Kirby Vacuum Cleaners - Preying on the Elderly & Infirm?

My parents gave in to a pressuring sales man, and now, they are trying to get a loan, because the sales man made the payments totaling well over $3000. Kirby should have a civil suit go after them for preying on the elderly! Shame on you Kirby that you should sink so low!

Just found out today that my wife's mother, 81, purchased a Kirby she didn't want after high pressure and the same approach as all of the above for $600 or more. They even came back twice. She was afraid to tell them no. She is a frail, loving old lady. They took advantage of her. It is a shame something isn't done about them. She really couldn't afford the vacuum, and had to cut other much more needed staples to be comfortable. It is way too heavy to use. The one she had before was self-propelled and lighter. We bought it for her.

I am writing because of my 83 year old mother who lives in MO. Tonight, her doorbell rang at 5 pm. She lives alone, and she was told by 2 girls that they would shampoo her in the dining room for free, so she let them in. Then, a young man arrived with a Kirby, and 3 1/2 hours later, they finally left after high pressure sales tactics. I do not think this is fair. This should not be allowed! I am not happy about this. Preying on the elderly is wrong.

My elderly mother has a dementia/Alzheimer's with a few more weeks to live and my father has dementia at 80 years old. They allowed a Kirby vacuum representative into their home and sold my parents a vacuum cleaner that neither one of them have the strength to push or pull and could possibly hurt either one of them.

My mother sleeps most of the time now as her colon cancer progressed to her end days and my father sleeps most of the time too. These two were just happy to have someone to talk with. They spent $2000.00 on a vacuum that neither one can operate.

This company is abusing the elderly and poor by selling just to make a pay check to dying, sick and old people. It disgust me.

I arrived at my home, which I share with my 95-year old grandfather, at 9:30pm on 17 Aug 11 to find a Kirby vacuum salesman in the middle of a presentation to my grandfather (easy prey). I told the gentleman he needed to just pack up and leave. I told him that we had owned Kirby's in the past but they were not good and we would never own another one. He continued his presentation. A few minutes passed. While he was continuing his presentation, I asked him to leave again.

After a few more minutes, another gentleman joined the first and they both continued the presentation. Again, I asked them to leave. This situation continued for about 10 minutes. At this point, I told them that f they did not pack up and leave, I would call the cops to have them escorted out. After that, they finally started to pack up. It took them approximately 15-20 minutes to finally remove themselves from our living room and it was well after 10 p.m. in the evening.

On 6/29/11, Ruben used high pressure sales tactics on an 83 year old woman. He sold her a vacuum cleaner, which she paid in full with a check. He cashed the check within 20 minutes. Ruben was contacted the next day and was asked to pick up the vacuum cleaner, and refund the check. The vacuum cleaner was picked up, and Ruben said that we would be refunded by the company within ten business working days. Clearly this has not happened, and Ruben is no longer returning phone calls.

While attempting to demonstrate the vacuum, he proceeded to shampoo an oriental rug, which I begged him not to do because of the lack of dye fastness in the rug. He did so; against my will, and he stated that this procedure would not harm the rug. The next day, when the rug was dried, I noticed the blurring of the colors. I have told Ruben to come to look at the problem.On 6/30 he agreed to an appointment at 3 PM to look at the damage, which he never showed up. Repeated attempts have been made to contact him to no avail.

This is not what I thought the Kirby Company was all about. Why is it so hard to find a contact number to be able to call, and research this problem with the company?

This so called company is preying on elderly people with their fast talk and slick sales pitch. My mother is 79 yrs. old and she allowed 2 Kirby salesmen into her home. After a sob story of them trying to make extra money to get through college or they will have to drop out, and hours of strong armed sales tactics; my kind-hearted mother signed a contract for a $600 vacuum cleaner that she can not afford.

My 80-year old father allowed two individuals (representing Kirby) into our home. They told him that he had been selected to receive a free carpet cleaning service for the entire house. Needless to say, that did not happen, and while one person did a bit of vacuuming in one room, the other occupied my father in another room.

