DirectBuy

We still haven't heard anything so I emailed him last week and asked if we could have an update on our cabinetry and I have not heard anything back. Our remodeling is actually a little delayed which is why I'm not too concerned about the cabinetry. So we got time yet. Also, it's harder to purchase from Directbuy than it used to be 'cause we used to be able to go to the location, look through books and talk to people. We did our kitchen through DirectBuy four years ago almost, and there was a woman that we sat down with, and we went through all the cabinetry and all of her recommendations and drawings. It was so much simpler because we could actually talk with somebody physically right there and go through the project.

Now, we've done two projects since, and it has been more on us doing all the legwork of going out to different places to check things out and to do all of our searches for numbers and part numbers. But over than those, everything else was beautiful with Directbuy. There was one woman that I emailed back and forth with on our Kohler order and Delta. And she was so quick. We would email all the stuff that we were wanting to purchase and things we couldn't find on the website. She emailed us back within a day and said she would get those prices for us then she sent us a spreadsheet with everything and it was amazing.

We have been a member since 2002 and we always recommended Directbuy on a caveat. I recommend it to a brand-new homeowner who doesn't have any insurance or people who are looking to completely refinish their house or who are at that stage where they've had everything for 20 years and are looking to refinish things, redo things, get new furniture. If you're not at either of those stages, it's usually not worth the money.

We haven’t used DirectBuy as much as we intended. We bought various pieces of furniture. When I was executor in a particular case, I did use it to fix up a house that was looking after. But right now, I have three feral cats that live in the house with me, and I don't want workmen coming in and out of the house because they're not gonna watch them. My mother is in Charleswood Care Centre in Winnipeg, so as long as she’s alive, we’re not gonna do anything with the house until she’s gone. And then, we will make more use of DirectBuy. Another thing is that it’s hard to work out of like a bar fridge downstairs. And it takes about eight week for delivery for a lot of things. So instead of going through DirectBuy, we just went to Home Depot and bought a fridge and had it delivered a couple of days later.

I do like that the quality of things from DirectBuy have been good. When something has been damaged or not quite what we wanted, they’ve been very good about taking it back and replacing it, and getting things fixed. The staff has always been very good when I’ve talked to them. We continue to pay the membership. At first, we paid $5000 years ago. And then, we had to pay a smaller amount now. We’re paying around $300 a year for it. We don't always get our value every year, but when I did have to fix up the house for resale, that I was executor of, then there was more purchases that year.

When my nephew got married, I wanted to give them a wedding gift to help them set up their home. And the guy at Winnipeg that was running the store was great. I went in and told him that my purchases were not for myself and they were gifts. He gave me a bunch of fabrics, swatches, and told me that I could take them home and let the kids look at them. And I appreciated that. I'm happy enough to continue renewing membership and I would recommend DirectBuy to people.

DirectBuy had stores and some stores had more plumbing than the other store or this or that or they tell could you, “They sell those furniture at this furniture place. Go look at it and then come back.” I kinda missed that ‘cause I kinda like being able to kick the tires before I buy something. This time around, I bought everything on the internet. I used the concierge once, and both the internet and the concierge were very easy, user-friendly and very helpful. The concierge was great. There were two separate ladies that helped me. They were extremely helpful and went out of their way. I've been very pleased and it's a nice option to be able to have that available once.

The items are all high quality and that’s kind of what I'm looking for. If we're gonna spend the money, I want something that’s gonna last and I haven't been disappointed yet. Also, I received my shipment earlier than expected on one thing. I'm waiting for the tub that's supposed to be coming in from Georgia. It's still within the time period when it said it should be shipping out but my bathroom remodel is going a little faster than I had anticipated. But at least on my plumbing, everything else that I had ordered has already come in so that’s great.

Before, the merchandise needs to be delivered to the store. They would check it to make sure that it wasn’t damaged then they would call you to come pick it up. But now, it comes directly to you. So, I was a little nervous ‘cause I gotta check everything just to make sure it's not damaged. I ordered plumbing fixtures and stuff and the delivery person was gone before I even realized that the plumbing stuff was out at the front. They rang the doorbell and by the time I got out there, they were gone. But there wasn’t an issue and everything was well-packed.

