Idyllic Cruise Critic afternoon ruined ...

[PASSIONATE ABOUT CRUISING]

DH was out, the kids were out, I was home all alone ... I was going to seize the moment & spend a couple of hours catching up on CC posts. I never get to spend as much time as I would like as someone ALWAYS wants to get on the computer when I'm on. Sat down with my coffee, bikkie, managed to reply to one post, then "Ding Dong" ... that damn door bell!

 

A seemingly nice young man was happy to tell me I was his last call of the day & he had a great offer for me ... to get the carpet steam cleaned in any one room for free. I said nothing was free, what's the catch? No catch, they're company was moving into our area and if I was happy with this free clean, I'd hopefully call them to come back & do the rest of the house. I'll be honest just this week I was saying to DH I need to get some people out to steam clean our carpets as they were looking a little grotty, so I fell for the free carpet clean which would only take 20 mins.

 

In came the guy to do the actual clean, lugging 2 big boxes behind him. The one who introduced the free demo left at that point & said he'd be back.

 

I showed the guy the lounge carpet to be cleaned. I watched as he set up all these attachments in a nice way, like you would see at a demo, and then on the side of the box I saw "Kirby". I'd been had!!! I asked if this was a demo & he said "yes". I said the previous guy said nothing about a demo & that I was pretty peeved. I don't know if this guy was putting on a front, but he really looked embarrassed, apologised and said it was his second week into the job and he was just doing what he was told to do.

 

He had a South African accent, said he'd been in Australia 2 years, just got out of a job in the hospitality industry & was giving selling Kirbys a go. He then went on to say he was starting to wonder why many houses he'd visited the people were either rude, kicked him out of their homes, and generally was starting to think maybe he'd made a mistake joining this company.

 

I really felt sorry for him (call me gullible if you will), but I had no intention of buying a $3,800 vacuum (even if it changed my light bulbs) & wanted him to leave. He explained the driver wouldn't be back for 2 hours as he had other demonstrators to drop off/pick up. So I made him a drink & we sat & talked. Kirby demonstrators are taught to use devious sales tactics, anything to get a sale. Also, the starting price of $3,800 can usually be knocked down to $1,500 ... but they could offer it for $100 & I still wouldn't buy it because of the way they get into your home on false pretences. During his 2 hours here his boss called 3 times to see how the sell was going & each time pressuring him to pressure me into buy the blasted machine. In the end I told him to tell his boss we're ripping up the carpet & polishing floorboards so I don't need the machine.

 

Finally the driver came to pick up the demonstrator. I wished him luck, but doubt he'll last long with the company. And what was supposed to be my time was cut short as DH phoned a few minutes ago to say he was on his way home.

 

But I've still got a few minutes ...

 

PAC:D

[gkaclt]

oh my god how funny. Sorry.... We got hit once with dine-rite cookware. My soon to be mother in law at time put our names down for some free wine glasses thinking they would be a nice start for our marriage life, well after 4 hours YES 4 hours the guy finally got the point that we wouldn't be buying $3000 cookware (think that was the rough price). ever since then My husband and I dont put our names down for any freebies and hate door to door sales men with a passion. I have even phoned AAPT at one stage and told them never to came to our house after one of their pushy people visit once. So I understand how you feel. As for entertaining a stranger for 2 hours it would have driven me mad. I would have felt so uncomfortable.

 

kelly:p

[Lizard©]

Oh Gawd!!! My mum got sucked into buying one of those machines, I wish I had been there to kick that guy out. Both her and her neighbour bought one!!!

Does she use it ..........................of course not!!! I was so angry at the time that she could be so gullible, especially as she's on a pension and really couldn't afford it.

She won't buy anything door to door now with out ringing me first she says lol.

Well at least you still get a few minutes online hun before your disturbed further. Enjoy!! :)

 

Lizard© .......................... who desperastely wants to ruise again but has to wait until 2010 :(

[cheznandy]

PAC, sounds like our evening on Monday night:rolleyes: Got a phonecall to ask us to an evening about cheap holidays, well of course I thought yeah!! and if you turn up you get $120 voucher for Coles/Myer, we thought ok, so we went. There were about 10 tables and they sat us separately, they did the speel, then couldnt get the video working haha!! each table was assigned a sales person, so we had another couple join us, our guy was Indian and we couldnt understand most of what he said!.......it was basically a timeashare thing, we have been interested in Accor timeshare for a couple of years and still doing the research and thinking.........then they got onto cheap cruises, well they were not as cheap as some as the online TA's! we hit them with a few questions and he basically ignored them.......he told my hubby, "your wife is really smart" because I guessed the price, derrrr I looked it up on their website before we left, they must think everyone is nieve:p......then he offered me a job haha!!!

