Kirby vacuum cleaner scam

george19842010

ok where do i start i worked for kirby for 3 years and at the end i was a sales manager for one of the largest office in the uk in the south east every one starts at the bottom in kirby and works there way up and the way Kirby are sold is the same as any thing is sold yes i don't agree with some of there tactics but they are the best cleaner in the world the rrp in the uk is £2495.00 and you do have to see it to believe it and yes i know that's what a sales man would say but if any of you have seen what a kirby will do you will not disagree with this let me break it down to the cost to the distributor
Kirby vacuum £573.00
kirby shampoo system £54.00
kirby tool kit £87.00
kirby zip brush £27.00
import from usa £46.00

so far thats £787.00

now an retail outlet multiples there cost by 2.5

giving the real rrp of £1967.50

kirby inflate the price as the now 3 facts

1. people want a deal
2. the avg price of a vacuum cleaner in a shop is £240.00 today that will last lets be honest 3-5 years but lets call it 5 years now prices will go up but if they didnt you would spend £1920
3.the kirby prolongs the life of your carpet saving you more money

all in all kirbys will save you money you just need to get the right deal never pay more than £1100 for a machine and you will save money over time oh and dont buy on ebay as only kirby engineers know how to repair them as a rule and will charge you the earth if it not registered to you

rjimmer

I have just found a letter addressed to someone I have never heard of, at an address that does not exist. The only thing that got it through my door was the door number and postcode. Apparently this 'Mrs Harrington' owns a kirby and it is due for a service which, for July and August, is available, with a free carpet clean, for £9.99 instead of £59.99. This appears to be another way of getting a response without having to do the footwork. The return address appears to be a genuine one, as is the phone number. The address on the envelope was hand-written.

kathy206

Blimey are Kirby still going? One of Dad's workmates referred a Kirby salesman to us with a promise of a years' supply of tea:rotfl: and a free carpet clean, 25 years ago. I had fallen at school and was in agony with a broken wrist, this @rsehole wouldn't leave for 4 hours after mum and dad refused to sign up for 3 grands worth of finance, refused to clean anything but a small corner of the lounge carpet and eventually had to be bodily thrown out of the house. The funniest part was when he put the shoulder strap on "oh it's very portable..." and staggered and nearly fell sideways when he slung the bloody thing over his shoulder:rotfl:

mrputney08

I doubt very much this is Kirby.
IT'S A SCAM!! IGNORE THEM!!
I seem to remember something like this was on Watchdog some months ago now. Calls were made to random numbers trying to tell them their Kirby's were due for servicing.

catlad

my mum brought a kirby 1997 for a thousand pound it blew up on her after 6 monts

shelby1_2

Having been subjected to the reps visit about 25 years ago when I was a lot more naive than I am now- I was mortified when the spotty oik asked why my husband lived in my presumably filthy house if he would be unwilling to pay for a similar hotel. It took me about 4 hours to get rid.

I have always agreed the product was fantastic but more suitable for commercial premises and totally unaffordable .

Imagine how annoyed I am this week to discover that my 90 year old mother had the same experience some while ago. She has admitted that she has been paying by DD ever since, and has just paid or is about to pay the final instalment. She wa so ashamed that she has hidden the cleaner in a walk in cupboard - she cant use or lift it anyway - and it still has all its attachments in the box and the tags attached.

I dont know how they can sleep at night. Apart from the obvious unsutability of th item, how on earth did they get an agreement for finance? She is a vulnerable lady on her own and has been completely taken advantage of purely because she was too polite to say no and throw them out. This stinks of extortion.

bigpound

That vacuum cleaning sales technique is old. Someone rings you up offering something free you should instantly flag up your scam senses.

split_second

back in my younger days i used to buy and sell games consoles and games for a bit of spending money, so i was in and out of second hand shops, i knew most of the staff at places like cash generator lol

anyway, one day they got some kirbys in, and they put them near where they kept the games consoles (which were under lock and key), inevitably if there was a console in, i would need to check cartridge slots for damage/overall condition, i knew they had been tested so a clean up would make them sellable if free from damage, typically the hoovers were cheap reconditioned machines or second hand dustbuckets, then these kirbys came in, one of the most expensive items in the store, and every time i went in without fail
''have you got any kirbys''
''yes madam'' (never a man asking)
''how much''
*tells price*
''***kin ell how much?''
''we do it on a 12 week....''
gone out the door lol

i bought my vax cadence out of argos clearance brochure for £60 a couple of years ago, its not exactly wonderful but it'll do

NoSatisfaction

george19842010 wrote: »

now an retail outlet multiples there cost by 2.5

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Years and years and years ago perhaps but not today.

Markups by electrical goods shops are in the region of 2.5% to 20% depending on the product.

Sally_Brown_100

Unfortunately, I fell victim to this scam thinking it would be doing my health and that of my family's a good turn. I have recently had a liver transplant and keeping things extremely clean in my house has taken a huge jump in my list of priorities.

We had this man turn up, by appointment, he stayed for 5 hours. No matter what we said or did he wouldn't go. We didn't want to be rude (stupidly) and signed up for the product after getting a really good deal after several phone calls to his boss (on our phone!!!). We filled in all the relevant details and he finally left leaving us with the vacuum that he had demonstrated with and took our Dyson away in part exchange.

He promised that, because of the size of the house and the high ceilings, he would ensure that we received a free hose and attachments that would make it easier to reach difficult to reach places. Plus bags and shampoo would be thrown in too. He did shampoo the carpet, but it's not very clean.

He went upstairs (on his own) and stripped the bed in order to vacuum it. We were shocked!! My husband shot upstairs after him to see what he was doing. He vacuumed the pillows and mattress and told us what a dirty pair we were!!!!

Eventually he went telling us that he wanted to win this holiday and we were helping him on his way!!! Not soon enough!!!! We were told that in 6 weeks we would be contacted so that they could come and show us how to shampoo properly and leave us with the attachments, vacuum bags and shampoo.

After nearly 3 months, they rang to make an appointment. They never turned up. They rang again with an excuse. This time they turned up. When I let him in he went straight to the vacuum, picked it up and went to the front door. On asking what the hell he was doing, he said that the loan company was clamping down on giving out loans and we had been refused! He had to take the vacuum away with him. That wasn't the reason we had made the appointment. We were very cross but he did say that he was only doing what he was told. My god, he was such a liar!!!! Off he went with the vacuum saying that we would have our original cleaner back shortly. We are still waiting. We keep ringing, they make appointments and don't turn up. They deny that we ring and say that when they ring there is no-one here. I am off sick and have been for a year so I am always here. We have an ansaphone and they have the mobile numbers of both myself and my husband. They just don't ring.

My husband now rings on a daily basis to get our old cleaner back. They keep telling us that the girl who has it in the back of her car has had some personal issues to deal with and isn't at work at the moment. Then last Saturday someone turned up at the door with a vacuum cleaner!!! Yeehah!!! But, NO, it wasn't our cleaner at all. It came with no attachments and upon turning it upside down, it hadn't even got a brush!!!! We ring and ring and ring, all we get are stupid excuses, they even have the cheek to tell us that we haven't rang before and that they have never even spoken to us.

I wish I could tell the world how crap they are!!! They are a bunch of liars and bad, bad people. How they can live with themselves when they go home each night is beyond me!

I would love some help with this but know that really, we are on our own but........ who knows, one day .................