Kirby Vacuum Cleaners Reviews

There was 4 of us in the training, we were all about 18-22. The first day of training she spent literally over three hours telling us her entire life story. She began from when she was a kid, the first jobs she had, her first boyfriend, the most random things. We were all so confused and had no idea why we were wasting our time, in unpaid "training" sitting there listening to this woman talk about herself for three hours. Finally she started actually talking about the job, and she did this huge show about all these trips we would be taking. She made it all seem so easy and amazing, talking about how not only do we get $2,000 a month but we would also be making a ton of money on commission, conveniently failing to mention that you get either/or and not both. Slowly things would come out, usually with my asking questions that she would very reluctantly answer. I didn't return to the second day of training.

I don't doubt that the vacuums are good, I know they are.. but the dishonestly is just incredibly frustrating and absurd. This many people complaining about rude, aggressive sales people, not being able to get their money back even in the 3 day period or contact anyone, employees not getting paid. To the few people defending Kirby on here.. how can you possibly defend a company that has endless upon endless reports of this kind of stuff? There is no excuse, and it's not okay.

My husband was packing while I was watching my daughter and listening to this sales girl talk and talk about the vacuum, and she started following my husband wherever he went. Whether it was in the kitchen, or in our daughter’s room. I thought it was very unprofessional. Not to mention she was wearing a short shirt that looks like it was from when she was 16 years old, her ass crack was showing every time she bent down. My husband got very uncomfortable especially since she kept grabbing his shoulder and talking to him about his military life. I have never had a Kirby vacuum in my life, and since we have a baby, she said it wouldn't be healthy for her without one etc. And me as a new parent started to get paranoid because of the mite, and the dust. We ended up making installments of 134 a month, and we are making additional payments, the total cost is $2,800.

Now I look back and totally she scammed us, my husband’s father paid 1500 for the exact same vacuum. I personally think these vacuums are great, but not for the price. There are cheaper vacuums that do and have the exact same thing, that aren't expensive. Plus the sales girl was disrespectful by showing her ass crack and following my husband and grabbing his shoulder around the house, when he and I had told her I would be the one she needed to talk to. If it wasn't for my daughter, we wouldn't have had an interest and we would have told her to get the eff out. I guess we are just young and dumb beginner parents for falling to buy this stupid vacuum. Not to mention I was the one who convinced my husband, because he had no interest at all. I will never again open my door to any Kirby reps or purchase another product from them. Not worth it.

He starts the Talk. The SALES TALK. And I'm like, "WHOA, HEY. You said you were going to clean my carpet for free press, nothing about buying anything." Then they throw around insults to my current vacuum, which, yes, is a piece of ** but it works ok. He chooses a 3x4 square of my carpet to repeatedly vacuum until 5:18pm, talking nonstop about how dangerous my current vacuum is, how much ** is in my air, and blah blah blah. I knew immediately that this was a bad idea but it got worse. He starts going on about this "Pie in the face" contest he has with another salesman, whoever wins gets to throw a pie in the others face. I don't think that'll happen. He asked me to help him get there. Then he gave me the story about him being 19 and having a baby already. Dude, your bad decisions are not on me. I am not responsible for helping you.

While he's doing the demo, he keeps calling someone about this being "His trip to Tahoe", and the way he worded it sounded so much like "When I sell this girl a vacuum, I'm rich enough to go to Tahoe." And I infer that was his suggestion by the rest of the reviews too, that they claim trips will be coming up. I get very angry when he starts trying to learn about what kind of credit I have, if I'd do a payment plan, how it's "$3500" from the office, and whatever, how he's such a great salesman he's authorized to do deals for me. "You won't even do it for 2$ a day? 35$ A month?" ** no! I am up to my gills in debt as it is!!! While he's vacuuming onto little white circles, I google Kirby reviews and found this page. I told him he had to hurry because I got to go to class. Then he tried to use the damn thing on my BED - MY BED - which I just had delivered to me, brand new, 2 days ago! NO.

I told him "I am NOT buying anything today. It's not happening." He said, "That's fine, I get paid anyways," in such an arrogant, snotty way I wanted to throttle him. I made him pack his things, and he kept calling his manager like "It's just bad timing. She's not confident enough. Set up my next appointment.” And when he was leaving, being the polite gal I am I said, "Better luck next house." To which he replied, "Oh, I sell at all the houses." NOT AT MY HOUSE. I've never hoped someone actually doesn't get paid for their job more. This sheer arrogance of this guy and his "You'll buy because I want you to" attitude just pissed me off. And I just lost 2 precious hours off on one of the only 2 days a week I am going to school instead of working. Ugh.

I called the company and explained this situation on the fourth day and was told it was too late to change my mind. He explained that it was only three days to state that I had to cancel this order. What a scam. I now have to report him to Consumer Affairs and close my banking account. This is a joke. What type of people are out here trying to steal your hard earned money. Kirby has really done a dis-service to the public as well as myself. I would never recommend Kirby to anyone else.

All along we kept saying we couldn't afford it and that the one we bought 5 years earlier we were never happy with. When the manager would pop his head in the house he tried the hard sell and finally left. You could tell he was doing his best polite routine, but we must have told them over 10x we weren't going to buy another as we were not happy with the one we had. And on that note it never worked right the moment after we got it.

Lifetime warranty? No they told us that because we took our $2,500 vacuum somewhere else to get fixed warranty was no good. Their nearest store at the time 100 miles away. Anyways they suck, not worth the money. Hire a carpet cleaner better than a 2,500 dollar vacuum. IMHO, that whole thing about cleaning a room really chapped my hide. They make promises thinking that even after being told we didn't like the product they could get in and make the sale. Dyson makes a good vacuum for a fraction of the cost.

They're all liars and will say anything to get you to buy the item whether it's true or not. I am prepared to stop payment on it, as well as contact the local news stations to make a fuss, the Better Business Bureau. I will do whatever I have to do to get this fixed. Save your time, money, and the hassle of getting ripped off. DON'T BUY A KIRBY!!!!

The manager looked at me like I was insane! He said, "So when you go on a road trip and are spending over $100 on gas, you have to talk to your husband?" I said, "Yes, but we would have discussed my road trip and the potential expenses before I leave." I told him my husband makes the income and I stay home and I can't spend a bunch of our income without his approval. He told me, "A pretty girl like you should be able to buy what you want". I said, "Our family doesn't work that way." He says, "But this is an investment in your house and the care of your carpet".

Correct, but I wouldn't go out and buy brand new carpet without my husband's approval and he wouldn't do the same without me! He also told me I could afford the $45 a month payment, I said no I can't because I do not have an income and I would like to be able to pay for my heat this winter instead. To get this guy out of the house I told him to give me the salesgirl's number and I will call her if my husband is interested. He tries the friends and family discount and writes it out on a scrap, ripped up piece of notebook paper. As they were packing up the Kirby, he told the young lady, "We will let her keep her Dyson, I can understand the sentimental value the Dyson has (it was a wedding gift)". I look at him and think, you better not touch my vacuum and get out of my house. I really do not want them to come to my house anymore, because this is not the first time.

The third week, he told us that one of those weeks we worked was a week in the hole. So we were not paid for either week. He told me that I would be trained for LPS. It stands for nothing other than some ** they make up. He said I would be knocking doors, setting up appointments, and giving away free gifts to the homeowner. What he didn't tell me was that we were to bomb rush the people and force our way into their home if they accepted the free gift which was a dollar product from Dollar Tree. We had to rehearse a script, which was full of lies, telling them that I was with a new company who just opened down the street from them, and that we were in town from a different city here for the weekend. We were to tell them any lie we could to get them to accept the free gift, then run back to the van, and grab a Kirby. Tell them the name of the model, and then force our way into their home and set up in front of their TV and tell them that a "technician" would come and put on the demo. The so-called technician was actually another sales person just like me.

Before I took the job as a LPS, he told me that I could be a dealer, someone who puts on the demos and that the appointments would be set up for us. He did not tell us that I would be doing both and that the people did not actually know that we were coming to their homes. Kirby is full of lies. They lie to the homeowners and to the employees. They often look for young people with the promise of making $5000 plus a month. But what they don't tell you is they only make that much money if you are the owner who has lots of crews going out for them selling the vacuum for $3000. The actual price of the vacuum is $500. The retail price is $1359. They mark it up so much that they make lots of of money off one sale and the dealers only make $200. They promise you lots of vacations and free gifts for selling but they never deliver on their promises.

If you are young, don't get fooled and discouraged by their lies and empty promises. I didn't like having to lie to people and bomb rush my way into their home and try and scam them out of their money. I'm just not that kind of person. Today was my last day working for them and I will never return to that place at all. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

I told him I didn't care if the Kirby could suck $100.00 from the crack of a politician's **, I wanted my Dyson back. He then began to insult my husband by saying, "Oh I can see who the boss is in this family". I now informed him that he had twelve minutes before I had to leave for work, and I wanted my vacuum back, NOW! "It's in a van coming here now, we couldn't fit it in with us. But I am prepared to make you a sweet deal on this vacuum". Finally, I told him I had 5 minutes before I needed to walk out the door and I wasn't even dressed for work, so unless he wanted to see me parading around naked in 30 seconds, he needed to step out and leave my stuff on the porch (mother of 4, not a pretty sight). He stood there and stared me down another 20 seconds before I started to pull off my top and walk away, he finally scuttled out the door leaving my stuff on the porch. Moral of the story... A mom knows how to deal with brats! All this for a vacuum sale?

We were of course shown the white pads to show the nasty we were living in. He spilled about a 1/2 container of water on the floor and asked for a towel to wipe it up. I asked him why he didn't suck it up with the Kirby and he kept right on talking. Again, fast talker! He then proceeded to our bedroom, pulls the covers off of our bed and puts on a dust mask. We are then honored with the black pads covered in "dead skin, dust mites, droppings and bacteria." "This is why I use a dust mask! This makes you sick! This causes COPD!!" Really???? How have we lived all these years without this magnificent machine called Kirby????

Now we get the "what would it take to leave this machine in your home?" And again, for probably the 15th time, I attempt explaining our situation and that we really do have things to do. For that he says he will give a $400 "time discount." Very fast talker!! Attempting again and I hear how he only needs 1 more sale for a trip to Florida. Another attempt and in comes the manager. When I start explaining to her what our situation is, she apologizes and he starts telling her it is all his fault that it took so long!!! Yep, very fast talker!!! ENOUGH!!!!! It is now 8 pm and we are so done.

I understand this is their job. They were both nice and never got rude or pushy. But with what we had going on, this 2 1/2 hours of crap was the last thing we needed to be dealing with!!! So much for a few minutes of listening for them to get credit. No nice no more!!!! Never happen again! Oh but wait, I DID get a can of Lavender Glade out of the deal!!!! DO NOT let these people in unless you have a lot of time to spare!!!!!

I came home and started researching. Well, after about 5 minutes of reading these reviews/complaints by both consumers and former employees, I called the young lady back and asked specifically what I would really be doing. She said initially everyone starts out at entry level doing demonstrations. I said I would have to think about it overnight and call back in the morning. I read some more and decided that I would not take my chances because I am a single parent and can not afford to use my time, gas, etc. for no guaranteed income.

I called the young lady this morning and told her I was not interested in taking any chances in getting involved with this company because my research has shown that they use the same dishonest approach with their employees as they do their customers and I would like to keep my good name and integrity. She seemed to be annoyed that I caught on to her so quickly. Thanks for the internet!

One salesman turns into two, and I'm just ready for them to get out. Oh, last salesman says he will give me a one-time offer. $1,250.00. I can't tell anyone, but for me, he would sacrifice the $2,000.00 discount. At this point I'm sure they're taking a big hit on the price. I mean for sure they are losing money. I told my wife anything looks good when it's 50% and higher off the original price. But knowing the original price has been marked up, probably somewhere between 800 and 1000%, just makes me sick to know people are actually buying the thing. To top it off, after they left, I called my friend to tell him the experience, and guess who was there. He doesn't even have a carpet, and still was going to demo. Funny, funny.

At the time, I didn't think too much about it, thinking the girls probably got to leave. They introduced themselves and one said that he will be doing the demonstration and that his partner was new and was going to be taking notes over his sales approach. Again, I didn't think too much of it, so I let him continue with the demonstration. After maybe 20 little circular filters thrown on my floor with the dirt it had picked up, I told him that he should really get packed up so I could leave. After that he told me he only needed to show me two things and that it wouldn't take more than 3 mins, I let him continue. He told me to show him to my room so he could clean the bed. He pulls back the sheets and starts to clean.

The salesmen just kept talking how it will pay for itself and that it's good for my health. I told him that the movie was about to start and if I were to leave at that moment I would make it on time. He then got on his phone to his supervisor, who at the time was outside in the van. He told me how I am going to pay for it, and I told him wasn't because $3000 was too much for vacuum. He then lowered it to $28000 with payments of $85 a month. Again told him that the price was still too high so he lowered it again to $2400 with payments of $75 a month. So then the conversation went something like this:

Salesman: Why are you not interested? Me: I only get two checks a month and that is just enough for bills (even though I did have more money, but he doesn't know that). Salesman: So what will happen when they raise the rent in your home will you have to move out? (with an annoying tone). Me: That won't happen since the house is paid for. Salesman: Nice comeback (does a little laugh), but what about if your car insurance raises, are you not going to drive or how would you pay for that? Me: I would pay for it with the money I save not buying this vacuum (Really annoyed since I missed my movie and he was aware about it too) Salesman: Well let's get my supervisor in here to see what kind of deal he can offer you to purchase this vacuum from me. Me: That's fine but can you start packing up.

The rep starts taking it apart. The guy who has been taking notes the entire time started to help the rep pack the vacuum, and the rep tells the guy to leave it that he isn't packing it up yet, he is only cleaning it. Once the supervisor comes in, I was worried because he was big with a large tattoo on his forearm (not that I have anything against tattoos but this tattoo did not seem professional and looked more like the ones you get in prison). So the supervisor tells me what amount would I be comfortable with. I told him that I wouldn't spend more than $500. He then replies saying that for that amount he would give me three.

At this point, I wouldn't have taken it if it was free because the more I thought about the situation the more I knew this was garbage. I tell the supervisor "Well I don't need three, but since you're lowering it, might as well just leave me one for $50." The supervisor said he can't make that happen. At this point, I tell him that I won't take it then. I turn to the rep and tell him if it's a lot of work to pack it up. He replies with a slightly angry face saying "It actually isn't." So I told him, "Then you should really hurry it up". After 2 and a half hours of this, I missed the showtime I wanted to make it to. I did end up going to the movies that night, but I could not get the idea that they came into my house to "sell" me a vacuum, and took "notes". I am honestly worried they will break in and steal my belongings. I'm honestly fearing for my life right now.

Having watched my son go through what he went through and how hard he tried in his first foray out in the work world was disgusting, and they had him so sold on getting rich it took a former Kirby salesman whose door he just happened to knock on to talk him out of it and see it for the utter scam it is. I felt so bad for him, and how he sees the work world now, and I don't blame him. Be aware that the positive stuff you read, about selling OR owning a Kirby is placed there by the company itself. Go to a lot of websites and you see the same ones over and over. No one would praise a product or its selling again and again.

After two hours of placing circular filter patches collected by the Kirby, he finally start to shampoo the carpet. Upon his near completion his boss shows up and began pushing the pricing that goes beyond the discount offered by his sales rep during his demonstration. Price came down from $2300 to $1360. I was never interested in the Kirby so I declined. The boss left and the young sales rep continue to complete his work. The sales rep again offers discount stating the $1360 is MSRP and he is willing to sacrifice his commission to make a sale. Just prior to disassemble the Kirby, his boss shows up again and elaborate the effectiveness of the Kirby and offered additional discount to assist financial and college credit benefit to his young sales rep who is a single father. His final price is now $960.

The demonstration and the sales pitch always make Kirby in comparison with other vacuum cleaners and not with a carpet cleaning machine so I never had interest in a Kirby. The boss left and the sales rep continue to wrap his work. This whole demonstration/sales pitch lasted 3 and an half hours and told the sales rep that I need to leave. The poor sales rep gave me one final plea stating that he will be chewed out if he does not make the sale and that I took advantage of his free demonstration and he will not receive any college credit nor any financial gain. I felt sorry for him so I gave him $10 and a bottle of beer. To avoid one last encounter with his boss I left him at the curbside and went grocery shopping.

The demonstration was impressive in that the Kirby do appear to pull up and capture embedded dirt in the carpet. Although how much more dirt the Kirby can suck in comparison with my existing Karcher vacuum cleaner is questionable. However, to clean the carpet, a wet solution was applied which contradict the Kirby "dry" cleaning method. The emphasis on capturing dirt with placement of 3 dozen filter patches is redundant and the trade in offer for my existing vacuum was absurd. There were too many inconsistencies with the sales rep background stories with the background stories share by his boss in that their sales pitch need more congruency. The following day the stains on the carpet is still visible.

#1) No vacuum in the world is worth 3,000.00. #2) Being a proud owner of a Dyson, 90% of the things they claimed no other vacuum does is false. #3) These guys are in search for incompulsive buyers. Using the tactics of "you won't be able to buy a Kirby once I walk out the door" doesn't cut these days in age. Are you kidding me! What company sells products like this anyone. #4) Flexible payments plans at 25% interest rate! Really, wow! Now you can't blame them if they find someone dumb enough to take that offer. #5) Fools had no clue my wife and I tagged team and played the old game of "bad cop, good cop". I showed I was totally willing to buy the vacuum and my wife did not. The salesman out of desperation to make the sale first offered us a same as cash deal. 1 year to pay no interest charged, or also known as a year interest free. Then offered 1,000 off; then at $1,500 or 50%; then a whopping $1002.00 for the unit from 3,000. Really if we wanna we could have lowered even more, but we just got tire of playing the game and told them "no."

