DirectBuy
ConsumerAffairs Accredited BrandIt is a new day at DirectBuy, a leading membership based buying club for products for the home. DirectBuy is transitioning to a highly member-centric business approach, with significant investments in centralized member services, updated online shopping platforms, and a commitment to our pricing guarantee.
1009 DirectBuy Consumer Reviews and Complaints
I purchased a leather sofa that had a damaged corner when it was delivered. I contacted the claim department expecting the best case scenario that I would get a patching kit. I was pleasantly surprised when Lorena ** went above and beyond my expectations and sent a replacement for the sofa. Thankfully, I had taken photos, which helped in the process. It is so refreshing to deal with a business that does what they say they will do and in a timely manner with professional representatives such as Lorena. Thank you Lorena and DirectBuy!!
We ordered product online that was delivered directly to our house. The product had shipping included and all fees were paid at the time of the order. Approximately 2 weeks after receiving the order we received an invoice from FedEx for Brokerage, Duty and handling fees. We contacted DirectBuy and they took care of it for us, no fuss, just great service.
I’ve been a member of DirectBuy since 1986 and the program is beneficial to us when we need products. We've purchased furniture and electronics and the quality of the products are fine so far. Some manufacturers are better than others and that's going to be the case whether you buy from DirectBuy or the store. Sometimes the shipping and the handling fee are a little excessive and make no sense. I've backed out on a few items when I put the numbers in. The price wasn't worth it. But there's also good savings like in the bedroom set we just bought including the shipping and handling. DirectBuy has always been good to us.
This is the third step in my research for flooring through DirectBuy. All of the people have been very helpful and Barbara ** has just delivered a quote for one of the brands. I was told to expect it today and this one is here. I am sure the other will be following. Thanks.
We joined DirectBuy in 2008 and we were in the process of building a new house back then. The type of products that they offered and the savings definitely appealed to us. We got our fireplace from them, and our central vacuum system, cooktop, dishwashers, stove, washer and dryer, and we also bought luggage, bicycle, dishes, and some furniture. Some of the items arrived broken and they had to be photographed and then emailed to customer service in Kelowna. We had to wait for the new product to come. For instance, when the cooktop came, two out of three of the grills were cracked. So it required a bit of patience and Kelowna's an hour drive away. The return process was time consuming.
We also had an incident where our Beam vacuum system needed some work done on it. And so we contacted Beam Canada, and they gave us the repair person in Vernon that will do it. When he arrived, he asked where I bought it and told him it was from DirectBuy. And then he treated us like a scum. So that wasn't a good experience. At one point, I asked the fellow if he wanted me to take it somewhere different. I told him I could take it to Kelowna or I could contact Beam Canada and find a different agent. And he backed down a little bit. That was one of the unpleasant pieces. But for the amount of money we were spending, the savings were worth it.
But we were sad when the showroom in Kelowna shut down. Everybody there was professional and helpful. All of the window coverings on our house came from there. It was definitely a positive experience. We also signed on to the travel piece and we've done some traveling and cruises. We definitely used our membership well.
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D/B doesn't give prices on these logs. They showed and all outside vendors did not show 20 Inch logs I thought I needed. I spent time with a Concierges person that could not satisfy my questions. Frustrated I went to a local store (I know we are not supposed to do this). The pro in the store was hands on and proved to me I could use a 24 inch set D/B did offer. So I bought a different small item from the store as a thank you. D/B then sent me an invoice where I didn't save enough money to make my time worthwhile. I was told by the Concierges person the warehouse did not allow for pickup and a home delivery charge of $90 had to be added. I called a different Concierges person (Ashley **) who got rid of the $90 home delivery charge making the purchase cost effective. Without her assistance I would not have renewed my membership.
Jorge ** helped me today in getting details about a product I am thinking of buying. I couldn't read the fine print in the picture, and he bent over backwards to help me not only get a better image, but also he typed out the wording that he could see. Very patient and answered all of my questions. He's an asset to your company.