My father's cell phone was stolen, and before it was realized, his cell phone bill was for $330 over two billing cycles. Typically his bill is around $50 per cycle. If we are able to locate these individuals, we intend to prosecute.

Kirby might be an excellent vacuum, however the sales and finance methods are quite questionable. I suggest that all Kirby sales individuals should have one basic understanding of "NO". I had to repeat "no" five separate times (maybe more) in varying tones before this was understood.

Interestingly, the price kept coming down (to $780) each time I said no. The sales method gives Kirby a bad name.

By the way, this is the first time I have ever complained in writing regarding any product or service of this nature. But this affects a lot of elderly people, who purchase a vacuum just to get the salesman out of the house.

Three years ago a Kirby salesman came to my house. I told him I did not want to buy a vacuum and could not afford to buy a vacuum. He persisted with his sales pitch. He was with a team that had been brought in from San Jose, CA (70 miles from Stockton). I contintued to say no, he wanted to call his supervisor to come talk with me. I said NO, and NO and NO. He was very smooth, said he was in college at San Jose State and needed the commissions from these sales to stay in college. I finally got rid of him.

I wish I had known or thought then to call the police. They had about 6 sales people working the circle that we lived on. It was a very disturbing experience.

The next time I visited my mother in Belleview, Florida (a very small town near Ocala), I found she had bought a Kirby. She had a Kirby that was about 40 years old that had been a good vacuum. She was 81 at that time and said she kept telling the salesman no that her old Kirby was fine. But she said the only way she could get rid of him was to buy the new Kirby and they took her old Kirby as trade in.

My mother lives on Social Security and interest from a small savings (about $750 a month). She couldn't afford this. I found the Kirby web site and sent an e-mail expressing my anger at their sales methods and preying on my elderly mother. I never received a response. The new Kirby is now inoperable (3 years old).

I've had a Hoover for 12 years and it is great, no problems with it and it just keeps on going. I hope more people find this web site and maybe one day Kirby will be put out of business with their unethical practices. Once you buy it, its yours, no service, no help with problems. This happened in California and Florida, so its not JUST A FEW SALESMEN that operate this way; it appears to be the way Kirby trains them.

My mother is 78 years old and has Parkinson's Disease. Some female representative of the Kirby company talked her into buying a Kirby vacuum cleaner. It is not easy to use, and my mother has used it once in the months since she bought it. I visited her this weekend, and tried to figure it out (had to read the manual) to find that you had to turn a very difficult-to-move plastic part a full revolution or more, and remove the whole front of the machine to attach the hose, then turn a stiffly operating metal latch to hook up and unhook the hose attachment.

My mother cannot even operate the thing as her hands do not work. She cannot safely bend over to work on it (she uses a walker and is very unstable), and shouldn't be lifting one foot to operate the on/off (foot operated) switch. She doesn't even know where to get replacement bags (they gave her 3) ("she told me where, but I don't remember....) It is unconscionable to prey on the elderly in such a manner.

Consequences? An old woman spent a fortune on an appliance that she cannot safely operate and should not be operating so that some woman without a concience can add to her paycheck. I would starve before I would do that for a living.

The vacuum then later broke and they said we only had a 3-day guarentee so we couldn't return it, that we had to pay. Well my mom decided to pay her $1,200. Now they keep on sending letters about how we have to pay $1,700.

The salesman Hakeem sold my 83-year-old father a Kirby vacuum cleaner. My father doesn't remember buying it, or how it got into the house. My mother just passed away in November and my father has been depressed. He loves to have someone to talk to but doesn't remember when someone has been to his home.

We have talked to the company and they say he signed the contract so he purchased the vacuum. He put it on a charge card. He can not afford this and I feel that the saleman and this company took advantage of man who is depressed with the loss of his wife of 62 years.

I know that we are going to have to keep the vacuum but I just wanted you to know about the company and maybe notify senior groups to watch out for this company and Kirby. Thanks for listening.

Dan's father needs help. Memory loss of this severity can be a sympton of serious underlying conditions. His father should have an immediate workup by a physician, preferably one who specializes in geriatrics.