Kirby Vacuum Cleaners Reviews

If I see this White Van and him driving it or another vehicle in our town and am calling the police. You need to be careful on what kind of people you hire. I am still upset over this situation and I will tell everyone I know in this town what happened and our town is very small... 2000 people at the most!

So, they come, no apologies or anything. Introduce us to Josh **, the man who would be doing the demonstration. The boss, Skipper, leaves. Josh does the spiel (that each of us now knows), the circle patches, asks questions like, do you know who invented vacuum cleaners? Guess how many volts the Kirby has, how much do you think you could suck up with a long straw vs. short hence my upright is better than canister, etc. Cute at first, then it started to feel insulting. "If this picks up this much dirt, how well do you think your current vacuum is doing?" DUH, not very well, OBVIOUSLY. (My mum has put a new vacuum on lay-by, The Shark, one week before the guy came out, so we know our machine is obviously hopeless which is why we're getting a new one) "Which one do you think would perform better?" The Kirby. Obviously.

It started to feel a bit like school and we were answering "it would be easier with the Kirby", "The Kirby", "Obviously that one, the Kirby" etc, etc on and on. I started to feel like, yes, we know our machine sucks, okay? Just shampoo our ** lounge room and stop with the patronizing pop quiz. So Mum tells Josh about her lay-by and (naturally) he runs her new machine down and says it's a piece of plastic, you're better off getting a $50 machine than paying $399 for the one you're lay-bying now, as they're all the same, on and on. By this time, its about 7:45pm, and Mum had just decided to do grilled cheese and tomato for dinner, because my father is a brittle diabetic and needs to eat regularly and he'd gone without for long enough. I forgot all about the percolated coffee (I was starting to get irritated and wouldn't have felt like offering it to him anyway). And he kept demonstrating while we were in the kitchen in view. Mum kept saying, "But you ARE going to shampoo the carpet aren't you?"

Anyway, he shows us the price - you Americans are far LUCKIER. Here, the price was $4380.00. Which obviously, could be paid off. We said we couldn't afford the repayments ($33 or $23 per week). We had lost a cat due to a sudden unexplained illness just 2 weeks earlier resulting in a $1100.00 vet bill, $600 of which we still had left to pay off. He then suggested $10.00 a week and I said that that would mean the payment length of time would be 'ballooned'. He agreed. Anyway, he asked to do the mattress test, which Mum wasn't going to move Dad out of bed for at that time of night. He begged saying he wouldn't be paid if he didn't have the pads to show he did the mattress test. I finally allowed him to do mine, which was BRAND NEW and only delivered from the store 2 days previously. I had an old mattress protector, which I had washed the day the new mattress was delivered, on top of the new mattress. Anyway, does the dust mite thing. By that time I wasn't shocked by anything and was just getting tired and annoyed.

So he continues to do the demonstration in the lounge room (STILL hadn't shampooed it and it was near 9pm) still asking dumb obvious patronizing questions about which do you think would be better for this and that (I think in my head, the ** Kirby, it's the answer to everything you ask now please just stfu with the child-like questions). His boss comes back and talks with Mum trying to get her to change her mind and Josh finally starts the vacuuming after Mum says it's getting late just forget the shampooing (and he's all, "No, no, I promised you that") but basically just goes over the one area so many times.

I had long given up talking/watching by that point and went into my room to watch some TV. Finally, Mum as irritated and tired as me, just asked them to leave and forget about the rest of the carpet - only about a third of the carpet was actually shampooed because he was talking for so long and going over the same area, while still saying, "No, seriously, just get a $50 machine instead of the Shark, you really are wasting money, the Shark is a piece of plastic. etc., etc). It was some time after 9pm when he finally left.

All up, we moved all the lounge suites and coffee table anticipating the carpet would actually be shampooed. We waited from 4pm up to 6:17pm, putting off dinner, medication and other chores. Mum couldn't sit down and eat dinner until they left after 9pm. And still; only one third of the floor shampooed. All for that. Waiting and putting our routine on hold for 5 hours. With practically nothing to show for it but frazzled nerves.

A couple of things. One, the lateness and non-apologies was unprofessional enough. Also ignoring us when we were talking about dinner. It's like he didn't have any situational awareness of time or dinner. Or anything, really. The other thing was he blamed his boss for being late dropping him off and continued to blame his boss for this and for that. It all may well have been true. But I have a degree in business, and one of the things we are taught is tact and professionalism, and that it isn't appropriate to disparage your colleagues. No apologies at all whatsoever, no effort to make up for being late, not even acknowledging he was keeping us from dinner, not even an "I'm, very sorry I am keeping you from your dinner, I ask you to bear with me for just (x amount of time)". He never acknowledged the time, didn't acknowledge ANYTHING. Inconvenience. Nothing. But to then continue to blame his boss for everything? Completely un-business-like and thoroughly unprofessional. So that alone, from a business ethics side, put me off.

The machine no doubt is very good. But if it truly was as good as they say, they would advertise. They would sell it in stores. It seems the real reason the price is so exorbitant is that there are so many 'layers' of people being paid. The machine is probably worth $500. Tops. But the multi-layers of middle-men being paid means it ends up being basically 8 times the price, just to pay all the salespeople involved. I say cut out the middleman, and if you are interested in this machine, look for one on eBay. If they really last that long, ones on eBay should be fine. Pay for the product, not 6 sellers/bosses.

Bottom line to Kirby: learn to CONDENSE your spiel. Don't take 3-4 hours. You won't get a sale. Just extremely irritated people who will be *less* likely to buy your 8 x mark-upped product to pay for your team leaders and bosses. Teach your salespeople professionalism, time management, courtesy, tact, and empathy. And the ability to acknowledge time and to apologize when needed. Also, if you tell me you don't have a card with contact details to offer me and its hard for me to reach you, that isn't exactly promising or reassuring. All up, possibly a very good product massively marked up to pay for too many middlemen and let down by inconsiderate salesmen with no courtesy or business acumen or professionalism.

I was very disappointed at what I read on this site about the high pressure sales and I told that to Richard. He had never read anything online and I suggested that he do that. Although none of the reviews were from Lincoln, NE I didn't like the idea of the high pressure sales, the "deal is only good today". Richard was very polite and had to call his boss and explain. He quickly packed up his stuff and I told him he would need to wait outside as I had someplace to go. He walked down the street several houses and waited there when I left. He continued to be polite and professional until the end. I felt bad for him that Kirby has this policy and he has to suffer if anyone does what I do and reads the reviews. The machine seemed to do a good job vacuuming, but couldn't really see the difference with the shampooing.

