Kirby Vacuum Cleaners Reviews

I did decide that this was not worth it and I no longer wanted them to shampooed the carpet. I just wanted them to leave. I said that they needed to wrap this up as we had to go to the store. After the second time I said this he finally called his manager and that was when the manager came back and started the high pressure sales and the price of the vacuum went from $3495.00 down to 1300.00 and of course it would only cost me my Hoover and $50.00 per month. I asked what the interest rate was and he said it was 20 something but something like 90 days same as cash. I remained strong and kept saying that I could not take on any additional debt. They shamed me for having a Kohls payment so I could buy clothes for the girls instead of spending that money on this vacuum and I was shamed for not worrying about the dust mites and dead skin cells in the mattress and I was shamed for not helping the young guy win a trip, but I remained strong. Anyway after 3 1/2 hours they finally packed up and left. They never even vacuumed one whole room but less shampoo a carpet. Nor did I get the bottle of Tide. He did finally clean an little square about 2 x 3 and it did not do a very good job.

He said that after several shampoos it would look better. They would have gotten further with me if they had just cleaned the carpet as promised, did a good job, did a small demonstration and then started the sales pitch. I will never let another salesman into my house ever again unless it is someone I have called to come talk to me.

When it comes to using the machine, everyone will have different results (i.e. Shampooing accessory) but if you follow Kirby's instructions and maintain your machine I'm certain you'll have better results. The only thing that I don't agree with about the Kirby company is how everyone gets a different price. I feel they should have a standard price for all customers. Loyal customers should be given a discount if they're feeling generous. Fact: Kirbys have better airflow and filtration than any store-bought vacuum. Period. Fact: Even with heavy usage a Kirby will outlast your everyday plastic vacuum because it's predominately metal (explaining the weight). A little more effort and added weight. But it does the job right so I'm ok going the extra mile.

My carpets looked good right after but within a couple of days it looked worse than it did before. It got none of the stains out and it took overnight to dry NOT 45 minutes to an hour like in their sales pitch. This was a scam. This vacuum cleaner is DEFINITELY NOT WORTH $100 LET ALONE $1500. Did their financing and am stuck making payments for the next 3 years. I am kicking myself for giving my vacuum cleaner and carpet cleaner to them for a discount on this pile of garbage. DO NOT BUY!!! Slam the door as soon as they say they're selling a Kirby!!! Wishing I had.

Six months into using my new Kirby Sentria, it broke. It would not move automatically and I could not push it. I took it to the N.J. Easy Vac Kirby Shop. He fixed it and three months later, my new Kirby Sentria broke again. It would not start. I took it back and he fixed it. After a year of having my new Kirby Sentria, it broke for the third time. The handle came out and it would not automatically move so I went back to the shop. It was closed and out of business with no notice left where to find the shop owner. Even the telephone numbers I was given was disconnected. I call my town hall and to learn that this guy was a SCAM.

I took my Kirby Sentria to another shop that fix Kirbys and after telling the new Kirby shop owner my story, I was told that the salesman sold me a refurbish Kirby Sentria vacuum for the price of a brand new Kirby Sentria vacuum. This machine can't be fixed. I am so dissatisfied with Kirby. I refuse to buy another Kirby from any door to door salesperson. I called Kirby and their customer service will not deal with customers like myself because they only sell to distributors. Well, I am through buying Kirby Vacuum Cleaners!

I absolutely hate this vacuum. It's a Sentria with the shampoo attachment, among others that I have never used. The vacuum is so heavy, I can barely lug it up the 2 steps in my living room, and to attach the hose attachment, which I tend to use more than the main one, it is a pain in the butt!!! I can't tell you how upset I am, and want to warn everyone, if a Kirby salesman comes to your door, slam it closed!!!! They should be sued for scamming the public.

Since we have many neighbors, friends and family that regularly drop by without notice, we don't quite think twice about it until we open the door, of course. Bright-eyed & bushy-tailed, dapperly-dressed & full of energy, I can never tell their mission: JWs? Campaigners? Tax collectors? No! They're Kirby Vacuum salespeople... Then the pitch comes. Goes something like this:

Kirby: (Million-dollar, ear-to ear grin) "Good evening sir! How are you tonight? Have you heard of Kirby Vacuums? They're unlike anything you've ever used to clean your house! May we come in for a free product demo? My boss pays me $30 for each house we demo...only takes about 20 minutes or so. Whaddya say?"

Me: (smiling) "Oh no thank you gentlemen. I'm actually in the middle of dinner with my family and some dear friends from out of town. Besides, I'm quite happy with the Dyson vacuum we use."

Kirby: (still full of zest) "Absolutely no charge and no pressure to buy, sir. All we want to do is show you our product and how amazing it is. You can consider it a free cleaning for the week! Once you see what's actually lurking in your carpet that your Dyson isn't getting, you'll thank us for coming in. How 'bout it?"

Me: (smile has faded, but remaining polite) "Well, I'd rather not know what's in my floors, but thanks anyhow. I've gotta get back to dinner. (Sorta closing the door)

Kirby: (Eyebrows don't match the smile, fake smile) "Ask anyone who owns a Kirby Vacuum and they will swear by how satisfied a customer they are. All I'm asking is for me to show you for free. You got kids? They'll-- (I cut him off)

Me: (Eyebrows mildly angry) "Look bud, I've already said I'm not interested. You said this is a no pressure kinda thing. I'd appreciate it if you move on."

Kirby: (Smiling with exasperation) "You mean you don't wanna help me out. My boss pays me--"

Me: (Visibly unhappy and raising my voice a bit) "Yeah, $30. You already told me that. What part of No, I'm not interested don't you understand? Please GO AWAY!"

Kirby: (Vexed but trying to hold a smile; cold call mode) "Did you know that the Kirby Vacu--"

Me: (Detached) "Uh, goodbye. Don't come back." (I close the door, he walks away).

It was brought to my attention recently that some people are doing this to scope out your house to rob your stuff, should you have any valuables, so it is probably best to not let any salespeople in your house ever. Frustrating!

On Saturday 11/22/2014 I had a knock at my door at approximately 6:30 pm from a female employee of JBL GREENLAND. She introduced herself and proceeded to offer me a FREE shampoo of one room. She asked to come in to look at floor and she said she would like to shampoo living room, dining room and hall. I told her that was three but she said because they were small areas and they would only go around furniture they would do all three. At this point she never mentioned KIRBY. She led me to believe she was just a carpet cleaning business promoting themselves and if I like the job they did to call the office to schedule the remainder of the floors (bedrooms). I ask her how long it would take because I needed to run out and my son would be there. She said, “Oh no please stay. I want you to see how clean it gets and it would only take 45 minutes,” and they had several other homes to do and the person would arrive in about 30-45 minutes. This was while we were standing on my front patio. Suddenly a man showed up standing at the bottom of the stairway with the equipment. He introduced himself as Phillip. The Asian female left.

Phillip began to do his Pitch when suddenly it became clear that this was a KIRBY Sales situation. He communicated in a professional manner, however I started to feel uneasy that when his price of $3,395.00 suddenly dropped to $2,295.00. He kept jumping on his phone so I said, “Is this where your boss tells you to hurry and get out if it's not going to be a sale and don’t do the floor?” He said, “No,” that his boss is Filipino and that he was watching the Pacquiao fight at home. He called him to get permission to lower price. After a couple go rounds we settled at $1200.00 plus finance charges (still high) and not sure if I could afford that as my mother had just passed away and money was tight.

Phillip was now wanting to concentrate on getting to the paper work rather than Do The Floor so I proceeded to do them. He jumped up and said, "I see you are not going to do anything until I finish the floors." He took it out of my hand and started to shampoo. Phillip stopped to want to proceed to my room to do the mattress. 45 minutes has now turned to 1 Hours. It was cold and getting late but I think if Phillip could have closed the deal and wore me down I would give up on not having him shampoo as offered. I became a little more concerned because I could smell Marijuana on his breath and he expressed that he was a 6/pack a day beer guy, hmmmm… Phillip also bragged about how he talked an elderly couple who had Dementia-Alzheimer’s. SHAME!

Once the papers were signed he wanted to know if I wanted to have the one he had shampooed my carpet with. I said “HELL NO! I JUST SIGNED PAPERS FOR A $1547.28 SHAMPOOER!!!” So he called for someone to bring him one from the van from which I understand SEVERAL of your employees wait to be called as needed. The other person arrived at my door with the KIRBY and he was introducing to me as his New Trainee and his name was THUNDER (Oooo-K). Now at this time Thunder begins to unpack the KIRBY but I started to inspect it and there was water in the bottle unit where the water and shampoo is dispensed. I told Phillip, “This is USED equipment.” He sent THUNDER back down for another one. As it was being unpacked the box was then placed over by my front door. I walked over and said “Don’t I get to keep the box?” Phillip answered, “No we recycle them.” That made NO sense to me. I said, “I would still like to have the box.” He said he could not leave it. So now I am really uncomfortably concerned and the sales ethics of this business. Though my first payment is not due until February 22, 2015 as an auto pay from my bank account. Phillip asked for a VOIDED CHECK from me. This made no sense to me.

I have read many reviews about the way these people who knock door to door and I do not like what I am reading. FOR EXAMPLE: Parts are not as durable as they were years ago. Missing Parts and unable to get customer service to rectify. Customer Service does not respond or is very rude when you call for assistance. When you try and cancel as noted with in the 3/day. Ignored. The odd and very deceitful sales technique that is used by these people. Most Importantly they look as if they are casing your home. Very uneasy feeling. NOTE: I was very impressed with the performance of the equipment but I am uncertain what the future is if any issues arise and need resolved should I have the need to contact JBL or the provided 800# for assistance. I have decided to CANCEL and RETURN THE KIRBY SENTRIA II.

On Monday 11/24/2014 at approximately 4:45 PM I called the office of JBL GREENLAND, INC and spoke to an employee. He said his name was JIMMY. I talked to him about all my concerns and I said, “If I choose to cancel and return, can I fax my CANCELLATION FORM IN?” He said, “Yes” and provided me with the following Fax# (**). I brought to Jimmy’s attention that Phillip Salesman had put the wrong date in the NOTICE of CANCELLATION as 11-22-14. The date should show 11-26-14. Jimmy said he periodically makes those errors on the contracts. However it is correct in the lower portion it is written NOT LATER THAN MIDNIGHT OF 11-26-14. I will be Faxing and Mailing my CANCELLATION NOTIFICATION via USPS as well. I will make contact by phone to confirm the receipt of my CANCELLATION.

What he finally came up with after denying my credit was that I could write two postdated checks to split the five hundred dollar down payment between, one for my next payday, and one for the following payday, and then they would do an "in-house financing" for the remainder. I agreed as I was getting a better price now than I had ever heard of. $1,300 for everything, all the attachments, and the shampoo system. My husband and my best friend were there to witness the verbal agreement of the postdated checks, but also the written agreement of the financing. They left, and the vacuum stayed with me. I had just gotten a great deal on a Kirby, or so I thought. I received a call a few days later from another representative of Watson Productions INC telling me that they would have to either cash my first check now or come and retrieve the vacuum.

I was very upset and still am. They said that they don't accept two postdated checks, that they could only take one postdated check. And that their salesman never should have done that. This was very shady business practice, everything from the beginning to the end. If you are going to send someone out to negotiate for you, there should be no question about what the terms are. I think that they should have withheld the money from the salesman until the checks cleared as it was his bad practice. I checked the Kirby manufacturer website for area distributors and they aren't even on the list. Maybe they aren't even legit. I have queries out there, but in this day and age, perhaps the door-to-door sales technique just doesn't work if this is how they operate. I will tell everyone that I know not to buy from anyone who comes knocking on your door with a Kirby and especially if they are from Watson Productions INC.

1. When a sales person comes in your home, grab your cell phone or camcorder and start recording. If they're honest they won't care what you do. If they're shady they'll leave rather quickly when asked. Video is excellent evidence in court. There are laws protecting all of us against pressured sales tactics. You can tell them you're recording or not. Or wait until they get pushy and then tell them.

2. If it's financed and they claim you can't return it, hang up the phone and get a bank statement out. Look up the first payment that gets taken. There will be a phone number with it. That number goes to the financing company. It's separate from the kirby company. Call and tell them they are no longer authorized to withdraw from your bank account and if they do you will call the bank and take the money back. Change your bank account number. This should get their undivided attention. You should then get the finance company's address as well as kirby's address and figure out which is cheaper to ship the vacuum to and do it. You might lose a couple hundred but not a several thousand. Remember most financing is done by a separate business. Only the big big corp. do both.

If the product is shipped back to the manufacturer or finance company, the financing co. won't want it but it's the quickest way to stop money coming out of your account. They know if you have done this your bank will side with you. And they can't slam your credit without the risk of being sued for reporting false claims. I think everyone that's upset about their kirby wouldn't be if the sales person acted with class and showed respect. It doesn't matter how good something is if it was pushed on to you. You're not going to want to use it because it will remind you of how you got it.

To get to the point he didn't show me how to work the shampoo part of this system and now I need to use it and cannot. The guy talked so fast it was very hard to understand him. The whole time my wife needed my help for things he just pushed on until I said I would take it just to get them out of my house. Now we have this system that I have to go online to get paperwork on how to use it, not right at all. Both of us handicapped and this is what big companies tell their people to do. Then the companies let go of thousands of people so the big guys get the nice "BONUS" at the end of the year.