I visited one of DirectBuy's locations and friends of ours had been members. I've been a member for five years and we have used it extensively. I have purchased everything from carpentry, appliances and hardware. We did kitchens and bathrooms. We're doing a major renovation right now which is top to bottom for flooring and appliances and paints from Sherwin-Williams. When it went through to concierge, the representatives were very good. I'm happy with DirectBuy.
But my local warehouse in Buffalo, New York where a lot of the stuff gets shipped to is horrendous. It's disorganized and chaotic and it looks like a hoarder's house instead of a warehouse. Also, sometimes even though the products are very good quality, it takes forever to get items. There were times I needed things quickly but it took too long to get them, so I ended up going with Amazon or with another vendor. Like I ordered a vacuum cleaner a couple of weeks ago and if I don't get it in a week I'm going to have to buy another one. And it takes too long to get certain items and it all depends on where the manufacturer is. The other thing is that they stopped working with some vendors that I really liked. It was one of the reasons why I joined. They used to work with certain vendors that I liked a lot and it was one of the appeal, but it's disappointing that they no longer work with those vendors, or the vendors don't work with DirectBuy.
Marcia ** was excellent. Calm, unflappable, even though we had technical issues. At one point we were cut off and she called back immediately. She assisted me competently through the purchase especially with items I could not access through the website. Great!!
We've been one of the very first people that signed up with DirectBuy especially in Edmonton. So, we've been members for years, maybe 20 years. We decided to purchase a membership for value. It was always about purchasing the items at a better pricing than what you get retailed for. If you find something, you'd be able to upgrade to a better product for around the same price. We've had renovations and now we own two homes and we've tackled just about a bit of the whole bunch of things. We've done a variety of different things with them over the years. We've had appliances, furniture, car seats for our grandkids, dishes, pots, and pans, things like that. Also, our purchasing experience has changed a lot over the years. Originally, you can't use credit cards and now you can. Now you can do a lot of the purchasing directly online, so you don't even have to go into the store. It's gotten better in some ways.
However, I find that the value wasn't as great as it used to be. By the time you paid the shipping and handling and bringing it up, sometimes there isn't as much savings as there used to be on a per product item kind of thing. Years ago, you would be able to get the best product but now, for the same price, you'd get something cheaper in the department store. I'm a coupon kind of shopper and best value kind of gal, but you can go to Winner's and HomeSense sometimes and see some really good value. I don't tend to shop as much through DirectBuy as I do through Winners and HomeSense because I can have instant gratification.
We ordered some lights a while back and we got it online through Wayfair. We decided to buy the exact same light and we saved on top of what DirectBuy would've priced it out, close to $600. We paid a whole lot less. So, the competition from that kind of website is huge. Sometimes, you can't always see and know what you're going to get and the return situation with DirectBuy would be a decision that if I wanted it bad enough, I would have to know exactly what I'm getting because those are tricky. But they now have a concierge service which is helpful. And if you see a product out there in the real world, they'll track it down for you and price it out, which is a really nice feature they have. So, not everything on the website is shown on the website but if you're wanting to buy a fridge or stove from Samsung, they may not have it on the website. But if it's available, they'll get you a price for it and we can get it ordered. All in all, DirectBuy good.
The quote request was handled by Jan **. I was very please with the turnaround time (less than 24 hrs) and the provide quote was 100% accurate for the products I had requested (...on occasion in the past I've had to go back and forth with other agents). I very much like the DirectBuy website interface whereby when I searched for an item that didn't come up I had the option to submit the request to concierge - that was great!
We became a member when they first opened. We were thinking about buying a house and we were looking at all the people that wait in the building at that time and they were all picking out a complete houseful of furniture and they were so excited about being able to get a good price on a bunch of furniture at the same time. We have bought a refrigerator from them and a mailbox. So far, we are happy with the items we have purchased. And I just saw on their magazine not too long ago that they're offering design services. I thought that was a good deal to have somebody come into your home, and help you to select your furniture and not have to worry about it being too big, too small, wrong color, that kind of thing.