During the 2 hour process he called his boss several times. At one point a lady and one of the first guys came back. At this point the man doing the clean was ready to shampoo, she told him that he wasn't and told him he needed to vacuum more, which he did, for another 15 minutes. Once he was done with shampooing he called his boss again and they came back. The first price they gave me was for 1078 then they could drop the price to 850. At that point I told them that they had wasted everyone's time. They left. The man doing the cleaning said that cleaning up would take about 6 minutes. The cleanup took about 15 minutes.

The product did what they said it would. It picked up a lot more dirt than my cheap Hoover did. They profess that it will beat a Dyson or Shark; however, I have not seen either of these products to have a fair comparison. I was impressed with the way it could be used to clean couches, chairs, and mattresses. The shampooing part did get out some pet stains but when the guy doing the cleaning and the sales lady stepped on the wet areas they left black marks which I am going to have to get out now. If I had the money I would have considered purchasing the product but for the price offered it is not something I could afford.

I told them that my husband was already asleep (he gets up at 2 am to go to work) and they insisted it would be quick and I would be doing them a favor. Once I said ok, they said they would be right back and two more men showed up to bring in the equipment. They asked questions about my job and work schedule and repeatedly asked me to put away my dog. It made me begin to think that they were scouting the neighborhood to come back and rob houses at a later date. The salesmen and woman left one man to do my carpet. When he turned on the vacuum, it was so loud that it woke up my mother-in-law downstairs. I was very upset that they would wake up my husband. I told him that he needed to go, but he insisted on giving me the shampoo he had promised.

When he handed me a container and asked me to fill it with water, I refused. Then he walked past me into my kitchen and filled it himself! He shampooed my stairs and I told him I could not afford $3000 for a vacuum because I needed a new car. He told me that his boss had a car for sale for $1000 if I could drive a stick! That was the final stray for me and I told him he needed to go. He previously kept telling me that his boss was in another neighborhood and it would be a while before he could pick him up. I told him it was awfully late to be knocking on people's houses to shampoo their carpets. His response was that sometimes they ran credit at 1:00 in the morning. It took me more than an hour to get him out of my house.

The next day I reported them to the local police, thinking that they were criminals. Once I looked up Kirby vacuums on the internet, I realized that this is how they do business all the time. A reputable company would not use aggressive, disrespectful tactics to try and sell you a good product. A reputable company would not play on the good graces of kind people, holding them "hostage" in their homes after they have been asked multiple times to leave. A reputable company would not lie about what they were offering or about the amount of time it would take. No means no. If I see them in my neighborhood again, I will call the police.

Original Review: April 11, 2014

My complaint is that they took advantage of my 80 year old mother who is on a fixed income. They told her the vacuum cleaner cost $700.00 but didn't explain to her that it would have finance charges bringing the cost to $1000.00. My Mother told the lady that she wanted to call me her daughter, but the lady told her she didn't need to call me. My mother has been calling and asking them to come pick it up and they refuse. In the fine print it reads you have 3 days to return but she didn't see that. But by the time she received the bill from the finance company the 3 days had been past. All she wants is for them to come pick up the vacuum cleaner. She can't pay for this.

I ask if this can be a malfunction. She gave me numbers to shops to take it to. I called all the numbers for my local area. Only one shop was open and the salesperson told me to take a vacuum repair shop (I thought that's what I was calling him for). What the hell was the guarantee for then? I continue to call and email Kirby with no help. Just so happen sales people of Kirby started knocking on my door offering to clean a room if I'll let them show me a demonstration. I explain to them I had a Kirby and showed them the paperwork for it. I let them come in and showed them my vacuum and the only thing the boss kept on trying to do was sell me a new one.

He went all the way down from $2500 to $400. We said no, the Kirby customer service said any company selling Kirby could repair it or send it in for replacement parts. But out of the four numbers I was given by customer service and looked up on my own, plus sales people happen to knock on my door, none of them wanted to fix it or get replacement part. I have a worthless piece of equipment that we paid $2000 for. I wish I would have not let them in my home.

When we moved into our new home we were approached by a salesperson about buying a Kirby. Having had nothing but good experiences with one I agreed to purchase one. I think it is an excellent vacuum cleaner. It does what I was told it could do, cleans far superior to the Electrolux, shampoos my carpet, etc. It is made of metal as opposed to plastic, and is heavier than most vacuums. My wife does not like it because it is an upright and falls over as opposed to the canister vacuum, so I solved that problem by doing all the vacuuming myself. As we live in a small town, so finding belts (which do wear out), bags, and other small parts could be a problem, but not with the Internet.

Yeah I could complain about sales techniques used by some salesmen, but I could also complain about sales persons at Wal-Mart and/or any other store. We don't live in a perfect world, but my Kirby is as near perfect a vacuum cleaner as I have ever needed. And I liked the comment I read by one person who said 'they went around their town checking out garage sales, junk sites, etc. and saw lots of vacuums therein, but never a Kirby.

Another guy comes in the house, the girl says she needs to get something from the van, but she got in the van and left! The guy doing the demo does the white disk thing (after he had me vacuum the hallway). He then asked me for a drink, so I got him some water. Next thing I know he dumped half a soda bottle of sand on my carpet. Next thing I know the guy is wrapping my central vacuum hose around and around, in a manner that is stretching it and doing damage to it. As if that's not enough, he then put it outside. After two hours he asks if I would like to see more, I tell him no, just get to the price so he can leave. He then tells me the "trainee" needs to finish vacuuming so all of the pads in his stack get used because that's how he gets paid for the cleaning. So while I am talking to the lead guy about price, the other guy is running the vacuum.

Price structures I was given $2,895, I told him no way. Then $1,600 I still said no. I was also given scam level pricing for financing. He offered to trade me things like my old vacuum, floor cleaner, guns, motorcycles, anything I had laying around the house. Then he calls his boss and the price dropped to $895. At this point he made me go out to my husband, show him the dirt pads. I told my husband I didn't want the dang thing, I wanted them to leave. I came back and told them they were making my husband mad because they were still here and dinner was late. I told them I wanted them to leave, my blood sugar dropped and I was nauseated and shaking and needing to eat dinner. They finally start boxing up the system & picking up the dots. While I was outside talking to my husband, they entered my bedroom (WITHOUT PERMISSION) and when I came back in they showed me what I had sucked up. I again told them no and to please leave. The lead guy then scribbled on some paper offered to sell me the previous model $450.

As they were walking out the door, they asked for the detergent pods back! I was appalled, told them whatever, just leave. As they were leaving I told them that was pretty ** to ask for the pods back. After they left I looked up the reviews and found this site and I was glad I had not purchased the unit. I wasn't going to post until I went to bed last night and my husband asked if I seen them do the bed vacuuming. I told him no because they did it while we were talking. Ends up they dumped some kind of dirt all over my bed. My bed felt like we had dumped a sandbox on it. We were furious! Imagine, going to bed at 11pm only to find you have to change your sheets. I would have been extremely upset had I purchased the system and found that. So, these people have ruined any other door-to-door sales people ever coming in my house. PS - he left my old vacuum outside as well.