One of the girls then said that they were licensed and bonded and handed me a leaflet to verify this. Then she said that they would be back in 5 minutes to clean our grout. I looked at the leaflet and saw the name "Kirby" in fine print at the very bottom. Aha! So that was who they really were! We had made the mistake years ago of letting a Kirby salesman into our house. When we declined to buy the very expensive vacuum cleaner he was selling, he had become belligerent and tried to bully us and threaten us. We had a terrible time getting him to leave, so we were not about to let anybody affiliated with the name "Kirby" into our house again.

When one of the two young "baiters" showed up again with a couple of husky guys carrying Kirby equipment, I told them that we had no intention of letting them into our house. I shut the door in their faces while the girl continued to argue with me. I'm glad I did since it seems Kirby's sales tactics have not changed judging from the reviews on this site. Do not let these people into your house! You may have to call the police to get them to leave unless you buy an extremely expensive vacuum cleaner from them.

Then red flag number 2 comes up. Oh, before you can go on the van with the others, you need set up 5 appointments yourself. So yeah, not only do you not go with other supposed workers, you have to push the vacuum onto your own family and friends. So yeah, red flag number 2. And here's the biggest red flag of them all. They pay about 500 dollars for the vacuum and mock it up to 2150.00. Don't trust them. If you’re ever in Worcester, MA beware of J Hood & Associates Inc. 74 Madison St Worcester, Massachusetts 01608-2026 United States. They are nothing but liars and scumbags.

He was told a manager "would get back to him", which he did 5 days later! And wouldn't you know my grandma only had 3 days to return the vacuum, so by the time my dad talked to a Kirby manager it was too late! The manager informed my dad that it says in small print the consumer has 3 days to return the product for a refund. My dad explained that the salespeople told my grandma she had 14 days and the manager said it doesn't matter "it's in the small print." What a great company to have to con elderly people out of their social security checks! If they come to your door tell them to leave, don't let them in, and if they don't listen call the police.

My Kirby is back and I will never say another bad word about it again! Sometimes it takes trying something else to appreciate what you have, and man did I learn my lesson!! I love my Kirby although it is still big and heavy, NOTHING cleans like her! Trust me, I am shocked that I am writing this because I really did hate my Kirby a month ago. And yes, ordering bags and belts is a pain, and changing attachments is a pain, and it weighs a ton but in my opinion, a clean house is worth the minor inconveniences.

However, he knew he had long overstayed and grabbed all the paperwork, ALL OF IT and said he'd let me know. But LEFT THE BIG HEAVY KIRBY SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALL!!! I went to move it and literally sprained my wrist not knowing how very heavy it was. I couldn't budge it. So I turned it on to try to vacuum it out of the way. Well, he'd left the motor on top of the big suction hose! I still could not move it! It melted that hose! I tried for years through letters. BBB, Attorney General, their office to get them to come get it! I ended up paying nearly $900 for a vacuum I couldn't even lift or use! Now its been on my credit since 2008!!! Very dishonest people and the Owner is a Mormon. Very bad for the Church's Reputation.

I understand that it is my fault for allowing these men into our home at 9:15 at night, but they were very pushy. They came across kind and interested until my husband came downstairs and told them they needed to leave. He was going to bed and there was no way they were going to do a vacuum cleaner presentation at this time of night. Their attitudes changed. They became defensive and rude. They slowly packed up and left. (I gave them their "free gifts" back as that was apparently the OK for them to come into the house in the first place.) We will never buy a Kirby or allow salesmen to come in to present in the future.

My checks bounced at the check cashing place. I did not know until after I had quit and had already deposited my last check in my account which also bounced. The check cashing place sued me for the amount they gave me and I had to pay a fee for my checking bouncing at the bank. Do NOT buy a Kirby from a door to door vendor not even the sales person knows how shady the deal is until much later. By then you have sent people into debt and gave them bad credit. And you have to live with that. I am so sorry to all the people tricked by Kirby door to door sales. Please forgive me.

He did his multiple demonstrations saying exactly what the last lady had already said. We asked him if he would hurry because I leave for work very early and needed to go to bed. He did not leave. Then when he finally started to get cleaned up and take stuff out he immediately slammed the door and said "cops!" The other two rushes In and grabbed their things and left. The cop then entered our house and told us our neighbors called the police after seeing the van parked a few houses down and a woman dressed in all black come from behind our house. Our neighbor yelled at her and she took off running. Apparently they leave and use the last guy as a distraction then enter the house through the back door and steal from your house. They did not get anything because our back door was locked and we can see our back sliding door through the house. The policeman told us they have had multiple encounters with them. SO JUST AS A WARNING DO NOT TRUST ANYBODY FROM THIS COMPANY!

I am impressed with the vacuum's performance. But the price of $3400 for the model they were selling was too much, and all the fancy deals they were throwing at me to sell me one raised my suspicions. Despite them bringing the cost of the vacuum down almost 50% I managed to find prices for in the $200-$400 range online. This is called an "Overton Window". Also, by the way, they told me these vacuums can't be purchased online. The words "Rip-off, Scam & Deceptive" come to mind when dealing with the sales people. Because I have family with psychological background I've made it a hobby to learn about what makes people tick. The sales people are all trained to get into your house and inconvenience you to the point of buying one of their vacuums for the insane prices they offer and then they'll leave.

I also have some experience in reading body language and spotting liars. The demonstration guy, even though he is trained to do what he is doing, all I can say is "WOW". They will also be nosey around your house and try to start conversations unrelated about the vacuum they are trying to sell to "befriend" you, create a connection and earn your trust to lower your guard and make it easier to sell an overpriced vacuum to you. A common practice with scammers and fraudsters. I am sold on the vacuum's performance and was amazed at the amount of dirt the vacuum picked up and will probably get one. Just not from the sales people. Overall, stay away from sales people. Treat them like vampires. Watch out for the "honey trap". Do your own research on YouTube, Amazon.com, eBay, Overstock and this site.

You could tell he was very into the product, trying to show off how well it worked compared it to our Shark. Admittedly I was about to slap the guy for taking my vacuum outside afterwards and calling it "worthless" but it was a humorous presentation so we kept going with it. We both knew it was a tactic, just like we knew that some of the things he showed us was most likely required for him to do. (Such as blowing up party balloons or a car tire with a vacuum. Just lol!) But there was no way we were going to spend $2000 on a vacuum no matter how well it cleaned. (Though I did want it. We have a maine coon cat and 4 parrots so the dust and fur can get bad.)

In the end we told the guy, "no" and why we didn't see why it was worth the amount of money being asked for it. Three hours into this the older gentleman came back and we discussed the price to something MUCH more reasonable. In the end we bought ourselves a Kirby and I have been rather happy with it 'so far'. I don't have to empty out a canister and hold my breath as the dust flies all around my trash can. It's all kept in a nice big bag and I'm able to reach places my shark could NEVER get too. --->(No more moving heavy @$$ furniture). The bag inside is already filling up and we feel SO much cleaner for it. I've already gotten compliments for the shampooer and we can practically roll around the 'new looking' carpet without worrying so much about the cat's fur clinging to our clothes.

The attachments feel daunting at first but are easy enough to use once you try it out for yourself especially when you get where you wanna clean and your done! So do I miss my $100 (2 year old) shark? No. Fact is the Kirby is an upgrade. Just like the Shark had been an upgrade from the cheap Dirt Devils and other 50-60 buck vacuums at Walmart we had to buy once EVERY YEAR. (Which are absolute ** by the way. Thank goodness I no longer have to take apart entire vacuum cleaners and clean the things inside out anymore just to get them to work.) We also learned that my sister-in-law's shark broke (same model) just a few days ago. So to put this at a close. I feel cleaner, safer, and healthier with a stronger product in my house. Hope this helped a bit in whatever choice you make for yourselves. I can't answer if it's worth it in the long road but there are other reviews that claim to have owned them for years. So crossing my fingers and hoping for the best bang for my buck.

They ruined our lives because we almost didn't make BILLS! The hours he had to work affected my job and hours! He was gone Tuesday-Sunday 8:45 am to 11PM...Missing out on quality time with his family only to be scammed! Then they told him his paycheck would consist of $150.00 for the whole week of training. They are scammers, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! I was considering reporting them to the police but wasn't quite sure how that would be handled.....my advice stay away!!! Look into jobs before you accept them, and ask as many questions as you can to make sure it is a secure job and secure pay! Don't let these sick people scam you!

Most likely you are reading this article because you have just been through one of the "free" Kirby carpet cleaning demos, and are considering buying one. First of all, the price of a new or used Kirby from a Kirby dealer will be astronomically higher than buying it online. Go to eBay, Craigslist, or to a used vacuum store in your area (if you want a Kirby, stay away from Kirby dealerships). Most used vacuum stores will sell you a refurbished, newer generation Kirby, for $200-$400. Also, Craigslist is chock full of Kirbys. Do a search for "Kirby" in the For Sale section on Craigslist in your city, and you are sure to find several for sale for a fraction of a new one.

Are they good vacuum cleaners? Yes they are. But, yes, there is a but... they are prone to tech drive issues (this is the transmission system that makes them such a breeze to push and pull). When this goes out, the vacuum becomes quite the chore to push on your carpet, almost impossible, and the warranty goes out the window when you are not the original buyer. Tech drive repairs are an expensive fix, and not all vacuum stores know how to repair them. Kirbys have a rubber belt that wears out after a while, causing the brush roller to spin less or not at all.

I became convinced 20 years ago while working for Kirby, that they were a solid vacuum cleaner, and have owned, used Kirbys from then to today. After nearly 20 years of changing Kirby belts, it's become a breeze for me; however, for most people, changing the belt is a nuisance, and requires some getting used to. Converting the vacuum so that it has a hose is also a bit more challenging than most other vacuums, which tend to have the attachments on-board. Kirby's have zero attachments on the vacuum itself, making it necessary to go to the closet to grab the caddy with the attachments.

Another suggestion is not to purchase any Kirby supplies (such as belts, or vacuum bags) from Kirby dealers. You can find OEM Kirby belts and bags on eBay or Amazon for a fraction of the price Kirby dealers will sell them for. Also, stay away from the generic belts. These do not work well with Kirbys, and have a tendency to burn, creating an immense stink. The OEM belts have a cross-hatch pattern on the inside of the belt and are stamped Kirby on the outside, whereas the generic ones are smooth on both the inside and outside. OEM belts work far better and are worth the higher cost. You can find them for $2-$3 each on eBay, compared to 5 for $5 for generic belts, and compared to $5 or more for each OEM belt at a Kirby dealer.

We've owned many different Kirby models over the years (all of them were bought used). Every few years we'll find a newer model for cheap somewhere and then sell our older one. Currently we own 2 Kirby Sentria I systems (sometimes called G10). This is just one model back from the latest model (Kirby Sentria II). I paid $160 on Craigslist for the first one, and $60 for the second one at a consignment store. I bought the $60 one with a broken tech drive and no attachments, but I bought it thinking I could sell it for more, and make some money. I was way wrong guys. I currently have this Kirby Sentria on Craigslist for $60 (just trying to get my money back) and can't get a single person to buy it, even though it works perfectly aside from the broken tech drive. Not a terrific investment when you pay over $1,000 usually for a new one, and can't even sell it used for $60. Just recently, our other Kirby Sentria I is showing signs the tech drive is going out. It strays from a straight path as we push and pull it across the carpet due to one wheel turning faster than the other.

The weight of a Kirby vacuum is substantially more than just about all other vacuums. Younger children, elderly, or those with arthritis, may find it almost impossible to lift a Kirby, and to install the hose and attachments.

Don't get me wrong though. Other than the tech drive being prone to malfunction, we have had little to no other challenges with our various Kirbys we've owned over the past 20 years. You are unlikely to need to purchase another vacuum for decades once you've bought a Kirby. I hope this review helps you to make an educated decision as you consider purchasing a Kirby. Don't pay too much!

Then, I called the independent operating office. The girl I talked to promised to have someone out the following weekend. She even followed up during the week… And still here I am waiting, for someone to show me how to use the machine correctly. On top of they still owe me the shampooer tools which they said they would bring out. Kirby needs to take a stand and maybe not have independent sales offices sell their products. If indeed it is the Cadillac of vacuums, then they need to sell the machines themselves, and not let outside people who cannot live up to the Kirby expectations.

Once they came in, the first guy left and the second one, who was very nice cleaned everything. They wanted to see my vacuum and I said no. I knew exactly what they wanted to do. My shoulder is sprained and I explained I would not be able to take it back up the stairs. They said they would. My vacuum happened to be sitting just as you came up the steps and the guy asked to go upstairs to see a mattress. While upstairs, here comes some other guy all the way up my stairs who had never been invited in the first place. Explaining to me about what was in my mattress and brought my vacuum downstairs, saying he would take it back up. The man doing the demonstration had explained to me that he has only been in this job for one week. His boss was very rude to him in front of me and talked to him any way he wanted.

The boss proceeded to kick my vacuum saying it was a piece of junk and then looked at my carpet machine and said it was no good either. He pulled out his paper showing the different prices and told me he would take $500 off and take my vacuum and give it to Salvation Army. I told him no and that I was not interested in buying a vacuum. So, he asked me if I would like him to rub all of the dirt samples back into my carpet. I said no. He said, "I once asked a guy that same question and he told me, yes. I was so angry that I called and told my boss and he said - Well you know what they say. You can't sell soap to a pig." He then ran down the stairs and out the door. I was flabbergasted!