Overall, they've been very good and very helpful. They do some research for us and get back with this. And they've always gotten back in a timely manner. So, it's been a good experience to talk to people there. They are very accommodating when you call or when you're asking questions about certain items. Sometimes, it's a no answer, sometimes it's a yes and they'll ask you to choose someplace else.
Audrey was AMAZING in answering ALL my questions. She was so patient. I am new to DirectBuy so did not know how the whole process worked. Audrey walked me through everything and was extremely helpful!!! Thanks so much Audrey.
When DirectBuy first started here in Ontario, Canada, the franchise opened in one of our buildings. I knew the owner and I became a member. The whole concept was interesting and then once we get to know the system, how it worked, it was very appealing being that we were just building a brand new home at that time. So, it came in at a good time. We purchased from them everything for the house. At first, it was very frustrating to purchase from them because we were looking at a catalog except for looking at the actual items. So, it did take a while to get used to because you had to go to a retail store to see similar appliances to get a sense of what you're buying. And then, you go back to DirectBuy and purchase the items you were looking for. It just takes a while to get used to, but I got used to it. And we referred a lot of people to DirectBuy and it was the same thing. Once they got used to the system, it was worth it.
However, we've only had an 80% success and 20% not so great with their products like our kitchen appliance. We went with Jenn-Air, got the thing, and we've had nothing but problems with every single appliance going from a bar fridge to electric range to our fridge. And that got frustrating for a while based on getting a service because that was going through DirectBuy. And once they looked at it, they get a part and would fix along. Other than that, it was okay.
DirectBuy's pricing and cost are what drives everybody to go with them because they are much cheaper. However, these guys have gone through certain changes, they got rid of a lot of franchises. Now everything is more central base and that was the biggest mistake they ever did. Since then, we've had nothing but problems with DirectBuy to the point where we don't even know if we'll end up renewing again even though we're in the process of building a new house. Every item that I ordered in the last three, four months have all come damaged. And then dealing with someone at DirectBuy or corporate has not been a very good conversation.
I have referred a lot of people to DirectBuy and they like the whole system and a lot of them have commented that the service had gone downhill. You have to call in, regardless, so it slows down the process. The product information online is very limited so you have to go to their facility. And even the catalogs there is not updated compared to some of the actual franchise that used to be here locally.
Thank you for bringing these concerns to our attention. I have forwarded your information to our Escalations Department. We will be in touch as soon as possible and look forward to working with you.
We have been members of DirectBuy for many years now, and to be honest many improvements to the online system have been made and there are some wonderful deals to be had. Unfortunately when our local showroom and pickup centre closed down, they changed the delivery location to Guardian Transfer. They're only open 8:30-4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. If you have a day job you're out of luck in getting any products that couldn't be delivered directly to your home. Not sure what they were thinking when they did this, but it's my biggest gripe when someone asks about the pros and cons of membership. It couldn't be any more inconvenient.
I was having renovations done at the house and I though DirectBuy might be a good way to get some discounts. I did the kitchen and purchased appliances, kitchen cabinets, and plumbing. Then in the bathroom, I purchased cabinets, and the sinks, taps, plumbing, and toilet. Then I ended up doing another renovation where I did an upstairs bathroom and I completely redid the main hallway with new flooring, and I've also done two other bathrooms upstairs.
Now, I'm onto doing some work in the basement and started to buy things again. But, I was having trouble getting online and I would need to either come to a showroom or do something because I wanted to be able to go online and look at things as well. Other than that, I'm pleased with the overall quality of the products for the cost. Most of the plumbing was Kohler and I had gone with good appliances from Maytag and Jenn-Air, and the lighting as well. DirectBuy could save you money if you were doing bigger renovations.