Anyway I talked to John ** and he was not forgiving whatsoever. I know I put it in the mail and I know you got it. How ironic for my first piece of lost mail to be worth $1500!!!!!! Even more ironic is that PLENTY of others had their UNCERTIFIED CANCELLATION LETTER LOST IN THE MAIL TOO!!!! What the heck! If you want to have a good business, you should probably care what your consumers think of you or at least try to make things right!

ooohhhhhh AND THE SALESMAN came in my home with my husband NOT THERE. ASKED FOR A DRINK. I offered water and the salesman asked for WHISKY! Very awkward to say no to a big strange guy in my home. SO I THOUGHT WHATEVER and gave it to him. Then asked for more! Then my husband came back and they (another guy came in our house later from their minivan) asked for our dinner!!!(meatloaf). We are nice and gullible so we gave them OUR FOOD AND DRINKS AND also bought THE VACUUM but FOR REAL???!!!!! High pressure sales got us. We would have never thought to buy a freaking 1500 vacuum let alone what they started at! And now I know they can go down to $800??? Either way I don't even think it's worth that. And it's heavy and ANYONE would benefit from NOT buying into these RETARDS (AND THE VACUUM).

People complain that they burn up belts. If you put the head down low, you will, but you don't need to. One guy said he couldn't pick up a little piece of toilet paper. If the brush is rotating, it will loosen it up and suck it up. I talked to the dealer and he said a new one retail is $2200. That is at that price for trade ins. If you give them your old Kirby, they will give you more than if you trade in your Hoover. He had a 4 year old one for $500. He said the old one is the same as the new ones. I don't think anything sucks dirt like a Kirby. Get a used one if you can't afford a new one. In the spring I drive around my city when people toss their junk for the city to pick up. I see many Hoovers. I have yet to see a Kirby.

The only concern I had was the schedule was from 10-10 Monday-Saturday. That's A LOT of hours, not only as work hours but as spending time away from my child. Again I am a single mother. Her dad does not help with her, so I pay my sitters for when I work. But I was not like the idea of working 84 hours a week for 4 weeks, I did the math and came up with it being 5.95 an hour!!! Hell no that's not worth leaving my child for so long for that much pay! I said wth let me try it out till I find another job. I then came to this "training".

To my surprise the lady who had hired me and the other people 10 out of 48 they said which honestly I have no idea why they picked some people! They didn't even care if they had facial piercings and wouldn't a big money making company would prefer their sales people to look professional?? I would think so. Anyways so I find out the job was for Kirby and that girl had only been there for 5 weeks!! And she was talking like she been in the business for years! Her goofy boss then came talked to us then his wife as well and kept talking about how they has fun trips, cars, tvs, you name it! I just didn't buy their act. I was just looking at them and thinking to myself are they really acting like this?

The young woman had even cussed a few times on our first day! I get home to some search about Kirby vacuum and work reviews and I'M GLAD I DID MY SEARCH before continuing to waste my time! Who the ** is going to buy 3000 vacuums!?! Lol, this is a scam people! Beware! They scam people to work for them and people to purchase these! I am glad I did not follow through learning about this vacuum because as I became to learn from other folks reviews it looks hard to put together and they do hours of showing you a demonstration. No thank you! I don't even like to even clean my mother's house what the ** makes you think I wanna clean strangers' homes!?!?? I would NOT recommend this job OR this vacuum!

The young lady said she had to go get the products and she would be back. When she came back she was accompanied by a man. He introduced the Kirby to my wife & I and said that the young lady was going to do a quick demonstration, and then he left. I figured they'd just clean our living room (our "high traffic" area) and then we could schedule a full house clean later. Boy was I wrong! So she starts going into the history of Kirby. Neither my wife nor I had ever heard of it. So they put these white coffee filters like things into the vacuum and started vacuuming various parts of the home. The filters were SO dirty! Me being me, I asked what the trick was. She promised it was no trick and that really is the dirt that is in our carpet. She kept living these disgusting filters all over the living room, hallway, laundry room and kitchen. I was so grossed out.

I tried throwing one away and was asked not to because it's like her time card for her boss to see. I am putting here that the young lady was awesome. My wife and I are in our mid 20's and she was as well. She was amazing. I would become best friends with her. She had a great personality. But the more the night went on I kept thinking, "As enjoyable as this woman is, she is acting as if we've been friends for life". She bummed cigarettes from me, she drank a drink of ours. So as the demo went on, the Kirby wasn't really working. So she was undoing some of the inner workings of the Kirby and there was so much dirt stuck in the bottom of the vacuum. She claimed the last person who used the Demo Kirby must not have cleaned it properly. So two hours in she basically told us that the dirt wasn't actually from our floor/couch. It had been in the vacuum the whole time.

So, now it's about 7 o'clock and there still hasn't been a carpet shampoo. My wife and I needed to go to the store and needed to start dinner. We go to bed around 9:30-ish. We had things to do. I mentioned this to the girl and she said that her boss was in a van on the other side of town. So we started talking money. 3000 for the vacuum! I almost kicked her out right then and there. We are newlyweds, I just uprooted my life and moved across the country, my wife is an E3 for Christ sake! 3000$ is more than what we currently make in a month! After another hour we got the price down to 1000, with interest of like 861 a year. Ridiculous. So I told the woman that if she could get rid of these two specific stains we would consider. She had been there for about 4 hours at that point and I wanted something out of this disaster.

She cleaned the stain and it did come out very nicely. But it would have come out with a 24 hour steam cleaner rental, too. Then she asked if she could vacuum our bed. I said HELL NO, and she said we could do it. So we did and then she took out the coffee filter thing and said it was dust mites and dust mite poop. We just got the mattress a month ago and the filter was so FULL. At that point my wife was wanting it, but I did a quick Google search and realized that that's not necessarily what it is. Yes, dust mites exist, but most of what they are pulling up is just your own hair/skin/fibers from mattress/sheets/comforters/etc. Finally after five hours we were finally able to get them to accept a NO. The young lady started packing up and then let us know that her boss couldn't pick her up right now.

It was very rainy and cold outside so I wasn't about to make the poor girl who just worked her butt off stand outside. So she asked if we could put on the Walking Dead because she hasn't seen it. So we did. The coffee filters were still on our floor so her boss could see. At about 10 I took my medication that I take at night so I can sleep, and my wife had already gone to bed. We sat watching The Walking Dead for an hour!!!! I was basically a zombie at this point! The boss finally arrives and comes up to our door and KNOCKS SO LOUD, the dog started barking and my wife woke up. They start picking up the 50+ filters they left around the house and basically every loose dirt on the filters fell back to our floor. So our carpet is more dirty than it was before.