Phillip ** the guy who was slaving away, apologized and was embarrassed about it. It took him awhile to get his things together because he couldn't figure out how to place everything back in the box. They called and rudely asked him if he was still in the house. He said yes he was on his way out. Once he was all packed up, he walked with me outside (I still had to go grocery shopping) and it was dark by that time. They were nowhere in sight and it was chilly. THEY WILL NEVER GET BACK IN MY HOUSE AGAIN!!!! I'm going to report this incidence to my homeowner's association and hopefully they'll be stopped from being able to come into this neighborhood. They are West Virginia and I live in Maryland, so what the hell are they doing here to begin with?

I frequently have to use scissors to cut hair off the bristles on the roller. Who has time for that? My big concern was that, many times after vacuuming my rugs, the room was left with a burning odor. This vacuum - which I wouldn't recommend to anyone is extremely heavy, which means lugging it up and down stairs is painful AND you can't use it easily to clean stairs. I regret buying the Kirby and agree wholeheartedly with other customers' negative reviews posted here. To anyone considering a Kirby: don't let a salesperson in your house. Right off the top, you'll be out about three hours of your evening!

The belt breaks often, like once every six weeks or so. The roller bar continuously clogs with hair so I have to take scissors to clean it off -- this is about every three weeks. Now the cord is loose so I have to hold it "just right" so power continues to the machine. It is pretty dang hard to hold a cord in a perfect position when the idiot machine weighs a ton. My kids are unable to carry it up and down the stairs and it is too large to effectively vacuum the stairs so we use a Shop Vac.

Using it as a carpet shampooer boils down to a superficial cleaning that I can do better with a carpet brush and a drop of Dawn in a gallon of hot water. It does not "suck" the dirt out of the carpet; it scrubs the very top superficial level of carpet and gives the user a false sense of cleanliness. All the stains show right back up a few days later. I still have to have the carpets professionally cleaned after spending a ridiculous amount of money on a contraption that was supposed to alleviate those extra expenses. I haven't even tried all the other options; if it can't vacuum, why would I try to paint my house with it????

I HATE THIS VACUUM AND WISH I HAD NEVER FALLEN FOR THE HYPE! I thought I was making a wise investment to help with my kids' asthma and all I did was waste a ton of money that I didn't have to begin with. Do NOT waste your time and money on this junk! You can get a five-star rated vacuum from a big box store for a fraction of the cost and it will outperform this garbage! Oh, how I wish I could forgo the lifetime warranty and dismiss the fact that I can hand this down to my children when I die! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!! Trash. Trash. Trash.

I always loved my shampooer, it was great. I have a Siberian husky too so the hair it would pick up and never clog on me so maybe it's the new generation of sweeper. I am afraid of getting rid of mine but I have to due to my injuries so I thought checking Kirby out this time and saw the reviews and now I do not want one to replace my old one and I will still keep my old one since it still works great. I think I will check into more very light and other brands since I saw these reviews and glad I check and the only reason I put the five star is for my generation 4 sweeper. I have owned it for 25 years and works great, just too darn heavy and I have hardwood and tile floors now and it's very hard to move around for me... Thank you.

Of course as I remove them from the closet, she says "oh my gosh a bissel, ugh" and I was immediately annoyed as my bissel has worked great for 5 years now. I have all wood floors throughout my home as well. Then she proceeded to let a young man in the house to begin the cleaning. He walks in with a backpack and a huge box. He proceeds to put it together and begin demonstrating it. He is pulling out white circles, vacuuming a few feet at a time and removing the circles to show us the dirt. He then lets us know that he is trying to win a trip and is one sale away. I am also in sales and have been for years so I know the proper way to sell something, he was not very good at this, he barely spoke and seemed like he had had a very long day. I then begin asking him how long he has worked there and he said only a few weeks so I knew that he was very nervous and that's why he seemed this way. So my boyfriend seems impressed, I am not. We don't need a vacuum and I don't clean much anymore as I have a 7 month old baby. He then hands us a laminated sheet that said the vacuum is $3500!!

Now we are about 45 min to an hour in, it's Sunday night, I have a 7 month old child and I just want this poor kid to leave. He them proceeds to tell me again that he wants to win a trip and if we buy it today he gets the trip. I tell him it's too much money and we don't need it. He then calls his "boss" to have him come over and talk to us. The "boss" knocks on my door and comes in, he was definitely a character and had to have been high on some sort of methamphetamine. He had rings on every finger and was wearing a shirt from Austin powers closet, he comes in and proceeds to dance across my living room to sit on my couch and asked how we would be financing the vacuum. I told him we were not interested, he said he would knock off 800 bucks. I let him know we were still not interested, he then proceed to ask me about 10 times why not, I proceeded to tell him that we have high medical bills as my child was born with glaucoma and just had a corneal transplant, AND again, that we didn't need a vacuum.

He then asked me why I had cable if I couldn't afford the vacuum, I just laughed and said I have cable bc I want cable. He then told me I pay for cable even when I'm at work and the TV isn't on. I didn't know how to respond to this. He then got a call and said he had to go to another house and that he would be back. This is about an hour and a half in, I just wanted them to leave my house. The kid starts showing us more features, I'm not even paying attention to him. I want him to leave but am too nice to just tell him to get out of my house. The crack head boss comes back, once again dances to the couch, sits down and asks if we want two vacuums or one. I let him know my mind hasn't changed and I still don't want it. He then asks me another 10x why. He then picked up the white circles that had dust on them and asked me if I even cared about my 7 month old daughter bc she was breathing it in. He then proceed to bash me for "letting" my daughter breath in the dust. I am getting angrier and angrier. He stood in my face (my daughter is in my lap) and puts his hand in my face and tells me to shake his hand to make the deal.

I am growing more and more annoyed, I tell him no about 5 more times, he then knocks the price down to $1500, I AGAIN tell him no. He then gets up, tells me I'm making a huge mistake and just leaves, no bye or anything. During the interrogation I will call it, he keeps telling me to help the kid win his trip, are you KIDDING me!! With the $1500 you want me to spend on this useless vacuum, I could buy myself a trip which would be well deserved. Why on EARTH would I care if this kid wins a trip, I haven't been on a trip in years!!! Any who, the guy slams my door and I look at the kid and told him his boss is a horrible person, the kid was almost in tears as he packs up the vacuum.

Then a 3rd guy comes in, I'm assuming to help the kid pack up. He must be an offspring of the meth head boss. He came in and asked me about 3 questions in one breath, I had no idea what he was saying. He was speaking so fast and laughing. I had no idea what was going on. So TWO hours later, they were finally out of my house, my boyfriend closed my door after they left and we looked at each other and asked what the hell had just happened! Do NOT EVER let these people into your home. I am going today to purchase a "no soliciting" sign for my door. I will NEVER Let another sales person in my house ever again.

I just was not happy with anything about the Kirby. I wish I would have read all the complaints just to get an idea of how pleased or displeased other customers was about the machine. The lady on the line said "That wasn't a problem, all I had to do is sign the papers at the bottom of our contract since we was in the five day satisfaction agreement and get in the mail before midnight the next day and someone will come to pick up the Kirby and restore things as they was prior to purchase". Also, it says on the contract that if your not satisfied with the Kirby product and your property is not returned to you within 21 days of ending the agreement, we would receive the Kirby free of charge. That is exactly what I did.

When the man came to pick up the Kirby and return my Rainbow Vacuum Cleaner he only had the base and the attachment that does the floors. I am missing ALL OF MY OTHER ATTACHMENTS TO MY RAINBOW. All the attachments that the Kirby has to it, so did my Rainbow Vacuum Cleaner. I immediately told the man that picked up the Rainbow that I did not receive ALL my attachments to my vacuum cleaner that was taken for a $600 trade in against the purchase price. He said he would hunt them down and get back to me. I have been calling the people who took my Rainbow out of the house when I initially signed off on the contract. Left message with no return called from them. A J ENTERPRISE IS THE NAME AT 6369229455 that took my RAINBOW ATTACHMENTS. I would like my parts back to my Rainbow.

After he was finished his demo he offered to "shampoo" my carpet. All the while I was trying to be polite as I could be. So he pulls a Poland spring water bottle out, his shampoo, and puts a cap full in with a gallon of water into his ancient machine. He then proceeded to SOAK my carpet. He ran out of water a quarter of the way through and then helped himself to my cups and put a couple cups full back into the machine and "finished." Days later, my house still smells like a wet vacuum and parts of it are still wet. I am so upset about this experience I will not only never buy one of their stupid, overpriced vacuum, but I will tell everyone I know not to either.

The one guy I guess the Manager, talked to us for about 5 min and left the kid to clean the carpet. He started Vacuuming small areas of the carpet with the machine, we thought ok, he gonna vacuum first before he shampoo the carpet. Well he starts showing us the White Disc that has all this dirt on it and how well the Kirby works, Yes we were impressed with having 4 boys and 2 big dogs it looked great. Then he worked his way to our couch and vacuumed a cushion again, we were really impressed. Then he proceed to clean it with the shampoo part of the Vacuum. After 3 hrs of him being there, we had about 150 white disc with dirt on them, we thought ok, maybe we should buy one. He gave us the price and we about fell out of our chair $2997 "that's a lot of money," my husband said. He said "YES but its the best tool in the world."

Then he said no payment till Jan 2015 then $100.00 month for 48 months. So we thought ok, maybe should be do this could this be that easy. My husband said he did not like the price and did not fell comfortable to pay so much money for a vacuum. In this 3 hrs, our carpet have not even been shampooed yet like they said they were going to do in the first place. He kept showing us different tricks with the machine while we kept saying "I don't think we are going to buy this," we told the Girl that came to the door that we were not going to buy anything. He said, "Well what if I paid you $200 for your old Vacuum and 400 for your carpet cleaner? that would bring the price down." My husband still said "no! Sorry for wasting your time but I don't have the money to spend right now."

Then he would not take no for an answer, he called someone on the phone and supposedly got permission from his manager to bring the price to $2100. I then thought in my head wait, if this vacuum was so great why are they dropping the price so quick. Then my husband said, "I still don't want to pay that much" and HE SAID "GIVE ME AN OFFER!" Ok, then I was like ok, that's weird. So I got on my phone and googled Kirby reviews, got this page and thank goodness, I found that people are having the same experience as me. I told my husband look at this and he read it too and we looked at each other and knew it was a NO. SO we told him that there really was not a price we wanted to pay right now like we told them in the beginning. Still my carpet has not been shampooed thats ok, I just wanted him to leave. We told him sorry for wasting his time and we were not going to buy the Kirby.

He proceed to get up and put other attachment on the Kirby and asked to use some hot water. Finally he was gonna shampoo my carpet but at this point, we just wanted him to leave but we knew that he was not going to take no for an answer. I was getting mad because we have 4 small boys that needed shower for school and needed to do their homework but I could not get him to leave. It was 8:30 and they got there at 5pm. He started to shampoo a small area in the house and ok, it look ok not the best like I thought it was going to be so again we told him that we are not going to buy it.

He started to pack up his stuff, he was mad you could tell YES I understand you spent half your night at my house but I told you from the beginning, I was not buying anything!!!!! His manager came in the house and told us we had a nice home and thank you for letting them come out and show us what a Kirby can do and then he said "let me give you one last offer 1,000 and $40 a month." After reading this site, we said no sorry. They finally left about 9 pm and I felt like we lost our whole evening with our family. Its our fault for letting them in and will never do that again!! So please learn from my mistake and don't let anyone in from Kirby. Also now we have 1 Cleaned couch cushion and 1/2 our carpet cleaned that it so now I have to do the rest.

Even spoke to the financing associate to make sure the numbers & wording were the same page. Imagine my surprise when the following week, I checked my credit score and found they had tacked on almost $500.00 more! When I called to find out what happened, I was told it was standard procedure in case I don't make my payments or pay for the machine. No matter what I said, they said there was nothing they could do about it. I'm not a stupid person, I can read a contract, it was identical as the one they were reading to me over the phone! They basically we're saying too bad, deal w/ it. I was mad and told them to make note of that in my file! But, now what? I don't know where to go from here.

Also, our home is new construction; we have only lived in our brand new home for 4 months! I thought the carpets were still impeccable. We have a thicker pile throughout the home. Having JUST vacuumed, I was already prepared to be unimpressed. I was wrong. He demonstrated the Kirby, all the while complimenting my home, my choice in Dyson as the best in-store purchase, and my housekeeping. He was NEVER rude, overbearing, or insistent! All he did was demonstrate the Kirby as a superior product to Dyson. I was amazed! Btw, so was my 13-year-old daughter...

I really wanted the Kirby, mostly to protect our investment of super-expensive carpet that gets much wear-and-tear due to our large household. However, I would never make an IMPULSE purchase of that size without discussing it with my husband, who was on a business trip, so I told the Kirby salesman to come back and SHOW my husband the difference. He left with no purchase, no attitude, and a smile and thanked me for my time. Aside from most people having a horrible sales experience with rude and nasty salespeople, has ANYBODY purchased a Kirby? And WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE ACTUAL PRODUCT???? I need to know. He will be back next week. I would appreciate comments on the product, not the experience.

The vacuum price is $2910.88, the cost of financing is $1754.36. Who in their right mind would finance a 3 year purchase for 96 year olds? When I contacted Kirby to send the vacuum back, they said that there is nothing they can do. They said that they qualified for financing so that we are out of luck. They don't know how to use the vacuum and aren't even able to vacuum their home at this time. My father-in-law is in the hospital as he broke his leg and my mother-in-law just got out of hospital after a 2 month illness. There should be some repercussion for people that coerce the elderly into making purchases that they clearly can't afford.