Be a cautious buyer! The sale tactics used to sell a product say a lot about it. I smelled this one a mile away. P.S. Attached is a photo with the last offer made. Very professional of the salesperson to write it in back of a blank receipt and kindly asked me not to share it with anyone. Oops, sorry for not listening.

They only give you 3 days to decide which is completely unfair practices in sales. So I am stuck with a vacuum that costs me when it is said and done with over $3500 because they took in exchange some expensive items I have to reduce the cost, then added it back on in interest. The vac in summary is worth only around $300. It is not the best like they claim. They use mental abuse and other psychological tactics to lure people into their scams. I am one very disappointed customer and hope one day the law will step in and put a stop to these scammers.

I was able to take my Kirby Vacuum to a local sweeper shop in Cincinnati (North Bend Road) first thing on Tuesday morning. I told them what happened and they determined the problem right away and they replaced the FAN. The fan blades were slightly melted and bent due to the extreme heat from filling my girls' inflatable toy. The service was great, the two gentleman at the shop made a point to show me what was wrong and advised me not use my Kirby to blow up mattresses and small pools.

I was very happy with their service and will return for updated service and parts for my Kirby. I'll stick to an air pump and/or our shop vac with the Kirby attachments to fill anymore toys/pools/mattresses.

Original Review: Sept. 1, 2013

I have had my Kirby Sentria sweeper nearly one year (09-07-13), without any additional problems. Although I am on my third belt as it simply tears apart. The Kirby has been a great tool to blow up an air mattress, and my kid's swimming pool. While blowing up one of their fillable toys, the motor burned up. It got very hot and started smoking. The connected area was terribly hot to the touch. I had been blowing up this toy on and off for 15 minutes, stopping and starting to blow up different sections. I heard a whining noise and the motor died. I let it cool down for about 30 minutes and tried to run the normal sweeper. The motor did the same whining sound and died (We completed blowing up the toy with the shop vacuum without any issues).

Of course it is the holiday weekend, so I will be taking this in to the Kirby shop Tuesday morning. I am concerned about the motor due to the three torn belts and now dead motor - this leads me to believe this sweeper may have had issues from the start. I hope to follow up with better news in a few days.

"(S)he asked for food and water" - Tell them tough, you should eat beforehand.

Hope these common complaints help.

Now for the vacuum, they are the BEST vacuum cleaner and shampooer on the market. There are two kinds of vacuums, Kirbys and every other kind. Don't compare them to a normal vac, they are NOT normal. They are built to last. If you take care of them they will last forever. I have several Kirbys, the oldest from 1977 and the newest from 2003, and they all work like the day they were made.

My main reason for the review a year and six months of my husband paying monthly on this vacuum, it doesn't have suction anymore. They won't send anyone out and no authorized repair person wouldn't fix it because they wouldn't give me a referral. After speaking to 4 different people they want me to continue to try stuff on it myself. I have 3 boys and paying approximately $1500.00 Or more for it. Now I still got to be a repairman really...

We decided it wasn't worth the 1100 and the next day, husband went to the office on the distributors card to get our old vacuum back and get our money back. Patrick told him $50 return fee (rip off) and 10 days to get our money back. WE waited 10 days, and when no check arrived we tracked him down and he told my husband he could write a check but it would bounce. We told him it would be way easier and cheaper to just return our money. Kirby told us they have nothing to do with distributors and don't get any money from them (huh??). Shame on us for having faith in a legal document with KIRBY written all over it. It's a horrible racket. If we get our money I'll repost the results.

I told her I had a lifetime warranty on it. She said, “Well bring it into the office and I will look at it.” I said fix it. She said no, look at it. So I have to drive 2 hrs away to take my expensive brand new 30 day old sweeper to someone who is just going to look at it. I will NEVER buy a Kirby EVER again. This is the worst sweeper and people I have ever had to deal with. I will make sure I tell everyone I know about the Kirby sweeper and what kind of customer service I received.

Every time I have taken it apart it seems to operate worse than it did prior; it will hardly suck anything up and has to be jammed across the carpet. I am a full time student, living at home and I thought I would purchase this vacuum as a gift for my mother, but instead it's turned into a $2,000 lemon! I have to pay the full amount of $1997 to have the company take it away, or spend $35 and take time out of my schedule to wait on a repairman to service this vacuum less than 20 days after purchase! DO NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF JUNK!!!!!

I get home and say to the guy "I wasn't expecting you until 7." He says, "Oh well, you are here now. I changed your time because I wanted to get my day done early"... WHAT? So his time is apparently more important than mine. Okay... So we continue with the review. He proceeds to ask me about cleaning my carpets. I informed him the same thing I told the telemarketer that I rent my home and do not want to take the chance of damaging my landlord's carpet. In a very snotty tone this man says, "This machine/company has been around for a hundred years. It's not going to hurt your carpets." At this point my husband and I had heard enough. We told him he had to leave.

After yelling more rude and explicit language to my husband, he left. I come to find out later that he was also rude to my neighbor whom I share a duplex with. He parked in her driveway and she came out and informed him of the mistake and asked him to move over to my driveway. After moving his car he yelled out to her "is this okay for you nosy lady?" I am not likely to do business with Kirby anytime soon.

Most people are dissatisfied with the salesmen, and the people who say that the Kirby they bought died the next day are either liars or received a unit that was left outside and had some real problems. There have been 4 Kirbys in my family. Two of them have been bought via door-to-door salesmen. One Heritage II, two G6's, and a Sentria. My grandma's Heritage II died after 26 years of service so she bought a used G6 and it's been running strong for 3 years. My parent's G6 has been running strong for the past 13 years and it won't be dying anytime soon.

Lastly, I bought myself a used Sentria off of Craigslist, which has been sitting outside for 2 years and has sucked up some pretty nasty stuff. After a good cleaning, it runs like it's brand new. I love it. So if you are not impressed by the Kirby a salesman shows you, tell them to forcefully leave, and either buy a GSix, G7 (Diamond), Sentria, or a Sentria II from eBay or Craigslist. I swear you won't be disappointed. I don't agree with the sales tactic, but if are really that impressed, go with a used one. If you find one that's dirty, take it to your local vacuum store and they'll fix it right up.

I did some further research and found the company I was dealing with had a D- rating with the local BBB. They claim not to be members of the BBB (a warning flag) and so that couldn't be so. However, it is listed on the BBB site, so why would they misrepresent this business? So since the reviews overwhelmingly noted the machine was overpriced, support was hard to get, and service was also poor, I cancelled my order within the 3-day limit. They don't make it easy. I sent a telegram, fax and registered letter to get their attention. Fortunately, I also stopped payment on the check at the same time. It cost a few dollars, but was worth it. They knew I meant business. The sales representative came and got the device within an hour; my money remained in my account, and I was happy I got out of a bad situation.

I would recommend you not leave any salesman who comes to your house inside. These days, there is no telling what could happen. I think the day of this type of salesmanship is over and should join the history books.

I then asked, of the products I showed, what he wanted. He stated ALL. I said, “Okay, and how would you like to pay?” Now remember, my manager is still on the phone and offering that we can finance. My customer said CASH!!! Well, I was flabbergasted (as my manager!). I asked why he wanted it, being he had only older furniture and bare floors. He stated that he was completely impressed with my demo. He further stated that he had purchased new furniture and carpet and was due the following week; and that it would most likely make his new furniture last longer, as I told him it would with the proper maintenance with the Kirby. I was not rude or pushy. I just showed just what a great product could do. I showed how to use it by just clicking down until the motor sound changes, no further as it would be like pushing a large load of dirt with a spoon (which unfortunately, most users do think, the lower the better). He gave me cash and I left the KIRBY.

WOW! I did not believe it. I further had many good times demo and selling my Kirby. And yes, there were very many who did not want one; and after I went through their objections and pointing out the positives, I said, “Fine. If you can't, perhaps you know who does.” My best no-sale resulted with them keeping me for dinner - yes, dinner! They would not let me leave and gave me referrals as well. I just want to say it’s not a scam, but maybe misunderstood. I also agree that there are some who are misrepresenting the company and should be reported. I have NEVER been forced to leave a customer’s home - maybe because I respected them first. So please, if you have an opportunity to purchase a Kirby, be it new or used, it is the best made and outperforms all, including the Dyson. It’s the only one that does pick up the carpet and pulls all of the dirt from under, as well as from the carpet. Do a web search and see. I know I have had one for 40+ years. See if any other vacuum can last and perform that long!!! Thank you so much for reading my long comment, but I just wanted to put in my 2 cents or 25 cents in.

On June 27, 2013, I called yet again and was told that my vacuum would be returned to me on June 28, 2013 between 11:00 am and 12:30 pm. On June 28, 2013, I received a call from Jeannie saying that the car broke down and that my vacuum would be returned to me in the evening. I told her that if I didn't have my property returned to me by 5:00 pm that I would register a complaint with the police, the Better Business Bureau and the Kirby Company. I have just placed a call to the number provided by the salesman and there is no answer. Time is 5:37 pm, June 28, 2013.

I have to start by saying I don't have any respect for this company's practices AT ALL. They lure people who are desperately in need of money with false claims of the money they're going to make. When you see their ads in the paper, they don't mention Kirby or door-to-door sales. The "kids" that sold me my vacuum had been roaming the city in a van all day. They hadn't eaten in many hours and were asking for glasses of water, popsicles, coffee, etc. One kid went back to the van and when I went outside, I saw him eating plain bread out of a bread bag. I asked the female if they were going to eat after they left (it was past 7:00) and she said, "No. To eat, you need money. Unfortunately, we'll be doing sales until 10 or 11 tonight."

First of all, there were a total of FOUR sales people in and out of my 630 square foot house! Two of them were "trainees." Once they got in, they treated my house like their own which made me highly uncomfortable. Two of the guys actually fell asleep at different times during the demo. Three of them were very shabbily dressed, did not look professional or trustworthy at all. One man was so large he couldn't keep his pants up and I saw way more of this man's backside than I needed to see. Only the head honcho was nicely dressed, but even he came in talking about how he had "dropped a cherry" in his lap (burning cigarette ash) and had burned a hole in his pants. Two of the trainees excused themselves to smoke and twice they discussed buying and smoking marijuana.

They stayed on my property for SIX HOURS! I could've died. I have a two-year old that I sent with the neighbor kids because he was restless. When the kids broke out the water hose, one of the guys actually started playing with them and began spraying down his co-workers while they were vacuuming out my OPEN car. It was a total debacle. Once my husband arrived home and they were trying to close the deal with him, I finally announced that I was "shutting this operation down." It was time for dinner and hubby needed to make his decision and they had to leave. I was appalled when he opted to buy the vacuum. They lure you in with a promise to shampoo your carpet, which I desperately needed. But after 6 hours, they never did the job.

The supervisor returned the next day claiming he had lost my husband's application. (Now, I'm wondering where it went and how much of our personal information was on that piece of paper.) Mind you, they tell you they'll only be in your neighborhood "today only." So if you want their deal, you have to act immediately. But when Matt showed back up at our door, he started bragging about how he'd sold three more vacs that day. Obviously, he'd been in the area all day. I find it hard to believe that a company with such a high quality product cannot afford to hire better quality sales people, properly train their sales people on appropriate customer service, and come up with a better marketing plan all together.

I feel sick and guilty that we bought this vacuum cleaner. I'm sure we did all those kids a favor but I typically make it a point not to spend my money with companies who mistreat their employees. Kirby exemplifies that. If you buy a Kirby, please buy from eBay or a retail store. DO NOT ALLOW KIRBY SALES PEOPLE IN YOUR HOME AND DO NOT PURCHASE A VACUUM FROM AN INDEPENDENT SALES PERSON! Maybe if they lose sales with their disgusting practices, they will find another way to sell their product.

I also told her that my daughter and son-in-law were not home for the evening and my son-in-law would be the one to make the final decision on a purchase. She said they would be in our area until 9PM. I told her they wouldn't be home until very late; however, I had the authority to make decisions in the home so it was okay for them to come in while they were not home, and I would be calling them to tell them of the offer. She told me she had to move on to the next house, but that her supervisor would be by in about 15 minutes. I agreed and started moving all the furniture out of the living room and corralled our two VERY large dogs into the bathroom (neither being easy to do).

As per her promise, a few minutes later the supervisor showed up. He checked out the carpet and I explained to him that my son-in-law really wanted a Kirby and if they had a payment plan, would very likely contact them today to discuss a purchase of the machine. I also explained to them that we have an 8-month-old baby who has recently started crawling and that within minutes of being on the floor, his feet tops, hands and knees are black. That we also needed a vacuum that worked well and we would use on a daily basis. I also told him that I had called my daughter and told her of the visit. Her husband was very excited and told me to have them leave a sales packet so he could look it over when he got home later in the evening and call them today.

The supervisor said he had to go pick up his girls and would be right back to get the carpet for the baby. I told him I would be done moving everything off the carpet by the time he got back (which I did and ended up messing up my bad knee when doing so). Once done, I sat down and waited for their return. I waited and waited and waited. They never returned (not even to tell me they could not do the demonstration today). Three hours later, I finally decided they were not coming back, put everything back in place and proceeded to make myself some dinner. When my kids got home at about midnight, the first thing my son-in-law did was ask me where the Kirby sales packet was. When I told him that they never returned, he was VERY disappointed. He said that he had every intention of buying their product today.

We live in a very small rural mountain community. Everyone has dogs, cats and other animals and it is very dusty up here so a lot of dust, pet hair and dirt gets deep into carpets. Right after the girl left to get her supervisor, I was on Facebook and saw that several of our friends had been visited by Kirby yesterday and had their carpets cleaned. They all said if the vacuum wasn't so expensive, they would buy one because they were amazed at how deeply the machine cleaned. However, in all of the posts, the one negative thing was how long their sales pitch is and how difficult it was to get the salespeople to leave. I, however, didn't mind because we had very serious interest in the purchase.

This is a very poor sales practice and the supervisor basically screwed himself as well as his team out of a sale/commission. I have sent a formal complaint to Kirby's corporate office and hopefully they do get back to us because even after this experience, my son-in-law still intend on purchasing their product. However, I will make certain that the supervisor from yesterday does not get any credit/commission for the sale.

At varying times, we tried to get her to say a price regarding this product, but it was skirted with nonstop chatter and more demonstrating! We had no idea she was going to be here for over 3 hours!!! My husband was late for a meeting because of her lengthy stay. My husband wrote a check and signed the form. After she left, we mulled over what we had done. We had second thoughts. The next day, I called and cancelled our contract. Then I had my husband mail in our cancellation on the contract. We placed many phone calls to come get their equipment. I did not use the vacuum cleaner since we weren't going to keep it. We had gathered all their attachments, paper brochures, and DVD in their special box.

What a run-around we got. Phone calls were not returned, answers of whoever we needed to talk to not being available, and to call back tomorrow. They finally came and retrieved their vacuum cleaner. Again, we waited for our money back. More phone calls placed. We were even told, "The check is in the mail!” Wrong! More phone calls made, more runaround, call back tomorrow, we'll call you, and we will be at your home after 3pm. We did a whole lot of waiting for nothing!!! My husband phoned again 2 days ago and was told a check would be written right away and mailed. He would have it by Friday. Well, it's Friday. We received our mail and guess what? No check! Imagine that?

So my husband phoned again, and was told he would get a call back. We waited 15 minutes, no call back. So my husband called again. He was told again that a check was written and mailed out 2 days ago. Tomorrow will be a month since my husband wrote out a check for a down payment of over $500. I had never heard of Kirby vacuum cleaners before, but will make it a point to tell all the people I know about their service. The vacuum appears to be made very well, but there are too many attachments, it’s too expensive, and too heavy to lift upstairs to cart around. I realize that salespeople are just doing their job, but they need to be upfront concerning the cost of the item. I don't think the public appreciates the pushiness of the hard-sell. I now have a “No Solicitors” sign at our front door.

Kirby needs to have a different approach with potential customers, like a store to have customers come in to them, have a lighter weight product, come down in price, and ditch the hard-sell approach, which is a turn-off. I have always heard that "word of mouth” is the best advertising there is. I am sure there are other good vacuum cleaners on the market without the cost, weight, the hard-sell approach and much better customer service relations. I find it hard to believe that with this kind of response, the company could still be in the business all the many years they claim. We are disappointed.

I dropped by my friend on the way home to find out what this was about. I soon learned that it was a sales pitch for a vacuum cleaner. Well, I don't need a new vacuum cleaner. I have a Dyson and I love it. She said that they were at her house for about three hours. The price started at $2,500, then went to $1,500 and then went to $1,200.00. I said, "Thanks for getting me hooked into this. I'm calling and cancelling." Of course, there was no answer. So I went home and when the person showed up, I met them outside, said I had cancelled, and was not interested. He didn't go away, so I got very firm and said, "You have to leave or I'm dialing 911." He said he had to talk with his supervisor. I said, "You have one minute and then I dial 911."

He got the supervisor on the phone and handed it to me. I told the supervisor I wasn't interested. He kept yapping and yapping and I finally said, "Look, I'm 63. What that means is that most of my life is behind me and I don't like to have my time wasted and three hours to get carpets cleaned is a waste of my time." He kept on yapping and so I handed the phone back to the guy and told him to leave as this was private property. He did turn around and went. Lesson learned. If they make it into your house and overstay their welcome, tell them firmly to leave. Don't say you have other things to do. Just say, "I'm done. Please leave." If they don't leave, state that you will call the police if they don't. It's such a scam. No vacuum in the world is worth it. JUST SAY NO!

They finally convinced her to buy. They set up the financing for her. She traded in an Oreck sweeper (which she really loved). They said they would give her a $1,000.00 for that sweeper. How can that be? I really think they took advantage of her. I was finally able to get a hold of the salesman and did get him to come pick it up. He set up a time so that my husband and I could be there when this happened. I called to verify this and he told me he could not come at that time. He arranged a time in the middle of the day. I made few phone calls and had someone come to be there when he arrived. I think he did not want to listen to what we had to say about his tactics. Thanks for listening. I feel better already.

