Kirby vacuum cleaner scam

TradingStandards · 7 October 2009 at 9:04AM

Now I don't expect for a second that any of you clued-up moneysavers will fall victim to this but I'm hoping that you will spread the word and maybe bear it in mind for any older relatives/friends etc.
You are at home one day when there is a knock at your door. You open it and someone says something like 'we are a new company in the area, would you like to enter into a free prize draw to win a car? All you have to do is give me your phone number to help build up our database'. If you agree and provide your phone number, you are given a small card with a picture of a car on the front.
A few days later you receive a phone call and the caller says something like 'you have won a free carpet clean/carpet shampoo in our prize draw'. If you agree to receive it, an appointment is made for a later date. If the appointment goes ahead as planned, you will realise that the free carpet clean is really just a chance for a salesman to demonstrate a very expensive vacuum cleaner to you for 2 hours or more, all the while criticising your current vacuum cleaner, asking if you are happy to live in filth, putting the fear of God into you about fires caused by dust build-up etc. If you unfortunately succumb to the high-pressure sales pitch, you will find yourself out of pocket to the tune of at least £1,500 and your statutory right to cancel will be denied.
Please remember this and tell anyone you think appropriate - more people knowing about this means fewer people falling victim and the company will be forced to either deal honestly or close down.

BFG_2 · 7 October 2009 at 9:10AM

TBH, anyone that buys off some bloke/lass that turns up on their doorstep is probably beyond help anyway.

malkie76 · 7 October 2009 at 11:40AM

This isn't a scam.

tattybye · 7 October 2009 at 12:50PM

my husband worked for Kirby for 4 days! he didnt agree with the way that they were asking him to almost bully people into buying the cleaners.

HOWEVER - he still says that the hoovers and cleaner are the most amazing cleaners and really do make everywhere clean, we always hoover the bed when we change it (normal dyson we have) and are amazed at what you get out of it but when he had to show people the bed test he was amzazed at what it would get out, more than a normal hoover.

Will stick to my dyson though as it does its job for us.

Tia_Maria06 · 7 October 2009 at 12:59PM

Well confession time for me... about 14 years ago i got a phone call to tell me i'd won a 'free' carpet cleaned and as we hadnt replaced the bathroom carpet in our new home, we said yea. I was a totally niave 22yr old.. And yes the tactic off selling the cleaner was the same as it is now, the man was there til about midnight and after numerous calls to his 'boss' they said if we gave them an old vacum, it didnt have to work and it didnt have to be ours, (so we got one off a friend), he knocked the price down to £999.99... Anyway we fell for it....

On a plus point, i still use my Kirby all the time, I have also used the facility to wash carpets. I have never needed to have it serviced and I found that the bags are cheaper from the local market. So although its bad selling etc, i do love my hoover...

Oh yea, and it massages your head, and even paints walls!!!

geordieracer · 7 October 2009 at 1:10PM

Tia_Maria06 wrote: »

Well confession time for me... about 14 years ago i got a phone call to tell me i'd won a 'free' carpet cleaned and as we hadnt replaced the bathroom carpet in our new home, we said yea. I was a totally niave 22yr old.. And yes the tactic off selling the cleaner was the same as it is now, the man was there til about midnight and after numerous calls to his 'boss' they said if we gave them an old vacum, it didnt have to work and it didnt have to be ours, (so we got one off a friend), he knocked the price down to £999.99... Anyway we fell for it....

On a plus point, i still use my Kirby all the time, I have also used the facility to wash carpets. I have never needed to have it serviced and I found that the bags are cheaper from the local market. So although its bad selling etc, i do love my hoover...

Oh yea, and it massages your head, and even paints walls!!!

why on earth did you let him stay till midnight!!

Tia_Maria06 · 7 October 2009 at 4:28PM

geordieracer wrote: »

why on earth did you let him stay till midnight!!

Cos he was a bit of a persistent bully to be honest. We were so worn down and we kept asking him to leave, but I was a very weak person then... not anymore though;) He'd have been run out of the house straight after I got my carpet cleaned now :T

hollydays · 7 October 2009 at 4:40PM

Is there anyone on the planet that doesn't know Kirby is a rip off?

Find it hard to believe a Trading Standards Officer would bother to post something so ..er..obvious.

Tia_Maria06 · 7 October 2009 at 4:43PM

Oh I thinks its def a rip off, give me a Henry any day.... but I reckon that due to the fact that Kirby is already 14 yr old and still going strong I cant say its naff.... I think they would be better for massive homes and businesses too not the normal household

Gavin83 · 7 October 2009 at 5:08PM

I worked at Kirby for 2 days before I decided I couldn't deal with pressuring people like that. They were even quite pressuring when I told them I didn't want to work there anymore.

However, I do agree with the above posters that it's 100% the best hoover I've ever seen, it's reliable and does a whole host of other jobs. If you can really justify spending that much on a hoover then I'd go for it.

Just so you know, when I worked there £200 of that hoover cost went to the salesman in commission. I'd find it hard to stomach knowing I'd paid the person in my living room £200 for their demo.

trisontana · 7 October 2009 at 5:27PM

Tia_Maria06 wrote: »

Oh I thinks its def a rip off, give me a Henry any day.... but I reckon that due to the fact that Kirby is already 14 yr old and still going strong I cant say its naff.... I think they would be better for massive homes and businesses too not the normal household

They are probably a very good machine but why do they have to be sold this way? Why not put them in shops and sell that at a realistic price, not one that has been inflated by all sort of commission payments, and let them compete with other vacuum cleaners.

Anything that is sold in this way, be it Kirby, Saladmaster pans or vastly overpriced adjustable beds should be avoided like the plague.

Kirby vacuum cleaner scam

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