I contacted Kirby Consumer Relations today. Spoke with a very rude representative, who said that Bama Marketing was now longer in business. I asked if they could help me with getting the items I was promised. She said they were only a manufacturing company and she could transfer me to parts to order bags but they would not be free. I am curious how a company could have salespeople who misrepresent them and then distance themselves from them. I would not recommend a Kirby product to anyone. The salespeople will tell you anything to sell the product and then the Kirby company will not stand behind their promises (which I have in writing).

The Kirby is too big and bulky to get underneath furniture and dressers. I have a step down by my front door. With the Rainbow Vac I could just step down. With the Kirby I have to pick it up (it's heavy) and then vac. Plus the demo showed me how close it vacs down deep. However, it did not show me how it vac up on top of carpet. I have a long hair cat... I have changed the level of vac and still cannot get up the cat hair... I didn't have that with the Rainbow... it vacuumed everything. I hated filling and emptying the water from the Rainbow, but I miss my Rainbow and hate the Kirby!!!

After a month we start getting calls about a missed payment. I explained to them what I was told how we didn't need to make a payment and agreed with paying it off by January. She yelled at me and hung up. I waited and when they called again I asked for a manager. I said to him 2 times that I wanted to make a payment while I was on the phone but I was also going to report them to BBB and that I didn't think you had to lie to a customer to make sale. Again, he yelled at me and hung up, so I mailed the payment and then they called again a day later. I told them they would of had the payment if their manager, James wouldn't of hung up on me and told them not to call me again. They said they would continue to call me as long as they didn't have the payment. Yelled at me again and hung up.

Needless to say, the calls have stopped and we have made the payments. So where is the "I am sorry, we never meant for that to happen." The person at your house should of never told you that or the CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT CONCEPT. What happened with treating your customers right. I will never recommend buying a kirby to any of my friends. Actually I tell everyone I know to lock your door. If you want a kirby go to a store and buy it or buy it online. Never, never deal with anyone that comes to your door.

It's crazy how little things have changed in the past 15 years or so. We would go door-to-door, offering "premiums" (usually paper towels, laundry detergent, etc.) to potential clients in exchange for letting us demonstrate the Kirby product. Which in all reality, is a fantastic one! Pricey, yes. But quality? Like a previous commenter has stated, her grandma has had one since the '40s and it still works! However the price seems to have gone up substantially, being it retailed for $1500 in 1999, and I hear of them going for as high as $3300 now. I think that's a scam, though. I think the real retail these days is $2500. The lowest we sold them for back in '99 was $900. If they're trying to push them onto you for as little as $650, something's wrong. But that's not the Kirby company itself, I would point the blame in the direction of the salesman and/or distributor on that one.

Having said that, there are a lot of things being said about the way some representatives have treated their customers or potential customers. Again, most of it is the responsibility of the employee, not the company itself. One lady has stated that the vacuum is too heavy to push and carry. While I agree that it's too heavy for many people to lift, it's also incredibly easy to push. There's a motor inside the unit that helps the user push it with great ease, which ironically, adds to the overall weight of the machine making it heavy to lift. The demonstrator should have pointed that out, however.

The way that some sales people treat their customers based on these comments is completely uncalled for, and it is widely frowned upon throughout the industry. The idea is not only to sell the product, but to sell yourself as a person to the customer. Get them to LOVE you - which, while I was with the company, I did admirably. There were times that I would get into a house and the homeowners were dogging me out for the first 20-30 minutes, only to have them buy a Kirby and all of its accessories, just some 90 minutes later, while hugging me and thanking me on the way out the door. But it wasn't a cheap sales tactic on my end, I truly cared about the people I was dealing with and I wanted them to have a better tool to help maintain their homes. Maybe it showed through my work, who knows?

And while that many salesmen and women are younger kids "trying to get through school" is a line they teach them to use at the door (whether it's true or not), all of those individuals are people struggling hard to make a living in life. Kirby salesman typically work from 8 am-midnight, Monday through Saturday, and IF you're lucky, you'll still receive a tiny paycheck on Friday whether you sell anything or not. However, most distributors don't pay you a dime if you don't make a sale.

All of the things the salesmen tell you about "winning trips if they sell X amount of Kirbys" is 100% completely true. The Kirby Company provides all-expenses paid vacations to various locations around the world if said seller reaches a certain quota for a certain amount of consecutive months. Usually, if I recall correctly, it's 15 units/month for three or four months in a row. They also allow you the ability to move up, and fast, earning the right to open your own distribution center if you sell enough over the course of 2-3 years, while working under another distributor. There are actually tons of opportunities for those who make it in the business.

The reasons I left the company were personal, but despite the fact that I was only a 19/20-year old kid while I worked there taught me a great number of things that I've carried on through both my personal and professional life; learning the value of hard work, adapting to long hours if necessary, believing in setting and accomplishing goals, believing in yourself, and never take "no" for an answer.

While their practices are old-fashioned and apparently, downright unprofessional on most accounts, the actual company and the product itself are outstanding - which by the way, are designed, engineered, and built right here, in the USA. Cleveland, Ohio, to be exact. With so many jobs being shipped overseas, I'm all about the supporting the few that we have left, Kirby being one of them.

The friend kept telling the woman "I have seen the presentation now I must get going to the store." The woman wouldn't quit demonstrating even when we would both leave and go outside or to the kitchen. My friend told her to leave several times, but she would not listen and kept on with the spiel. Said she had to call her manager (I forgot to tell you they drop them off and leave.) But the woman would not pack up her stuff and leave and sit outside to wait. The Road Agent aka manager came back finally and my friend didn't like his attitude so told him to stay out. Finally after another 30 minutes or more, she got the stuff outside. Then just to harass, they packed up everything right outside the door for another 20 or 30 minutes.

Oh forgot to mention when they were supposed to be getting the stuff out of the house, the road agent left again. Even after everything was back in the van they sat in the drive for another 30 minutes and tried to intimidate myself. So warning: if these people show up they wont take no for an answer and the only way you can get them to leave is call the police or give them $100 deposit on a sweeper. Their tactics are to intimidate, harass, degrade and since pushing their way in the home and refusing to leave despite numerous request are even illegal. If you need a Kirby sweeper go to one of their stores or see if you can get one online. It is not worth the headaches and hassle to let these people in your home. This tragedy happened in Seneca Co. Ohio and perpetrated by a group out of Sylvania Ohio.

Then he told me the price was $2500. WTF. Really? I said no. 2000! No. 1750. No. Kept going and going till he got down to 650, which is as much as my conflabbed rent. Just ridiculous that they would have taken/stolen $2500 from me for a vacuum not worth more than $300 and really quite scary because I know people have done it. Anyway, that was about 4 or 5 months ago. Since then, our doorbell has been rung 5 additional times by 5 different people representing Kirby. Including one today which is why I'm writing this. I now actually have to put a damn sign on my front door that says "WE DO NOT WANT YOUR KIRBY VACUUM. DO NOT RING MY DOORBELL. GOODBYE." RIDICULOUS.

All of a sudden the police were here. Someone in the neighborhood reported the van and thankfully they came. This was 9:30 p.m. We still had no dinner and they had no desire to leave because they had not sealed the deal and they were not going to. The police stayed and made them pack up. The van was in the driveway running with several others inside. Then another police car shows up. It was nearly 10:30 by the time the police let them go. This seems to be their pattern. If they ever come to our home again I will call the police immediately and get them out of here. It is too bad when you cannot even enjoy the evening when you get this type of behavior. Kirby should take look at their sales approach. We had no intention of buying even a vacuum bag let alone pay that kind of money. No means no. Consequences: We were extremely upset, no dinner, very little sleep and just plain pissed off. Kirby needs to be held accountable.

I said this is too hard to use. The "road manager" Jeff came in and said his boss said "If I still wanted it they'd do $1000." I said no it was too heavy for me. Also told them that in the beginning too! They wanted me to have another vacuum for all levels of the house (4? NO). The road manager JEFF was VERY RUDE and stormed out the house. Another guy came in and boxed it up. I told him I was sorry, but knew I'd never be able to carry it up and down the stairs. He told me if I wanted to help the salesman out I could purchases the spot cleaner for $50, and asked where it was, I said Jeff took it with him, and it was suppose to be FREE?? The road manager was so rude I was scared to have him in the house. I don't understand how the price could go from $3300 to $1000 in a short time. I would NEVER recommend them ever to anyone, being rude, the machine being so heavy to use and not easy. VERY DISPLEASED.

Anyway it was midday and we had just got back from site seeing some new houses. When I opened the door she'd said "oh you're the lady I saw coming in as I was pulling up...just the person I want to see, is your spouse with you?" I said yes, she then reaffirmed that she "had her eyes on us" unknowingly to us. Seeing that she had something she was either promoting or selling I invited her into our place, and because it was so hot I didn't want to just stand there with my door ajar, "I just didn't know it was Kirby she was selling." Now I have to admit I am familiar with the Kirby products and when I moved to Raleigh some years ago I was approached in a parking lot by a couple of people about actually wanting to promote the Kirby for a living.

Let me just say, the people who approached me seemed kind of pushy with their approach but then they were so anxious to get me and my friend to attend a seminar until we were both like, “okay whatever we'll come to see what it’s about.” Went to the seminar and did not like the experience because I felt they were trying to get me to sell a scam to people basically pushing people into something that they may not even want to buy in the first place. This doesn't mean that Kirby products do not live up to its name, it’s just the obnoxious people behind Kirby, walking into people homes, insulting their personal decisions to buy other products, and then to treat people like their home is a disease of some sort. Grant it no one wants to live in a dirty home, but when IT IS clean, and then some dimwit enters, no not just enters but is welcomed into a home then they want to pull out the INSULT THE CUSTOMER CARD... It’s very inappropriate and then the first thing they want to say is, "well Kirby sells itself!"

My issue is this, if it sells itself, then why are you in my home insulting me when I break my neck cleaning my floors, doing my laundry, and whatever else that I do only to stuff my hard earned money into their pockets. That just doesn't fly with me. The lady came in her first comment she made to me was, "I'm so glad you're not a nasty person. I thought you would be nasty,” "referring to my personality”. That was a red flag, but I shunned it.

As she proceeded to ask "would you like for me to demonstrate what the Kirby can do?” I informed her that now was not a good time for my fiancé and I to make any purchases for a vacuum because we didn't know what we were moving into soon. We wanted to at least give ourselves some time to get things settled with our new home. It didn't make any sense to purchase a vacuum when in fact our new home may have hardwood floors. She had then jumped into my sentence saying "oh no, we have hardwood products too...Kirby does it all! Would you like for me to vacuum your carpet for you for free?" Now I already told her that we were not interested in the making a purchase but then she wanted to continue with offering a free cleaning, so I said, “sure if you want to do it, then why not.”

She went downstairs, came back with the vacuum, and then some other young guy who was basically a protégée learning the ropes from her. She asked me was it okay if he watched, I said sure and that's when the little pads came out. We all know what those pads are, but thing is, the pads were placed right at the place where suction is the strongest. No bag, or container to collect the dirt, just her little test pads. While she's strokes the floor one stroke at a time, she proceeds to tell me about the Kirby products yada yada, and so forth...I'm thinking to myself by this time, "she said she would vacuum the floor, not talk." Well she continued to push her way into selling that vacuum cleaner, disregarding what I told her previously and to top that off she could've walked out the door after I said what I had said to her earlier, but she didn't. She had a plan. She wanted to stay, and in her mind she was going make us buy that vacuum cleaner, even if she had to pull the nasty claws out.

My fiancé is a very quiet and humble person, not weak, just quiet. He observed while she and I talked about Kirby. She started asking rhetorical questions and in the process she pulls out the little white pad with the dirt & dust. In the process of packing up and preparing to move, I didn't vacuum my carpet that morning because we had things we had to do and I usually cleaned at night while my fiancé would be away at work, that way I could get a lot of it done. Not to mention the fact that I already told her that I hadn't vacuumed the floor because of our plans were a bit more important at the time. Anyway she began to say to me "do you see what the Kirby can do?" It’s all about a person's dirt tolerance...(in a condescendingly manner). I replied that “yeah I do see that.” I could tell the carpet needed a good deep cleaning but I also knew I was moving as well. It didn't really matter at that point.

She turned to my fiancé and said to him "do you want a Kirby clean home?" My fiancé just looked at me because he didn't really want to make a decision especially knowing what we were doing and how I stated to her that it wasn't the time. After she saw him look at me, she turns to the protégée and said "you can tell who runs the house." I stopped her in her statement and I said, “no no you don't know because you don't understand, we are in a partnership and I don't have to explain anything to you but yeah when OUR minds are made up that's basically it because we know what we have to do first.” She kept vacuuming and then she saw she wasn't getting anywhere with me she kept on going for a couple more strokes, and then began to try insulting me by saying, “well it’s up to you if you want a Kirby clean home. It doesn't matter to me, but it’s up to you.”

My fiancé then looked at me again because he thought for sure I was going to verbally bash her and kick her out, but I didn't. I just said politely “I'm sorry, I'm not putting you in the position that you're in vacuuming my floor, demonstrating a product that if I want I can very well buy it when I want to do so”...then I proceeded to tell her that I have a sister that has a Kirby but now owns a new Dyson too. I cleaned her house with both vacuums for her, and I couldn't really tell much difference except Dyson was lighter in weight. I didn't want to discourage her but I basically told her I knew what the Kirby could do. She seemed okay and then she started asking about my credit and my fiancé credit situations...

