| By David Levy, November 15, 2003 |
Page 3
Finally, another representative from DirectBuy told us what we’d been waiting to hear. Membership at DirectBuy 1) Lasts for ten years and 2) Costs $4425! Wow. That was considerably more than we anticipated. But over the course of a decade, that’s an affordable four hundred and forty two bucks a year.
But the trick is the dues are front-loaded in the first three years. You pay $3200 now—in installments—and from years four through ten, you pay only $175 a year. That took us by surprise. Thirty two hundred bucks is a lot of money to part with—even in four installments of eight hundred dollars. (There are other financing plans available, but our sales rep didn’t explain them to us.)
But how did the membership dues compare to our potential savings? Here’s what we were in the market for and what we figured we could save based on the examples given in the video: ItemEstimated Savings Blinds/window treatments$1850 Sofa$1000 Bed (frame and headboard)$500 Rugs$800 Track lighting $500 Mattress$800 Total estimated savings$5450
That sure seemed like a great deal. But we still had to pay more than three thousand to get those savings. Subtracting the membership fee ($3200) from the estimated savings ($5450), we got a net savings of $2250. Over the years, we’d probably buy more stuff and increase our savings, but that night, it didn’t seem worth it to spend $3200 to save $2250. Heather and I were still on the fence.
If we could only look through some catalogs and see what DirectBuy had to offer, maybe we could make a better-informed decision. Trouble is, due to the sensitive nature of the wholesales prices, we were discouraged from browsing through the catalogs on our own. Our sales rep asked us what we might be interested in and brought certain catalogs over to us.
But he didn’t really know our taste. Moreover, we didn’t know the names of rug and furniture manufacturers. Like most people, we’ve heard of Sony stereos, Serta mattresses, GE refrigerators, and Weber grills. But brand name sofas? Not us. Quick: Who made that chair you are sitting in right now? You probably don’t know. And without knowing the names of the manufacturers, browsing through dozens of furniture catalogs has little value. How can you identify a good deal?
We needed time. Like many of you, Heather and I like to think before making larger purchases. The more something costs, the more time we need to think. Forking over three grand requires at least a couple of nights of sleeping on it.
But we couldn’t. We were told we had to decide on membership THAT NIGHT. Right there. Right then. Another surprise. And if we decided not to join, we would not be asked back for another seven years. Another surprise.
It was approaching 9:30 in the evening. Neither of us had eaten dinner and there was really no place for us to be alone so we could talk about this. Heather and I were feeling a little uncomfortable with these surprises at this point. Still, we were leaning towards joining. Then I looked at the contract and it read that we could cancel the whole thing within three business days! No one told us that either.
A couple of weeks later, I asked Sunil Ippagunta about the sales process. Why were key things withheld from prospective members until the night of the orientation, like that fact that you had to make an immediate decision? He told me that the national office in Indiana dictates sales policies. (UCC TotalHome sends representatives to each of the franchises to conduct sales training.) Plus, Mr. Ippagunta added that until you see the showroom and the video, you might not grasp the DirectBuy concept. Without that understanding, you really can’t make a judgment on this “style of buying.” “What would you learn,” he asked me, “if the advertisement had told you ahead of time that you had to decide that night? Decide on what?” He had a point. You need to see DirectBuy to understand it.
Revealing too much up front could harm DirectBuy’s chances of bringing in new members. (They get about 20 to 30 new members a month.) Think about it: If the advertisement in the paper read “Membership Dues $4425!” no one would ever show up. Something must be working for UCC TotalHome. It has been in business for thirty-plus years.
Referring to the DirectBuy concept, Mr. Ippagunta said, “Either you like it or you don’t like it. We don’t use high-pressure sales tactics. If you are not interested, we say ‘Thank you.’ No one chases you out the door to convince you to reconsider.”
Others disagree. Type in “UCC TotalHome” and “Complaints” into Google and you’ll find plenty of angry folks who call UCC’s sales tactics “high pressure.”
In fairness, though, we all know that squeaky wheels are very vocal and shout their complaints on the message boards of the World Wide Web. Satisfied customers, however, are quiet customers, rarely broadcasting their pleasant experiences on the Internet.
“We have no unhappy members,” Sunil Ippagunta states. “If you are unhappy, we will work it out with you. We can work out any situation.” By the way, DirectBuy has a “satisfactory record” with the Connecticut Better Business Bureau (they joined in May 2003).
In the end, Mr. Ippagunta’s words are this story’s takeaway message: Either you like it or you don’t like it. In order to save money, some of you may be only too happy to adopt DirectBuy’s style of buying. Some of you may find DirectBuy’s membership dues too high. Others may really enjoy browsing aisles and aisles of merchandise, rather than pages and pages of catalogs. Whatever your preferences, you now have some additional information to make that decision.
What did Heather and I do? We joined; then, after thinking about it some more, we canceled. When I called to cancel, I spoke to Sunil Ippagunta. He did not try to change my mind.
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