I have never worked for Kirby and am not a salesman, but I must defend a good product amongst all this negativity. Bought my first Kirby Vacuum about 15 years ago. With several dogs, cats and a large yard, I find this to be the best vacuum made. Never has broken down or had to be repaired. Just keeps on working, removing dirt, dander, pet hair and whatever else is in my home. It is a very good, durable product!! I have spent 15 years in janitorial and facility maintenance, and this is the best residential (and commercial) vacuum out there. Much easier to use than the high priced, commercial models.

In my 15 years of Kirby ownership, I would have burned up many of those cheapy models. I know my Kirby will keep on going strong for another 15 years. For the $1,100 (1998), I have a vacuum (with carpet cleaner and all attachments) that will last me a lifetime. The thing is solid!! So if you're on here to look at Kirby online reviews, the Kirby is a very good product IMO and should last forever. If you're mad about a door-to-door salesman, he's just trying to do his sales job to make a buck to feed his family. If you can't afford a nice vacuum to make your cleaning easier, then tell them NO at the door. Nothing is free, so if they want to clean your carpets for FREE, understand that you will also need to hear their sales pitch on the product that is cleaning your carpet for free.

About trade-ins... they're not a scam, but they are a sham. You don't need to trade anything in to get the price lowered to the bare minimum. The trade-in is to make you feel like you're haggling. You can trade in a light bulb and get the same value. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know this when I was a dealer at first. I had to call the office once because a woman wanted to buy the machine but did not have a vacuum to trade. I was told it didn't actually matter, just give her the standard discount. People who traded in things like guns or cars (!) ... this I don't even understand. In that case, you likely got ripped off by a shady dealer (and not all of them are shady) who wanted to pawn your stuff. To the people who "want their old vacuum back", good luck. It's probably gone. Usually they have loads of vacuums lying around. Take your pick, but expecting it back... Why do you think they would hold on to them? The place I worked for dumped most of the trade-in vacuums at Goodwill.

There is not a lifetime warranty; there is a 3-year warranty. Some distributors falsely tell their dealers that there is a lifetime warranty. They are being dishonest to their employees who tell the customers this and yes, they do believe it most of the time. The lifetime guarantee is that they will service or refurbish your machine for either free or a nominal fee depending on what it is - it's all there in writing. That is coming from the distributors, who are not actually part of Kirby, and if they cease to exist, so does this guarantee. The actual warranty from Kirby lasts 3 years. A huge majority of the complaints on here are from victims of the van crews. Those people are the worst, and I sympathize with the people who fell in with their unscrupulous dealings. Telling you it will only last 15 minutes is a sham and a lie, and personally, I was always honest and would tell customers it was around 90 minutes. Sometimes it would take longer, sometimes less, but this was the average.

If someone had to leave at a certain time, I didn't want to waste my time NOT finishing the demo! I would reschedule! My advice: If your demo wasn't set up by a telemarketer, do not let anyone into your house. The reason the dealers do not have nice clothes, nice cars, their own business cards, etc., is because Kirby distributors treat their employees like trash. They make very little, but are promised thousands of dollars, cruises and all sorts of ridiculous prizes that are impossible to attain unless they spend all of their time doing these demos and are particularly good at it, and even then Kirby finds a way to screw them over. When you are hired, you are promised a set paycheck per week that you do a certain amount of demos (usually 15 in a week) and then a commission from sales that is 200 dollars per machine. What they DON'T tell you is that it's either/or, not both. You can't get the commission AND the paycheck, and it's very hard to actually do 15 demos in a week, AND the 15 demos=money only lasts for the first month of employment.

They also don't tell you that the 200-dollar commission is rarely seen, because this is only for prime loans and people who pay in full. The majority of people who buy this machine finance it, and unless they have perfect credit (and really, who does?) it's a subprime loan with no collateral. The dealer makes... 50 dollars. They do not get paid just for doing the demo. They do not get trips just for doing demos and they do not get "credit" college or otherwise for doing it. I deeply sympathize with the people who had experiences with dealers turning rude. We were not trained to be rude. Here's a small trade secret: The training video that shows how to do a demo, with actors as the demonstrator and customers... does not result in a sale. They showed that to show that most of the time, people say no. Yes, you can lower the price, haggle and try to sweet talk the person, but at least for us appointment people, once you are sure the person is NOT buying it, you still want them to have had a good experience. Why? Because you want sales leads from them. This is another reason not to deal with the van goons. They don't care about leads. They go door to door. Never let them in, ever.

The people who are kvetching about "I didn't know I only had 3 days to cancel" - Too bad, so sad. Yes, they probably didn't tell you this. I was trained to inform the customer of their rights, and I did so, but not everyone is trained to do so, and even some who are, don't. But any judge or COMPETENT lawyer will tell you that when you sign a legally binding contract, it is your responsibility to read it. Signing the dotted line and putting the date not only signifies your intention to honor your end of the bargain, but also that you understand the terms in full. I was raised to always read what I sign. It's a shame some people weren't.

To the people who say, "I told them to leave and they ignored me" - I simply don't believe you. They have to leave if you say leave. You probably didn't say leave. Saying "I have to be somewhere soon..." and dropping hints doesn't mean you said leave. If you can't bring yourself to say, "I'm sorry, but you're not going to be making a sale here today. This demonstration is over and I need you to pack everything up and leave," then you need go get some guts. And who cares if they need a ride? They can wait outside, not in your house. Of course they are deceptive in getting in. You're told you're getting a free cleaning - nothing is free. Yes, they are supposed to clean and shampoo one room for you, and yes this is free. But it is a sales pitch. But honestly, you don't have the right to be angry about it. If they told people, "Hey, can we set up this machine and talk to you about it for 90 minutes trying to sell it to you?” they'd never get any appointments. This is no different than being offered a free hotel stay and having to put up with a timeshare sales pitch. Nothing is ever truly free; grow up.

The reason that Kirbys are not sold in stores is twofold. One, the markup would make them more expensive than they already are (and dealers who tell you what the actual cost is are lying, no distributor would actually tell their dealers this info) and secondly the demonstration is important to actually showing how the machine works and how to use it. It is not newbie friendly, that's why they now come with DVDs. Lastly, have sympathy for the poor fools that do this. When I worked there, I had to use my own car and my own gas to drive many miles a day to different towns, often times for demos that would be cancelled at the last minute or to people who had no intention of buying it, but I had to do the entire demo anyway to try and get leads from them. I was not paid for my time unless I made a sale, and 9 out of 10 sales made, the distributor would tell me it was a subprime loan and I would get 50 dollars. Sometimes you can only sell 2 in a week, and you don't know if you're going to get 400 dollars or 100 dollars. To this day, I do not know and can never know if the whole subprime loan thing was a scam or not, if the distributor would just pocket the extra commission and send me on my way with 50 bucks.

These things are very tough to sell and Kirby dealers can get disparate. It's a harsh job with no benefits and no guaranteed paycheck for working 60 or 80 hour weeks. And if you felt unsafe having strangers in your home, think of how unsafe you can feel going into several strangers homes a day... It goes two ways. Sometimes they are shifty and nervous because they don't know if YOU are a maniac or a criminal. At times, I did not feel safe in certain houses - it's a truth that many fail to consider. Kirby dealers are promised the world; they are convinced that it is the best job in the world and that they are going to make thousands of dollars per week and win all sorts of fabulous prizes. Everyone has to stay "positive" at all times, and sometimes even have to attend sales seminars in which slogans and songs are pounded into their heads like brainwashing; and no, you don't get paid for attending these places; and yes, you have to drive there yourself. In retrospect, it was a job I was very glad to leave, and I wouldn't recommend anybody try it.

As for the actual Vacuum cleaners? They're the best on the market, and worth paying about 1100 to 1500 dollars on (people who are told they are 3500 or some ridiculous number are being lied to, the actual MSRP is on the side of the box), if you can afford it. How do you know if you can afford it? If you feel comfortable writing a check or handing over a credit card. Financing a vacuum cleaner is a ridiculous concept. If the only way you can have this thing is to pay monthly for it, you don't need it, no matter what horror stories of dust mites you are told.

I arrived that Monday to the office. I got out of my car and started walking to the front entrance. There was no sign on the building. Everyone was standing outside smoking. And I have to say that does not bother me but I don't think that's professional at all. I went into the office and was given an application, after I was looked at like I was a creature from Mars. Anyways, I filled out the application which didn't say anything about what position I was applying for. I was then called in for my interview. The girl who interviewed me was wearing way too much makeup and way too tight clothes. She never said what I would be doing, just said that the company has been in business for 99 years and that it must be a great company if it has been in business that long. The interview was extremely short like 10 minutes. In my opinion, that is not long enough for an interview. I was then told to call back between 6-7 that night. I called back and was informed that I got the job. I was told to come back the following Wednesday for orientation which was not paid, may I mention.

I came in for the following three days. At the beginning, they told me that I would be at the office calling people and setting up appointments. At the end of the training, I was informed I would be going door to door and knocking in, which means pushing yourself into someone's home and making them sit through a grueling 2 1/2 - 5 hour session. I quit that night because I felt I was lied to and extremely led on. Also, I have one last message. If your name is Time ** and you live on ** in Sackets Harbor, NY, you are full of **. You and Cassie lie to hundreds of people. You just want to lie to people. People, save yourselves. Don't let Kirby sales people into your home or go to the office and apply. The consequences are never ending.

I figured out what was going on and told them I didn't have time to sit through a 90-minute demo. They're also not allowed to say the price until they go through their full demo. (FYI, it's $800.) They said they have to meet quotas for sales and the telemarketers must meet quotas for appointment set-ups. So I was victim of a 20-minute phone spiel and a 20-minute home visit. They collectively wasted nearly an hour of my time. I wouldn't recommend based on their business practices!

Then at the end of everything, they kept trying to persuade me to buy, which I said, "I can't afford that!" Well they said, "Please! We really need you to buy this because we want to go to Amsterdam in a few months, if we get," a number which I forget what they said, they would be able to go! I kept saying that I can't afford it, so they said, "How much do you have?" I answered like one hundred dollars and they still wouldn't leave so I gave them a credit card of which I had $80 and said, "Here! That's all I have," so they made me promise to put more money on in a "few" days. They then lied and said, "We make only one stop to each city then the following day we're in another state." When they then left me with the Kirby, they mentioned, "We will be back tomorrow to drop off your receipt"!

Wow! I wish I didn't answer the door! Not to mention I only used my so-called "new" Kirby three times and it stopped working altogether! Is there any way I can get a refund from the "demo" vacuum I purchased?! Those ** should have given me a brand new one! I'm totally angry that I wasted my money and I want a refund!

I worked for two months, did about 50 demos, and sold maybe 5 Kirbys. Perhaps 1 or 2 were returned shortly thereafter, because the buyers relented. This was not an easy sell for a fresh-faced 22-year-old. I remember an old retired couple stopping me during my demo and saying, "Son, why are you putting yourself through all this?" That made me think about moving on to another job. At the time, I had a moral issue with the way Kirby gets into the house for a demo. People are called off a list from the water company, and offered to have a room's carpet shampooed for free, as long as they saw the demonstration of the device. There was a careful script recited to them. They are told it's for free and they don't have to buy anything; the person gets paid for the visit. I found that to be dishonest, because we don't get paid for the visit, only for a sale.

Also, people have no idea they have to sit through a 1- to 2-hour demo to show every single function of the Kirby. We would clean a carpet, but after the demo, the customer is left with dirt pads all over the home and other things partially cleaned (in order to make them feel their home is filthy, other vacuum is crap and they need the Kirby to clean the rest and keep it that way). I also understand that this is the only way to sell the Kirby. People will not buy it in a store based on the price. They need to see how it works and you have to get in the house. This sales method has been going on for a long time. There's a reason Warren Buffet bought the company (still, makes me feel uneasy about the whole pitch).

As far as the Kirby vacuum is concerned, it is among the best vacuums that money can buy, for a few reasons: 1. It's made of metal, which means it's built to last and parts can be replaced if things break or wear out. There's usually a distributor nearby that will deliver supplies when needed; 2. Since it's made of metal, it is a bit heavy. But, the wheels turn electrically so minimal effort is needed to vacuum (the hard part is carrying it around and up stairs); 3. It beats out most other vacuums when put to the test. It's really powerful and sucks the dirt right out of carpets, cloth couches and mattresses. Maybe these days, there are competitors that match up for a lesser price? 4. There are a bunch of attachments which make it possible to clean almost every surface in the home. I prefer to keep it as a canister-vac and use the hoses and attachments; 5. It holds its value because it lasts a long time. People don't consider the fact that you can re-sell a Kirby to someone who knows the brand. It's been around for 100 years.

All that being said, I am trying to think of ways to defend Kirby, but it's a bit difficult. Yes, it's an awesome machine, but the average person will not do the job that the trained salesperson does around the house. After they purchase, the next day, they scratch their head and wonder how to do all the functions so effortlessly (and don't care to watch the DVD demo). Many people don't really need a $1,800 vacuum. They would do just fine with a lesser brand which sucks up most of the visible dirt. Our consumer habits are changing.

We don't need something "built to last a lifetime" anymore. Two reasons: 1. Technology is always improving and our new purchases are obsolete in a short time. 2. EBay has changed the way we buy, so now there is a secondary market to sell out items so we can get money back towards the next new thing. I would love to own a Kirby today. When I am ready to buy one, I will look on eBay for one at a reasonable price (under $400) and consider buying it there. Thanks for reading this long post.

Cons: It does take up your time so be aware of that.

If you're smart, you will not buy this product. Don't fall for the same scam that I did. Now I'm stuck with a $1,800 piece of junk that will sit in the closet and collect dust! Very, very, very disappointed with the Kirby name! I was lied to from the start about their office and where they were located. Come to find out the office is now located in Puerto Rico. I have called and called trying to talk with these people and can get no help. The owner of the company will not even talk to me and they won't give me numbers for their other office. The name of the company is Mid South Sales.

My advice, if you really want one and have the money just to spend for it, go ahead. But if you are weary... there's a sucker born every minute (that's how these guys stay so prominent in business). Don't be that sucker.

He asked me what part of the house I thought was always missed when cleaning. I told him I didn't know. He started wandering around my house. He let himself into my bedroom and began cleaning my mattress. He gave me this speech on how the dust mites in my mattress could cause my daughter to have asthma and basically told me my house was dirty; made me feel like crap. He handed me the paper with the price and I told him that I could not afford that. He made several calls to his boss to negotiate the price for me. His team leader showed up and told me he had a deal for me. An older lady went to a nursing home and she owed on hers. I would get a new Kirby and I would only have to pay what she owed - $1,100. I told him we could not afford it. He cleaned some more and kept trying to talk me into it. My 8 month old daughter wanted to get down and play but couldn't because this guy had all these stupid paper filters all over the place.

When my husband got home from work, he started his spiel on him. He had to wait for his ride to come get him. We fell for it and went for the deal. What was supposed to be a 15 minute cleaning turned into 6 hours. I cannot believe I fell for that. I felt like I needed it since he told me it was for my daughter's health. I did some research when he left. I called Kirby the next day and told them to take it back. I felt scammed. They lied to us. I know there was no old lady going to a nursing home and we could take over her payments to get a new one. Boy I will never let that happen again. Do not let them into your home.

Today is March 21, 2013 and I must say I still have my Kirby and it works great! I have services about every three years for about $30. My complaints are it's so freaking heavy and a pain in the ass to go from sweeping floor to using hose attachment.

We bought another house a few years back and I decided instead of lugging the heavy Kirby up and down the stairs, I would buy a second vacuum and keep one upstairs, and one downstairs. I spent $250 on a vacuum that has the canister you empty, instead of a bag like the Kirby uses. Well, it sucks! While it picks up bigger things, it has sucky suction power and I end up pretty much keeping the second vacuum in the garage for cleaning the cars out.

I am disgusted with the selling techniques of Kirby and how they BS on the price. I will never let one of those salesmen in again being that the company has poor practices. But in the same token, 13 year later, I am still using the same Kirby and the only repair I needed was about 2 years ago (the vacuum would have been 10 years old). I had to have a new wheel put on for $45. Obviously, while they had sales tactics back in 2001, it seems the tactics are more aggressive now.

Kirby cleans well on low dirt/low traffic areas. Kirby requires more time generally for spot cleaning or room shampooing because of the wait time. Kirby is a 4-step process: (1) fill dispenser tank; (2) shampoo the carpet (apply the foam); (3) wait till the foam dries; (4) turn the switch to ‘Off’ then vacuum the dried foam. From the demo, the Kirby appeared easy to use because it required less water (less trips to dump and fill tanks), but when we consider wait time, the Hoover requires less time to complete the same job.

Shampooer Comparison Conclusion: Having both the Kirby and the Hoover at home, there's less than 1% chance that I will ever use the Kirby to shampoo the carpet or spot clean. Hoover wins on performance, value, and ease of use/convenience. However, I will try out the Kirby shampooer one more time to be fair.

Vacuum Comparison between the Kirby Sentria II and the Sears Kenmore Progressive Canister Vacuum Model 21514: Kirby suction is far greater. Kirby is slightly louder (not an issue). Kirby bag is easy to remove and install. Kirby's drive feature is strategic and offsets the weight difference. Good. It cannot vacuum under sofas or beds. Advantage Kenmore.

Kenmore is slightly quieter. Kenmore is easier to add attachments, more inclined to use on stairs, sofas, and different applications. Kenmore canister bag is easy to remove and install. Kenmore suction is very good, perhaps not as strong as the Kirby. It’s very lightweight, easy to drag around. Both machines visibly do a good job.

Vacuum Comparison Conclusion: Kirby wins in Performance. Kenmore wins in Value. Kenmore wins in ease of use/convenience.