We wanted to get the Kirby but still without knowing what our next move would be I didn't want to just waste money on something I wouldn't use. I said to her, “no I'm not getting into all that with you, if you have a business card, and if our next house has carpet we'll be sure to call you.” That was the kicker for her, she got rude and nasty then. She started saying things like "no I'm not leaving my card. I mean, what are you going to do with the card, threw the card on the floor & and said clean card, clean!" My fiancé and I were both shocked at that fool's behavior and she better be glad I didn't feel like going to jail for knocking her upside her head. She even went as far as showing me some "laminated score sheet" showing me her place on that sheet, and said it didn't make any difference to her whether or not I bought a Kirby, she still got money in her pocket.

Later she calls her supervisor, and he came in and basically insulted us all over again saying “** no you aint gonna call us back, you know why? If you don't buy the Kirby today, the prices will go up and you won't buy it later." That right there was completely beyond no for me. So with allllll of that being said Kirby gets a big fat NO from me. The people who represent their company are doing nothing but misrepresenting Kirby's name. I would buy 20 Eurekas, Dirt Devils, Bissells, Sharks, and whatever other vacuum I want before giving Kirby a dirty oxidized penny of mine.

She was willing to go as far as insulting Stanley Steemer which is a well known flooring company, specializing in cleaning and things of that nature. Being a person that has worked in customer service knowing business etiquette you don't insult another company just to make your company thrive. That's a classless tactic. With rude, disrespectful, nasty, spiteful, and hateful people working for them, who would want to spend their money supplying a living to idiots like that???? NOT ME!!!! I would sweep my carpet with a broom before using a Kirby in my home. Enough said....

So if they pressure you, threaten to call the cops is what the judge told me and if you want to return it don't wait more than 3 days. Let them know you refuse to pay for it and trust me they will call. Record all the nasty things they say and take them to court with you.

I was very impressed with what was in the black filters but told the guy I couldn't afford anything right now. So he gets his "boss" to come in and asked me what I would pay for this vacuum. I then told him I would consider it if the price was about 700 (I figure a Dyson is 500 so that seemed fair). He shows me a paper with a $2495 price tag and then said they're running a promotion right now and if I finance it would be $1500 or cash they could do it for $1100. I told him I wouldn't pay that much. So the "boss" calls his boss and comes back at me with $800 and I told him I'm not ready to make a decision today and I really can't afford it today.

So then the "boss" gets on the phone again and says he can cut the commission and give it to me for $500 today cash price and they would even pay the sales tax. I thought about it and then decided to check out google. So I go on google shopping and find the same model for about $400-$600 when I showed the "boss" he told me those don't have a guarantee and no warranty etc. Long story short I didn't buy from them. I kind of feel bad for the poor guy doing the demo, he was hot and sweaty and had been running around in the sun trying to get people to allow him to do the demo. I may call him for a Kirby but their prices are a joke.

Shortly thereafter, two men show up at my door, one newbie and one who claimed to be selling Kirbys for 4 years. I tell them I am not going to buy but I would like my stairs shampooed as promised by the young woman. The older man leaves the younger man to the task and departs for my neighbor's house. The newbie proceeds to vacuum the stairs, tediously changing out the little white disks every few seconds. This was of course after giving my Dyson a crack at them. They did indeed get noticeable dirt up, but later I wondered if they went back over it again with the Kirby if there would still be more dirt. I also got the demo how my Dyson couldn't lift up the empty accessories box and the Kirby could, etc.

During the course of the demo, I got treated to a very long and detailed hard-luck story from the newbie (the older man was never present when this happened). I was told he lived off of tips, so I am sure his personal history (real or fabricated) was an attempt to prime the pity pumps. I told him I would not give him money - all I wanted was what the young woman promised. I did give him a pop and several granola bars. The newbie seemed to stall out and he confessed he didn't know how to shampoo stairs. I asked him to please get someone to come over and get it done, as I needed to get back to doing what I was doing before they interrupted me. He spent a lot of time on his phone, texting and playing games, and I was starting to get irritated. The older guy finally came back, used the special shampooing attachment meant for stairs and asked newbie to finish up. The older guy was very slick and likable, but the newbie had a LOT to learn about effective sales.

The price started out at $2998 and by the end of the demo was down to $1000, and I wasn't supposed to tell my neighbors. When I continued with my stance of not making a decision like this with my wife out of town, I got some pressure about why can't I decide without her, etc. The newbie packing up the vacuum was painful to watch. I will never do anything like this ever again. Thank you Kirby sales force!

My mom was 77 at the time. It's so heavy that she can't even move it. The extra attachments have never been used. It's been sitting in a closet unused because she doesn't have the strength to use it. People that go door to door & sell this product to the elderly makes me ill. I don't know her order number but you should still have her records. Theoda **. She wants You to Buy it Back!!!!!

Around 2:15 pm a light tan van pulls into my condo complex, slows down to find my unit, and then goes to the parking area. A guy came to my door with two boxes and a plastic case, introduces himself (I don't remember his name), and proceeds to start taking out the vacuum and parts to assemble. It appears to be a brand new vacuum fresh out of the box, which impressed me (although I didn't say anything out loud.) He asked what he would be cleaning today, and I told him the guy during the phone call implied all of the flooring, but my friend had said one room. He verified it was one room, so I showed him to my bedroom. (I had already vacuumed, and pulled everything I could other than the heavy furniture to maximize the cleaning area.) He asked how often I vacuum, and told him every week since I have 5 cats and have to since they track the litter besides the pet hair. He said he would have never guessed I have 5 cats until he saw them all later (after the big bad machine had been quiet long enough for them to come out), and that he'd been in homes with less cats, and more cats, and the smell would be overwhelming.

He asked me what kind of vacuum I had now, and I showed him my Hoover Pets wind tunnel I got from Home Depot for almost $300 a couple years ago. He asked if I was happy with it, and I told him it's the best vacuum I've had yet. He didn't make any negative comments about it, but showed me on the bottom where there's only the one hole for the suction on the left side, and said that's why it takes a few sweeps to get things to pick up. I told him the debris in my vacuum was from earlier, from just one week, and he seemed impressed. He didn't show me the bottom of the Kirby to prove the full suction it would have as he claimed.

He takes the Kirby vacuum to my bedroom, and I was surprised to see how much debris it picked up and put on the little white pads he kept changing out ever so often, considering I had vacuumed not long before he got there. He finished vacuuming the bedroom, and then went back to the living room to show the other attachments, etc, and did a demo on my couch and throw pillows. He then started setting up to shampoo the bedroom floor. I sat on the bed and watched as the soap was being left on the floor to soak.

When he was done and was waiting for the suds to do their thing he showed me the paper with the pricing and three payment plans. $2400 for the vacuum alone, $2700 to have shampoo feature. I told him right now I have too much debt from my ex and can't afford any monthly payments. He said these were the numbers before discounts, but never mentioned what the discounts or total cost would be. He asked what my credit looks like on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being great. I told him 7 or 8, and it's in the 700s according to my free scores on my credit cards. He then wrote down $85/mo, and said that's the amount Lisa was able to get on hers due to her good credit, but never said what the term or total amount would be for hers. I told him I still couldn't afford a payment of any sort right now, but that the vacuum would be on my wish list for the future.

He finished vacuuming up the suds and getting the water out of the carpet, and said it would be dry to walk on in 30 minutes. It was still damp later in the evening, and about the same dampness as my cheap Bissell shampooer leaves behind. The end result as for the amount of cleaning was about the same as mine does, except the Kirby was a faster process. The dirty water was the same color, and just as much debris and cat hair as mine gets out. I almost fell twice walking from the carpet in the bedroom to the bathroom tile, as the bottom of my running shoes were very slippery from the damp floor. Must be the soap, as I don't have that problem with my cleaning solution. I was definitely more impressed with the vacuuming part of the demo.

He asked me about friends who might want to have a demo done, and I told him a few would love to have a room cleaned for free, but that none of them were going to be able to afford the vacuum. He said I never knew and they might like it, and I said I'm sure they would like it, but I knew he was out to sell vacuums, and it would be a waste of his time with my friends. He didn't push any further for referrals or to make a sale with me, and started packing up the vacuum back in my living room. He used window cleaner to shine the metal parts back up, and used foam parts and packaging to pack it back up. That explains the "brand new" impression I had from the start.

The whole demo was a two hour deal from start to finish. The guy was very nice, very sociable, and not too pushy when he pitched the sale. We talked the entire time (when the noise wasn't too loud from the machine), and he was very professional during the whole process. I don't envy his job, going into stranger's homes to clean a room (and more), and I can only imagine some of the filth he encounters. He said he was from California, and travels often. There were 7 of them traveling together on this trip, one lady and 6 guys. He was staying Los Lunas for this month, and then Colorado was next. The initial call to reel me into the demo was bull, since they weren't opening a new location, but that wasn't this guy's fault as he didn't make the call.

After reading some of the horror stories on here, I'm VERY thankful I had this particular salesman come to my house. I am also glad they called me instead of just showing up at my door step as I've read from other postings. Considering it killed two hours of my day, it was still a pleasant experience. When he was all packed up, I opened the door for him so he could carry out the two boxes and plastic case, and there was the light tan van waiting with the side door open, and a lady and guys sitting inside. I thought it was kind of odd it wasn't marked with Kirby advertising, but after reading some of the other reviews maybe it's so you don't know who is pulling into your driveway, hoping you'll answer the door.

I did look on Amazon later for the same vacuum out of curiosity, and there were three listings on the first page for less than HALF what his paper listed for the cost. I was surprised. I messaged my friend, and she said that figures, but that she didn't pay too much more, and got it for $1500. She said this way the guy got a little cash in his pocket considering he was there for two hours. She sells Mary Kay, so I can see her stand point helping him make some money. I told her he'd told me she was paying $85/mo, but hadn't told me the total, and she said they pushed him to give them the full amount before making a deal. I would too, had a payment option been an option for me. (I'm glad it wasn't an option, after looking online.) I don't foresee myself paying even the $1200 for the vacuum on Amazon, but it's good to know there is a cheaper option out there for those interested, if they bother to research it. I'd personally spend $1200 on a new dryer or treadmill before a vacuum, but that's me. :)

Two guys showed up 30 minutes later and seemed nice and I walked into the living room to see one unpacking a Kirby. I said I thought it was a carpet cleaning not vacuum sales. He said he was going to clean the carpet and I said I didn't have any money as I'm looking for a job. He asked how I paid rent and I said my mom's paid the last two months.

The one guy left and then I made a sandwich and iced coffee for the other and he started to do the sales thing. A lot of time was going by and he was spending too much time arranging circles of dirt and I wasn't sure he even had vacuumed the whole carpet yet. But the foam on the window was cool and it "certainly does suck" and he was a great guy. Many times we got talking and he paused his vacuuming for a while.

He did vacuum out my computer which is great, as well as blow the dust out of my kid's XBOX's. My kid has asthma and I keep the apt clean. I had steam cleaned less than three months prior. A lot of dirt came up anyway and the suction test showed how it obviously worked better than my Dyson. My son had a good time with the whole experiment and the guy talked about interesting stuff. He also used my Brookstone back massager and it sounds weird but we did each other's backs. It was a little weird but my kid was right there playing a video game and he didn't give me any weird looks so I guess it was fine. I think I sold him on getting a massager.

Anyway, it was a couple hours later so I wanted to finish up. He kept showing attachments but I really wanted the pee spot and rest of the carpet shampooed. So I said let's throw out all the circles - the wind was blowing them over and I said we'd have to go over the carpet again before shampooing. He said that his boss was expecting to see 100 of those all over the carpet. I wondered how they expected to shampoo it with those all over the place. I convinced him to stack them up on the tile in front of the fireplace instead "so his boss could see them" and then we pretty much got most of the carpet vacuumed when his boss came back.

His boss wanted me to buy the vacuum and I reminded him I didn't have a job right now. I said I thought my mom might want it but I didn't want to ask her to buy it since she was already paying my rent, although I thought it would be good for my kid's asthma. The guy convinced me to call her and she was already in the mountains so she had trouble hearing me. She finally heard "Kirby" and said, just use our neighbor's and it was a ripoff anyway. I said OK. I had gone into the bathroom to call in private and when I came out the boss guy was kind of pissy and packing up the vacuum and said he knew it was a no. I said she was already on her way to camping and he said she didn't have to be here to buy it. I said ya but the phone is cutting out. Apparently that was satisfactory.

I want to also say that although the guy who showed the Kirby was a really nice guy and did not make me totally regret unintentionally spending my whole Saturday afternoon checking out his vacuum, the other guy was not as cool. I convinced him to leave his number to give my mom a demonstration (although she won't want one) so I think he was biting his tongue. But he was pissed off that there were really only about 40 dirt circles piled up LOL because he said that anyone looking around at 100 dirt circles would definitely buy the vacuum. So I think the other guy is in trouble. He was visibly irritated at the other guy and I had to make eye contact with him and smile and say thank you because he looked nervous and embarrassed about how he was being treated.

And the boss also let me know that although my apt was nice and clean that he had been in some other houses that were really nasty and he told me of the mean and guilt-inducing things he had said to other people like saying they didn't care about their kid's health and that he should leave and take the kids with him. I kinda shrugged because I was thinking that maybe I could understand thinking that but not saying it to someone. However, since they don't leave a card, once they decide to leave you are no longer a potential customer and they are just pissed they wasted so much time on you (whether you wanted them to or not).

He did say it was $1395 but then asked if I had credit to which I said no. Either do my parents. (Who does anymore? Not even our government or our banks!) Anyway, then he said on credit it would be $2000. Then he said if I paid cash in full it would be $1500. I didn't really question him about it since I wasn't trying to haggle but just say no.