The thing about Kirby is yes, sure, it's a cool vacuum/carpet cleaner, but if after an hour we don't want the thing, you need to go. I am not a push over and I don't have any problem saying no. But when this young woman is in your house and her only options are to keep talking so she can be inside and warm or to go stand outside in the rain for her boss to come pick her up, I'm not heartless. 3000 dollars for a vacuum is just stupid. Unless you're a Kardashian, you can't afford that. I don't care if it lasts you 22 years. Most of the people they target are young adults or senior citizens. We've got more important things to pay for than paying off a vacuum for 4 years. If you really do want this vacuum, haggle the price down from the start and then buy it and get them out of your house. We didn't get to go to the grocery store like we needed to and we literally didn't eat dinner. What were we supposed to do?! Cook dinner with this girl basically moving in with us?! Also, if their vacuum really is worth 3000, then you'd put it in stores and make SO MUCH MONEY from people buying it. If you put a 3000 vacuum in a store people would laugh their butts off!

The distributor gets the machine for $575 or lower and mark the price up so high. Don't get me wrong, these are great machines and will beat any vacuum on the market and save you money in the long run, but DO NOT SPEND $2500 on it. They will go as low as $900. If you tell them you will think about it and give them a call back they will tell you that the price is only for same day showing, that is completely FALSE! If you call them back and tell them you want to machine, they will get to your house faster than a man rushing to the rest room that took a laxative after a buffet. I hope this helps everyone when it comes to Kirby. There is also a 3 day cancellation period that they will never mention to you, but I believe you can cancel up to 60 or 90 days. If you recently purchased one for above $900, cancel it and get it for a cheaper price!

Suction is the most important thing w/ a vacuum and the Kirby beats all of them because it has 2 motors (he explained to me). The new one is lighter, moves itself practically. So I thought I couldn't get credit for it but he managed it and I did, much to my surprise, right there in my living room! He also gave me the shampooer at minimal extra and a nifty spin brush attachment that really works for getting the cat hair up from upholstery. So I got a good salesman & he took my old one, which they give to schools & charities. Nothing beats a Kirby, they last forever & the design has stayed pretty much the same because it's a good basic machine, not complicated at all. The spin brush just attaches like any other attachment, no buttons to push, and spins away! You don't even have to put pressure on it. Very pleased w/ my 2nd and new Kirby!

As he came in, I commented, "Ah, you're selling Kirby vacuums!" He insisted he was only there to clean. No pressure. It turned out his supervisor had dropped him off and was dropping off others while he cleaned my carpet. He was as he said, no pressure. His supervisor, however, was the high pressure salesman. I told them I had had a Kirby as had my mother and there was no need to sell me.

He kept pushing for a number that would get me to buy and I bit. Biggest mistake of my life. This is NOT the Kirby I have enjoyed in the past. I've watched the video; I've read the manual. I am college educated and not stupid, but I need an engineering degree to figure this thing out! It is extremely difficult to maneuver (even with the fancy Tech drive power assist); and it is very heavy to move or turn.

In addition, it is apparently limited to picking up the micro debris they picked up to show me how good it was. I've changed settings; I've gone over things repeatedly; however, most items on the carpet it won't pick up! My mother's Kirby would pick up a nail and chop it up before pushing to the bag and wouldn't damage the fan! When I used the shampoo set up, I discovered the vacuum had not picked up dog hair very well because it was showing up in the "foam."

It was no better than my separate steam cleaner I "traded in." The final straw was when I went to get bags for the thing; the sales man had said I could get replacement bags at local stores; I found them and bought a set. They don't work! And they clearly say KIRBY on them. I have had it with the company and will be sure to let everyone I know to steer clear.

For quite a while now, my vacuum cleaner will not pick up anything. I'm not kidding, just a few moments ago, I went over a tiny piece of toilet paper that my puppy had shredded up about 10 times and it would not pick it up. The last time I used it I discovered that the belt had fallen off. Don't even get me started on the belt and how you have to take it off and on.... What's more, after just trying to vacuum a small area in my hallway, my machine overheated and now my house smells SO strongly of burnt rubber that I have had to open my doors and windows.

My neighbor was moving out recently and asked to borrow my vacuum cleaner since hers was already moved. I was "humiliated" later that afternoon when I saw her husband returning our "other" neighbor's vacuum cleaner, which they had to borrow from them because mine would not pick up anything. Worst of all, I contacted a Kirby representative earlier this week and he said that he would call me back that night and that he would be at my house the next day to look at my machine and teach me how to work it. He never called and he stood me up. I am furious.

I would also like to add that when I purchased my machine the girl who sold it to me (who was very nice) was dropped off by a team of other Kirby salespersons who were going door-to-door in my neighborhood. When they returned to pick her up, they were wasted and one of them violently vomited in the street in front of my house; my neighbors were "livid" and I was embarrassed because I had already purchased the thing by then.

I have looked at what I could get for my Kirby and according to my research it's about $200 at best. NO ONE wants one as the Kirby reputation has become deplorable. I would love more than anything to purchase a Dyson. It pains me that I cannot sell the one that I paid well of $2000 for to buy a Dyson, which retails at a fraction of the price. I'm truly disgusted and highly encourage ANYONE to NEVER purchase a Kirby vacuum cleaner as it has truly given me the worst case of buyer's remorse in my entire life.

So I call this Brandon and let him know and tell him I wanted to cancel the sale. He says it was too late and then very rude ask where I got his number and I told him he gave it to me the day of the sale. I cried and said I could not afford it, that it ended up not being the 1600.00, it was the 2400. After all with finance charges and what not. He was so rude he said he would have me arrested for phone harassment. I said is this how you can make money by mistreating senior citizens. I sucked it up, been paying this worthless machine off. I have been hungry a lot due to I have to take money from my food to pay this. I still have this 300 lb vacuum that is suppose to be so easy. It is heavy as heck to push around.

I would sell it for the pay off if I could. I hate it. I have a no solicitation sign on my front door now to find a way to stop the phone calls. I'm ready to give up my phone now. We can not have a private life anymore as Americans. I thought our homes were our safe havens. I guess not. We senior citizens are under attack for scammers. In the end here. I can not believe Kirby did not stand behind this when I asked, or even Brandon the Boss told me that was the sales rep's fault. The sales rep had to be talking to him. I found out later it was all a gimmick to get people to buy it, sign the paper and then do not deliver until after the 3 day to cancel, then you're stuck. What a gimmick. This should be put under close watch. They are dirty in the way they do business.

