacing a filter pad that showed how much dirt my cleaning service was missing and how much dirt was still in the rug. I explained to the demonstrator that yes, there was a lot of dirt left behind, but it did not concern me.  He tried to convince me that I should be concerned. 

He then said he’d noticed how our hardwood floors were scratched, that they were being damaged, and the machine could polish the hardwood floors.  I explained that I was aware the hardwood floors were scratched, but I was not concerned about it.  He went on to explain that the vacuum would remove the dirt that had settled between the boards in the hardwood floors.  I explained this is a 100+ year old farmhouse and I liked the space (and the dirt) between the boards; it added character. 

Then he pointed out that leaving dirt behind in my wool wall-to-wall living room carpeting would shorten the life of the expensive carpeting.  I again explained I wasn’t concerned about it.  He then made some comment about wasting money and did I like to waste money.  I foolishly stooped to his level and tried to explain to this insolent young man that based on my husband and my ages, I did not anticipate remaining in the house many years into the future, and that I would deal with any damage to the hardwood floors and wool carpeting whenever we decided to move. 

After arguing back and forth, I finally made it clear he was wasting his time.  I didn’t give him an opportunity to demonstrate the machine beyond its vacuuming ability. 

This team may have been from the Knoxville area because, adding insult to injury, when he had packed up his machine and attempted to call his partner to pick him up, his phone wasn’t charged.  He had to call her, in a Knoxville area code, from our phone.  After calling her, he took his wares outside where he waited for at least 15 minutes before she picked him up.  I also gave him back the bottle of Dawn.  Good riddance!