After they left I told my kid that I did like the vacuum but that they had tricked me into a demonstration and that they never had any intention of shampooing my carpet. He said that maybe I had misunderstood them before. No, they purposefully misled me. Also my son naturally wanted to Google the vacuum and they talked him out of it. (Apparently he Googled it, anyway, on his iPad in my room but didn't tell me till they left.) After they left, I mixed the enzyme stuff from my mom's and poured it on the pee spot. That really wasn't cool because it should have been poured on right away, but it will still work so whatever.

If I get a good enough job to be able to pay cash and not miss the money, I might still get it mainly because it would make my kid happy that I am concerned for his asthma since he thinks I am flippant about it no matter what I do. Also he says he would vacuum if we had it. Also we might have bubble wars so that could be fun.

I was leery to begin with, knowing what we went through a year ago. No massive horror story partly because I have terrible credit and surprisingly (I was going to give them $900 for the vacuum). I didn't pass their credit so I lucked out and didn't get stuck with it. The guy that did our demo actually was a great guy and I have kept in contact with him much of this time. He came into our house with no pretenses or lies, which is partly why I allowed him to come into the house. He was there for about 45 min doing his demo, but we all talked about other things which kept him there longer. His leader came in and asked what was taking so long and wanted to know if we were buying or not.

We agreed to the credit check (full well knowing we wouldn't make it past that part) and she did many things to get us to pay cash for it to avoid the credit check. Really who in their right mind keeps $900 in cash with them?? But all in all we didn't have much trouble getting the people to leave and up until this lapse in judgement we haven't had problems with Kirby. When I was a kid, we owned one and still have it to this day and my parents Love it. I would like to get one but even at $900 I think I will stick with my cheap ** Walmart bought vacuum. Moral of my long story is, they have upped the game and are suckering people in by offering a Free Trip. Please don't let this deter you from their real aim. Even though we didn't have a nightmare of a problem, I wanted to inform readers of this.

I told him I never purchase big ticket items without discussing it with my husband... He kept insisting and nagging me and finally I told him that I'm tired of repeating myself as to why I will not purchase an item without discussing it with my husband and to please stop talking and finish what you said you were going to do. He still tried to get me to budge but I wouldn't. By this time, I was so livid I was about ready to ballistic on the guy. Finally, he gets a call from his superiors and he says, "well my time is up and I have to pack up and leave." And I'm thinking to myself, thank goodness... I thought for sure I was going to have to get my taser out of my pocket and use it on him to get his sorry butt out of my house. I normally never let salespeople into the house but I had stains in my carpet and wanted to see if this system would really work... God as my witness, I will never let any salesperson in again, ever... I recommend to anyone that if this happens to you, be FIRM, be ADAMANT and do not hesitate to call the cops, if need be.

In fact, when I stopped making the payment for one month 2 men showed up at my door wanting their payment. I was scared and did not answer the door. 5 minutes after leaving my door they started calling my house phone. That lasted all day. I hate the vacuum. Told Kirby this and still they would not take it back. After reading all the complaints I do not feel so alone. Now I know for sure I WAS forced to buy the vacuum. I only wish I had read all the complaints before I got suckered.

Around that time, my wife told all of us that she was putting Davey down for the night (our baby) and that we all needed to relocate immediately. The sales guy ignored her completely and I could see she was getting upset, but she just left the room instead of complaining. I wanted to get rid of this guy, and I knew there was a lemon law that I could take advantage of if we wrote a check and put a stop payment on it the next day. Honestly, I thought about calling the cops.

Our vacuum cleaner had broken recently, and we were in the market for one, but the initial asking price of 2500 USD was obviously too much. I laughed when he told me and then he said what price would you consider. I said 800, thinking low balling him by that much would get him out of there. He made a phone call and did that whole tactic and then said ok. So then we wrote him a check for an even 900 to cover tax and for expediency. He left after spending a bit more time showing my wife, who I could tell was not a fan of this whole thing, how to work the machine. Which was actually kind of nice of him, but not for us at 10 pm.

When he was done this unmarked green van with some creepy people in it pulls up down the way and he hops in. I was outside and one of them says "Congratulations." I had my back turned and turned around and said, "are you speaking to me?" They drove off. The next day, my wife sent a fax to the number they provided to cancel the order. She also sent a letter to the address provided, and called them personally to cancel. Three Tech Distributions I believe is the name of the company. We also sent a letter via certified mail. I called the office personally and they said they would come by to pick up the vacuum yesterday 09AUG2014 between 1 pm and 3 pm. No one ever showed up, nor did we receive a phone call.

I called and left them a message today, since it is a Sunday. I told them I would take the machine to them if they provided an address. Or they could give us another appointment. We put a stop payment on the check before they had a chance to cash it, so there shouldn't be any problem financially for us. Plus we have the resources to legally protect ourselves.

Overall, especially after reading the many negative reviews online, I can say that I find the Kirby salespeople highly obnoxious. They are also underpaid from what I can find in the testimonials, which is regrettable. The young man seemed highly desperate, and kept saying he wanted to win a dodge challenger. I doubt they would reward him with it even if he made quota. They do not sound like their independent dealers are prone to treat their employees honorably.

Regarding the vacuum itself. I have not used it, nor have we used it since the demonstration (my wife used it for a short time with the salesman) since the salesman left our home on 04 August. However, it could suck golf balls through garden hoses and my wife would not care. She was really put off by the sales guy and the high pressure tactics. That being said, there is a certain amount of Machiavellian genius in the way that the independent dealers drive their salespeople into basically what amounts to slave labor. I feel bad for these young men and women who are obviously lied to and mistreated. Their organization is somewhat cultish.

He then stopped me and said, 'Why are you leaving?' I said, 'I know it's all about commission.' He then tells me, 'No no no, you get your paycheck too.' Anyway...so that caught my attention and I sat back down. I asked many times, 'Are you sure?' He said, 'No, we pay now for you to sell as where before we did not. I went to similar and went door to door like they asked and when payday rolls around, I review no check. They then told me I had to make the quota. I never made and I said what the hell is that and I was made because they had just make me homeless and I have children. They told me, 'Not my problem.' I then said I quit and was going to report them.

At that moment, the distributor named Samone, who goes by Mr **, put a gun in my face and said I feel threatens and leave my office before I put a bullet in your chest. I was floored. Needless to say, I left and went to all the people that I told to and told them it would be wise to go over your contract before you ruin your credit and Run. Kirby RUINS PEOPLE'S LIVES AND PRIDE THEMSELVES ON DOING SO... They tell you that in the meetings. BEWARE.

Why I let them in my house, I'll never know. But I felt pretty safe with my dog. I explained to them that my dog does not like men. They asked if she bites, and I told them that I couldn't make any guarantees. When I told them I would give them 5 minutes, they went into the same spiel that everyone else has talked about, and it was forever before I could get them to leave. Very pushy. They even wanted to go into my bedroom! This was a young man and a young woman. When finally I had corralled them to the front door, the young man began a diatribe about Moses and the burning bush, zombies, Area 51, drinking gold, and I don't know what else. The young woman looked as confused as I was.

Bottom line: No one should ever let anyone into their house especially at night, especially when they're alone. Those of us who have done this are fools. No one should pay $3,000 for a vacuum cleaner. Kirby is obviously a company that preys on vulnerable people that they are able to manipulate. I would love to see a review from someone who actually had a good experience. I bet there's not one.

I will never purchase the product, which I did find great, because of the way he disrespected me, spoke about me to a "supervisor" on the phone, and then insulted my home as he left. I only agreed to the visit because I was promised the free gift, which he then refused to give me. The experience was awful and these types of sales representatives and their tactics taint the Kirby name. I will never buy their product and I warn you not to allow their sales representatives into your home.

So I cancelled my payment to let them know I was serious. It was my right because I wanted to cancelled within the guidelines. Now my credit is completely messed up because they wouldn't honor the cancelled period. They kept sending me stuff saying I was trying to fraud them, even though I faxed all the appropriate documents. So I still had the vacuum until they fixed everything making sure everything was going through the right steps. Then one day I got a knock on the door from another man from Kirby. I let him in to show him all of my documents I had but when I went into my room to get them he grabbed the vacuum without signing anything and tried to leave my home.

I realized what he was doing and ran to grab it from him. We started struggling because I would not let go, and just kept screaming that I need a contract saying he came to get it. My father was in my living room and realized what was going on but he is disabled and could barely help. Then another salesmen came then threw me down my flight of stairs on to my back. I still would not let go of the vacuum. Then I looked over and two other salesmen from Kirby got out of their car. He came up and started pulling me across my yard and punching me in the face while I was screaming to them that this was a court matter. My father could not help so he told me to just let go of the vacuum. They brought the vacuum to their car and told me they would be back to mess up my car.

I was in a lot of pain and called the police. They came and me and my father both filed police reports while the ambulance checked me. They said they would investigate what happened and inform me of any updates. I told the police officer that one of the people was the original salesmen who sold me the vacuum. His name was Joe **. I have had a lot of back pain since this incident and there is nothing I can do about it. Nothing has happened yet because I don't think the police even pursued anything. I just want people to know how bad Kirby is and wish they would go out of business for what they put me through. Now my credit has been messed up for who knows how long because of these criminals. I wish someone could have helped me.

Of course the 3 days had passed by the time he was expected to get back. I contacted Kirby Corp in Ohio & they wouldn't help me. I sent letters to the Ala address & now find out the address they provided was bogus & that the post office said there was no such address. I will not stop trying get this resolved. The vacuum is horrible, it hurts my back, hard to use & I would never have bought it if the man had not beat me down to the point I could no longer think straight. I feel I was taken advantage of because I was old & on disability. I have had to turn off my TV & not get refills on my meds so I can pay for this vacuum I cannot use. Lord help me.

In October 2011 I was home alone with my 2 girls when I got a knock on the door and a woman, her name was Brandy, and she had a bottle of laundry detergent in her hands and asked if I had the time to allow her to discuss a product she was selling. It was 6:30pm on a school night and I stated "no I am sorry, I am not interested at this time." She then looked at her van and 2 guys got out of the van and walked up to my porch and were very stern and pushy and said it will only be 30 min of my time. There is no obligation to buy. Out of fear, I agreed to allow her to demonstrate the product.

Once she came in my house, the 2 guys left in the van. She then proceeded to demonstrate the Kirby vacuum cleaner and 3 hours later, she then proceeded to try and sell me the product and the price. I stated that I wasn't interested and thanked her for her time. And I really needed to get my kids ready for bed for school the next day.

Brandy then made a phone call, I had no clue who she had called, and the 2 guys pulled up and walked into my house. One of the guys sat next to me and then stated "what can I do to get you to purchase this vacuum cleaner, here are your 3 options to pay." I then stated I wasn't interested. He then got up, walked in my kitchen, opened the refrigerator and asked what I had to drink. I got really scared and at this point, it was almost 11:00 at night and I was by myself with my 2 kids. I began to fear for our safety. I agreed to purchase the vacuum cleaner with the intent to return it due to the fact I was advised that I had a 30-day return policy.

After the loan application was filled out, they started to walk out the door, and I asked where the vacuum was. Brandy stated that she can't leave the one she had because the one I will be receiving the next day will be a brand new vacuum, that Kirby doesn't sell used products. And that once I receive mine that I would need to set aside an hour so she can help me set mine up and answer any questions that I may have. And at this point, it was after 11:30pm before they finally left my house.

4 days later Brandy shows up at my work trying to drop the Kirby off at my work and I stated I am not putting that box in my car and mess up my leather seats. (She got my work address from my credit application). She then came to my house the next day, pulled up in my yard (not my driveway) and dropped off the vacuum and ran out the door and stated she had more vacuum cleaners that she needed to drop off in Cleveland (The county next to mine). I had to run out the door to get my warranty slip that states I have a lifetime warranty.

I opened the box and the vacuum was attached and was clearly used, and the carpet shampoo bottle was half empty with the silver seal torn. There was no instruction manual in the box and the box was torn and the tape was torn and resealed. I then called United Consumer Financial to file a complaint on Brandy and the 2 guys that were with her and wanted to return the vacuum. I did not know who I really needed to contact since that was all the information I had. The representative with United Consumer Financial advised me that I am unable to return the vacuum due to being outside the 3-day return policy, that there was nothing they can do. Please keep in mind, I did not receive the vacuum until 5 days after my loan was established.

I told them the situation and they gave me the contact information for Kirby. I contacted the call center for Kirby and they stated that I should not have to pay for that vacuum due to the experience I had and that they do not want any of their customers to have the experience that I have had. They got my contact information and promised that the regional director based out of Athens, Ga would be contacting me within 7 days to get this resolved and fixed to where I would not have to pay for the mistakes that Brandy and her team had made.

I waited 7 days and no call. I called the call center again, and again I was promised a phone call. This had went on for several months, and I kept in contact with United Consumer Financial and continued making my $84.00 monthly payment as I had agreed to, since we both had made the agreement for me to continue the payment until Kirby returned the product and verified that it was returned.

Out of all the purchases I have made; my house, my cars etc. I feel that this was a complete scam. Not only was I forced into purchasing this item due to a scare tactic, but I was charged $3000 for a vacuum that sells for $1500. My neighbors had purchased the same model as mine and showed me their purchase receipt (in which I never received one) and the price was half of what I paid. I wish there was something, anything that I could do to fix this, instead of being forced to pay this to have this removed off of my credit so it no longer haunts me.