Coming back to the demonstration I was impressed how much dirt it was pulling out, the house is basically new, only 3 years since it was built. Besides being new we had just had our carpet professionally cleaned a week before and paid $300 for 4 bedrooms, a hallway and the living room. Even after having it clean we could still smell the pet odor from a pee our German shepherd did on the living room. Over the years we have gone through many vacuums hoovers, bissells, dysons and finally Oreck was the one we stayed after it survived somehow after 3 years, which was the most expensive vacuum at 699 until yesterday. He poured baking soda into the carpet and attempted to clean it passing the Oreck 100 times!! There was no way there was still baking soda there it looked like it was all gone. He turned on the Kirby for like 2 seconds and a mountain of baking soda came from the carpet. I knew the Kirby would be expensive but after I think it must been 22 years my mother had hers it is well worth it. He asked to do the bed but that wasn't happening so I declined. He then proceeded to the shampoo part and for me has to be one of the best features of the Kirby.

He shampooed my living room and sprayed some kind of pet odor remover on the spot the accident happened. By the end me and my wife were really impressed by it and were thinking of buying something good for our house. He came with 2495 at first but there was no way I was gonna spend that much for the Kirby. I remembered a couple of my friends bought the model before, the Sentria for 1600 when it was new so I figured it would be around that price range. After my trade in and everything I bought the Sentria II for 1500 no down and I chose the 18 month payment for like $98. The guy was really pushing the 36 month plan for $56 but I'm planning to pay it by 6 months. I don't like pushy sales people if I want to buy something I buy it, I don't need someone telling you what you should buy, we are all grown ups here.

The Kirby is an awesome machine only negatives are the price tag and it's a little heavy, I help my wife to do the upstairs and stairs as she does downstairs. We share everything, she cooks, I get the dishes, we have that kind of thing. I just wanted to get my story to other people out there. In any kind of business there are bad employees and we remember 20 times more a bad service than a good one. Thankfully for the sake of this young man he was respectful and only took about 50 min to do his presentation. By the way it took 30 minutes to dry which I knew having used the Kirby shampooer before. We are really happy with our new Kirby, all shiny aluminum which itself speaks volume on quality. Nowadays everything is plastic, and it's great there things out there still made to last.

The lady went out to her van and came back with two other people and a Kirby vacuum in a box. She started trying to be my friend and started slipping in vacuum talk right away as she and a big dumb looking teenager and a young lady tried to put together this $3,495.00 vacuum. Within 5 minutes of being in my house, I realized I let 3 idiots in my house and the big dumb teenager asked to use my bathroom. As soon as the main lady running this 3 ring circus had this vacuum put together, she left. The big kid stayed and started trying to use this vacuum. After 30 minutes of vacuuming maybe a 4 ft. by 4 ft. area, I told him this was going to take way too long and that I knew what they were trying to do. I told him to just wrap it up.

He continued to clean and told me that he didn't have a ride and he just had to stay. I told him he had 15 minutes to finish up. He began to panic. After 15 minutes, I said, Times up, stop, and put this stupid vacuum back in the box and leave. He of course couldn't figure out how to put it back in the box. I asked him while he was trying, where the scotch guard is anyway. He took out a water bottle out of his bag and held it up. My wife and I started laughing out loud.

I finally got him out of my house and told him to go wait by the street for his ride. So he took his stupid Kirby box out by the road and waited. He pulled out a roast beef sandwich or something...started eating it. About 30 minutes later, he rang my doorbell and asked if I could refill his water bottle. I said, wasn't that the scotch guard? He laughed that he forgot he told me it was scotch guard. He said it was SO hot outside and he had on all black and he was just dying from the intense heat. . I said, "Didn't you just tell me you were going into the marines?" I laughed however, I doubt he actually was even going into the marines.

3 hours later... the poor boy was still doing an excellent demonstration with many, many dirt pads from my couch, carpet and kitchen floor, even my ceiling. He was very friendly and we talked while he worked. His manager periodically showed up, took phone calls (all of which he answered "POSITIVE", not hello) then finally took over the sales pitch. (My entire floor was never cleaned as promised, just one area, and it was still wet hours later.)

$2500 sound good? No? How about today's special $2198? With $250-500 down and payment $87-105/mo. No? $1699 with trade of my vac and $9 down (which he would pay for me) for $89/mo? No? Final offer, $1600, no money down, $63/mo. AND I am throwing in a Bahamas trip!!! Now, I admit this machine does an amazing job... the demo sells itself, the poor young man doing all the work was trying to earn his reward, a trip somewhere sunny (my guess is Bahamas since they can just throw that out as part of a deal) and he only needed 2 more sales, he even sold one to his momma. I admit, I was feeling pressure from the manager, he wouldn't give up and made me feel like a bad mom if I didn't buy this machine, especially since my children have allergies and this machine would make a huge difference in their health, in his opinion.

I finally agreed, but told him I would have to discuss with my husband, who was not home. "No problem" he says, "we sell to moms' home alone all the time, that's why we have this 3 day cancellation policy. If your husband doesn't agree, just call and we will pick the Kirby back up, return your vac and be done. We do it all the time, and this way, your salesman still gets credit for the sale, even if you cancel. It's win win. Just fill out this application and I'll get you all set up?" Guess what? No one won here...

So I am filling out the form, "why do you need all this info?" I ask. "Aren't you just going to be taking the money straight from my checking acct each month?" "Oh yeah," he says, "don't worry about filling all that out. Now we just have to call into the finance dept, can I use your phone?" They used my phone for every call they had to make that night. He calls, gives some crap about please make this happen, she really really wants this Kirby, her children need it blah blah blah... Give me some good news... Guess what I hear next from the phone? Someone shouts out POSITIVE... Is this coincidence? Who did he actually call? My paperwork shows a good $800 in interest that I will be paying on top of the $1600 deal. I was not told that.

As they are leaving 3+ hours later after first walking in, manager guy tells me the finance dept will be calling me to finalize agreement that night. But, as I had been telling him for 30 mins, I needed to go out and pick up my daughter. Apparently, while driving I missed that call, which I now believe was a good thing. My husband was not happy at all about the Kirby, so I decided to just let them know that same night that I was not going to keep it. But there was actually no phone number to call. I had to instead fill out and mail in the cancellation, hoping it would arrive by the deadline. The next morning, nice and early, the finance people called again. I cut her off quickly telling her there was no need to go over anything as I was not keeping the Kirby.

Three days later, another Kirby guy shows up at my door to talk me into keeping the Kirby. He is even willing to lower the price once again. He thought I had already finalized the deal with finance, which sounded as if I had done that. I was kinda stuck keeping it??? He finally began to slowly pack up the Kirby, which was still assembled and left exactly where the salesman had left it (turns out the Kirby is actually fairly heavy), all the while trying to talk me into keeping it. "No one has ever cancelled before" he says. My salesman does not get the credit as I had been told he would. In fact, the smaller award he received for making my sale was now going to be taken from him.

