Direct Buy Calgary Alberta Misleading statments to sell membership Calgary Alberta Canada

Be ready to spend A LOT of time just looking at the stuff from all different manufacturers

Be ready to spend A LOT of time just looking at the stuff from all different manufacturers

Be ready to spend A LOT of time just looking at the stuff from all different manufacturers

Be ready to spend A LOT of time just looking at the stuff from all different manufacturers

Hi there,

Thought I would share my experience since I'm close to Calgary (Edmonton Alberta). My experience seems fairly different them most that listed here. Don't get me wrong the high pressure sales are there as was the join now or never speach. Aside from that my experience was positive but that's mostly because:
- I am renovating a house and looking to spend around $35,000 on it.
- I did my research and had specific items in mind when I came in.

The price was much higher then I thought (I was told it was around $700 a year but I didn't know it was averaged over 10 years). Still all I cared about in the end was good i get a deal. The sales person started their fancy speach and I basically told him. "I'm renovating my place. I have specific items in mind. Can you show me savings on them that are more then the membership". I gave him the list of items I wanted Flooring, some furniture, cabinets (kitchen/bathroom), countertop, sinks, appliances, man made stone to finish the outside of the house, speakers, projector, washer, etc.

The sales person went over and started to bring over the catalogs for the items I was planning to buy. The cabinets and flooring looked like they would cover the cost of the membership. Now keep in mind I did do shopping around. I called every flooring place in Edmonton to get the best price on my floors I could. I even called the manufacture and got a list of all retailers in Alberta. The price from DB was still $2100.00 cheaper on 1,400 square feet. That's not counting the $400 savings on transition pieces (t-moulds, step nose, etc). Based on this we decided to go with it and purchased the membership.

The flooring was a very nice suprise as the distributor is in town and called me 2 days later to pick it up. Now I understand this is not the norm and usually there is a wait for items but in my case It was very easy.

I got most of the items I wanted that first purchase with the exception of the projector (Direct buy did not carry the one I wanted) and furniture for downstairs guest room (cheaper brand again not carried by direct buy). These 2 items I picked up a retailor I had originally priced out. The speakers were a very nice suprise as they are ones bestbuy carries and the price was about 38% lower then the bestbuy price.

Also I found a fantastic deal on theater seating for my projector room. Basically I got the same type of setup from the top brand in home theater for the same price as I had priced out a entry level no name type chairs.

So Here is a list of the postive and negatives:
Negative:
- High pressure sales to get the membership
- Very high upfront cost of $5k
- Have to wait for shipping
- Have to know what you want
- Have to do research before you go in
- Have to purchase at least $20,000-$25,000 of product to get the savings
- No low brand names. No Ikea type stuff.

Positive:
- Good prices on the items I looked at. Much cheaper then the price I found by looking at multiple retailors.
- Once you buy the membership no pressure on buying items. Sit all day and look through stuff if you want. Nobody will bother you unless you ask for help.
- Large selection of medium to high quality brand names.
- If your renovating or building a house you'll make up your memebership on your first purchase.

In the end it all comes down to savings. I saved more then by not buying it but please keep this in mind so you don't regret your purchase as this only appeals to certain type of people:
- You need to be planning to buy alot (renovation, building house, etc). If you are only planning to spend a few thousand a year don't go here.
- You are a person that is looking for medium to high quality items. Let's be realistic. Even though I saved $2,000 on my flooring I could have saved $4,000 more by buying 89cent laminate from dicount outlet. If you shop at Ikea or Zellers this is not the place for you. Trust me I use to shop there as well when going through school and you can't beat prices at Ikea for low quality products. Don't let the sales person tell you otherwise.
- Your not trying to do a quick flip of a house so want the lowest quality stuff.

I've read some of the other posts here and it may be down to the individual owner of how stores are run as I've had no issues like listed in some of the other articals.
I was told up front how it worked, that I couldn't bring other people to the showroom. I was not charged any frieght on items I picked up from the distributors warehouse (I was for items that did not have in town distributors). I had no issues contacting the contacts on the list provided. Each one answered the phone when I called and provided the information I requested.

Please note this opinion is based on my personal experience. I can't speak for everybody that's ever used the service.