Overall: In the end, to me, the Kirby Sentria II at $1,200 is not worth the extra money. From a performance, ease of use, and value standpoint, owning the Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge Carpet Cleaner Model Number F59 14900 at $148.73 and Kenmore Progressive Canister Vacuum Model 21514 at $192.59 tandem (I paid sub $350 for both) gets the nod over the Kirby, despite the Kirby's superior vacuuming performance. (Keep in mind the Kenmore Progressive is no slouch and vacuums up better than 90% of the vacuums on the market). The Kirby Sentria II shampooer is eventually what sold us (closed the deal) as we felt the Kirby name would make it an effective shampooer. This was not the case. So, as it turned out, we have a very competent $1,200 vacuum, and expect long-term performance (+15 years we hope), but might struggle with chores that require the attachments.

Kirby Sales Tactics: The sales guy’s starting price for the machine was around $2,500. He then added that if I threw in my vacuum and carpet cleaner, he would give me a "credit" towards a discount. So the $2,500 went down to around $1700. I suppose that's a way of getting the client to feel good about paying a very high price for the machine? By getting some money back on the vacuum and carpet cleaner that I already bought I suppose? I'm not sure. Of course, I felt that was still overpriced, and I was not sure what a reasonable price was. (Don't ask me why I just didn't google it.) All I know is that I didn't want to spend that much. Still, when he was convinced that I would not pay the $1,700, he dropped the price to "his cost". So I paid $1,178 for it. I was a sucker, and things went by so fast, and I was dumb for not demanding to keep both my machines. But somehow I negotiated with him and kept my Hoover carpet cleaner but not the Kenmore Progressive vacuum.

Something I didn't catch on: The sales guy turned my Kenmore Progressive upside down and hand fed small pieces of paper to the wand to demonstrate that little flow happens at the outer ends of the wand. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't sharp enough to catch on to that when the wand is lying upside down, suction decreases because of the open space. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.) But when the wand is flat on the floor, suction is stronger because more of the wand openings are blocked by virtue of it lying on the carpet. Shoot, he got me there!

I'm typically not one to rush to decisions. But this time I took my chances, because of the Kirby name, and I initially felt good about my decision. I learned a touch lesson. There's a reason we shouldn't decide on spending $1,200 on something we know very little about. I am sharing my experience. This is not a complaint.

First, there was an ad about jobs online saying, "Office Work, $500 a week. No experience necessary! For immediate interview!" They gave the address to where it is, so I went to apply. Now that is where the manager sucks in more customers, using the applicants to suck their family and friends into buying a Kirby because of mutual relationships and make them write down referrals to show more demos to their family/friends.

After I got the interview, I went home. They called me and everyone else that was there that we got the job and to show up tomorrow for an orientation at 8:00 AM dressed up with a shirt and tie. As I showed up, they first talked about how much money I could make, without telling us what product they were selling, but how much I could make if I made a sale.

Here's what they wrote on the chart before and after they told me they were selling Kirbys. Sunday - Saturday: there must be 15 appointments/demo = $500 (this never happens cause they would only assign you 10 referral demos and any demo you do on your own doesn't count). The supposed Kirby price is $2,800-$3,200. A Kirby sold under $1,200 ($600 lowest) = $50 commission. A Kirby sold over $1,200 = pocket money that's sold over $1,200. For example, I sold a Kirby for $2000, but since I sold it for over $1,200, I pocket $800 in profit. The monthly bonus sales for Kirby sold over $1,200: a) 2 x Kirby = $50 bonus; b) 3 x Kirby = $75 bonus; c) 4 x Kirby = $150 bonus; d) 5 x Kirby = $300 bonus; e) 6 x Kirby = $600 bonus, and so on. Kirby Manufacturing Company: Cost to make Kirby: $75. The distribution manager buys it for $300 (potential profit $300-$900 per sale).

Now here's the thing with the manager; he sucks you in to show demos to your family and friends to try to make a sale and tells you that you cannot leave without getting at least 3 referrals. The manager will manipulate the salesman that he can become as rich as him/her, but it's all ** because once the manager stops getting referrals, they will move to another area or state, and hire new salesmen to repeat their suck-in process.

The so-called sales tactics: When knocking on the door, greet, use sales pitch, and try to get in somehow by stepping in and/or ask to put the equipment inside the house next to the door. The sales pitch always has to be involved with free cleaning. Never tell them the price of the Kirby when asked during the demo. Show them why their vacuum is useless (lots of ways for this). Always compliment about their possessions, like expensive, fancy things. Always keep a conversation going, and never ask to go to a room where you want to show your next demo at. Always lead and tell them to follow, and so on.

Things to know: Van crew - they suck at selling and are usually pushy, new salesmen for Kirby. They drive around and go door to door for 8-12 hours. Salesmen that drive their own cars are usually experienced salesmen but can still be pushy. The Kirby that all salesmen use are used at other houses. That can be very disgusting, and people don't want things used at other houses to be brought to your home and be used. All Kirbys are used and cleaned like new, even if you buy one.

That's all I can share for now. It's taking me a while to write this, but all I can say is, I did sell some Kirby - about 5, and that was it. The job is time-consuming and a waste of time. The only person who's really making money is the manager. I would never buy a Kirby and let a Kirby salesman step into my door. They are a waste of your time and no matter what you tell them, they won't leave unless they get to the sales part. They don't care for your home, kids, or anything, but selling that vacuum. You're really looking at a $75 vacuum that's overpriced. When you're buying it, it's like you paid for the demo, cleaning, and their time. Just get straight to the chase when you see a salesman and tell them to ** off!

Then they tried to sell me a used one for $500 and claimed that I could give him half now and half later and bring me the vacuum when I come up with the other half but then he has no business cards but I'm supposed to call him when I come up with the other half. Then he had the nerve to ask me for a tip! The last thing I want to do when I come home from work is sit through a 3-hour demonstration. Honestly, if this company was so reputable, they'd be in stores. He said they only sell to homeowners and old people. That's because the younger generation questions and investigates, as he mildly puts it. Then he made me feel guilty for not wanting it saying that I don't want a clean house. And the box was all beat up and the vacuum looked used. I know one thing; I'm getting reinforcements put on my door.

I make the payments and tell them every time how I was treated and no one seems to give a crap. They took my old vacuum sweeper. So I have to use what I have. It has cost me more than any sweeper I have ever owned. I even tried to get them to take it back. They said I was stuck with it. I felt threatened in my own home. I was the only one here at the time. I don't want this sweeper or the payment - I never did, but done it just to make them people leave. Very unsatisfied customer.

I had to wash my hands from cleaning the grill and then my wife took them to the basement for a "demonstration" of the carpet cleaner. Bad move! My brother-in-law lives with us and works for Stanley Steemer. So, I figured having him watch this "demonstration" would expose any nonsense. The Manager left and the other guy started taking the vacuum pieces out, etc. He used our vacuum to clean a 5-foot area first, then used the white filters to show how much dirt remained when he used the Kirby vacuum. Pretty good.

I was very honest and told the guy there was little-to-no chance I was buying anything on the spot because it was unwise. He said he understood that and respected that. All along I am keeping a close eye on this guy because I don’t know him and I have a family to protect. My wife had to leave to get my daughter from school and called me on my cell phone. She said she saw the police talking to the "manager and three other young ladies". In our complex, no soliciting is allowed and I am happy someone called the police.

I made it super-duper clear I was not buying. I found it hilarious how his main selling point was "Isn't it worth protecting your family's health for $3-$4 a day?" I quickly realized this puppy cost more than $1,000. We discussed the Kirby vs. other vacuums, and other chitchat. But to be honest, I should have stopped the whole thing from the beginning. All-in-all the guy took about 1 hour and 45 minutes to show me the 'wonders' of the Kirby and shampooing. And as he was packing up, I saw the actual cost, $2,800. No way Jose! Not here. He called the manager who came about 15 minutes later and he left. Very nice guy, but terrible marketing for the company. I've read many reviews and concur that Kirby should open a retail store and use different selling tactics. This is a valuable lesson learned on many levels. (I left out some of the details but you get the gist.)

I should have been like, "Hell naw”, but I let him set it up. Being that I live in a fairly nice size house now in the suburbs, the guy immediately starts assembling this thing and complimenting on my home décor all the while and mentioning how nice my Hummer in the driveway was. Next thing I know, another short thug in a suit that was too big came to help the first guy setup and then left along with the van. Never was I nervous because he asked what I did, and I told him I was an Investigator. Yes, law enforcement. So if he and his cronies were actually casing the joint, they might think twice knowing that. In the back of my mind, I knew they have simply seen my truck in the driveway and assumed we could afford this overpriced machine.

The guy proceeded to display the product's amazing vacuuming power to me and my wife, using a rug we have in our living room, but I cut him short and asked him point blank, "What's the price?" He tried to make a joke and said "an arm and a leg" or "he could trade it for my Hummer”. I didn't laugh! Finally, he said $2,600, and I told him he could pack it up and be on his way. No way, in hell, would I ever pay the price of a used car for a vacuum cleaner. Then he goes into being able to keep the vacuum for 50 years. I told him, “Dude, I could buy ten vacuums in a lifetime and still never spend $2,600!” Then he tried to go into a spiel about financing. Nope, I got enough bills I told him. Then he asked, “What would you pay for a good vacuum?” “$100 tops,” I said.

My wife noticed his van was gone, so we told him to call his ride back because we were about to leave. The guy had to call his ride back to pick him up. I went to get my .380 with hollow point bullets from my nightstand as he began picking up dirty filters off the floor. I wasn't sure if this was some charade just to get access to people's homes and rob them or what, but I wasn't taking any chances with my wife and two small kids in the house. The whole thing felt like they were only casing our house.

Craziest of all, the guy had the nerve to say they had driven all the way from Denver to OKC to sell vacuums door-to-door, and he makes $20 just for doing a complete presentation. Really? Do the math idiot. A group of guys rent a van and drive two states away to sell $2600 vacuums door-to-door, not a cost effective business if you ask me. I told him to drive down the street to Nichols Hills were people can actually afford $2600 vacuums. He said they had been there, but those people don’t open the doors for people like them with tattoos all over. Uh, what did you think, idiot?

When the van came back, it was a third shady looking guy in a suit, and I was really glad I had my gun in my back pocket at that point. This company really needs to screen who they allow to be independent contractors (truly, the guy looked like he belonged in a tattoo parlor) and come up with a totally different approach to selling. Having three or four different strangers coming into your house to sell/assemble/disassemble a vacuum is nuts! They are worse than used car salesmen! Don't be fooled by these guys if they come knocking on your door. My wife and I were able to find tons of complaints about Kirby Vacuum sales tactics online so beware. In total, he was in my house about 20 minutes, but I saw where some people actually sat there for up to four hours listening to these scam artists!

When he came back to the door I explained we were sick and that he probably didn't need to come in and be exposed. However, he said he didn't mind one bit and just slid right past us. He started setting up the vacuum and explaining attachments and the trip he could win, all the while pausing to look at my husband’s electronics and converse about them. Then he asked where he could plug the vacuum in, after that he asked if he could plug his phone in (still not sure what that was about). He explained how good this vacuum was made and that it would be durable even with my kids around. Once the vacuum was set up he started testing it out. I was very impressed with all of the attachments and the amount of dirt and dust that was picked up (surprisingly I had vacuumed hours earlier and he still got a good amount of dirt on the white discs). He asked me to get my vacuum out, and I did because I am very proud of my vacuum and it is a reputable brand.

At first he was very personable and we small talked about brands not producing quality appliances anymore. He seemed very kind and trustworthy. He asked me if I'd heard of Kirby, which I had, and he asked me what I heard. I didn't really remember, just that they were pushy to sell and very expensive so I just told him that I just knew they were a reputable brand. He continued to clean a small area on a piece of our furniture and explained we would save so much money on furniture in the years to come by owning this vacuum. I did agree, as I explained before it really does seem to clean well. He then cleaned a few other small things I had in a pallet on our floor and explained that our bed was full of dust mites and their poop, dead skin, etc. He told us that we needed this vacuum for our kids’ health. He then got started on my current vacuum (Electrolux). He told me that Electrolux had gone bankrupt and how I wouldn't want to buy a vacuum from a company that went bankrupt.

He also explained to me that with the position of the hose being on the right side, my vacuum was "broken." I didn't fully agree and he seemed to argue back and forth with me and asked me when I would consider it broken. I told him when it quit running and wasn't fixable any longer. He continued telling me I was wrong, that my vacuum was useless to me if it wasn't getting all of the dust and dirt out of my carpet. I finally let it go, by that point as I was steaming from the ears and could no longer look at him anymore. He kept pointing out that this was best for my family and our health. When he wrote the original price of $3,299 I said that was too much. He then lowered it some, giving me more to trade in my vacuum that I paid for 4 years ago. We resisted. He then went on to say, "What if I told you my boss would do something amazing for you and you would only pay $1500?" He told us he wouldn't make any money off of it but he really wanted us to get the vacuum and help him win a trip.

We said we just couldn't afford it and he started telling us that we could afford it, and tax refunds are coming soon, no money down, no payments until March 31. We continued saying we could not afford it even still because of how close our budget already is but I did let him know when my vacuum broke down I would definitely keep Kirby in mind from the performance I had seen. My husband said he went down to $1,000 while I ran to the kitchen to pull burning French fries from the oven. Now, this was when I really became super pissed: "So what if your child had asthma or a medical issue? How would you pay for their medications?" My husband and I said in sync, "We'd figure something out." "See, you can afford it if you want to, there is no reason why you can't afford it, you can save money by staying at home more," he said. "Wouldn't you rather pay $1500 now than a full price online later?"

I explained my husband’s standpoint on buying things just because they are on sale, "Just because it's on sale doesn't mean we need it now." We stood firm with our choice that we couldn't do it. He then brought up my husband’s electronics and how since he's in the military we have money, and we get BAH and our house is probably just too expensive, that we could've gotten a cheaper house of the same livable quality for much cheaper in this area. We explained that we looked for homes in our area for 3-5 months and by no means was our house too expensive. Then my husband went into further detail on some loans we are trying to pay off and we don't want to be poor over a vacuum. (Not that we owed him a bit of explanation, we were just tired of the 2 hours of shenanigans). He seemed huffy/puffy and then went back into how my vacuum was broken and basically told me I didn't care about my kids health because here I have this horrible vacuum that leaves dust everywhere and I have the option to change that, but wouldn't.

Again, I told him it was a nice vacuum and that one day when I was in the market for a vacuum I would remember the quality and get in touch then. He flat out, rudely told me, "No, you won’t. Do you know how many people have said that since I started selling and how many have actually called me back? Three!" I looked at him dumbfounded because he once again, crossed the line. By this time he was packing up the vacuum all pissed off, probably trying to make us feel sorry for him, continually making us feel like liars and basically promoting us to go in debt so that we could keep our family healthy with the use of a vacuum cleaner. He barely said another word to us after we finalized that we would not be buying the vacuum and practically ran out the front door, leaving behind his bag. My husband stopped him and gave it to him. After that, he stood at the end of our driveway for a good 30 minutes waiting for his van to pick him up.

I have never felt so violated by someone I didn't even know. Now I've been awake all night (4:30a.m.) worried sick because of the way he was eyeing our possessions. I will be ignoring any door-knockers, unless I know them personally from now on and will be putting up a "No Solicitors" sign. I cannot believe they are trained to make you feel the way I felt when he left. It is very disturbing, and for that alone, I will Not buy from this brand, although I was considering it. Bottom Line: We feel beyond harassed!

All of the trouble spilled over into January. They are in a building with no sign but I found the address. I returned the vacuum and a letter stating why I returned it because I was truly not satisfied with their customer service skills or the way they sell their product. I received from them another vacuum that they said that I could use but it did not work so when they brought the one that I was waiting for, they put the old one back into the plastic just like it was brand new. They are selling old vacuum cleaners pretending that they are new. They have not returned my $150.00 or my vacuum cleaner, which I asked for. When you question them or challenge them, they are quick to hang up on the customer. I returned the merchandise to them and I want them to return my deposit and my dirt devil vacuum cleaner. I cancelled the contract, and contacted the loan company and told them that I cancelled, and I do not know if they told a lie but they still have my vacuum and I want it back, and my $150.00.

Prior to their arrival, we spent a couple of hours cleaning and clearing the room. They showed up a bit late for a 1:30 appointment and launched into a sales pitch about their product. Their business wasn't service at all. It was sales of a product they had not disclosed. (It's probably a good thing I wasn't present. Things would have no doubt gotten very ugly very quickly.) About two and a half hours later (about 4:15), after the boss had come and gone a couple of times, the grunt got down to work. It was about 3 hours after they had arrived that my wife informed them that she had an appointment in the evening and had to leave at 5. She had already wasted the afternoon with this ridiculous exercise. As the woman was cleaning her machine and accessories, she said that the floor was still pretty dirty. When asked why we had gotten such a poor quality job, it was because we hurried her. What a horrible waste of our time. What a miserable outcome. A poorly cleaned floor. (Great sales job for their product, wouldn't you say?) What dishonest business practices. Why didn't we look here first? But then sometimes, you just have no idea where the liars and cheats are.

Last week, someone knocked on our door and said they needed the vacuum because they never received payment. To me, this was shady. So we called the office. The management was rude. Then they took the vacuum, so we asked for our $200.00 back and our Oreck vacuum back. He said they had no proof of the $200.00 and our vacuum was thrown away. Worst business ever. Phabeon pocketed the $200.00 and now we have no vacuum. Kirby is the worst ever, so I sent the ownership.

My wife was trying to put the kids to sleep as it was 9 pm now and he continued to vacuum even though she said, "Wrap it up, it's getting late." He then proceeded more, "Okay, let's do payment options." Again, "It's a big purchase; I want to discuss with my wife." He had the nerve to say, "Well, get your wife now and let's make this deal." Again, I said, "She is putting the kids to sleep and we need to discuss this." He then proceeded to lower the down payment and said, "Can we make a deal?" I said, "Look. Again, I need to discuss this with my wife," and he said, "Well, then I'm out of here," told the demo guy pack up. I said, "Look, I hate pushy sales people and this is what you're doing. If I buy it today, tomorrow, next week, a sale is a sale." And he was loud as hell talking. "You just heard me; the kids are going to sleep. Back off!"