As he was finally walking out the door, he offered to do another demo with my husband present, maybe change his mind. No thank you, but when will I get my vac back? I am vacuum-less at this point. "Oh yeah," he says. "Someone will give you a call about that." Three days later, I called the manager guy requesting my vac be returned asap. I am still waiting...

Called the Distributor, called the Financial Institution which is United Consumers Financial Services to no avail. There have been numerous calls about me telling them I cannot use the vacuum... Right after I bought it I started coughing that's how it all started. The cough didn't go away. I ended up going to my Dr. and being diagnosed with Bronchitis. I was so very sick, taking breathing treatments three times a day. I have family and friends that can attest to how sick I was as they had to do everything for me. After how many dollars and gas tanks later for Dr.'s visits I still have something really wrong with my lungs. I use to RUN upstairs. I get out of breath now. So I absolutely without a shadow of doubt know I cannot use it, want out of my contract and would love to have a return in the payments I have made thus far... but that's not going to happen. The IRON CLAD CONTRACT won't allow it!

If they came to my door today knowing what I do now, I would shut the door in their face. My lungs will never be the same... and up till then except for my arthritis I thought myself to be pretty healthy. Never had had bronchitis before. I don't know how to deal with them. I've explained my grievances. I am DONE! I don't know who to turn to on this problem. I am not making another payment. When online I have found the same vacuum for $700 something.

Then last and foremost they have a Golden Age/Disabled Purchase Cancellation Procedure. Any consumer who at the time of purchasing a Kirby cleaning system is at least 67 years of age or has a disability regardless of age restricts or prevents the consumers us of the Kirby system may cancel and rescind the purchase transaction up to 9 mos after date of purchase. Then in short... the distributor will return all deposits trade in merchandise and down payments to the consumer. If trade-in is no longer available the Distributor will return something of equal value... blah blah blah. Only thing is I am 61 but I do have a disability (arthritis) which at the time of purchase I was all on one level and now I have 13 stairs to lug the thing up and down... Rest my case! I am such a unhappy customer, you couldn't give me one!

Salesmen turnover for Kirby is huge, that is a fact. I cannot speak for others, only myself, so here are my facts. I was "hired" as a 1099 employee (no Kirby company responsibility) as one of 7 people with "management potential", the reason I had considered the job in the first place. Those 7 were out of 20-30 candidates, or so we were told. When I quit (exactly one week from training completion) there were 2 left (if that). Our training was 3 days having our "sales pitch" and demonstration (show) and how to pack and unpack the machine in the box grilled into our heads from repetition.

We finished our "training" Friday afternoon at which time we had to begin preforming "shows", being told in order to become "certified" and receive company generated leads, we had to provide 5 leads of our own. Without those 5 shows they would not give us additional leads. The $600 a week is based on doing 15 shows, all of which require 3 phone calls to the manager to verify and read his scripted reminders to the rep. The shows took for me around 3 hours to complete. We were paid for our original 5 $20 each as long as we followed all of the rules and made the calls and allowed the manager to do his very best to pressure the customer into buying a Kirby.

The retail price of the Sentria II was $2495. Bought during a show for cash, it was $2100 or $2300 financed. I did 4 shows over the weekend where they offered several incentive, bonuses and contests to provide competition among the salesmen. At the bottom of each mimeographed contest sheet was a small disclosure stating that all bonuses, prizes and contests were to be paid at the discretion of the company. I should have known. There was $50 for the most dirt collected, $50 for the first machine sold, $100 bonus for selling a new machine (versus a refurbished one, yes they do sell far cheaper refurbished models if the customer insists they can't afford a Kirby), $20 for each confirmed and conforming show we performed over the weekend, plus any commissions we made for a sale.

I sold 2 over the weekend. One was a refurbished one forced on my Mom for $400 that she couldn't afford to buy nor did she especially need for that matter and a brand new one that miraculously went from $2300 financed down to $1400 with no money down and $62 a month payments and probably could have gone significantly lower. I earned a total of $250 commission for the two sales. I was supposed to get $80 for my visits but because I didn't make my final call from the homeowner's phone to my manager for the high pressure sales routine, I didn't get credit for the call after a 3 hour round trip drive and a 3 hour show.

The dirt contest mysteriously disappeared, and "At the discretion of..." means "If you stay with us more than a week". I forgot to mention that there was also an offered $1000 sign on bonus, payable only after remaining there for 60 days and meeting all of their criteria. Between bonuses and commissions, I should have made about $500 for the weekend. To make a long story short, I got $330, and was told the only reason I got $80 of that was from my being "on the fence" as far as my future with the company went and them paying me "in good faith" to keep me around. It was clear it was intended to get me to stay.

The owner of the branch told me twice he thought I'd quit by the following Monday. He was wrong, I quit the Friday before it. I didn't receive my $50 first sale bonus, the $100 weekend sale contest for selling one (I actually sold 2), the $50 dirt contest, $20 for one of my shows all because that money was to be paid at the company's discretion, and they don't pay it when the salesman doesn't play by their rules and stay under their thumb.

To anyone who needs a job, buyer beware. You can work either commission base only ($200 each new machine sold), or every week sign and do a 15 show agreement that if you dot all your i's and cross all of your t's you'll get $600 for 3 three hour shows a day (plus travel time) which could be doable if the salesmen weren't required to be at the shop at 9 am for a two-hour meeting to sing the Kirby song about "I feel good, I smell good, I look good, etc. and get more "training" (brainwashing). It was spooky watching them sing, clap and act like a bunch of Stepford Wives almost as if performing some strange mystic ritual. It almost had a cult flavor to the atmosphere and made me feel extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Ask a lot of questions, don't believe everything you hear, be prepared to spend a lot of time learning to act like a Stepford Wife, and do expect to lose a lot of your friends or at least have them change the way they act around you as long as you sell Kirby. Kirbys are good machines, probably the best, definitely the most expensive, and readily available refurbished on the Internet for about $300. Not much has changed with them and they are worth far more than $300 for how well they work. As for working as a salesman, if there was ever a last resort job, this is it. Kirby has a pushy salesmen history and many people won't let you near the door, let alone in the house.

But anyways, throughout the whole interview the woman never told me the company name. She then told me to come back today for orientation which was suppose to last 90 minutes with free lunch, it was actually 3 hours and they didn't let us leave the room. It was about 30 people there who all "got the job". What company can just hire 30 people a day? And they explained to us that we were going to sell vacuums door to door. Let me add that these vacuums are 3000 dollars. And we would make 500 dollars as long as we showed 15 people the vacuums.

