Kirby vacuum cleaner scam

Esqui

TradingStandards wrote: »

putting the fear of God into you about fires caused by dust build-up etc.

Kirby vaccuum cleaners: they stop dust spontaneously combusting

BLT_2

trisontana wrote: »

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.

Perhaps because most people aren't stupid enough to pay a grand for a vacuum cleaner. This obsession with germs is absolutely ridiculous, if we were to believe the adverts all our places are hotbeds of contagion.

Unlike Aggie and her equally irritating partner off of 'how clean is your house' I don't bleach my dishcloth every time I have washed a plate with it, I don't clean my toilet with a toothbrush on a daily basis and neither do I scrub the bath manically every time I have laid in it.

Give me a 50 pound hoover, a bottle of bleach, a few dishcloths and some other reasonably priced cleaning materials and that will suit me. Interestingly enough I have never gone down with botulism or any other such illness despite not following aggies advice

(daft bitc*es)

MaximRecoil

trisontana wrote: »

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.

I've always wondered that about Saladmaster. They are top quality pans and could do fine in normal retail outlets, but of course, they would have to be priced realistically. It was revealed in a 1998 settlement agreement between Saladmaster and some county here in the US that a set of their cookware that they sell for $3700 only costs them $400 to manufacture, so that's over a 900% markup.

There was a time when buying Saladmaster made sense, given that they were one of the first, if not the first, to have "tri-ply" cookware on the market (thick aluminum core sandwiched between 2 thin layers of stainless steel); starting in 1952 before All-Clad even existed (they came along in 1971, and were probably viewed as cheap Saladmaster knockoffs, since they used the name "All-Clad" and Saladmaster had been calling their pans "Tri-Clad" all along). Saladmaster was an independant company out of Dallas, Texas back then, rather than one of forty-eleven companies owned by Regal Ware (Regal Ware acquired Saladmaster in 1979). So in the '50s, '60s, and '70s, if you wanted high quality stainless steel cookware (i.e. "tri-ply"), Saladmaster was the obvious choice because of them being innovators in the field, and them having little competition (or maybe even no competition if you are talking about the early '50s).

These days however, if you want new "tri-ply" stainless steel cookware, All-Clad is probably your best bet (and there are various other choices that are probably just as good). There are tons of companies that make "tri-ply" type cookware now, because they are one of the best designs for general cooking tasks, and the materials aren't terribly expensive (unlike copper, which is generally better, but far more expensive in terms of material cost). In my opinion, Saladmaster would only be a good choice if you could get them cheap somehow.

There was a time when buying Kirby vacuum cleaners from a door-to-door salesman made sense too, but those days are long passed (they have been around since 1914 here in the US).

Door-to-door (or in-home "parties", "demonstrations", or similar) sales are an outdated business model in my opinion. It made sense at one time, but not any more.

lincroft1710

BLT wrote: »

Unlike Aggie and her equally irritating partner off of 'how clean is your house' I don't bleach my dishcloth every time I have washed a plate with it, I don't clean my toilet with a toothbrush on a daily basis and neither do I scrub the bath manically every time I have laid in it.

Give me a 50 pound hoover, a bottle of bleach, a few dishcloths and some other reasonably priced cleaning materials and that will suit me. Interestingly enough I have never gone down with botulism or any other such illness despite not following aggies advice

(daft bitc*es)

The funny thing was, the people who lived in these dirt filled, instant death households rarely suffered ill health because of the filth, despite Aggie claiming samples taken were lethal.

barbiedoll

lincroft1710 wrote: »

The funny thing was, the people who lived in these dirt filled, instant death households rarely suffered ill health because of the filth, despite Aggie claiming samples taken were lethal.

I'l agree with that! I'm a bit of a stranger to the housework myself but we're rarely ill in my house. My OCD friend, a slave to the Flash and Mr Muscle, is always suffering from colds, stomach bugs, chest infections etc etc. I reckon it's all those chemical fumes

I had a weekend away courtesey of Kirby vacuum cleaners. My ex-boyfriend's mum had the hard sales pitch and she did buy one for around £800 :eek: but she did receive a voucher for a weekend in a hotel which she kindly gave to us. (And yes, unlike her carpets, it was a veerryyyy dirty weekend! )

daithecrane

My wife and I have just had the 3 hour Kirby experience.

Conclusion was that it was a well built machine - cannot disagree - but the company is built on its sales strategy. You have to ask why they cannot be bought in the shops, if they are so good.

Sales patter was clearly scripted when he phoned up his boss to seek an improved offer - the salesman was not that good an actor. Start price was £2400 and amazingly (because, of course it was a "special day" - heard that one before) the price dropped to £1400.

Annoying part was that at no time prior to the visit were we told that it was to sell a Kirby (it was a free carpet clean because a friend was so pleased with their experience). I therefore did not have time to research beforehand - I obviously have found out more from this website now. I delayed a decision requiring time to carry out research on the internet and found that there is one for offer (local to where I work) on ebay at a fraction of the price!

My wife liked it and I have not seen better but it is not worth the price they are asking.

With all "cold calls" I stand by my well proven strategy of not making a hasty decision and repenting at leisure!

annie_d

When I was first married in 1982 I fell for this too. Thanks to my fearsome and hysterical mother I was able to remove myself from the deal. I am amazed to see they are still going strong all these years on.

Abbafan1972

I have never heard of Kirby to be honest, until I read this today.

wallbash

Anyone really interested in a Kirby , which I have believe is a well made ( but vastly over priced) machine , should check out ebay.

McKneff

Vacuum cleaners are vacuum cleaners, They are not Hoovers, Hoover is a brand name, like Dyson or Panasonic.

Kirby have been around and their tactics since adam were a lad.