He left me his card with a smart remark, "Well, I don't normally give out my card, because I know you won't call me anyway." What a jerk. I waited for him to walk to the door and said to the demo guy that I would buy from him but no way in hell would I buy from a guy like that. Finally, they got out of my house at 10 pm! I looked up reviews and see everyone else complaining about the same thing.

Kirby, sell your damn product in the stores. No one wants to deal with this kind of sales gimmick and this makes your good product look terrible. By the way, I noticed how when they unpacked and repacked, you can tell they are selling the demos. It's illegal to tell me it's new, when it has probably been through a few cleanings. Go to eBay and find the vacuums for $300 to $500. Oh yeah, I got the bs about going to Hawaii also.

First, she started vacuuming my carpet and I remarked, "I need a carpet like that" when she was gathering dirt on filters, one after another as she repeatedly stopped the vacuum and changed filters. She asked me to get some baking soda and vacuum it up after she worked it into the carpet while she counted to 100 as I vacuumed. Then she used the Kirby to vacuum the remainder. She asked me to vacuum a while as she prepared the shampooer in my kitchen. I was beginning to understand that this visit was to sell me a vacuum cleaner. She showed me each of the attachments and demonstrated each one. She had me try the vacuum on the kitchen floor. When she was finally done, she cleaned the parts in my kitchen sink, even though I asked her to do it in the bathroom. She kept assuring me that the solution was not toxic. She did empty a bit of the collected debris from the shampoo reservoir in the toilet, but returned to the kitchen sink to empty the container with the solution and clean the attachments.

I have dog and cat hair in my kitchen sink! This woman talked constantly, selling the entire time, spewing off facts about vacuum cleaners and the Kirby model. This woman started off friendly and personable but then took on more and more of a salesperson role, trying at first to persuade me to purchase a Kirby, and finally when that didn't work after multiple sales pitches bringing the price down and offering me special deals if I agreed not to tell her boss, to finally getting nasty, trying to make me feel guilty and ashamed. She complained that my carpet made her vacuum cleaner smell bad and that my dog got saliva on her glove when she tried to pull it off - my dog is a trained service dog. She complained about being out doing this demo in the evening.

This person said her name was Karen and she has been with Kirby since she was 18 years old. She told me she only needs 3 more sales to win an all expense paid trip to Tan Tara at Lake of the Ozarks but kept saying she didn't want me to buy a Kirby so she could take this trip - she made a point of saying her kids get to go too. She told me about her dog, a Belgian shepherd. She said she had no heat in her truck. I don't know why, but she repeated it several times. Even though I was impressed with what the Kirby vacuum cleaner did, I would not buy a Kirby now because of this woman and the false pretenses under which she gained access to my home and the attitude she took on when I told her I could not afford the vacuum cleaner. I was worried I was going to have to call the police to get her to leave, but she finally left.

When the guy came back later with the Kirby salesman, I got a little nervous when I saw him unloading all his supplies. I thought I'm going to be here a while. Long story short, I sat through more than an hour and a half of "demonstration" and in the end, my husband was home from work, dinner was ready, the boys were going to be late for their cousin's birthday party and all the guy did was fill up a bunch of pads, showing me how much dirt was on my floor. His sales tactics didn't sway me and as it got later, they started to irritate me. I kept waiting for him to do the promised "cleaning". Meanwhile, I got no housecleaning done and still had a party to get ready for.

In fact, come to think of it, he didn't even have anything that looked like dry foam but I do remember him mentioning a couple of times, that it's not a good idea to shampoo the carpets with all the dirt in them and that I would have to vacuum with his Kirby vacuum for a couple of weeks to get all the dirt out (one of multiple bids to buy it). So, was that supposed to be his out for not cleaning my carpet? Anyway, all I can say is never again!

About an hour and a half went by before she returned. She was back with another young lady named Anna. They dropped off some large boxes and walked right in. Then the older lady left. It was me, my six-year-old, and Anna. Anna walked through the living room and headed to the hallway, and she started asking me about an oil painting I had in the hallway and was showing a lot of interest in it. I explained that it was my Goodwill find for $25, and then she started checking out all my walls in the main living area... a little strange.

Anna was very nice and personable. I had told her that I liked Kirby, but I was not in any financial position to buy one. She did her presentation with the white and black discs and left them all over the place. When I tried to pick one up off the floor so it wouldn't get kicked around, she said that she needed to leave them there and take pictures so that she could prove that she did the presentation. So I left them alone. She showed me how much money I would save over the next 20 years if I made the purchase with a Kirby; and that it would be about $13,500. Impressive but I’m still not going to buy one.

She offered me a Kirby for a low payment of about $99 a month for the next 36 months or so. She said that she would pay the first three months and defer the first payment for six months. I told her no. Then she went down to $79.98 a month. I thought about it and called my husband, but we decided since his current job wasn't offering a stable consistent income, we would skip it. She then went down to $70 a month stating that she would not be making any commission but she was doing it to win a trip to Cabo San Lucas and how she really wanted to win because her boyfriend already won a trip. I still said no.

After about 2 hours, she went ahead and continued her demonstration. But this time, she pulled up the bedding to show me the "mess" she was able to pull up on her vacuum. She continued with vacuuming the carpet and she showed me how bad it was making comments about how filthy everything was which made me feel terrible. Our high end carpet is about a year old. I have a six year old boy and cats, but I generally keep a tidy house so this made me feel less than adequate. She vacuumed the cat tree we had (her idea), but she tells me about an hour later she's allergic to cats... huh? She finally gets to shampooing the living room like she was originally supposed to do, but only she does about a 4x4 foot section. It was alright.

I got my son excited about the bubbles it made when she converted it to the shampooer. She also showed me that I can turn it into an air pump, like I want to spend $2,600 on a balloon pump. I still said no. She asked for some water or juice. Anna appeared very bummed and mopey. Then as she was getting ready to pack up, she instantly got excited and had to call her boss again (this makes about the fifth time) and was able to offer me a deal she had "forgotten" about - the New Year's Special of only $49 a month for a price of only $1,350 plus tax which she did not know for Idaho. I told her it was 6%, but she checked her phone and corrected me and said it was 7.9%. I'm pretty sure it's only 6%.

By the time she wrote it out, it all came out to be a whopping $2,390. I asked what happened to the $1,350, but she said that it was $1,450 with the tax and all the finances charges which she originally said would be a high 20%; but it was actually 25%. I told her that I couldn't do that. She finally gave up, or so I thought. Anna started crying and telling me that she was a single mom and that it was too tough for her to make ends meet and how she was so far behind on bills. I reminded her that she wasn't making a commission on this sale anyway, and that she should understand what I was up against because I was a single mom who had it difficult; and that I just didn't, couldn't spend the money on a vacuum when I had one that still worked, albeit not as good as her Kirby.

Then I reminded her that at least she as still getting $50 for doing the demo. That was when she looked at me like I was nuts and said that she wasn't getting paid for any of this. I told her what the first lady told me and she said that might have just been a tactic or was for a newbie, but she was on her way to being a distributor so she doesn't get $50. She then looked at her phone and got excited again saying that her boss just told her that I could have the vacuum for $1,100 plus $389 finance charges for a total of $1,489 over the course of 30 months. She started writing up another contract (like once she writes it out you might not be able to say no). I looked at the numbers and compared it to the last offer which was about $800 less, and then I compared it to the first offer of $2,900 (before finance charges) and just didn't understand.

So I told her that it was a great deal, but I didn't want to spend that much on something I can't feel good about. She insisted it was the best deal anyone could have and that I could not tell my neighbors because she just sold three of them to my neighbors for about $6,000 each after finance charges. Then it dawned on me, why was she so upset about not making any money if she just sold 3 of them for nearly full price? Anna tried to be sweet and smiling again and said that I would really be helping her out to go on that trip with her boyfriend, to make sure he behaves himself and keep the other girls away from him. So my buying a vacuum will keep her boyfriend faithful? I told her, “Thanks, but no thanks.” It had been over three hours at this point.

She got upset again and kept apologizing about how it was all her fault, but she is not trying to say it's my fault, but that demo is what she has to do to try to sell, and that she had spent so much time with me that she missed another appointment she had scheduled. And then she went on and on about how she just didn't do her job well enough otherwise I would have bought one. By this point I was not feeling bad for her. I thought her sales tactics were awful. Anna also told that she knew that I could make things work financially to afford one; she just knew I could. She told me that I would be getting a tax refund, and that maybe I needed to quit buying little trinkets from Goodwill.

One, she doesn't know what I will or will not get from taxes, and two, don't tell me what I should or should not buy; it's my money. Anyway, she finally packed up her boxes, left my old vacuum's cord all over the place, left white and black discs all over my house (she never did take those pictures for proof), and ended up leaving her glasses (which were not prescription) and a vacuum part. So apparently, I will have been the cause of her boyfriend possibly cheating, chosen to live in filth because my Dyson Animal is not good enough, caused her and her young son to continue to live in poverty because I did not buy from her, and I will somehow come into a ton of refund money from my taxes, and will have missed out on the deal of the century.

I wanted a Kirby before and was waiting for an opportunity when I am financially more secure. But after yesterday's demo and sales pitch, I might just stick with my Dyson and possibly upgrade to a better one when this one gives out.

When I returned, he was shoving paperwork in my hand about prices and trying to sell me a worthless vacuum cleaner I don't care for. My infant son was killed not even a year ago. I explained this and clearly was upset that he and his help moved my son's items in the living room and why in the world would he think it's okay to try to sell anything after 7:30 pm. Then his office is in a completely different county and city. He had no business in our brand new home development. How would you have felt if he did this to your family? All the while, my husband is deployed serving our country. This inconsiderate salesman needs to be fired immediately.

When we didn't say we wanted to purchase a new model, the demonstrator called the supervisor back who started lowering the price to get us to buy. It started out at $2,500 and he was down to $1,500 with our old vac in trade. We continually heard how the demonstrator was working on sales to travel to New Orleans for this wonderful trip! (We would like to take a trip too and aren't interested in paying for theirs!) The supervisor finally started with the shampoo demonstration (evidently, the demonstrator needed a refresher course) and then took off again, leaving the demonstrator to finish. Although it looks pretty good, if we hadn't moved most of the furniture out beforehand, I think he would have skirted around everything. Shampoo was flying on furniture and walls. He was filling the tank at the kitchen sink and dripping back to the cleaner.

By the time he finished, the poor guy was sweating a lot, using the cloth he brought to wipe the sweat as well as polish the machine and attachments. As he finished, the supervisor returned with more offers, down to $1,000. When we didn't take his offer, he asked how much we wanted to spend and I told him nothing. I didn't even use all the attachments that came with our machine (same ones the new ones had) and didn't feel like our machine was that much different than the new one. At that point, I had to leave and left my husband to get them out of the house. (That was the second time I had to leave the house while they were there and I didn't come back until after they were gone.) The two guys were nice enough and didn't get mean at all, but both were very persistent! The demonstrator asked for ice water. He was cleaning carpet in a suit! When he emptied the shampoo tray in the laundry tub, he didn't bother to clean out the tub.

During the demonstration, it was mentioned that you can send in your Kirby and get it reconditioned for free. But when we asked more questions, we got no answers. I think our 20-year-old Kirby is a good vacuum but not worth what they try to sell them for and they are very heavy! The only thing we've had replaced was the cord, although the handle no longer stands and one of the cord keepers broke off. It's not enough to warrant $1,000.

I had my Kirby three years now and it all of a sudden quit. The motor stopped. I believe the people who have had the amazing reviews didn't use their vacuum but maybe once every few weeks whereas I used it multiple times a day. My advice is don't waste your money on a Kirby. I called their company and they won't replace or come out to fix my vacuum. They told me to drive to the next county and they will tell me how much it would be to fix. How convenient and this is after spending over $1,400 for their super heavy junk of a vacuum.

I let 7 days pass, there was no response. We contacted the owner of K.O.B.C and he stated that he was working on the replacement with Schewel's Furniture. We contacted all the Schewels in this area and they had not spoken to anyone from his business. We waited another 7 days, there was no response from K.O.B.C since then. I contacted the Better Business Bureau and they have made 3 attempts to resolve this problem. At this point, they recommended that I contact you guys to see if you might be some additional support to resolve this matter.

The next day, we called to return the vacuum. We got no answer at any of the numbers, so we started calling 3 times a day until we got someone on the phone. They came and picked up the Kirby, but they did not have our trade-in vacuum any longer. We are now waiting for them to either find our vacuum or write a check. This outcome should be interesting. Please beware that these people will use any tactic to get you to buy an overpriced vacuum.

She started out with a price of $3,197! I had to get my vacuum out and use it so she could show me how much dirt it leaves behind. She was going to shampoo a small area of carpet, so I said we can do this spot in the hallway because the dog had peed there and she was okay with that! I kept telling her I was not going to buy it because it's too expensive. Long story short, three hours later, she had come down to $1,000 (needed to sell to win trip to Florida). I kept saying no. By this time, my husband had come in and saw the 100 little white circles on the living room floor. She had called her boss several times during this period. Finally, her ride gets here and she says she has to show her the white circles so that she knows she did the demo. So she is going to take the vacuum out and they will both come back in.

I looked out and they had left leaving me with the 100 little circles to clean up and I had to re-vacuum the living room because after picking up the circles, there was dirt on my floors and my grandkids were coming over! When she stepped out, my husband and I talked and decided to buy the vacuum cleaner! I have called a number my nephew gave me several times last night and today with no answer, leaving my name and number for a call back! Needless to say, I have talked to no one! I'm not happy that I didn't make it to town and certainly not happy about the mess she left me to clean up, not even a "thank you for letting me into your home"!

About a month later, I received a payment book in the mail. I called the company that sent the book and was told I had bought a Kirby vacuum. I didn't know what a Kirby vacuum was, and the device was in Tucson. I explained the circumstances to the person at what turned out to be a finance company. She promised to send a copy of the contract, but it never arrived. At the time, I was trying to recover from a stroke and heart attack, so I set the payment to auto payment on my account until I could clarify the matter. Months went by, and I was forced to move from my mountain home for health reasons back to sea level.

Finally, in September of 2012, I called the finance company again to see when the contract would be paid. I had never heard of a vacuum cleaner that cost more than $750. I was told that I still owed $2,000 since I had "missed" a payoff date that would have cancelled the interest. The second lady did send the contract, which I saw for the first time. I wrote to the company and to the dealer in Tucson but got no answer except that I had signed the contract. My inability to exercise the three-day return clause was ignored. I finally, for the first time, tried the vacuum on my carpet. It does a poor job of cleaning superficial debris. I guess I'll have to buy an Oreck and throw this away. I would never, ever buy anything from these people.

As I tried to prevent the dogs from entering, the lady and the man who had been standing off to the side took this opportunity to enter and before I could stop it, they had already began setting up. I told them I wasn't interested but she went on with her typical trying to win a vacation, need to do a demo to make money, etc. She told me it'd take 10 minutes, so I agreed to only 10 minutes. She said she was going to take the box outside, but disappeared down the street into a vehicle with several other people and left. I was immediately uncomfortable being left with a man alone with my little girls in the house. So uncomfortable that I texted my husband, warning him that I was going to call him just to keep him on the phone in the background so that he could hear what was going on just in case I needed him to call the police.

I told the guy my husband would be home very soon and this needed to be quick. Twenty five minutes later, he was still doing the demo so I again told him his time was almost up. Of course, I had to drag my old vacuum out. He made a mess and only cleaned a 4-square foot area. He tried to tell me to use the vacuum myself, but I refused and told him I never agreed to do any work. But my oldest daughter (age 10) quickly volunteered to use it. He handed it to her and she literally couldn't push it 2 inches. He tried to claim it was because it wasn't in gear. When he went to put it in gear, it still wouldn't work and he said, "What? Is this thing broken?!" My husband came home about 40 minutes into it. I told the man that I needed to cook my children dinner, but he didn't care and assured not too much longer and continued with his disc demo that was now practically covering my living room floor. I told him one more disc and he had to leave. He huffed and puffed, and started slinging stuff around in frustration.

As he was packing, he continued to sling the equipment around and mumbled, "This is **." He said that he had to make a phone call and stepped outside. I told my husband to go into the bedroom where we keep our firearms locked up just in case something went wrong, so he did. I tried to talk nicely to the guy and act like I may still be interested just to diffuse the situation, and it seemed to work because he quickly dropped his attitude. What really creeped me out was when he went to get my trash can. He looked like he was scoping out the place and while he was packing up, he asked me to get him something to drink. I got him some tap water, but never took my eyes off of him. He sucked it down like he hadn't drunk anything in days, so maybe I'm just paranoid. But it really felt like he was just trying to get me out of the room.

As he threw the discs into my trash can, his hand "accidentally" bumped the edge and it threw most of the stuff he had just vacuumed back on the floor. All he said was "Oops." It is now 4AM, just 9 hours after this took place and I'm too scared to go to sleep! I regret letting them get into the house (stupid dogs). I regret not telling them to leave once they got in. This world is a dangerous place these days and I should never have allowed strangers into my home. The girl seemed harmless, but then she took off and left me alone with a man, which I know is a tactic. Take the sweet, innocent looking female and get her to knock so everything seems trustworthy and legit. Then send in the man to close the deal. Well, I let my guard down and regret letting them get in. Now I will be paranoid that they are going to come back now that they've scoped out my house. If Kirby believes in their products, they should open a store and stop harassing people in their homes while they are trying to take care of their families!