They asked me for a list of people I knew (names and numbers) they are just looking for number to harass people. On my way back home, on the bus, I kept thinking about how this didn't sit right with me. It's not, this job is a scam, it will waste your time, and others time, please do yourself a favor. DO NOT apply to this job unless you have NOTHING GOING ON and can afford to waste your days selling 3000 dollar vacuums.

This guy kept going on and on. He stayed in the living room the entire time, but I also blocked the door so he would not venture to any other rooms. Our bedrooms are all on the second floor. He gave me the personal story about kids and how he was let go from another job. He also told me about how he could win a free trip. He told me the line about how much the vacuum was and I shook my head. I told him that we were not in any financial shape to buy this. He should have noticed that our neighborhood is not a well to do section of the city. Most of the people in our area work and not many have this kind of money for a vacuum. He lowered the price and I still said no. He lowered it again and made a comment that how can we pass up such a good deal - $10 a week is great and who can't afford that?! I was upset.

One who is this person telling me who can afford that. I shook my head and told him that I couldn't. I wished him well. He used our phone to call his manager who came and picked him up. He didn't wait long. I am not sure why we didn't get any calls, perhaps it is because we have an unlisted number. The entire time he is saying how much stuff the vacuum was getting up and showing me the white circles. I wasn't so surprised since our carpets are over 17 years old and we have cats and well children. Never mind I had to go over the spot where he put baking soda on the carpet. Sure his vacuum got a lot of it up, but I had to finish the job later. I was not happy with all of the attachments. Seems like a lot of work taking apart and putting together. All the parts that go along with. What are the odds of losing one or not using them?

This entire thing took over 2 hours. This guy even tried to hook my husband in on this. Not happy with this at all. Never ever tell someone that it will take a few minutes when you know it will take hours. At the end of the entire deal I felt mad and cheated. Cheated out of two plus hours of my time and tending to my sick child. Mad because I should not have let him in the first place. He tried the personal story, he tried the trip deal, he tried the guilt trip, he tried lowering the price. It is the same story every time. Beware. They blindside you to get in your door. I think they take up so much time so that we as the consumer will give up, get frustrated and just buy the thing in order to get them out of our homes.

Bob & the boss came in with a huge box, maybe 3ft tall. Right then & there, I realized I had made the mistake of letting these people in as I realized they were from Kirby. -.-' His boss got back into the van. Bob makes some small talk with me so that it's not so awkward & then asks where my parents are & right then, my mom comes back into the house from gardening. I tell her that these people are here to show us their products & she shakes her head, "Well we're not gonna buy anything... & we need to leave the house to do some errands right now." I started feeling bad for Bob & as he realized we had to leave home, he ran back outside to tell his boss. At that moment, the boss was backing out of our driveway & started driving down the road already. Bob quietly curses & asks to use our phone. He calls the boss & says, "Hey, the mom is leaving right now. (Silence) Yeah, she's leaving right now" & hangs up.

I guess they knew they couldn't make any $ out of me since I was just a teenager. Lol. Anyways, Bob seemed like a decent person so I did apologize again & he assured me that it was all right & that he'd already earned some commission just letting him into our house. His boss turned the car around & Bob was taking the Kirby vacuum back into the car. Right before leaving though, he asked for the free bottle of laundry detergent back. I said sure & handed it back. Good thing my mom came to the rescue or else we would've had to listen & watch them clean our house for hours. I do give them a 2 star rating only because back when I was a child, around 6-7yrs old, I remember them coming into the house where they vacuumed our entire carpet, leaving the white patches of dirt on it. My mom told them over and over again that we couldn't afford the Kirby vacuum, & the manager left pretty mad. They just couldn't take No for an answer & although I do understand that this is their job, they don't need to be so extremely pressuring about it.

Fast forward years later to when I'm 19 years old (I'm now 37). At 19 I responded to an ad that guaranteed $400 per week for setting up and displaying a product. The headline was something to the effect of "marketing career". I call up and they ask me if I could set up and display products. Sounded easy enough. And for $400 per week, at 19, it sounded great. I go for the interview and was in for a few minutes. It was a sad scene with grown men and woman clearly in need of employment. I was told I'd be called back later with a final decision. I was thrilled when I was called and they told me I was hired. I remember excitingly telling my mother that I would be making $400 per week just setting up and displaying products. She asked me what kind of products. I paused and realized that after a brief interview and a 40-minute video about Warren Buffet, I had absolutely no freaking idea what I would be setting up and displaying in this new marketing endeavor. Who cares? 400 dollars per week at 19 years old is huge!!!

I get to the first day of training after hitting up Sears for some new pants and neckties. Although young, I was intelligent, and after 3 minutes of training I would be doing more than "setting up and displaying" this vacuum. I instantly had flashbacks to when they visited my home. Now it was my turn to scam them. I figured I'd stick it out for two weeks and get the $400 per week I was guaranteed for a total of $800. I went on a few sales trips with different sales people and the experiences shared here are identical to what was occurring those days in 1998.

Although the sales people were mostly in their early 20s, a few years older than me, they were dumber than a 10-year-old and all believed they would be running their own shop someday and become millionaires selling Kirbys. While they were busy fawning the owner whose office was filled with sports memorabilia with obviously phony signatures, I was busy maintaining a 4.0 GPA while going to college at night at a major university duping these people for $800.

One day they told me I was ready to go out on my own. I'd have to "practice" on a friend or family member and hen have the friend or family member call them just to "verify" that I did it. I go to my friend's house and convey this whole story. We are just cracking up at the losers who think they can make a living. It's about 8 at night and I tell him he now has to call and pretend I did a presentation (at this point we are a little buzzed). I was mortified when I found out that what was supposed to be a practice session was really a sales pitch. I still laugh to this day when I remember my friend muting the phone and yelling, "this ** is trying to sell me a $3,000 vacuum cleaner!!!" However, the funniest part - he was a wealthy kid and bought the damn vacuum cleaner in his credit card!!! He's a successful attorney now.

I now have two days left to play along before I quit on Friday and collect my $800. I did go to a few houses and perform the free carpet cleaning and actually did the pitch In a weak way. I was supposed to use their phone to call my boss so they could merely "verify that I was there". I told the person they were actually talking to a salesman who would try to sell this piece of junk. I told them to tell the person they weren't interested and to just hang up.

I quit at the end of the day and collected my $800. I walked by a meeting room and told all the misfits they were nuts if they thought they would make a living doing this. The owner got mad and threatened to remove me if I didn't leave ASAP. I begged him to touch me and walked out on my own. Because of my current successes, I can look back and laugh. However, these ads are still out and I feel bad for the people who (1) respond thinking they can make a real living and waste a few days until they realize it's a joke, (2) those who stick it out longer, and (3) the people at home who let these people in under the guise of a free carpet cleaning and waste 3 hours with these vultures.

