This article is reproduced without permission under the Fair Use Doctrine. It was originally published at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-dawson15061505jun15,0,1130409.column?coll=orl-home-lifestyle and is Copyright © 2005, Orlando Sentinel.
Greg Dawson Published June 15, 2005
Dear Greg: My wife and I are in our 70s, and our retirement assets have been reduced drastically in the past five years. We paid $3,490 to become members of Direct Buy, which allows you to buy directly from manufacturers at lower cost. During an in-house sales pitch, we asked how much we could save. The sales rep told us to select two items out of the catalog and she would give us the wholesale prices. She gave us prices for a hunting jacket and a dishwasher, but when we went to order the items, the prices were higher. I have asked for prices of other items and not received them. We have gotten nothing but excuses and aggravation and just want our money back.
CHARLES TURNER
MAITLAND
Dear Charles: What we have here is bad chemistry. I checked 10 Direct Buy outlets coast-to-coast, including the one in Sanford that sold you the membership, and all have good records with the Better Business Bureau. But like Speedos and Adam Sandler movies, Direct Buy is not for everyone. In reviewing your file, Randy Cover, owner of the Sanford franchise, concluded that you fall in that group. He noted, for example, that you were buying the dishwasher for your daughter, and members are not supposed to buy such items for nonmembers. Cover is voiding the contract and refunding your $3,490. See you at the mall.
Comment by Cagey Consumer:Yikes! Let's not count on Greg Dawson to be our most fervent consumer advocate.
Number one: If the BBB gives a business a "satisfactory" rating, that means there's nothing objectionable about the business.
Wrong!
Very very wrong!
As per BBB policy, "the Better Business Bureau does not endorse any product, service or company." At best, a BBB "satisfactory" rating means that the business fulfills its contractual obligations. A business that employs high-pressure sales techniques, grant refunds only under very limited circumstances, and just in general offer consumers a bad deal, will generally receive a "satisfactory" BBB rating as long as these are consistent with any written contracts.
Number two: Direct Buy is not for everyone.
In other words, the columnist, Greg Dawson, is willing to blame the victim.
How many other of the people that the Sanford Direct Buy franchisee sold a membership to actually benefited from the membership?
We could only speculate. With membership fees measured in thousands of dollars, you better be planning on spending several times that to have much hope of breaking even. But you have to rely on the claims of Direct Buy, or their offer to compare prices on a couple of items... but you have to add service fees to the quoted prices, which really belies the problem of the business model. Supposedly your membership fee eliminates the need to charge for markups and overhead. At these prices, it ought to! But Direct Buy franchisees nevertheless add service charges, generally won't allow returns, or provide the kind of services customers expect to receive from most retailers.
Number three: Members are not supposed to buy items for nonmembers.
So I can't buy my adult child a gift??? For violation of this policy, the contract calls for cancellation of the member's privilege, not a refund. But of course, that refund is the best bargain you can expect from Best Buy. This was the best possible outcome for Mr. Turner, but other customers who are unhappy shouldn't count on having the same luck.
Conclusion: Don't rely on Mr. Dawson's column for getting the most helpful facts about consumer issues.
- 01 Jul 2005
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