She then used the Kirby vacuum to show me its "spraying" power - spraying cleaning materials all over my LCD TV and electronic piano. That TV is now ruined. The piano won't power on. This totaled at least $2,000 in damage. The havoc did not stop there, however. She proceeded to show me the Kirby's bed cleaning power by lugging the Kirby into my room. She accidentally kicked my cat in the face while bringing the machine to my bed. My cat ran away and hid under the bed for the rest of the presentation. She "cleaned" up my bed by leaving her dirty pads all over my newly-washed clothes. There were over 41 pads that she left throughout my room and never cleaned up. As she was leaving, she knocked over my recently-folded clothes that were on my chair and trampled on them. I had to throw away four $20 dress shirts because they had mud stains on them.

Soon after the room demo, the slick-haired man in the cheap suit entered my house and told me that my house was filthy and that I was a dirty person who deserves a Kirby. He told me that my vacuum was broken and that I needed to buy his vacuum. He showed this by grabbing my vacuum, lifting it up and banging it hard against my table causing it to break. He said that my vacuum was not durable like the Kirby's was and that now I needed a new vacuum. He quoted me $3,000 and told me that I would get a Hawaii contest discount of $400, bringing it to $2,600. Soon he changed his quote to $1,000. Funny price differential eh? I told him and the girl to get out of my house.

He became fed up with me and called me a cheap loser who took advantage of a free cleaning. He slammed the door on the way out, ruining my door lock (another $150 replacement). The lady then apologized for her boss's rude behavior and grabbed the rest of the Kirby parts to leave. She dripped the Kirby cleaning material all over my hardwood floor (near the exit of the house) and then left. She waited outside in my driveway for at least 30 minutes to get picked up in the van driven by the ** supervisor. All in all, I lost nearly $3,000 worth of damage to my property. It's a good thing that I don't believe in lawsuits (I think they cost taxpayers too much money) because I know I have a good claim!

So we got on the phone to have them come get it. We did this for days and never did get to talk to anyone to come get it. And I did not know about sending in some form to have them come after it until after the 3 days (what company only gives 3 days to make your mind if you like it or not?) when he found the rest of the papers they had given him. The only time we heard from anyone is when they wanted their money. And like I said, I pay this person’s bills, and this is one bill I am not paying! If no one wanted to talk to us before, maybe now they will! All we wanted was for someone to come get the damn thing!

So I left messages and went down to the post office and sent the cancellation notice with a certified letter. MR enterprises or Low Key enterprises in Vacaville, they seemed to have multiple names. A few days later, someone called me back and just started back in on the sales pitch, basically ignoring that I was saying, "I can't afford it, take it back," sounded like that's just part of their sales technique. The guy I talked to said he'd call back, but never did. When someone did call, it was a lady with a Puerto Rico area code who understood I "had some questions about [their] return policy." “No, I want to return it.” But she gave me the same runaround sales pitch. I realized they had no intention of honoring their return policy. So I called the bank and said I wanted to dispute the charges. It took another month to hear anything, but they finished their investigation and found in my favor (I sent them a copy of the cert letter receipt and their return policy). The Kirby ** probably didn't even respond to them.

Well, after waiting another month for them to contact me and pick up their vacuum, I started searching the Internet to see if anyone else had dealt with this, and the stories on this site got me infuriated. Why can they get away with being so smarmy? I don't get it. I think it really is a nice vacuum, if overpriced. There's just no reason they have to use such scummy tactics to sell them. And then it hit me: doesn't it clearly state in the contract that they have 20 days to pick it up or it's mine? Yes it does. And I'm way past that by any measure. Fools.

The demo guy was quite pleasant, though not always competent. But hey, it was a lot of machine, and I was very leery about anything that comes with an instructional DVD. So, I decided to cancel the transaction within three days and had no problems whatsoever. I faxed my signed copy of the cancellation to the "promotions" company on Wednesday and was contacted by an employee Friday. She said she'd come by Saturday at 9 a.m., which she did, with a refund check since mine had been cashed (promptly, as so many reviewers have said). She brought back my trade-in vacuums and took the Kirby stuff away, and I feel much better now.

To wind up, it turned out well for me because I cancelled quickly. I didn't use the Kirby, so I had no problems with it and am so pleased with the resolution. But I would like to thank the maintainers of this site for compiling so many complaints all with similar "themes" - free demo that takes way too long, the make-up of the "crew," the "contests," the "baking soda." At least my guys dumped the dirt into the toilet instead of the sink. I feel fortunate that I'm aware of things such as a Sunshine Law to cancel contracts and did so promptly, and I have nothing but praise for the way they handled this. But I shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place, and it's partly my fault. I did notice that the girl who called Friday asked me if I'd be willing to keep the Kirby for $1,300+ and payments of $48 per month, which of course begs the question why didn't they offer that price (close to Amazon) in the first place?

All in all, it's a big scam that I was lucky enough to catch on to, thanks to this site. I put a mention of this on the neighborhood association message board but have heard nothing back, though that's not unusual. Oh, one more thing, the crew told me about another woman up the street they'd just sold one to, and for some reason, that sounded really fishy, and I'm sure it was crap. I never should have let them in - what a waste of time when I could have been watching the end of the SEC championship game. But all I did was waste time since I cancelled promptly. Caveat emptor and read the contract!

I came downstairs, and Mr. Boss Man was in my kitchen helping himself to my roll of paper towels. I told the other gentleman to kindly pack his equipment up and get out of my home. If this was the level of service when they are trying to get your business, how bad would it be once you pay? The boss man stayed on the phone for over 10 minutes, talking to Mr. ** about buying a vacuum for his fiancée, and was completely oblivious to the fact I was furious. It wasn't until I refused to let him wash his hands and told him that I wanted him out of my home that he even realized something was amiss.

One last thing - a pile of dirt from their demonstration pads was left on the floor for me to clean up, and the rugs were not clean after their shampooing.

At the last moment (after deciding to buy it), I decided to ask how much it would cost me to repair the vacuum after the 3 year warranty. The “head” of the company in the area said he didn't know and that I should take his word for it, and that it would last till the cows come home (30+ years). I said, "Could you at least tell me who I could contact to find out the price of the parts needing repair plus labor? If I'm buying a $1,200 vacuum, I'd expect to get a great deal if I needed to repair after 3 years." He said, "The guy's name is ** and the shop is in Layton. He's really great and he sometimes fixes things for free." Okay so, where's the proof of that, is it in the contract? Also, what happens when ** retires? How much will it be to fix the fan, belt, etc.? So, because he couldn't give me that information he said, "Well, I won't feel good about you buying this until I can send you the list of repair costs."

I am relieved and grateful. We don't have the money for this vacuum right now, but because of how well it cleaned (and will last), we relented and decided to buy it. But at the last minute, I thought of these questions. The salesman Matt could not answer them and after asking us to take his word for it, finally told us that he wouldn't sleep well if we bought it that night, and that we should look into our questions before we buy. Therefore, I have respect for this man and the Kirby Company. This end result was sad (because in truth, I really wanted it and thought we'd end up saving money) but today I am very happy. I still want the vacuum but will probably never buy it because of the price, and the lame-o warranty.

I asked how long this demo takes, "We only have five or ten minutes." He said, "It's going to take a lot longer than that." I asked if this were a sales pitch, and he answered yes, that we both had to be present for the demo. I said, "That's it, we are done, you can leave." He refused to leave and called his supervisor. It was a joke at that time, because the supervisor told him exactly what to tell us, word for word, he said, "I can do the demo without the sales pitch, I can just do the cleaning." He proceeded to do the demo, which is a much better sales technique anyway, except at that point there was no way I was going to waste my money on this. I asked how much, "$2499." I said $24 and 99 cents? He said, "no." It took 45 minutes to get him out of the house. It was the same thing, "Can I use your sink and paper towels to clean up?" That took another 15 minutes of slopping through the cleanup. This was an intrusive waste of time and ruined the peace and quiet of our house on a Saturday afternoon. Kirby, find another way to market your product. These guys are the encyclopedia salesmen of our time. I will never purchase or own your products ever because of this.

Meanwhile, Chris was in our kitchen cleaning up his machine using our sink and paper towels. They wouldn't go for my firm $395 and finally left without giving us our free gift; but left instead a soggy, soiled carpet which I had to clean the next morning with my trusty old Hoover Wet Vac. Stay true. Do not let Kirby in your house!

We called him back to see what was going on because he didn't call me back, and he told me I could not get it for $1300, that I was not qualified (which he never called me back to tell me that), so I told him I just wanted to cancel it. He said he would cancel it since that was what I wanted to do in the first place before he said I could have that deal that I couldn't have again. He said he would call me back to do the cancellation paperwork.

I never did receive a call back, of course. They made us wait after the 3 days of no cancellations, so we called them back again. I told them I was supposed to have it cancelled as we were lied to and it was very bad customer service. He told us he would have it cancelled and give us our stuff back we gave them for trade in which was my vacuum I already had, and an Xbox. I also gave them $100 down payment.

Now it's a couple weeks later, still no call, no stuff, no down payment back, no parts to the new vacuum so I called again, and my niece called. They said they would look into it and call back. Still, no call. I have now received a bill in the mail to pay monthly amounts of about $185 until the $3000 is paid off. I am very upset with this and it sounds like there is nothing I can do now and I have dents in my hardwood floor.

Red flag #1: This new guy came in and started his spiel about the Kirby vacuum and how it’s so revolutionary, that no other company had that technology and that’s why they have no competition, how we would never buy another vacuum again and that it would last for 20-30 years to be passed down to our children. He went on to tell us about the vacuum's lifetime warranty, and then showed us a pamphlet that clearly stated a 3-year warranty.

Red flag # 2: Then he kept repeating how no one else had this technology, and that no other vacuum cleans and reaches deep down the fibers of the carpet. He demonstrated how magnificent the vacuum was and attached a white circular pad in the vacuum and vacuumed a small area of carpet. He showed us that our apartment we just moved into was extremely dirty, and had so much dirt deep down in the fibers. He handed us the vacuum with a new pad in place to try for ourselves, and it picked up the same amount of dirt.

Red flag # 3: He then told us that there were two things we should know about the vacuum: it’s the best on the market, and had no competition and it was expensive. By this time he has talked his way out of his sale, but we let him keep going for the fun of it. He handed us a pamphlet with a $2290 price tag for the vacuum. Under the price tag it said they needed a down payment of $550 with six easy payments of $360 (clearly more than the $2290 price tag with the down payment). So as not to be rude, we asked if we could get one later, but not today. He said they only did door-to-door sales, and that we must buy one today and they had no store or contact number. He said the only store they did have only sold attachments.

We asked him four times if we could call and set up an appointment for him to come back. He said if he came back out, he couldn't give us a deal and we had to pay in full, but if we bought it today, he would waive the down payment. My husband then told him that this was a high pressure sales tactic, and he didn't want to make a purchase that large without first reading some reviews. He said that the company had been around for 100 years, and that everyone on the Internet loves the Kirby. Obviously, he hasn't read this website.

By that time the verbal exchange had gone on for 30 mins. and he had not cleaned our couch at all. (A process we were told would only be 15 minutes.) He asked us if we even wanted the demonstration, and we told him not really. He said that he couldn’t clean our couch without demonstrating it because his boss would see and he would get in trouble. I was wondering if his boss was hiding in the bushes watching through our window. My husband said we could just tell him you demonstrated, and he said no, he could walk in and see that it’s not true. I assumed he was talking about "Larry" the guy who went home.

Finally, after trying to negotiate a product we’re not going to buy, he asked us a final time if we wanted the couch cleaned, and we told him, no thanks. He then took his sweet time to pack up his box. While packing up, he told us for every two people he pitched to he sold one vacuum. We told him it’s ridiculous to not sell out of a store. They had been doing this, door-to-door sales, for 100 years, so why stop now, he said. He asked us one last time if there was no way we could buy this today, and we said, no, not without a review. In a last pathetic attempt for our money, he assured us that people who look at reviews do it while he’s there. Yeah, okay buddy boy. We kindly escorted him out of the door and told him to have a nice day. 45 mins of time wasted.

If anybody comes to your house about a Kirby vacuum, kindly turn them away unless you feel like laughing at terrible sales pitches for 45 mins.

Well last night, my daughter who lives in another state called. Keep in mind her husband is deployed, so she is alone. Two men showed up at her door and handed "something" out of their vehicle. She shut and locked her door, closed the blinds and called the police. They were banging on her door, calling out to her to open the door. She then got her gun out and let the dogs in as well. Not knowing who these people were, considering they had no uniform or name tags, did not identify themselves, are not in a company vehicle, she thought they were trying to get in to harm her. The police got there and they were selling Kirby vacuum cleaners.

I realize that door-to-door sales used to be common, but in this day and time, it is not a good idea! It isn't safe for the customers or the salespeople! I wonder how Kirby screens these people they send door-to-door in an attempt to get inside of customers' homes? I doubt they screen them at all! Kirby, if you are that desperate to sell your vacuums, then you need to find other ways to improve, but sending people in to other people's homes is not a good idea.

Well, he was at my house for about 2 hours showing me at which that point I was a little annoyed that it was taking so long, but I'm not the kind of person to be rude and tell him to leave. After the demonstration was over, I said that it was a pretty cool vacuum but there was no way I could pay for this and I had to talk to my boyfriend about it first (since we live together). He would not take no for an answer and he ended up going down from $2800 to $1600 and I still said no! Then he had to use my cell phone to call his boss to come pick him up.

Oh, and he had scattered little filter pad all over my living room rug with dirt and dust all over them to show his boss which was all over my rug that I had to clean up after anyway! Well, he called his boss and he was just sitting on my couch for about 25 minutes until (luckily) my boyfriend came home after I had texted him about these people being here. He told him nicely if he could please wait for his boss to pick him up at the end of the drive way. If he wouldn't have showed up, then he probably would have been sitting there for an hour and then his boss would have tried to badger me into buying the vacuum!

Please, do not even bother opening your door for these people because once they're in, it's very hard to get them out! And by the way, if you really do want one of these vacuums, then buy on Amazon.com or find another online website. I saw one for $1200 brand new. That is why they can lower the price so much - they make you think you are getting a "deal" if you buy it today but it's all ** to get you to buy it.

Chad and Brandon, the owners, don't care about anyone but just themselves and money. Two of my co-workers didn't get paid. Don't work for them or any Kirby Company because you are going to be working a lot and making money for them. They are going to be using you as slave like what they did to me! If you can help it, don't let Kirby people in your home. We will have better opportunities with jobs that will pay for vacations and benefits for us! God bless you and hopefully, they’ll be better people who do not take advantage of other people's dreams.

We asked him to vacuum a specific area after he had already used my Dyson and he refused to moving to a new area, so it made it look like it picked up more. He thought we didn't catch that. We told him we were not interested in spending a whopping $3,200 on a vacuum and that we would not buy it. He kept going getting cummier as the minute went. I have a Dyson and I love it. Now mind you, my house is 20 years old with original carpet, which is still half way decent unbelievably. He tried to tell me the Kirby would make it like new. No way. Impossible. It's 20 years old.

He tried to tell me the faults of my Dyson and tried to tell me that the dirt traveled through its motor and had a filter in it. I told him it only had one filter and I showed it to him and that it was washable and reusable, which is in the empty cartridge. He then went on to tell me there was another filter in the motor that needs to be replaced all the time. I told him it does not go through the motor as advertised and I pulled out the manual and proved to him that it didn't and that area was spotless. Another lie.

My Dyson is 10 years old at least and has never broken or needed anything, but emptying the cartridge after use which takes two seconds. At that point, he was still trying to pull apart the motor and I stopped him. He also tried to tell me that the air that shoots out the side to escape was dusty, which it is not. It picks up a lot of debris per vacuum. He neglects to tell you that once a bag gets full, it will naturally have less sucking power. It's not rocket science. Every other bag vacuum is the same. At this time he was seeing he was not dealing with some dumb broad. After telling them we need a roof before a vacuum and more things were a priority, they had the gall to keep pushing it. I don't know how many times I said we could not afford it.

Then, the supposedly owner showed back up, tried to talk us into it too. Now the price went from $3,200 to $1199. Oh why didn't they come out with that price in the first place? It sounded more appealing, but we still could not afford it when other things are more priority at the time. I also refused to turn in my Dyson and my Hoover carpet cleaner for money off and then he said we wouldn't. The guy insisted on shampooing the carpet, which by then they were way overextended their welcome. I let him clean it and I found the attachments to be awkward and the water could spill out of the reservoir and just then, he spilled it. Bad design. It did clean but what a hassle. You had to go over a small area in four different directions continually adding more detergent to the carpet.

Now he said you can buy the bottle of cleaner for $10 and it goes a long way. The man put three cupfuls in the tiny water container, which I thought was an extreme amount. He cleaned a 4x4 area of carpet and the time he was done, half the water with detergent was gone already. At that rate it would take you 10 bottles to clean what you need to clean. Not impressed. Then came more pushing and we just said this took up too much of our time and that we were still not willing to spend $1,199 to use it on our 20-year old carpet. Maybe if it was newer, but it's ready to be replaced or beyond that. We told him no thank you and the somber salesman cleaned up his stuff and repacked it to sell already dirty and used to another person.

You shouldn't do that. Bring in a demo and leave the people an unused in a box. Anyways, they wasted our afternoon which I had a lot to do. It is a good vacuum but just was not worth $3,200 or even $1,199 to us. Very pushy sales tactics that we did not appreciate. I told my husband to never let anyone in anymore no matter what. Last solicitor wanted to sell us a $7,000 water filtration system. Get real! BTW, you can buy the same thing on Amazon for as low as $999 to $1,200 and not deal with the annoying sales pitch. Beware buyers! Do your homework.

It is so stated in the Kirby Owner Care Handbook, as follows:

Right of Rescission. The Kirby Company requires its Independent Distributors to adhere to any county, state or local laws or regulations pertaining to consumers' cancellation rights.

Golden Ager/Disabled Consumer Purchase Cancellation Procedure. Any consumer who, at the time of purchasing a Kirby cleaning system, is at least sixty-seven (67) years old or has a disability (regardless of age) which restricts or prevents the consumer's use of the Kirby system, may cancel and rescind the purchase transaction up to nine (9) months after the date of purchase. Upon cancellation of the purchase transaction, the independent Distributor who made the sale will return all the deposits, trade-in merchandise and down payments to the consumer. If trade-in merchandise is no longer available, the independent Distributor will return to the consumer merchandise of an equal value a similar type as that of the trade-in merchandise.