But i love it at the end, when they say, tonight if you sign up you can have it for $5990, but tomorrow it will cost you $13990, I hate that and told him so!

 

Anyway we are off to another Accor one in a couple of weeks, at the Pacific Bay resort at Coffs Harbour, we get two nights accommodation and a $40 gift voucher for dinner.........and this time we might buy, but wholesale onlline for 1/3 of the price:D..........and we will see if our vouchers for the other one turn up in the mail, fingers crossed:o

 

Chez

xx

[PASSIONATE ABOUT CRUISING]

I'm feeling so "stoopid" at the moment because I really fell for the freebie hook, line & sinker. And I really know NOTHING is free ... had I seen 'KIRBY' written on the box before they unpacked I would have said 'thanks, but no thanks'.

 

I've just googled Kirby and read so many complaints about the company & their deceptive sales tactics. I really don't know how the company has survived for as long as it has considering how they get their business.

 

And Cheznandy, I've been sucked into those timeshare nights too ... mainly on the Gold Coast, but always walked out never signing anything.

 

Sucker PAC:(

[icemaiden2310]

I'm feeling so "stoopid" at the moment because I really fell for the freebie hook, line & sinker. And I really know NOTHING is free ... had I seen 'KIRBY' written on the box before they unpacked I would have said 'thanks, but no thanks'.

 

I've just googled Kirby and read so many complaints about the company & their deceptive sales tactics. I really don't know how the company has survived for as long as it has considering how they get their business.

 

And Cheznandy, I've been sucked into those timeshare nights too ... mainly on the Gold Coast, but always walked out never signing anything.

 

Sucker PAC:(

 

Your probably lucky that you still have your telly and silverware!

I would never let anyone into my house that just knocked on the door....

Mind you if it was Sean Connery I would make an exception .......

 

Icy

[Crusin6]

I see all of you guys are from Australia! Nice!

 

Well, to be a typical New Yawker, let me say that the man wouldn't last a day up here because no one would let him in their houses!!!! LOL

[Brossy]

Hi Pac

My DH had a funny experience with a Kirby before I met him. He was sharing a bachelor pad with 2 other guys. They got sucked into trialling the Kirby for 2 weeks. They had to sign for the Kirby & agreed they would hand it back after 2 weeks. The guy never returned to pick Kirby up & it was left in the cupboard forgotten for about a year. The Kirby letters sat in a pile of junk mail unopened for about a year before the debt collectors showed up. Turns out they were supposed to courier the Kirby back. The other 2 bachelors had already moved out so DH had to send it back. They took it back but charged him over $1000 for late fees, restocking etc. Every time DH hears KIRBY he cringes :D :D :D.

[PASSIONATE ABOUT CRUISING]

I see all of you guys are from Australia! Nice!

 

Well, to be a typical New Yawker, let me say that the man wouldn't last a day up here because no one would let him in their houses!!!! LOL

 

Well I did say from the beginning neither the word "Kirby" nor "demonstration" were mentioned and it wasn't until the guy started unpacking his box that I noticed "Kirby" written on the box. By this time the first guy was gone & wasn't to return for 2 hours. Had I known from the beginning this was a Kirby demo, he would not be inside my house either.

 

I generally get my carpets cleaned every 18 months - 2 years, strangers come in & clean them & I've never had a problem. I was just caught off guard this time.

 

PAC

[Brossy]

Well I did say from the beginning neither the word "Kirby" nor "demonstration" were mentioned and it wasn't until the guy started unpacking his box that I noticed "Kirby" written on the box. By this time the first guy was gone & wasn't to return for 2 hours. Had I known from the beginning this was a Kirby demo, he would not be inside my house either.

 

I generally get my carpets cleaned every 18 months - 2 years, strangers come in & clean them & I've never had a problem. I was just caught off guard this time.

 

PAC

 

Dear Pac

 

If it makes you feel any better I would have done exactly the same thing as you ;). Don't worry about it. Can you get any R&R tonight? Just try to sit back, relax and enjoy your evening reading CC (it'll seem funnier tomorrow!).

[Gratz]

Oh you poor thing PAC. Thats horrible, they are so damn manipulative.

 

My dad has the "say no thankyou politely and if no one listens slam the door in their face" approach and I think I will start adopting that cause I am so so sick of people door knocking

[PASSIONATE ABOUT CRUISING]

Dear Pac

 

If it makes you feel any better I would have done exactly the same thing as you ;). Don't worry about it. Can you get any R&R tonight? Just try to sit back, relax and enjoy your evening reading CC (it'll seem funnier tomorrow!).