This is terrible business, and would only hope that where ever these salespeople are, that they are not out harassing a single mother late at night trying to sell their products using their scare tactics. Not only will I be posting this letter to my credit profile, but I will be submitting this to Kirby and to the better business bureau as well.

Worse mistake ever! The older guy kept going on and on about how good the Kirby works and it's their 100th year anniversary. They will receive a trip to New Orleans for their demonstration. The younger was looking nervous and not speaking. The older guy kept saying he's new, it's his first day. So he went through maybe 10 pads and said I have something even better to show you. Do you have a socket in your hall, I told him, "No, but there's one in the bathroom." This guy had the nerve to just open my daughter's bedroom door and say, "Watch this. Do you know what sleeps with you every night."

Long story short, they were at my home for an hour and a half. He kept trying to convince me to buy the vacuum for 2389 dollars. I told him I will not make that kind of decision without my boyfriend at home. He says, "I'm sure he trust you." I told him I was not making any decisions without his approval. He finally gives up and says, "Do you have 50 cents or 75 cents, where I can get something to eat." I said, "Where are you going to eat at for 50 cents." He said, "McDonald's a burger." I gave him 50 cents. He looked disappointed as they were packing up their stuff. I thank God my nephew was visiting because he seem determine to get some money.

IT'S A SCAM. DO NOT LET THEM IN YOUR HOMES PLEASE!

BEWARE OF KIRBY ALERT. Last night a Kirby sales rep would not leave our home for 2 hours after repeatedly asking and begging him to leave (we did consider calling police). It was 10:30pm when he finally left. We repeatedly asked him to leave and he informed us that during his previous demo the homeowners called the police to have him removed. We told him from the get-go that we were not purchasing a Kirby, only helping him get his $30 incentive. It completely ruined our night.

How it all started: Prior to the demo, two very young women were walking through the neighborhood in workout gear had stopped to talk to us about our yard, they falsely stated they lived down the street in our neighborhood. We were completely unaware that they were at all affiliated with Kirby but after talking for a short while they said they had a small start up company and wanted to clean one room in our home. We said no. They said it was free and they would be paid $30 and would meet their quota. We still said no. They asked why. We said we didn't want chemicals on the carpet. They said there were no chemicals. They did not inform us of Kirby or that they were selling a vacuum, we thought it was a carpet cleaning business. Then the sales rep arrived with the vacuum and we realized it was a vacuum he was selling. We told them they could do a quick demo but we were absolutely not buying anything.

During the demo, he kept asking how much longer he had. Ten minutes into his demo, I told him I needed to put my daughter to bed, clean my house, and then go to bed. He asked how he could help (as if he would do any of those for me!). I informed him that he could not help and that we need to wrap up the demo, to be nice I asked for the business card so I could call if I was interested but he said they do not have a business card. He asked if he could wait for me to put my child to bed to show me more of the Kirby. I said no. I asked him to call his lead to pick him up. He said he would. I informed my husband of this and proceeded to put my daughter to bed.

When I was finished putting my daughter to bed I came out to find the Kirby rep hanging out in the backyard with my husband. I was flabbergasted. The Kirby rep was wasting his time and ours. I asked him when his ride would be here. He said he would be picked up soon. I waited 15 minutes and asked again what was preventing him from leaving. The Kirby rep said his phone was cutting out and he never got in touch with his lead, even though he said he did. So, I handed him my home phone. He called his lead. The lead arrived and questioned me why I would not purchase the vacuum and asked if it was cost related. I told him I didn't care if the vacuum cost me $1, I have no need for it. I have a thousand dollar vacuum and wood floor throughout as I initially stated. I then informed them that a demo should be 5-10 minutes not 2 hours uninvited during sleeping hours at 10:30pm.

So Kirby, go ahead and delete this from your FB page or play the blame game but all of my FB friends will read this and as your company says, "word of mouth is the best advertising". It took my husband 2 hours this morning to track down the people who were at our home. So far, 3 out 4 people I have told said they had the same thing happen with Kirby. Plus, there are complaints all over the web, 966 on just one website at the moment. Put an end to the haggling salespeople. This is clearly a systemic problem with Kirby company training, not an individual incident.

-They straight up bald faced lie to their new hires just as hard as they lie to customers. I've been around the block, so I spotted this on day one.

I figured I could put on some demos, collect the wage, tell people not to bother buying and continue looking for a reputable job. Until they told me what the base wage really was. $20 per 2 hour presentation. Including travel and fuel, that's around $6 an hour. And you only get paid if you do 150 presentations a month *and* make at least 8 sales a month. It's a complete scam. It's disgusting, and degrading. Don't let them into your homes. Period. Anything that seems too good to be true absolutely is. Please be careful.

After you had fleeced your friends and family, they'd send you to do door to door cold calls or demos for strangers who were promised a free carpet cleaning. After your demo, they'd send in the closer who would be the slimiest and pushiest type of salesperson you could imagine who wold refuse to leave even when asked and made you feel awful about yourself for the way they treated the customer in their own home. The entire process usually took from 2 to 5 hours. When a Kirby "dealer" came to the door of my new house a few days ago, I could tell he was another young person desperate for income who got sucked into the Kirby scheme. Out of sympathy and out of curiosity about how things might have changed in over 2 decades, I decided to let him give his spiel. His "handler" dumped him off with the Kirby, gave me his usual friendly banter, and then went to handle the rest of his flock.

After the demo, I of course declined to purchase the admittedly very nice $3500 Kirby, which prompted the young man to call in the closer. We sat awkwardly in the living room with him while he tried to get someone to come close, or at least to pick him up. They kept making excuses and telling him to call someone else, all the while rudely berating him in front of us for not making the sale, probably in an attempt to guilt us into a purchase. After a while, I offered to drive him back to their office so we could end this awkward gathering in our home. The 1st person told him that was OK, but then a 2nd person called and told him that was not allowed. I felt bad, as it was hot out, but we finally had to make him wait outside where he sat for a very long time.

I talked candidly with him for a while outside, where he said he had sold 1 Kirby so far and was thinking about quitting as soon as they paid his commission because the people running the company were absolutely rude and sleazy and treated him poorly. I didn't have the heart to tell him that, based on my personal experience, I figured they'd find some excuse to not pay him that commission, and he'd have to keep doing this until they did, which was clearly making him feel dirty and miserable. I wished him well, recommended he not stop his job search, and went back inside to have dinner.

While the Kirby is actually a good cleaning machine with lots of uses, it's quite sad that they decided to go with this type of sleazy pyramid scheme instead of using advertising and fair pricing to sell it. It's also a heavy and difficult machine to use, so the average person will tend to shove it into a closet and go back to using their Hoover or Dirt Devil anyway. Most people I have spoken with have also complained that they do not honor their warranty and you cannot get any customer service once you make the purchase. To anyone thinking about allowing Kirby to do a free cleaning or demo for them, just say no. It's worse than having a root canal and takes about 4 times as long - and that's assuming you're not foolish enough to get talked into purchasing one and letting them finance you.

He just kept going on about how I made the decisions and how ASIANS are cheap. I got very angry. He became racist. He told me how it's okay, I don't have to talk to my husband and that I'm cheap but it's worth buying. I said no. He then said "Okay, I'm not forcing you." Then he packed up his stuff and continued talking to us. I think he was staying longer just to persuade us into buying it. He just continued talking and talking. He then asked if he could use our bathroom. I said go right ahead. Then when he uses it he asks, "Can I use your lotion, too?" I thought that was awfully weird. I said go right ahead. He spent 30 mins in there. I assumed he wanted me to think about it? Then he said "I'm sorry for taking a long time and sorry blah blah blah" He then creepily looked at our family photos and did not see my husband at all. (I'm divorced, I just used my husband as an excuse). He kept staring at all of our photos. I told him to immediately leave. I will never open my door ever again to a sale advertiser.

At this point I became less annoyed and more concerned. I use a wheelchair, and there was no one else in the house and it was nighttime (it wasn't dark when he started!). I laughed nervously and pulled my hand away. He then started telling me that if he left my house he would have to wait in the dark for his boss. I don't remember what I said, something like, "Well, I hope it won't be too long then!" He finally left. So, my Kirby experience came with a little bit of fear. Due to this incident and a couple other unrelated ones, I no longer answer my door if I am not expecting anyone.

The *Area Distributor* who recruited me was a fat Aussie guy by the name of Tom ... can't remember his second name. What I do remember is that he was ** with the sister of the guy who was responsible for introducing the Kirby into the UK in the first place, back in the very late 70's or early 80's. His name was FELIX ** and he operated out of Coatbridge in Lanarkshire Scotland. I have googled FELIX ** in the past, and he would appear to have been involved in multiple companies which have subsequently gone into liquidation.

I count my time in Kirby (6 weeks) as a learning experience. There is no doubt that the business model is to recruit young, starving, and otherwise unemployable youngsters and to get them to play on the sympathy of their friends and family to achieve a few sales. Use them and discard them, that's how it works. To achieve the next level in Kirby, you really do need to be bereft of the common decencies which make a human being a worthwhile person. That said, I do own a Kirby (bought off Ebay) and I do maintain that it is by far the best and most efficient vacuum cleaner available. The engineering quality is superb. Any complaints about the efficiency of the machine I would dismiss out of hand. There are a lot of absolutely clueless people out there (I am tempted to make a sexist observation but will refrain ... let's just leave it at *people*). One thing I do agree with is that the Kirby is heavy, and probably too heavy for a petite woman to lug around, particularly if she has to carry it upstairs. Maybe in the 33 years since I was Kirby *dealer* things have changed.

I have three Labrador Retrievers who shed sufficient hair to build another one. I also live in an area that gets a steady floor of dust which covers all surfaces pretty within two days of being removed. As I said, the Oreck doesn't do the job. I have looked at the various "Pet" vacuums, all of which are made of cheap plastic materials, and many have pretty poor consumer rating. When the salesman set up the Kirby I was immediately impressed with the materials used in its manufacture. It looks like it is built to be used in a hotel where it really gets used. Next he put a device on the exhaust port in place of the bag which allowed him to collect and show what the vacuum actually removes. He vacuumed a 2 foot square area of the Persian.

What was pulled up looked like the accumulation of years, hair, dust, God knows what else. He did the same on my hardwood floors with similar results even though I had sweep and vacuumed them earlier in the day. He then repeated the operation with my ceramic tiled kitchen, and seat pad around my dining room table. In every case the results were startling. This was a great machine. Then he hit me with the price: $2997. I want a clean house, but I was not about to spend that much money to achieve it. With superbly trained skills he began the process of trying to close the deal. Have done some sale in my life, I am not a person who can be forced into a close. I told him quite simply that I wanted think about it for a few days.

Finally, he made an offer, knocking $2000 off of the price. It still would have been over $1000 with tax. I wasn't prepared to spend that much without seriously considering it for a couple of days. He said he was going to step outside and have a cigarette to allow me to consider. I used the time to get on my computer and looked at Amazon.com. Their best price for the vacuum system was $1000. When he came back in I informed him of this. His next offer was $898 plus tax. I asked him what the tax would be. It was somewhere around $70. I continued to hesitate. He then said that he would pay the tax. That pretty much sealed the deal.

I realized I could probably get him to go lower, but given the market and what you could get for nearly that much in, say, a Dyson, I figured that it was fair price that I was willing to pay. I have no doubt that he made a decent commission on the sale, and I don't resent that. I think we both came away happy with the deal. It does bother me that some people actually pay as much as $3000 for the same product I paid $900 for. The high pressure sales technique, its essential dishonesty in getting the salesman inside your house is pretty shoddy practice. However, I would likely have not let him in had I known what the plan was. I think most people are that way as well.

The whole thing is pretty predatory, and Kirby as company seems to expect this behavior of their sales people. The saving grace is that the vacuum is a superbly manufactured piece of equipment. My only advice to people is, if you are not in need of a new vacuum don't let someone in your house to clean one of your rooms for free. Nothing is free. If you do get interested, set a maximum amount you are willing to pay at less than what you can get the vacuum for on Amazon. They will meet your price.

At 9:15 pm. I told him that I really needed to wrap this up. He said he had to call his boss and let him know that it was going quicker than normal. (Are you kidding me? 1 hour and 15 minutes and he wasn't even being close to finished.) Then, he gave me a story about wanting to clean my mattress for me. I said, "That will not be happening!" Really, a someone is going to come into my home and I am going to let them in my bedroom, I don't think so!! At 9:35, his "other boss" showed up. Of course this guy was the guy to finish and get me the numbers. I told him that looked like a great product, but I was not able to purchase one. He kept writing down numbers and told me that I really could.

I am so glad that he knows what I can and can't afford. He even opened my refrigerator and told me that it was well stocked and the food in there cost a lot of money. They kept continuing and I finally said that I really regret opening the door and they really needed to leave. "The boss, money guy" then was really rude. I felt sorry for the salesman, but I was not spending $2000 on a vacuum cleaner! If they were going to stay any longer, I was getting ready to call the non-emergency police number to get them out of my house! They finally finished packing everything up and left about 10:10 pm. I told them from the start, I wasn't interested and only let him do it since he said he just needed one more point to win a free trip to Vegas.

With my Bissel, when I needed the hose, all I did was pull it out of the floor vac part and continue to vacuum away. If I needed a longer hose, I just added it, or a longer stick. Nothing to take apart and put back together... Honestly, I miss my Bissell, and I wish I hadn't given it to them the night I bought the Kirby. I truly don't like it. I have an Oreck that I bought years ago, that my daughter took when she got her house with carpet... I love that Oreck.. and wish I had bought another one of those instead of this rotten Kirby. My advise to anyone considering purchasing one is... DON'T DO IT. It is much too heavy and doesn't handle well. I regret it, I regret it, I regret it. And still owe about $1000 on it.. since over the past 6 months, my payments have only paid the interest. I suppose you live and learn.. I don't recommend Kirby!!