I wanted to submit a high recommendation and a thank you for all the information and help that was given to me by Kayla **, a DirectBuy concierge rep. She was very knowledgeable, professional and friendly. I look forward to working with her again and would highly recommend her to others.
We pay DirectBuy the prices that we pay for wholesale. It's made it worth our membership. Most of our purchases were for home furnishing like decors, drapery, rugs, fitness equipment, appliances, couches and blinds. The buying process was easy. They're like what I would buy if I went to Home Depot or any other store. So they're great.
They have really good brand name appliances and products. But I think we paid a little bit more for our membership when we signed up to what they're charging now so in a way that’s a little bit of a disappointment. But I've always told people that we've got more than made up the membership fee stuff. The only thing that’s difficult about buying is that sometimes you have to go to the store to see it and try it before you order it. So I guess it's like furniture, we got to find a company that is carrying that brand.
Going directly to the manufacturer or the retailer with no middleman would give us savings. We redid our kitchen and we saved an insurmountable amount of money for that. We also bought a dishwasher, stove, microwave and light fixtures and the quality is really good. It’s quite easy to do things online and it’s more economical to buy through DirectBuy than going to Rona or Home Depot. The only thing that's not good is that if you pay by check, then it takes 10 days to clear. And if you pay by credit card, then there’s a service fee on top of that. Also, when we first joined it, it was pretty good because we only paid a certain amount. But now, they have fees every year and we were not told that when we first signed up. But I would others the things that we saved on.
I bought a new home in Roseville and I knew I was going to furnish a bunch of stuff, so I decided to be a DirectBuy member. Since then, I've purchased $20,000 or $25,000 in shutters for the house. I also have 2 master bedrooms, a living room, dining room, theater room, bar stools as well as two to three rugs. My last purchase with them was for additional shutters which they installed two months ago. Recently, I just bought another $9,000 worth of Thomasville furniture. However, I was looking for a particular Thomasville product which DirectBuy had four years ago but now they no longer carry them. All they carry now are mattresses from Thomasville. So, I ended up going to Thomasville to buy it.
Also, getting the shutters the second time around was a little difficult because I went through DirectBuy's concierge service. They recommended a lady and it took a month to get an estimate. After I complained a couple of times, I called actual Hunter Douglas people and they got everything rectified and I got the order placed. However, instead of the six to eight weeks which I was told, the order ended up being five weeks late in delivery. So, that wasn't a good thing.
Another bad experience I had was when I was doing the library. I went through the concierge thing again and they sent someone out. But then, they gave me an estimate of $30,000 through DirectBuy to put one wall bookcase in my library. I said they must've been effing nuts thinking that I would pay $30,000 for a bookcase and that's supposed to be some kind of savings to DirectBuy.
So, I scrapped that and I still ended up having to pay the person they sent out $700 or $400 to do plans and for consultation services. I ended up seeing something I wanted in DirectBuy's quarterly catalog which was close to what that consultant drew up and I ended up buying that. Instead of $29,000, I spent $5000 or $6000. I get leery when DirectBuy tells me that they're going to send a concierge specialist to come to me because every time one of them comes, that never works. Also, I'm unhappy that there's no longer a DirectBuy in Roseville, Sacramento because I really liked going to that place and going through the catalogs myself.
Still, some of the products I've bought from DirectBuy have been of good quality and those have been a very good buy. For instance, the Thomasville-Hemingway furniture which I purchased before has been really good. There's also a leather living room set which I purchased and now the leather is all cracked and peeling after four or five years. But, I turn right around and I'm ordering. I have a current order with DirectBuy for $5000 worth of Lazzaro furniture. However, I'm leery about certain brands they carry because they don't last as long. Overall, DirectBuy works for me and I would recommend them.