Most of the stuff I've purchased and done are furniture and home repairs. But I didn't get some of the stuff from DirectBuy because they were taking too long to give it to me. The shipment costs get you as well. When I was living in Delaware, I was beating the taxes but the shipment cost was really high. This year, I bought furniture and my bed. I like to buy my stuff early when I see sales and I mostly get furniture stuff from them because my supplies and tile would be more beneficial for me because I'm local, considering the weight. The one bad experience I had was when I ordered one of those recliner beds and I got the wrong bed.

I never had a problem with the people in the concierge though. I like the internet when purchasing but sometimes, it's best to go there. They can work it better. When we try to compare prices and look at different items, that has still been a little difficult. You gotta have some of the numbers to actually identify the stuff but sometimes, they know the names so I usually have better deal going through them. Back when DirectBuy first started, this is what I used to love about them. They used to have sample stuff that they will buy to show you and then they will let you buy that stuff sometimes. But now, there's no warehouse to go to. I used to come pick the stuff up myself. Now, you can't even go do that. They have to ship it to a place.

I also don't like the different type of people that took over on it but I don't get any consideration for that. They also have this travel thing involved now and we had a little misunderstanding when I first joined. The rep was telling me one thing and we had a few differences of opinion. We were at the airport and they couldn't match the stuff. We cancelled it and I had a problem getting my money back for a little while. But overall, I like the program. Despite the little personal things or issues I had, it's still a gem overall because it was revolutionized from what I've seen. I have some misunderstandings but most of the stuff were adjusted or corrected as well. There were a few things I didn't like. But there are some perks about keeping things exclusive too. I've been satisfied with all my furnitures and purchases from them.

They don't have any stores in Pennsylvania now. I know they have something in Canada where you can go and sit, and they have all the catalogs that you can look through. But they don’t have that in the United States anymore and that creates an issue. You can’t just walk over to a representative and say if you've got an issue with something or ask to be directed to something. Now, you gotta do it yourself. DirectBuy also needs to have a better answering service. You can be on the line for half an hour before you get a person. And even before that, there are some instructions that take a good 10 minutes to go through in order to get put on hold. So that system they use sucks.

I’m also having serious problems with a furniture I bought recently. When it was delivered, it wasn’t able to come through the door on the room that I wanted it to go to. There was some disagreement that the furniture was supposed to be delivered and put in the garage but that wasn’t my understanding. Under no circumstances would I allow to put it in a garage because of what was agreed on by the person I was dealing with at the time. It was supposed to be delivered to the room of my choice. There was also a combination of discussions not only with DirectBuy but also with the company that they used to do the delivery of the furniture. Although I never really got a firm, “Yes, that was what was agreed to,” from DirectBuy, they took it back anyway.

We agreed that they would try to come out with a better crew to see if they could fit it in that room. But I'm under the opinion that it won’t fit. I've said that it's okay and that I'll have them put the furniture in another room that I think it would fit in. It's not what I wanted but at least it could fit. I actually wanted to downsize it but what I didn’t read was a small print that said the company Ashley has a policy that they will not accept any returns. Aside from that furniture, I've had no problem with the quality of any other items. They were all top-notch quality and the purchases I've made were of the major items. I had a complete kitchen remodeling done and that involved cabinets, a refrigerator and granite. There were also bathroom supplies and ceiling fans. One other major purchase I did was for windows and doors for our house.

The entrance price was quite high when we joined. It has come down, but for some things, they’re still not as competitive as they could be. For example, when I compare lighting online, sometimes I find things that are cheaper than DirectBuy. Also, it takes a little bit of time to get things, but I understand that it’s coming from the manufacturers. It was too bad when the warehouse closed in Coquitlam. But we are in the Okanagan now, so we can get stuff to Kelowna. Purchasing from them is fairly easy and the website is much improved. We know generally what we’re after so it’s not just random searches. Moreover, the quality of the products is excellent and has gotten better over the years.

They had a location and it was all bright and shiny and roomy. It lasted there for a couple of years and then it went out of business for some reason. Then, they have moved in to this location now, which I just think it’s okay. And I think that’s the kind of location that they had been in before. I think the new owners tried to upscale a little bit and it’s jammed into a small business park right now. And if I go there during the week, sometimes I can’t find parking. It’s a little antagonistic. To me, it’s not as nice as the old showroom was. So, I kinda got spoiled by that first five or six years unlike the last couple of years that they’ve been in this location.