I also told him I was working on my credit and did not want my credit to be ran. Not only did they run my credit once, they ran it twice and all I received out of the deal was a half cleaned carpet. I'm not sure what I can do to remedy this situation I'm left with. I'm completely displeased with the whole visit yesterday. They entered into a property that clearly states no soliciting, failed to honor the promise and left two dings on my credit report. I will send a complaint to the attorney generals and whoever else, because I'm NOT satisfied with the overall visits yesterday.

I used the darn thing 1.5 times, and I don't like it. I don't want it. I have had back surgery and am afraid of falling down the stairs and paralyzing myself with it. We discussed all my unhappiness, AGAIN, with the Kirby, and we rewrote another receipt for $1,500, but after thinking all that transpired, I don't want it. I told him to come pick it up and give me the trade in back. I was going to use another credit card check, one NOT expired, but decided to not go that route. By the way, we wrote this receipt for a "new contract" using the old date. Is this even legal? Is this valid? Is this contract null and void now? I had the distributor drop off my old vacuum where he thought he was going to get a check.

Well, I didn't give him one. I told him I originally verbally cancelled this purchase within my legal 3 days. I told him to get the darn Kirby OUT of my house, but he left without it. What is my recourse here? Can they sue me and win? Will they even waste the legal fees because it's going to cost them more than it's worth? The distributor claimed he was going to sue me for $5000. This company is absolutely the most horrible I have ever experienced. These people are worse than Snake Oil Salesmen. I have emailed the company with the usual **. I will try and call them tonight, but after doing a lot of research online, I doubt I will get anywhere. Any advice is much appreciated.

At approximately 3pm, I was pressured so much to purchase their system that I agreed saying sure and that I wanted nothing more than for them to leave because I know if at that point I would have said no, they would have stayed for longer. After purchasing, I became very ill and had been under doctor care until the following Wednesday, therefore letting that be the first day I was able to use my new system. The next morning, I submitted a file to cancel to Kirby Customer Service and received a response shortly after that my information/complaints would be sent to the Sauk Rapids location. I then followed up again the following day asking for an update and did not receive anything until the next day - therefore causing an even bigger delay in my communication with the distributor.

Once I finally received a call back, it was from Customer Service indicating that THEY received a response from the distributor that they were not allowing for the cancellation and that the case was closed. I then received a call from Todd at the Sauk Rapids office asking what issues I was having, and if he needed to come back out to demo it all again. As I indicated in my initial email, for me to personally use the machine caused issues on my back therefore making it completely useless as I am not willing to suffer back injuries because of a vacuum. I also realized that financially this is something that I can not afford, especially with an $88 per month payment, so I reached out in hopes that Kirby would work together with me to take their machine back and refund my money only to realize that they wanted nothing more than to take advantage of me as a female and only wanted the money in their pocket, not my satisfaction.

Todd informed me that he would then reach out to the owner, John **, to discuss my concerns to see what could be done, so when I followed up with Todd AGAIN on my own, May 20, he fed me lies saying that he emailed John after our conversation May 19 and also phoned him the morning of May 20 with no response. Then as I expressed my frustration even more, he then changed his story saying he did hear back from John and that John refuses to help in any sort of way - all while the day before he indicated that John would contact me himself in resolution of my concerns. There is not a single person who is willing to take responsibility for helping me out nor does anyone care as it was all about the dollar - bottom line.

If Kirby is unwilling to help me out in this situation due to their lack in responsiveness, especially because I was shy two days from their "three-day" cancellation, I will take matters further with an attorney and file a suit for not only taking advantage of me as a female customer, but also for their constant harassment of lying only to better themselves financially as opposed to working with me as a customer. With this sort of activity on behalf of a company, how and why are they even still in business? It is absolutely unacceptable that as a consumer of a product that I would be treated so poorly and want nothing more than to return the machine, get my money back, and simply move on rather than having to pursue further activities with an attorney, which will then cost them much more money in the end. Either way, Kirby will not get my money, so they either work together with me to resolve this PROFESSIONALLY, or we make matters worse, which will be more costly in the end.

An added update as of May 27, 2014: I contacted customer service in an attempt to resolve the issues I have been experiencing and am so disgusted by the way I was treated AGAIN! The first supervisor I spoke with, Nathan, was trying to tell me that I committed fraud by indicating that our household income was a certain amount on the application, even though it was submitted solely under my name since my husband was not home all while when Todd was here to sell me the machine, he indicated that it wouldn't need to be mine specifically since it's just a household income. I was also told by Nathan that it's my prerogative to find a way to pay for it on a monthly basis, regardless of my financial status. He then proceeded to tell me that they ran my credit, claimed I was approved to take on such a loan, but then REFUSED to provide me a copy of the report they so-called ran to "approve" me of this $2k loan.

Amongst several other harassing comments he made, I yelled at the top of my lungs to speak with his manager as I had continuously asked for a manager about 20 minutes with him refusing to transfer me. I then got him to transfer me, but to another supervisor by the name of Luke. I immediately asked Luke his title, then he told me he was also a supervisor, so I asked him then if Nathan reported to him and as he was stumbling over his words, I interrupted him by asking/confirming that we are in fact on a recorded line, which he then said that we were, so I then asked him again if Nathan reported to him and he finally stopped the lies and said no that he reports to a manager by the name of Megan. I then asked what Megan's last name is, or even her initial, as I know some places will not give out full last names. Luke then told me that he has never received permission from her to provide a last name or initial, so kept refusing time and time again to provide me with any further information.

After all these attempts with Kirby and the finance company, I figured I needed this information as there are probably more than one Megan's out there that are a manager. I then gave up on the last name/initial question as I was getting nowhere and then asked for her direct number as I was ready to get hung up on, and he continued to refuse to provide me any information on that. After several more attempts, he finally gave me a bogus extension, but then transferred me to a Megan's voicemail, so I left a voicemail and know that I will not get a call back, as usual.

You had to sell 3 and do 15 demonstrations to get a $250.00 bonus. Sounds easy enough but there's a catch. The salesman had a cost. For us it was $900.00. If we sold one for less than cost it was taken from our bonus. For example, if we sold 1 for 800.00 the price was $100.00 below cost. So we would lose $50.00 from our bonus. We could low ball down to $650.00 so you would lose your bonus pretty fast this way. The Kirby back in those days sold for $1500.00, so if we sold one for that the salesman would get $600.00. If you sold at least 3 of them for top dollar plus with the bonus you could make some nice money, but the chance of that happening with my manager who was nicknamed LOWBALL was slim to none, which brings up another nice aspect.

One week everything fell into place for me. After reading some sales books and becoming confident in my sales abilities I made over $2000.00 in one week, so I thought. My manager paid me about $1200.00 of it and something bad happened, every sale that I had cancelled. So instead of reaping my award with a nice payday I owed the company money. So a week or 2 later I made about $1000.00 bucks. I go to the office to get paid and I get $200.00. The manager told me I owe $400.00 now. I understand the reason for this, but the manager should never have paid me till the sales went through or cancelled. I would rather just be a little angry than being angry and owing a bunch of money. Nothing better than going to work being in the hole.

Some of the people who I worked with didn't appreciate the customers. They laughed at them. One nickname they had was Turkey Dinners if they thought you couldn't afford one. If someone's credit wasn't good enough they were turned down. Turkey Dinner/Turn Down. TD, same initials. I remember one guy always calling people deadbeats. Even though by his definition he was probably a bigger deadbeat than all of them. We gave Coca-Cola or Sprite as our free gift to get in houses, which was a good way to get in but it sucked for the salesman. Because it was an expense which came out of our pay. Our manger charged us $1.00 per soda, which doesn't sound like much, but if you had a few weeks of bad luck and the only sales you got were bonus killing low balls, (remember the manager's nickname?) making $90.00 and having $30.00 or more taken out of it nets you very little. You made everyone money but yourself.

The hours are insane. We had to be at the office at 9 AM to sing those stupid Kirby songs, tell of our sales conquests, pack up our demonstration kits, be out on the road by 10 AM. Most of time we were on the road till late, sometimes past midnight. I always wondered where the good times were, the partying, the mad money. It was all lies. Sure, once in a great while we were home early and had some fun. But those days were rare. For my final straw the last week I worked for them I sold 3 vacs, did my 15 demonstrations and received nothing. So my new wife told me she was going to leave me unless I quit. I quit and glad I did. I now have a good job which pays me, even if I have a bad day.

Kirby can be a rewarding career for a few. I did see some people who worked for them who were rich, but for most of us, the money is inconsistent and being on the road 12 hours a day and nothing to show for it isn't worth it. You have very little time to spend with family or friends. As for all these comments I'm reading there's 2 big mistakes people make when dealing with the manager. Never tell him/her you can't afford it. These people are trained to overcome that particular excuse. The other is one is "I need to discuss this with my husband." With that excuse with our methods we had women literately pissed at their husbands and bought the machine just to spite him. What you need to say is that "I can afford many Kirby's but I do not want one. So leave, now."

Everything to them is an excuse so be blunt. Don't give them much to work with. Trust me, they've been trained how to deal with excuses. Everybody has the same ones. Heck, they have books on dealing with them. The people who are successful with Kirby have mastered how to overcome excuses. The guy who wore a $10,000 (yes he bragged about it) watch told us how he sold a guy was going to get violent with him, he overcame this, and by the time he left the guy was his best friend and bought one, for full price.

The whole process was just so long and drawn out, and after two hours, he got around to shampooing an area of carpet (not the one I originally wanted, because I wanted to see if it could get visible stains out, not just the pee smell on the rug). His boss came back and laughed when I said the machine was worth no more to me than $500.00, since one of my friends paid that amount recently and told me to pay no more. They stated the retail price (at the beginning of the demo - 1:30 p.m.) at $3200.00. Hugely overpriced! I did like how well the machine seemed to preform, although it is incredibly heavy and has way too many pieces/parts that are not exactly intuitive to use. But, whatever.

What made me mad was that I kept hinting at the fact I wanted this wrapped up (my kids were in need of my attention), and they kept ignoring me. I thought the "boss" (who smelled of cigarette smoke when he reappeared two hours into the demo) was way too overbearing and insulting. I even got to talk to the "owner" of the company on the rep's phone. He was very nice and thanked me for my time. The boss seemed flustered and in a hurry to leave once he realized he was not making a sale on me since I clearly said that my Dad owns a Kirby I could borrow anytime, and that I would need to discuss with my husband (who was out of town for several days) before I would buy anything. The rep was just a naive, (only worked for Kirby for two weeks, yet claimed his allergies were so much better after using his Kirby) young man trying to earn a living and pay for the baby his wife/girlfriend was about to have. Hopefully, he will wise up, do some research, and quit his lame job quickly.

As of today I will stop all payments to Kirby from my bank. I have paid them over $ 4200.00 for a so call Kirby that was supposed to be $1000.00. I couldn't locate the phone number of the salesman. So I tried to contact the Kirby company directly. Never could get any answers other than how to purchase parts etc. What else can I do, other than stop payments. (The Kirby Sentra Model G100) This product is very complicated to use, other than regular vacuum cleaning, can't attach all the hoses to do any carpet shampooing. This Kirby is very heavy and I am disable due to knee replacement and severe back injuries. Please advise? What can I do now. I have paid for this product four days already.

Then the young lady (who stated that if I buy the Kirby, she will come to clean for me for $80.00 a session). Previously, she demonstrated the vacuum on my mattress in my bedroom, and I was not too impressed by this, because I believed that she was ruining my new mattress. She left the white dusty disks on my bed. Then she asked the young man, who eventually reappeared from the bathroom, to bring her the dusty disks from the bedroom. He went in the bedroom and another 15 minutes passed and I was again wondering what takes him 15 minutes to collect four disks from the bedroom. I went in then, and he was still putting together the four disks. Eventually they left, and I had a hard time explaining that the Kirby is not suitable for me because I have a back disease and I cannot lift it.

In the evening I was about to take my pain medication which I kept in the bedroom in a top drawer of my medicine cupboard. All the prescription pain medication from a red medicine bottle, that was always on the top, was gone from the bottle. The bottle contained about 60 pills. As they did not leave a card or the address of their business place, I was thinking that they may not have been in the Kirby business at all, just false pretenses have led them to my home. I will never know. How can I find the door-to-door sales office of Kirby Vacuum? Please be warned against any salesman trying to force themselves in your home. I was glad that was all that I lost and not my purse and my life.

Three days seem to be a bit short for somebody to figure out that you can't do anything but vacuum carpets with the thing because of the pure brute strength and totally confusing directions required to change things around. It is also possibly the heaviest machine I have ever tried to use myself and my 5' even wife struggles with it because of that. Whatever happened to just unwrap the hose, put the attachment on and go? Overall, our opinion is that it was a total waste of over $1000.00 and should be avoided at all costs.

So tonight, at 9:30 pm, the "manager" who was with my sales guy, came ringing my doorbell and beating on my door. I have children who have school in the morning and he came to my home at this hour. I'm thoroughly disgusted with his customer service. He gave me some sob story about how his boss was going to take his check if he didn't come get the vac tonight. At 9 at night? I use to work for a similar company so I know how this goes. But to come to someone's home in the middle of the night is unacceptable. Great product but these sharks that work for them are terrible. And he didn't bring back my Bissell.