I have taken this Cancellation Procedure right from the page out of the Kirby Owner Care Program Booklet. At this time, I cannot seem to get any contacts to believe what is written in their own 'handout book' that comes with the vacuum cleaner. I am a disabled person who receives Medicare and can easily prove that I am disabled. Hippa disallows me, thankfully, from having to share my personal health with anyone.

I have trouble contacting the distributor, CRM Enterpirses, Inc., Chris **, 3402 Ashland Avenue, St. Joseph, MO 64506 office contact number (only contact number) 816-390-8801. Sometimes, 'Heather' answers and Chris is never there. I did speak to him once asking for money back and would gladly return vacuum and he hung up on me. Now, I have contacted the State Of Kansas District Attorney Consumer Reports, the BBB of MO, and the local police department along with my personal attorney. If just one person from Kirby or CRM would return my calls or be kind to me, this could be settled. Since no one from the 'Seller side' has attempted in any way to contact me, without turning me over to a collection agency when in fact, I had paid cash for this machine, then they would never have contacted me at all. How do you get hold of these folks who will not stand by their Kirby Company statements and promises? Please help me to resolve this problem quickly and as professionally as possible.

My heart sunk! All the things the other consumers complained about, I went through the exact same thing - a white van full of people, them vacuuming the sheets on my bed, trading in your vacuum, the high APR, everything! Then I Googled the owner's address and it was an address to a dog salon! Then I was really heated! I texted my fiance and told him what we got ourselves into. He told me don't worry about it, that we will get out of this mess. So he called him and told him to come back today with our vacuum and come get theirs. We were cancelling this contract! He was nervous as hell!

He came back today at 4:30 on the nose and I signed the cancellation notice, got my vacuum back and they got theirs! Oh and it did help that my fiance had on his police cap! He told them last night he worked for the police department, and I assumed they remembered that! We never said he was a cop! But let this be a lesson to me and for you all. Don't fool with them, Kirby salespeople! It's a scam! Do not let them in your home!

I told her I've been trying to get my trade in back since the 3rd day and return their product which is like new other than when he cleaned my floor. The lady told me that a district manager would be calling. I have yet to hear from him. I saw them riding around my neighborhood again and went to the store where about four of them were piled up in a can. Scary. All I have done is try to do what the contract said. I do not want the product. I really can't afford it and the lady at the Orlando office said she does not have to return my items which the salesman when I talked to him at the store said he would. And that she would sue me for three times the amount of the vacuum. So this is the type of salesman you deal with when you let a Kirby salesman in your home. Be careful.

I just want my stuff back. Their contract said send by mail signed copy of cancellation within three days and call finance company also to cancel, which I did. Finance company said I am under no obligation with them, but the lady in their office which I have all names refuses to bring my stuff back and pick up their cleaner, or maybe they will pick it up but doesn't want to return my stuff. So what do I do? Any suggestions? I'm sure if the owner of the company knew they have acted this way, he or she would not appreciate it or like it. It's giving Kirby a bad name.

Afterwards, we happened to stop by and heard the story about the ordeal she had just been through. We took off to find the van that she described and within a block, we saw that a Madison County Sheriff had the van pulled over. When we pulled alongside them to report the problem, the deputy asked which house we were referring to and we told him. The deputy slowly turned the Kirby guy around and showed us he had handcuffs on him. It turns out that there were some houses in town where this same prank was pulled and prescription medication was stolen.

The Kirby salesman was arrested and charged with theft. The preliminary hearing is 10/29/12. This town is outraged at the pushy tactics used to gain entry into the houses and then to steal from some of the elderly residents. That is inexcusable. I pray that Kirby sales tactics are scrutinized and that this salesman, as well as any others involved, is sentenced to a hefty term in jail.

Note to readers: Do not trust this company and its salespeople - they are thieves and crooks.

So this guy shows up and starts demonstrating a Kirby vacuum. After about an hour of this, I told him he needed to leave, and he kept making calls to someone and stating that they would be there soon and would pick him up. At one point, he even said, "Hurry and get me. They are pretty mad." They showed up two hours after he started calling for a ride. I felt so guilty for the "stranded" guy that I ended up buying the vacuum for $1,200 (way too much). I do like the vacuum, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth over the situation.

My biggest issue with my purchase is that I dropped a lot of money on a company that is dishonest, rude, and greedy. I have no respect for the Kirby company, and I would rather buy a less quality vacuum from a company that deserves the money. They also mentioned early in the deal something about trading in my old vacuum for a cheaper price. Well, they didn't mention it again, and they took it without me even realizing what was happening. It's been three months, and every time I vacuum, I get pissed thinking about that night. Also, one 4 ft. section was all that was shampooed. Don't fall for the lies!

And when I pushed back, they brought in another person that was insulting. I actually had fun exposing them but then it did turn ugly. Be aware. I literally had to be forceful to kick them out. But what's more concerning is when I found out later that the police had to be called when they were threatening other residences with children involved. Later that same day, I talked to another residence who came to the rescue of his neighbor when they refused to leave another residence and called the police. Be aware. I am not saying that Kirby is a terrible vacuum but it is sold through fear and intimidation. It is certainly not worth what they try to sell it for. It is only a vacuum and you can buy something else as good or better for a few hundred bucks. I made a mistake letting the guy in - but he was young and we thought of giving him a chance.

However, when he started with a $2,400 vacuum, I knew it was a joke. We never expected it would have to get so ugly just to get my point across. As a side note, the original sales person left with shaking my hand. I felt bad because these sales people are under so much pressure to close the deal any way they can. What bothers me are the sales and marketing strategies that this company teaches their sales people, who are forced to use such deceptive practices to take advantage of people who maybe don't know better or are intimated in purchasing a product that is mediocre at best.

He told my mom he would put our vacuum back up when he was through and he didn't. My mom is 88 years old and she didn't appreciate any of this or his smart, rude attitude. My vacuum was left with the cord twisted around and he said it was torn up when it wasn't. The girl that was with him said he'd leave us a bag for our vacuum and he did not. His name is Brandon and the phone number he left was **. So far I have contacted the BBB, Kirby, and the state attorney general of Florida. I'm also contacting the Federal Trade Commission and getting a no trespass form from the court house for any Kirby people that will come on my property.

After about an hour of casing neighborhoods, our manager would drop us off and tell us the pitch to use to set the appointment or in-home demonstration. The pitch is ever-changing but is something like what most people on this forum have experienced. "I'm in a contest. I'm a college student trying to win a scholarship. I get paid to clean and that we are a cleaning supply company and this is just for advertising purposes." All of these are lies. The contests are real, but to be included in one is filled with red tape and virtually impossible to achieve. None of the people who worked at my office were students, myself included, and no one is ever paid to clean. Employees of Kirby make nothing unless they get a sale in someone’s home and even then money isn't guaranteed and the lie about being a cleaning company is obvious. We sell Kirbies, not give away carpet shampoo.

Do not fall for this. Once inside a home, my "manager" explicitly trained us to sell or be kicked out, not kissed out. Meaning, either sell the Kirby by any means necessary or force the person to kick you out of their home. It is quite literally a staple of the in-home demonstration model utilized by the company. We stay until you (a) kick us out, (b) buy the Kirby, or (c) call the Police. And yes, people do call the police on agents of this company, and yes, the police will remove them and their van from your neighborhood. More often than not, they are not permitted to solicit and if you phone the police, Kirby will run. They know they are a scam. Many distributors are ousted from the company every year for harassment and in the month I worked for Kirby, police were involved twice. Never with me, but with other agents. Both times, we left the neighborhood and the city immediately. I would love to say this is the worst of it, but it isn't. Keep reading.

The cost of the Kirby far outweighs anything that is humanly reasonable. The distributor’s price for the Kirby is between $500 and $800 USD. On the side of every box is a label that will be conveniently hidden either with a sticker or covered with the vacuum bag so it is not visible. This price is on the left-hand side of the box, the same side with the American flag on it. The label is the suggested retail price set by the Kirby corporate office (if you can call it that) and is $1349.00. It then lists the price of all the attachments as being between $60.00 and $200.00. Upon performing, the Kirby demonstration/free cleaning the person in your home is instructed to quote you a price of something between $2500.00 and $3500.00. When you object, they offer trade-in discounts on everything from old vacuum cleaners (which are either thrown away or resold) to guns, cars, boats, electronics, etc.

Basically, it’s a pawn shop in a van and a phony way of lowering the price so you feel as though you get a great deal. When agents are in the same neighborhood but in different homes, the manager will actually attempt to coordinate the prices for both the homes so that no one gets upset that one home paid $1000.00 while the neighbor down the street paid $2200.00 for the exact same item. To be truthful, this rarely works, though they do try so that no one is suspicious of the price gouging technique utilized to maximize profit at the customer’s expense. The suggested retail price is also a kind of sham. Three times, I watched my manager sell a Kirby for $1000.00 or less. Simply offer cash of $800 to $1000 and they'll sell it to you on the spot. If you write a check, it will be cashed within 30 minutes of you signing it. Every time anyone wrote a check for a Kirby, the first thing that was done was to cash the check and the manager would place the money not into a bank account, but rather their pocket. If you write a check, it will be cashed before you can even consider what just happened.

Every price they give you will be "the lowest price the company allows me to go on such a versatile home maintenance system.” Stand your ground, they jump for cash and checks. You can easily save yourself over $1000.00 by simply offering $800.00 to $1000.00 cash or check. The APR on financing a Kirby is between 22% and 30%. They will always extend payments for the first 90 days and set your payments for the maximum length of time, that being 36 months. Most people pay well over $500.00 in interest, if not $1000.00 or more. No Kirby is brand new. All Kirbies are used in demonstrations for in-home sales. At our office, we would take all the dirty Kirbies out of the van every morning and proceed to Windex the metal so it was shiny and take an air compressor to blow out the dust from the hoses and head piece the prior day. We demo a Kirby until it is sold, whether that be the day it arrives at the office or 6 months from that day.

I sold a Sentria II (the newest Kirby model) to a woman who already had a Sentria I (the second newest Kirby model). We cleaned the Sentria I she had traded us for her "new" Kirby, placed it into a Sentria II box and my manager proceeded to sell it as a new Kirby that same day. It was never cleaned nor tested - rather, it was simply wiped down with Windex. I know this for a fact because I'm the one who "cleaned" it. This process is called factory refurbishment. Some of the people who work for Kirby are honest people: they are called new-hires and they typically quit within one month (I am a critical example of this). Those that stay with the company have allowed themselves to be sold. Kirby is supposed to run background checks on all employees before they are hired. I doubt that this is 100% accurate because two of the people in my office were convicted felons, both of which were on parole. I do not know why they were convicted. I felt it better to not ask.

You have three days to return a Kirby; after that, it's yours. They will make the return policy as difficult as humanly possible in the hope that you just give up and keep the machine. There is, however, something to be aware of when buying from an agent. Kirby has a policy called "The Golden-Ager Policy." It states that anyone who is over the age of 65 can return their Kirby up to 9 months after the purchase date for a full refund. This policy was set-up by the company because of all the lawsuits (and there are many) about Kirby targeting the elderly and taking advantage of them. This is a fact. We were openly told to do this as sales agents in order to sell more units by our team leaders and managers. They are easy sales. I was also told that I would be in world of something not so pleasant if I ever told a customer about the “Golden Ager Policy.” Our team leader (meaning van driver) actually had us remove the policy from the literature we hand to the prospect (that being the customer) so that they would not be aware of its existence.

I would love to reveal how the company lies to its employees and refuses to pay people commissions after they have sold a machine and the creative ways they steal from the people they hire, but it is not relevant to this forum. In closing I will simply say this: you can get a great Kirby online for far less than what the agent in your home is telling you, but after you read this, you have all the information you need to turn this scam right back on the manager and dealer in your home. Don't pay $3000.00 for something that isn't worth $1500.00, especially when the real price is on the side of the box. I hope that all of you on this forum who read this find this helpful and I want to formally apologize to every single one of you. I'm sorry you were high pressured into buying the Kirby. I'm sorry this company does this to you, but rest assured that the employees are treated no better than the customers.

Again, I'm sorry for all the torment and frustration that I and others like me have caused. Buyer, beware: there’s a million people every day who want nothing more than to slip their hands into your wallets and their propaganda into your mind. Kirby has the best vacuum in the world, but sadly they are the worst company in America. That is a fact.

Exhausted, frustrated, and uncomfortable in my own home, I agreed to purchase the overpriced vacuum, which I did not need. After a night of tossing and turning over my poor decision, I sent a certified letter to the Kirby distributor canceling my purchase (I had three days to do so). I received confirmation the letter was received, but no one from the distributor will return my call to set up a time for them to pick up the vacuum cleaner. I am worried that the sale was a scam and I am stuck with paying for something that I was pressured into buying. I realize I should have been stronger and pushed them out the door, but at the time, I was so uncomfortable that I felt the only way I could get them out of my home was to give them what they wanted. Has anyone had this similar experience? Did the distributor come and get the vacuum? Or, am I stuck with this dang thing?

4 days later, they finally came to pick up their masterpiece, but did not bring back my piece of trash. The price of their masterpiece was now down to $998.00. No thanks. I'll keep my $69.95. It took 2 weeks and calls to the corporate office to get back my "piece of trash" without the two hose attachments. Of course, they swore up and down they did not have them. When Kirby knocks on your door, don't let them in; they are scamming you!

When the Kirby people told us about how you can’t find it anywhere else, a week later, I saw 3 of them in a pawn shop with accessories for $150.00, one without accessories for $70.00 which is 1 of my monthly payments. We had 2 vacuums, 1 we didn’t like the other we did but they took because they said they already told their boss what it was. We only vacuum once every 2 weeks now because it’s a total pain to get it out and use it. We're going to pawn it and use the money to buy our other vacuum again. Thanks Kirby for giving me a reason to want to go back to Afghanistan to get blown up. Oh, and the people that were at my house work at Kirby Co.

When it didn't do such a great job getting the surface dirt during the demo, he repeatedly chalked it up to it being because it only picks up 30% of the dirt, so somehow it was getting the deep down stuff but leaving behind some of the top dirt? Why on earth did I feel sorry for someone who was wasting my time? I trusted. When I finally did try to use it, it wouldn't work. Great. I called to get it returned, oh, apparently I signed saying I knew it was a 3-day return. Funny when I was going through the contract (that I was being rushed through), I didn't see that anywhere and he certainly never mentioned it. I lost my temper more than once with the Eagle American Distributors here in AZ, always the same guy - nope, can't transfer me to anyone else.

I had guests coming, and because I couldn't get my super machine to do anything, I had to use the wet vac to vacuum the carpet. Thank goodness I didn't let them take that away! I called, was given a suggestion, ran the vacuum for a few seconds, and it appeared to work. But as I was on the phone with the AED folks, I didn't try running it for as long as it took to clean the room. More stress and anger, and days later, I decided that since I bought it, I might as well make the best of it. I tried to vacuum, lowered the setting as instructed, and again, the surface dirt wasn't getting sucked up. Lowered it one more setting and it actually was picking up the surface dirt (finally!), only for the smell of burnt rubber to then permeate the entire house moments later. The belt was burnt.

Another very angry, tearful, and not nice call to AED, another useless waste of breath and stress - he candidly told me it was my own fault for having the setting too low; no suggestion for why it wasn't working higher, just repeated it was my fault the belt was burnt; they'd send me new ones. I angrily told him I didn't want new belts. I wanted them to pick up this very expensive piece of trash. Maybe this was a lemon? Anyway, I now have a brand-new (supposedly, anyway) very expensive piece of trash taking up space in my home. Tired of feeling utterly stupid for getting something I knew I couldn't afford, and frankly, didn't even want, I'm trying to make the best of it.

I will try calling again today to see if they can help me get this wonderful contraption to at least do something productive in this house. I called and/or emailed our Attorney General's office, the Federal Trade Commission, and the BBB to leave complaints. I found out that in 2008, some local Kirby distributors were actually sued by the AZ AG and settled, and that false phone advertising was one of the things they were sued for and mandated to stop. Apparently, these guys either didn't hear about that or just moved into a new distributorship and reverted back to old practices. If you really want a Kirby, save yourself the sales pitch. I'll sell you mine for what I paid for it minus $50. I owe that much to myself, at least, for getting into this. You'll also get the extra belts they say they're sending, the shampoo kit, and the full Sentria II works.

I contacted the company and got the runaround. I ended up making an appointment with a David, a service manager, to meet me at her home on Monday, Aug. 20th. I specifically made a point telling him I need to be there, and I work. I received a call on August 16th from David stating, "I am in your area and I will drop off a vacuum at your mom's." I responded by reminding him of our appointment, and that my shift had just started at work. He said, " Ma'am, I am going by there because I am in town, it is convenient for me, I'm coming from Columbia."

I asked him again to make our appointment on Monday because I was at work. I had to leave my busy job at the hospital and go to my mother's house. He brought in 5 vacuums that all had visible dirt in the rotor and the collection canisters. I couldn't believe what I saw. I said to him they were dirty. He responded, "Well, ma'am this is what I have, choose one or take all of them, I don't care." I reminded him the contract said new vacuum (even though I didn't expect a very expensive one, just an equal to replace hers). He brushed me off by saying, this is what I have, choose one." I helped my mother choose one, but told David I would contact the owner and asked him for the information. He told me the owner was Jeffrey **.

After that day I followed up and called about 5 times, each time leaving a message to the person who was on the phone with me, and repeating my whole story as they requested I do. On my last phone call, 08/29/12, I spoke with several people, (Mrs. **, and William **, the sales manager) each giving me excuses as to why I couldn't speak with the owner. Eventually after holding on the line for several minutes, I hung up and called back. I was told that they had a meeting to discuss my mother and decided not to talk to me anymore, then I asked who I was speaking to and she hung up on me. Throughout the whole incident, let me say I had been respectful and factual.