It was interesting about the price too. They started out at over $2400 and I finally took the offer at $1000. Now how can that be and they still make money? The answer is, they still did make money. There is evidently a huge markup on the thing. I almost returned it after the 3-day period but decided to keep it. Am I glad I did? I don't know for sure. It does seem to clean the floors pretty well even when I forget to engage the belt...oops.

I let him do the demo and as I said it took about two hours and some goofy "manager" came over talking the price down and saying that this was an extremely good price and blah, blah, blah. I stuck with my no and then they acted annoyed and angry! The so called manager left AGAIN!? And FINALLY came back to get this guy out of my house. WTH kind of operation is this?!?!?! No people. Please do not let yourselves get scammed into this madness.

So I'm skeptical but desperate for work, go to training and it's sales..... One, she lied about the name; two, everything was written on script... Let me sum it up. A guy gets up there telling his personal life then trips and awards the exact way you have all heard it. The next day, they teach you how to put a vacuum together. Today, we learned how to scam. In other words, no it's not an answer. So a few mins ago, my fiance and I google Kirby reviews and found this. I'm reporting Kirby. It's a false advertisement, a scam. Not only that but everything is a script on paper. I still have it for evidence.

First of all my cat payment isn't that much, why would I pay that for a vacuum? He then asked to use my phone since he had "no service" and called his boss to lower the price. Boss man lowered it to $0 down, no payments for 3 mos, and only $185/m. Still too pricey for me. At this point I made my mind up that I'm not buying this thing. His attitude does change a little, he doesn't become rude but he does try to make me feel guilty. Luckily for me I don't usually feel pressured. He begins vacuuming the living room and piling the white pads all over the kitchen floor! His manager will be counting the pads to make sure he actually worked. (Really??) He then asks to call his manager so they could shampoo the carpet.

The manager was a different guy, and he had to have been the pushiest sales man ever! Telling me, who cares what my husband thinks or who can't afford $2 a day? He should have stayed home, he definitely made me not want to buy it. Then he said, "Fine, I'll give it to you dirt cheap, I'm not making money and Jim won't be getting any commission". He gave me such a low quote who wouldn't want to buy it?! Me! I told him, "No, and nothing would change my mind." He must have gotten frustrated because he said, "You'll never own a Kirby for this price with that attitude." And walked out the door. Poor Jim was left to clean my carpet in silence. He tried to talk me into it a little bit more

And shared some personal stories with me (not sure how true they were). Then finally he was ready to leave. He used my phone one last time to call his manager, (where did he go?) and said goodbye and handed me a card. He waited outside for about another 30 mins before his manager came back. Now Jim left around 530pm.. At 0930 & 1115 I got calls from his manager (ignored of course). Finally he texted me stating, "Call me". Pretending not to know who he was I simply texted back, "Who's this". And I got "Wrong person". I'm not really sure what to think of this presentation. I hate pushy salesmen. Being the paranoid person I am, I began to think if this was a scam (I'm going to come home to any empty house) or if Jim was simply much nicer than his boss and manager. I did call the boss with a restricted number and he did answer. Anyone else have a weird situation with these gigs?

Guess what? When they returned, they would not take the vacuum back even though my mom repeatedly asked them to. They conveniently forgot her vacuum that they had taken and insisted on coming back to demonstrate the vacuum for me. And the credit card, you guessed it. I got back from vacation and they had charged her card for the vacuum. I am so angry. They lied, they bullied my elderly mother, and they refused to take no for an answer. I contacted mom's credit company and they are helping to remove the charges. My advice, don't let them in the door.

I have owned two Kirbys and hated them, they are not worth the money. I expressed concern for the young girl driving around knocking on doors. The man spewed out how I did not buy purchases without consulting my hubby. I recognized him then. Insulted me which made me defensive. I started getting angry thinking who is this man and realizing I had been scammed letting this person in my house. He ruined my only Christmas time with my mom. Lost his temper at me and question my faith saying he was feeling uplifted before he entered my phone. The little girl said they were trying to win a trip. He called into his manager asking my name and address so supposedly he, gets this bonus. Like a fool I gave it to him and like this other person I am scared they might come back and rob me.

The vacuum was over 3000 dollars, he dropped it down to 900 dollars. I said no. He never gave me his name nor card and I am realizing what a dummy I was because he used that little girl to get in home. He knew I would never had let him in. I have hidden security cameras everywhere and I am licensed to carry a weapon. But I want to know who the Hades he called and who has my name and address. I didn't appreciate his deception nor attitude. My husband said he had told him no, week earlier when I was ill. I wish I had asked who he was giving my name and address to. When I warn him this neighborhood has went bad, I stayed here to help my father-in-law who had cancer and was given 6 months to live but lived ten years. I want to move.

I asked if he tried this neighborhood that might actually want to buy one. He called them snobs not wanting working man like him in. He reminded me of an ex-con. I felt guilty thinking that but my hubby said he was the one that was deceptive and attacking my faith because I worried about that little girl. I am sure she has no training in self-defense nor target practice, I have been robbed few times so now I have all my bases covered in where I hid cameras and record and hide recorder. To be insulted, deceived, and my time ruined by this deception has me angry.

I am calling every Kirby near Conyers, Georgia and find out who took my name and address. I have No Solicitation signs posted. And I will look more clearly at who is walking around the. Neighborhood. I pray this is no scam to go back to break in. I am always at home and thankfully the constitution protects my right to defend my loved ones. I feel deceived and his outburst was unprofessional and scary. I looked up and there is no Kirby store in Conyers, Georgia and I called and there is no permit for any being built nor applied for permit to have one. So some older man whose name I was never given, is using a young girl to gain access to people in a neighborhood that has had a lot of break-ins.

Bless him if he is legit and needing income but no one in this economy can afford a 3000 dollar vacuum. You are lucky if you even have a job. I am making calls tomorrow to find out if he was legitimate and find out who he gave my address and name to. My hubby is right, he is not to feel sorry for, he knew I was not interested and used that girl to deceive. I have warned all the elderly neighbors I grew up with but the crime rate has shot up. I am not going to any place I do not know. Has anyone else had this happen in the Conyers, Georgia area? Did anyone get his card? He is not quite 6 ft, grey hair, a short grey beard, **, slim, blue eyes, missing tooth in back of mouth, slim frame with short petite blonde hair. ** girl wearing brown cap and jacket. I did not see what they were driving and I am too tired to rewind all cams to find out. They were in city part of Conyers, Georgia off of old Salem Road?

She was very rude, especially considering we didn't want them to come in in the first place. Their visit was absolutely ridiculous! I felt as if my home were invaded. I couldn't believe they stayed for 4 hours! After repeatedly telling them we were not interested in their product. I was very disappointed with their service and neglect of the word "NO".

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.