I have just purchased some carpet which was a very good buy, however because of your rather poor pick up and delivery options I now have to hire a vehicle and drive 200km round trip. The reason given to me as to why I cannot have the 2 pieces of carpet shipped to the Whitby warehouse is as sent to me by your agent which I have cut and paste as follows:
"I received a message from Russ that you would like your GE Shnier Carpet order re-entered being delivered to the #805 Whitby DirectBuy warehouse. I do apologize Steven as they do not accept Carpet orders, as they are 12 feet wide and most of them cannot handle that Width. Good chance it will get ruined sitting in the DirectBuy warehouse. I do apologize once again Steven. You need to pick-up this Carpet order from vendor in Brampton and if you are using our Carpet Installer Randy, he will go to the vendor to pick-up for you for a small fee. So I believe you want to keep the quote #** Richmond Carpet? I just resent to you. You can do the payment link and then it turns into an order. Please let me know if you need any further assistance. Enjoy your day."
I find this extremely annoying and highlights the most serious reservation I had when considering renewing my membership this year. In an age where almost every retail company is expanding delivery options your company seems to be reducing them, in my opinion this does not augur well for you and will have me rethinking again when the time comes to renew my membership.
Thank you for bringing these concerns to our attention. I have forwarded your information to our Escalations Department. We will be in touch as soon as possible and look forward to working with you.
This morning I placed 3 separate orders with DirectBuy, over the phone, that were handled by Jenifer **. Jenifer reviewed each of the orders with me in detail (at the line item level) and confirmed all pricing/associated costs. In addition she addressed all of my questions in a very professional and courteous and detailed manner making the overall experience a positive one. Hoping that the order process with the supplier/fulfillment/delivery goes as smoothly as placing the order with DirectBuy went. I would also like to note that the quote turnaround time that has been provided by Maritza has been terrific.
We just had our Brookwood Cabinetry and KitchenAid appliances we bought through DirectBuy installed. The result... an absolutely gorgeous kitchen. With that said, we can't say enough about Crystal Barrios, the online DirectBuy designer we worked with. First, the kitchen she designed for us based on our space and taste was breathtaking. Then... she patiently helped us adjust all details to fit our budget; and finally and probably most importantly... she was there if we hit a bump on the road, always within reach, reasonable and fair. In conclusion, we love our new kitchen and Crystal made what could have been a daunting project an extremely pleasant experience. Because of her, we will now expedite the remodel of the kitchen in our second home. Who would have thought that kitchen renovation can be fun?! Thank you Crystal, thank you DirectBuy!!!
We were building our house and we used DirectBuy a lot. Everything's been great. But they don't keep their suppliers long enough. That's my biggest thing. We just bought a bed and then never can get sheets from them anymore because they didn't know what will represent the supplier. Their spreadsheets are different and it's not like you just go buy sheets at the store, you have to buy specific kinds of sheets. And they've moved the location out of Utah so I guess we will deal over the telephone for everything now. But I've been a member of DirectBuy for about 12 years and the customer experience was great. It was damn expensive to join but it was worth it.
3 stars rates the order itself - and the fact that half the order, the dryer, took a month longer than the washer and pedestals. However, the Merchandise Specialist Grant, provided an exceptional level of service, pushing the vendor and proactively keeping me appraised of the situation. Rating the support experience itself would be 5 start.
Over the past few days I've had several communications (via both email and phone contact) with Alyce **, a Renewal Specialist at DirectBuy. She couldn't have been more knowledgeable, considerate, patient or kind. She assisted me with my renewal and what a pleasure she was to deal with. For some reason, although I had previously signed up for membership "auto renewal" it somehow 'fell off' your system, therefore Alyce called me to discuss and assist me with my renewal. I also had to make a change to my membership profile, which Alyce offered to handle for me. Her follow-up to my situation was also incredible. I believe that if all your employees were as knowledgeable & courteous as Alyce, you'd be running the most profitable company in the US! Thank you (Alyce!) for providing me with such great customer service and such a pleasant experience!! My friends are going to hear about this, too!