I didn't call back, but felt like my mother was scammed, taken advantage of and thought about others they may have done this to also. They were very unprofessional in their dealings with me. At one point I was told they wouldn't talk to me but my mother who, again, is 81 years old. I was angry and couldn't just let it go. Therefore, I am telling this unfortunate incident about this crude company. My mother lives in a neighborhood with mostly elderly residents, and sales calls are frequent.

When I told him I wasn't planning on buying today, he took a nasty attitude with me and kept asking me what it would take for me to buy today. It went downhill from there, and I basically kicked him out of my house. I wouldn't buy a Kirby from anyone now, much less the salesman that called on me. Sales 101: Never get angry when a customer doesn't want to buy!! Kirby Company, you need to train your people a little better if you want to make any sales.

What a really unprofessional manner. Oh, and he kept on telling me how horrible my carpets were because I was not using Kirby! Unbelievable! He also kept on telling me how we could afford nice stuff in our house and not afford to buy the Kirby which is worth more than our rent! I was showing how I really wanted him out of our house. Then, he asked for snacks and water and if I could give him a ride because his boss, the one who dropped him off, was getting an oil change in a nearby auto shop. So, I fed him but didn't say yes to taking him anywhere! To hell with these people! I am telling you. Don't let them in your house because they will invade your privacy at any chance they have!

As he set-up his spew on the vacuum and vacuuming my home area, I notice all of the unnecessary parts. In the world of making equipment lighter, he showed me this heavy metal vacuum cleaner with the extended, non-retractable cord. When he told me the price of over $1800 for this vacuum cleaner, this was not a good selling point. He was vacuuming small selections, stopping and showing me how much the vacuum has picked up and how dirty my carpet was. The little visit became hours.

This was when the other salesman showed up with his rehearsed lines. He showed me a monthly financial plan which seemed reasonable in time. While I was trying to check the website for complaints, he kept interrupting so I wouldn't find out the truth about the possible problems. I told him I must check with the wife and if we don't like it, you will get this back. He threw in some extra bags to sweeten the deal of keeping the vacuum cleaner. They finally left my home at 10:30 pm, now I was drained and ready for bed after dealing with them.

On Friday, I talked with my wife about the vacuum cleaner and this was when she showed me some unknown bills requiring urgent attention. With these bills and a son in college, I knew we could not afford this vacuum cleaner as an additional burden, "I will call and cancel in the morning." On Saturday afternoon, I called to cancel but there was no answer so I thought no one was there. So, I left a voice message telling them I received some financial information which will put me in a bind and I couldn't afford the cost of this vacuum cleaner at this time and to please schedule a date and time to retrieve this item. I left them my home phone number to call me back. They did not call me back.

I called Monday morning. Someone answered the phone. I said, "I'm sorry to inform you but we can't afford this vacuum cleaner at this time." She hung the phone up on me. I called again, another lady answered the phone. I tried to explain my situation, then she put me on hold. I had to check to make sure she did not hang the phone up on me. Minutes later, then a guy (no name given) answered the phone with an attitude. I tried to explain my financial situation to him and he got loud, "Did you read the contract you signed? It's right there in the contract, read me the contract! I could fax you the contract!" He rambled on with some more derogatory comments I wish not to put on paper. I let him know I had the contract in front of me. I tried to explain I called Saturday hoping someone would call me back. He stated, "You had 3 workdays to mail the contract back! Saturday is a workday!"

Now I was about to lose all of my Christian morals over this fool but I said a silent prayer and proceeded, "So this is how this company works? What can I do now?" He stated, "Well the commission for the sale was already given to the salesmen and you signed & bought the vacuum cleaner!" Customers should not be treated this way. He told me his name is Jesse, I'm guessing as in Jessco Distributing. If this is how the owner runs his business, don't take your business here!

So others don't get fooled by this rip-off, don't accept someone selling items from the trunk of their car and don't accept door to door salesmen! I don't know about the Kirby product because while I was talking to one salesman, the other salesman switched the working vacuum with another one. Don't buy Kirby Vacuum from Jessco Distributing, 889 Airport Park Rd, Glen Burnie MD, 21060. After this, they may change their name again so be careful or don't buy from a Kirby Vacuum salesman!

Not only that, how did he know what kind of home he was dropping her off to for more than an hour. She was trying to reach him by cell phone to pick her up but he was not answering! He finally came to get her and she hugged me and thanked me for being concerned about her. I was furious but did not want to say anything to the van driver because I knew she had a long drive home. Well three hours later, my husband stopped at a local pizzeria and saw the young girl finally getting something to eat! Guess we weren't her last demonstration of the day and it looked like a long night for this young lady! If Kirby has to stoop to these tactics to get a sale, I would never purchase their product. Instead of looking into work conditions overseas, I suggest we look in our own backyards!

Once the sale was done, they took my old vacuum and left. Once they were gone, I wanted to try my new vacuum out. Upon using it, the vacuum turned off 3 times. I called the office the next day and they gave me the runaround. They didn't want to help me or direct me to whom I had to talk to. When I finally contacted the distributor, they were able to help and cancelled my order. The people who I brought the vacuum from called me right after and said I had to drop the vacuum off myself because they weren't coming to pick it up. At that point, I decided to drive the hour and a half trip to drop it off because I just didn't want to deal with these people again.

Once I got there and returned the vacuum, they went through everything in front of me to make sure everything was there, but as they were taking things apart I realized that the vacuum they sold me was old and dirty inside. It looked new because they polished the outside up. I'm glad I was able to get out of the contract! Lesson learned! Don't trust these Kirby people! They will tell you anything just to get you to let them in. Don't believe the lies that they need your help about a trip or the cheap free soap they are giving you!

So, yes, some kids my age (19) will work for someone who isn't as honest or professional as he/she should be, but overall Kirby has been around for 98 years. If it was that horrible of a company, we would have gone out of business ages ago. I can personally guarantee that if you get a representative from 8 Days, LLC or Cezo Inc. from Michigan, then you will have a pleasant experience with a hard-working individual. Sure, they may be some coaxing involved, or even the occasional bad apple, but do not judge the machine on the salesman. And if you choose to buy one, then don't hate the one who showed you something you liked and wanted. You’re adults, act like it. On a daily basis, I come across people who treat me and my co-workers like bottom-feeders, scums, the worst of the worst when honestly we're just trying to show you a great all American-made product. And if you don't want to buy one, then don't.

Someone else will. The dealer will still make his check and the day will go on. Also, "haggling," as you put it, is the main reason new dealers don't make any money as they're not our Kirbys, but they are our distributors. So, if you buy one for more than someone else, it’s not because you were ripped off, it’s because the dealer legitimately could not lower the price any further without permission. And if you think it’s best to rip-off the kid literally working on their hands and knees, then that’s your prerogative. But honestly my only advice to those complaining would be to directly contact the Kirby corporate office and speak with them. Individual dealers or distributors still have to answer to Kirby.

Friday at 10am, no one shows up, I receive a phone call saying they are running late and will be here at about 10:30am. Finally at 10:45am, the doorbell rings. I now have John and Edward. I invite them in and John says it will only be Edward as he has other deliveries. I reiterate that I'm not going to buy a thing. No problem. Obviously, this goes from bad to worse. Ninety minutes later, I ask Edward when he'll be picked up and he says "Oh, soon." The demo continues, I get really antsy and tell him I'm no longer processing the information. Edward gets upset wondering if it's something that he did wrong. We continue on. About 1:00pm, I ask when he will be cleaning the furniture and he tells me "Soon, first let's go check out the mattress and you will see all the dust mites." Who cares?

One chair gets vacuumed and then the sales pitch. “What is the Kirby worth? About $1000! Well, this great vacuum is only $2260.00.” I laugh and remind him again that I'm not buying anything. We clean the lampshades. Then, he asks to borrow the phone, steps outside and returns with a great offer. Two hundred down and $99 a month for 36 months - fast computation. Oh, now it is only $3800 less $36. Wow, what a deal. I am not buying. This continues until I finally go inside to use the computer and sits there totally ignoring him. Then, he tells me his boss would like to speak with me. Okay, so we talk and I burst out laughing and tell him this is the first time I have been T.O.'ed over the phone. I give him back to Edward.

Final offer: $1060.00, $200 down and the balance financed for a total of the $1060.00. I wrote a big “NO” and went back to the computer. About 2:00, I finally went out and told him that I felt like I was being held hostage in my own home. Edward got angry and said he was leaving. Five minutes later he walked out the front door, went across the street and sat outside for 15-20 minutes in 105-degree heat before his ride came. What an experience!

First I called the Kirby company, I googled the customer service phone number. They were very polite and ask a few questions, after that they instructed me to mail the cancellation notice via certified mail as soon as possible since I only had three days to do so. After that I called the distributor, since the sales person only left their phone number (Leatrice Hill & Associates LLC). When I told them I wanted to return the Kirby, the girl on the phone said that I didn't need to mail anything and that she was going to send the sales person that same day to come pick it up. A few hours later, since I didn't get a call for pick up, I went ahead and mailed the cancellation notice via certified mail, and also filed a complaint with BBB.

The next day when I called the distributor office, the girl went off on me saying that I didn't have to file a complaint with BBB or call the Kirby company, that if I didn't want the vacuum cleaner I just had to mail the cancellation notice, that I wasn't the only customer and that the sales person was going to come whenever they had time to do so, and to not call again, and hung up on me. I was in shock, but a few minutes later I called again and ask if I could go and drop the thing up at the office and they said yes. The office is 68 miles away in Goldsboro NC but I was more than happy to drive there as long as they would take it. The next day as I was getting ready to drive there, I received a call and within minutes they showed up to pick it up and return the one I traded in. So overall not such a bad experience since I could return it. But my advice to you is:

6. And last but not least. Any consumer who, at the time of purchasing a Kirby cleaning system, is at least sixty seven (67) years old or has a disability (regardless of age) which restricts or prevents the consumers use of the Kirby system may cancel and rescind the purchase transaction up to nine (9) months after the date of purchase.

Upon cancellation of the purchase transaction, the independent distributor who made the sale will return all deposits, trade-in merchandise and down payments to the consumer. To cancel your purchase under the Golden Age/Disabled Consumer Cancellation Procedure, contact The Kirby Company’s Customer Relations Department. Well hope this info is helpful for you as it was for me.

The lady that knocked on our door left, leaving the two others to clean our living room. They were both very nice and talkative and never pushed anything on us. The trainee and my husband both are into fitness and talked about that and the girl and I talked about random things like girls do! I think it helped that we were all the same age! The girl did the demonstration, which took about 2 hours (a lot longer than I thought it was going to) and then showed me the price of it. When she showed me that she said, "Don’t worry, I would never spend that amount on a vacuum and I don’t expect you to either." She said once they completed the credit check, that would affect what kind of deal she could cut us.

Everything checked out with the credit and then her boss came in to talk to us about it. I will admit I was not a fan of her boss. He was much pushier than they were and I almost told him I was not going to buy it because of his attitude. I eventually agreed to buy the vacuum for $2,000 (which seems like a huge amount to me, especially when I just bought a new car 4 days ago). By this time, it was almost 11:30 and my husband and I both had to get up early for work. I would recommend to Kirby representatives to be respectful of the time it is when you knock on someone’s door, especially if it is getting late. If it’s late, don’t lie to someone and tell them it won’t take long. I would rather make an appointment at a better time than have them do it.

The original price is outrageous ($3,495) and no one would pay full price for a vacuum. Luckily, some of the representatives understand that and don’t expect it. But the managers are extremely pushy and Kirby almost lost a sale because of that. They are lucky I based my decision on how the reps were and not the manager. I am looking for this to be the last vacuum I will ever have to buy, so it better last!

I was given about $1100 credit toward this new Kirby. The balance of $2000 was to be financed after tax and a down payment of $150 was applied. Today, I looked online to check out the Kirby company and their prices on these available vacuum systems. I wish I had done this last week. I would have known the prices as well as all the scams and lawsuits involved with this product. The lowest price found on the exact system was $1295. This was without spending 4 hours on a demo from a guy with a ponytail and a hat who came in my home while the female who originally approached me about the free room carpet cleaning (which did not happen either - just a coffee spot) left to drop off other salesmen.

Yes, he had to call for his ride to come and pick him back up. He also told me that the machine he was using for a demo was just that and that I would receive a new machine that had never been used. That did not happen either. The company owner, when I called him on it, said that each machine was used for three demos only and then returned to Kirby for refurbishing. My machine had only been used one other time. I told him that it is crazy for the price not to get a new machine. He offered only after I fussed. But then, I was not sure of a machine that was just dropped off in a box and not used for my demo.

That was when I should have told him no and asked them both to leave. Home selling is hard and I was trying to be nice. I feel completely screwed over this purchase. I know that Kirby is supposed to be a great brand. I have no reason to doubt this as of yet. I am just stuck with a $2000 bill for something that I probably did not really need. My Rainbow vacuums worked just fine and were very expensive as well. I was trying to help out a UA student. Instead, I was scammed by a "distribution company" that used whatever tactics needed to make a sale. I guess it is all about the money for some, but this experience has really brought the Kirby name down not only for me but for all the others shown on this website that have had similar experiences. It's very sad, what the world is coming to.

When it was finally getting dark (around 9:30), I asked where the saleswoman went and he didn't know. I said couldn't he call her (I had literally seen her give him her cell phone number earlier in the night). He claimed his phone had died - offered to let him use mine, but he said the number was on the phone (I had seen him write it down). I said that was pretty strange that she hadn't come back, yet, and he said, "Oh, what, am I creeping you out?" in a pretty aggressive way. I brushed this off, "Oh, no of course not (yes!), but it's just weird that she's not back, yet." Then I was on the phone with my boyfriend, who is extremely concerned/** about this situation, wondering why these people were still in my house. This guy who was cleaning my house had the gall to say that he thinks my boyfriend is too controlling, and "I'm sorry, but I don't like that." Well then it's good you're not the one dating him, buddy.

Anyway, while I was on the phone, suddenly the saleswoman was back! Magic, perfect timing! Really made me question if his phone was really dead. And then they just packed up (which he had been doing very slowly for the past 30 minutes) and just left. I asked for a business card - they don't have one? This was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had, and honestly it was pretty creepy. The people had seemed nice/normal enough to begin with, but by the end, I felt almost like my home was being cased and like my safety was at risk. I'm literally buying extra insurance tonight as a result.

I feel that I was sold a defective item. I hope the company resolves this issue. If not, I'll file a consumer complaint with the NM Attorney General's office on Monday. This sales team is currently selling door to door in Albuquerque. They are here from Irwindale, CA. I will post after talking with service on Monday. I hope other consumers think to look up reviews of the company and their sales tactics while they have the salesperson in their home.

Being a canvasser entailed knocking on people’s doors trying to convince them to let me in and then when they did, I would have to call my manager and she would bring someone doing demos to the house and then I would bring them in and leave. I was instructed by my manager to tell people the demo was extremely quick and there was no pressure to buy - which was a huge lie. For every house that allowed me to go in, I was supposed to get $10; for every sale in a home, I was supposed to get $100. While needless to say after my husband and I worked 2 weeks and he made 2 sales and I made 2 sales and knocked a person in, our manager Jillian said my husband only made $50 on a $1900 sale and I only made the $10 for knocking someone in. She is refusing to pay what was promised during orientation. The people running the company are giving the vacuum a bad name. Do not fall for their psychological tactics.

My sellers were extremely courteous and polite. They were not pushy at all. My husband asked them to leave and they were about to until I stepped in to hear what they had to say. They were kind and stayed on the facts. We asked many questions and they never hesitated to answer. I don't know if we just got lucky with the sort of people that came to our home or what, but they were normal, rest assured. I'm sure not all of them are, but we got lucky I guess. When we were indecisive as to whether we wanted the product or not, they did not push us or continue to canvass us with their spiel. They sat quietly and waited for us to make a decision.

The product turned out to be very nice. Yes, it is loud and bulky, but I guess it depends on what you are looking for. If you want new plastic that will last a few years to get you by and purchase a new vacuum again, then the Kirby is not for you. If you want to spend the money of buying three vacuums over 15-20 years all at once, then this is the product for you. If you are elderly, then this may not be the best for you as the switches for putting on and taking off attachments may be difficult for someone with arthritis. However, if you have a family that comes over and helps you out, then this is a good investment. My husband and I love it and we have no complaints so far. There are many attachments and it is capable of doing many jobs that would require more money spent on several machines.

All in all, I'm rating the actual product and not the salespeople because at the end of the day, I did not purchase the salespeople. I give the product 5 stars out of 5 (if there was such a rating system for the Kirby). The price started out high, but we haggled them down to a little less than a grand. If there is any advice I could give on this, it would be to haggle like you've haggled a used car salesperson. I read on here about people paying $1,800 for the Kirby. Are you kidding me?! It is an amazing product, but there is no reason you should settle for that price. They gave us all sorts of discounts and we kept on with it until it was a price we felt was affordable.

Buy it, but don't get taken advantage of. Be careful and don't give out your social security number. They ask for it if you want to finance, but don't actually need it on the paperwork. Ask to talk to the loan officer yourself on the phone and give it to them yourself. Leave the room if you need to. If the salesperson in your home insists that they need your SSN on the paperwork, then don't trust them. Our salespeople let us tell the loan officer ourselves without actually writing it down for him or giving it to him. Just be smart about it and you'll be happy with the product that will last a long time.

Last week it was because one of the sales called corporate and complained that their friend had gotten a lower price so they lowered the sales price, then told my son he lost the commission because of the lower price. How is this company allowed to do this to hard working people? And for those of you calling these kids "scums" and "low-lifes" stop and remember that not all of them are. Some of them got suckered just like you did and thought they were doing a great thing!