DirectBuy
Money grab and no customer service

My Mom and I are members of Direct Buy in Canada. My frustrations with DB began when I ordered a wedding ring mount and bands for my husband and myself. The trouble began when the DB sales associate processed the order wrong and I had to go back to pay more shipping. A couple of weeks go by - at this point we are less than a month away from our wedding and I am informed by telephone that the associate made a MATH mistake and that I actually owe them MORE money. I am about to leave on vacation two provinces away - I do NOT have time to deal with this. Anyway, I said fine, voiced my displeasure at THEIR mistake and said that I would pay the difference when the rings came in. I spoke to the Manager and made it quite clear that if the rings weren't in by the particular date stipulated (at this point I had been waiting longer than what the expected delivery date on the invoice was), I wanted someone's head to roll because they were going to ruin our wedding. I left for my trip and as I travelled to my fiancé, I got regular calls from DB staff telling me that the manufacturer had confirmed my rings would be in well in advance of the wedding. 3 week vacation goes by, fiancé and I are in town to get married and, guess what, NO rings!! When I called to see where the rings were at, I freaked out when I was told they weren't received. I was told someone would call back. A couple of hours later, this very cocky young lady returns my call and says "Well at the price you paid for the rings, I hope you realize you are NOT getting a diamond" to which I responded in a not very calm voice that she needed to learn to READ because I hadn't bought a diamond, only rings.. Anyway, to make a long story short, we had to push our wedding back by 3 days thanks to Direct Buy's incompetence and BS. You'd think that after that episode I would have learned my lesson and not ordered anything further but no, I couldn't resist.

On September 3, 2007, went to the DB showroom and placed an order for a 4 piece John Thomas dining set. I was told that it would take 4-6 weeks for delivery. I received the set December 22, 2007 and when we unpacked it, it was so damaged it was hideous and definitely not acceptable. I immediately contacted DB after the Xmas holiday and had to provide all kinds of pictures to prove the damage. I was initially told that I may not get a refund - that it was up to the DB adjustor and the Manufacturer to decide. The person I was dealing with prepared me for the worst scenario - that I might not get my full money back but would likely be offered the damaged set at half price. I said I wanted a replacement set. I was told that the manufacturer agreed to send a replacement set. This was mid-January. At the end of March 2008, I received a call that the replacement set had been received and thoroughly inspected to ensure it was not damaged like the first one. My hubby and I borrowed a minivan and brought the damaged set back and were about to load the new set when I insisted that the boxes be opened so "I" could inspect the new set. The warehouse guy didn't want to, stating that they had already inspected it. I was adamant so he didn't have much choice. When he cut the tape, I noticed that the cheapo packing paper and foam had not been moved at all, which meant that in reality, the set had not been inspected as I had been told. I moved the paper and foam and right away pointed out dents on the white tabletop. Needless to say, I was NOT happy and left both dining sets there at the warehouse. I immediately emailed the lady I had been dealing with to tell her of the situation and that I was INSISTING upon a FULL refund. To make a very long story short, I have had to chase after my refund for two months. I spoke with someone in their accounting department who told me the cheque had been mailed April 28. I waited and waited. In-city mail takes 3-4 days. As of end of May, I had not received my refund. I left a message for the owner who NEVER bothered to return my call - one of his underlings called and told me that the cheque had been mailed May 13 - I freaked out and called them all *** liars. Anyway, the cheque never came so I insisted they draft another and that I would pick it up. I FINALLY got my money on May 30th.

This whole ordeal left me with a very poor impression of the company, even poorer impression of the people they employ and overall just a very bitter taste in my mouth. Both Mom and I wish we'd never set foot there!

Company: DirectBuy
Country: Canada

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