I’ve been a DirectBuy member for almost 10 years and I've had a beautiful purchasing experience. DirectBuy has good deals and some things that are comparable with other websites or other companies. I’m gonna do some business with them in the future. Give it a chance. It’s a great company and you could save a lot of money.
We called DirectBuy and asked for a key. Two weeks before, we had bought a TV from Future Shop that we thought we were getting a good deal on. But when we went in to have our meeting with DirectBuy, that same TV was standing there for two grand less, so that opened a few eyes. We've been a DirectBuy member for quite a few years. When signed up with them, our house was brand new, so we haven't worked on any project with them so far. Then, after we sold our house, we moved into a brand new condo, so everything was fairly new and we didn't need to change anything.
I've been to one of the showrooms for DirectBuy. We bought furniture, appliances and a bed from them, and our purchasing experience with them has been very good. So far, the quality of everything that we got from them has been very good and the cost was very good too. They should keep up the good work. We're building a house this year or next year, so we're gonna be using DirectBuy a lot. I'd always tell friends what I experienced with DirectBuy and convince them that buying from this company is worth the cost. I'll convince more people once I build my house because the majority of the stuff is gonna come from DirectBuy. When they ask me where I got my stuff, I'll say that I got them from DirectBuy.
We were going to have large purchases coming up and we thought DirectBuy would be a good deal. We haven’t made like tons of purchases, but we have made enough to probably make it worth our while. We’re just now waiting for notification on the most expensive thing we’ve ever ordered through DirectBuy. The website is okay, however, it is a little slow on its responsiveness. But for the most part, if you’re patient, it’s certainly better on a desktop. Also, the customer service has been really excellent. Every time I’ve emailed them, they’ve always gotten back to me right away. In order to make it worth their while, you have to be in a position to be in a state where you re going to be buying large ticket items. But then again, they have some jewelry things that are going on, too. So, a lot of times, I will shop that for presents. So, I’d tell my friends to work the numbers, and it has been a positive experience for us. I’ll keep my membership.
We’ve been members of DirectBuy for quite a few years and the purchasing and navigating experience on their site was excellent. I recommend them. I’m very happy and pleased with them.
DirectBuy expert review by ConsumerAffairs
DirectBuy is a membership online furniture store that uses concierge-style consultants to make sure you find exactly what you’re looking for. Shop hundreds of brands for accent, bedroom, home entertainment, home office, infant and living room furniture. Additionally, you can browse multiple brands of appliances, electronics, flooring and more.
Membership: A DirectBuy membership costs $69.95 per month, plus a $299 initiation fee. You can try DirectBuy risk-free for 30 days. Your membership includes services like concierge shopping, project coordination, phone assistance seven days a week, in-home design services, savings and more.
Concierge services: DirectBuy’s concierge consultants are specifically trained to help you remotely. Concierge shopping can design custom cabinets for you, coordinate projects from start to finish, send you vendor samples, work with your budget, place orders for you, provide product photos, descriptions and prices and recommend local contractors.
Savings: According to DirectBuy, it can give you significant savings it when it comes to home improvement projects. It has over 40 years of building relationships with manufacturers and distributors and works with them to save you as much money as possible.
Project coordination: As a member of DirectBuy, you have access to project coordination services. If you want to remodel part of your home, you can let the project coordination team handle things like design, budget and local contractor management. DirectBuy has interior designers that will work with you until you find a design that is exactly what you want.
My DirectBuy App: DirectBuy’s mobile app lets you search products, track orders and communicate with concierge consultants from your smartphone. It has an “I Want That!” feature that allows you to snap a photo of a piece of furniture you want and send it to DirectBuy where a consultant will help you track it down and find the best price.
Best for: consumers wanting a top-of-the-line concierge-style online shopping experience.
Research Team
The ConsumerAffairs Research Team believes everyone deserves to make smart decisions. We aim to provide readers with the most up-to-date information available about today's consumer products and services.