 

Thanks Rose,

 

I'm OK now ... when DH came home he asked what I had been doing & before I could answer he said "don't tell me, you've been on cruise critic all afternoon" ... little did he know that was my plan so I had a bit of a giggle & told him what really happened. He was just glad I didn't actually buy/sign anything.

 

Maria:)

[kaseyoz]

I think you had better send hubby out again tomorrow. Time on Cc is precious!!

 

What a good read though you poor thing and i think you were very nice to entertain him like that.

[arxcards]

My dear wife spent a couple of months working for Kirby around 15 years ago. While I appreciate the effort she put in, I can tell you from the other side of the fence, most that work for them are there for a short time and are significantly ripped off.

 

You did the guy a favour, even though unwanted by you. The van driver was still within the neighbourhood, so the excuse was a crap one. If he does not complete the demo, the van will pick him up and he won't be paid for his effort.

 

Their unpaid hours - they need to attend compulsory sales training (motivation hype sessions) for several hours each morning without pay. They then usually knock on doors of an afternoon to set up leads - unpaid.

 

They are paid by demonstrations achieved, and by units sold. At the time my wife was working there, I was earning around $500pw. Her earnings from demo's per week were done on a sliding scale - 1 demo = $1, 2 demo's = $4, 3 demo's = $9, up to 10 demo's = $100. Any over that was worth $10 each. The lack of leads required the poorly paid to front up for more attempts on Saturday & Sunday. Barb was getting an average of 8 demos a week - so earning a base average pay of $64 per week. I would figure this rate has gone up, but I was earning 8 x that for 1/3 less hours at the time. Much time was spent sitting around in a van - waiting for others to finish their sales pitches and demos.

 

Other way of earning money was to complete a sale. Good salespeople were getting 1 sale per 20 demo's. Most were about 1:25, and if you couldn't get 1:30, they would let you go. At the time the units were just under $2000, and the salesperson would make $100 per sale. With 10 demos per week, the good ones are selling one per fortnight - making $100 one week, $200 the next.

 

This company is notorious, and advertises for new pawns every week.

 

Barb stuck it out for 8 weeks before resigning. I still don't know how she managed it - she was exhausted. I found at at Christmas time that she spotted something special she wanted to buy me, and laboured till she could afford it. It is still a special gift.

 

We still occasionally get a knock at the door, and I can smell them a mile off. I will tell them that my wife worked for them, and I wouldn't buy one if I had a house full of ragdoll cats and they were selling the last vacuum cleaner on earth.

[jingles83]

Sorry PAC. But you're a lot nicer than me, I too would have liked the free carpet cleaning in one room (would pick the biggest room too :pLOL) but as soon as the guy with 2 big boxes came in the door, I wouldn't have even looked at the words and would have sent him straight back out again. (Not too mention the fact you are home alone :confused:).

 

Have you thought about lodging a complaint on their selling tactics?

 

Did a google search on Kirby and found funny stories, here's just one http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/kirby/kirby.html

 

Never mind I'm sure you're laughing now. Lucky I live up a long driveway, don't get anyone knocking on our door, but they do phone and we just say no thanks once, then hang up (well at least I do, DH just hangs up) :p

 

Cheers

Jingles.

 

PS: They're just like the cooking ware demonstrators where you get free wine glasses with your names engraved on them, they catch all those new engaged couples at the bridal fairs. LOL got my glasses 14 years ago, at least I didn't let the girl cook in her demo as they normally do.:mad:

[gkaclt]

Hey Jingles83 we got are glasses 14yrs ago also, married 20/3/84. they sent dust covered in a cupboard. LOL

[arxcards]

Hey Jingles83 we got are glasses 14yrs ago also, married 20/3/84. they sent dust covered in a cupboard. LOL

or was that 24yrs ago??

 

Time flies when you are having fun!!

[sailawaysally]

Well, guess who got suckered for a Kirby, my DH, BUT I have to say it is an amazing machine. We have had it for 14 years, never broken down, always being borrowed by others because it is so powerful. Yes it was about $2,800, (a cruise!!!) but as long as it's till going I figure in another 6 years it may have been worth it. Must say though that the fella selling straight up told us that he was selling, no free offers etc. Just got us at a bad time with daughter having bad allergies to everything so DH said yes.

[gkaclt]

oops, fun but also just bad typing married 1994. :p

[Brossy]

Hi Maria

How did the rest of your weekend turn out? Better I hope. Did you manage to get your quality time on CC?

[PASSIONATE ABOUT CRUISING]

Hi Maria

How did the rest of your weekend turn out? Better I hope. Did you manage to get your quality time on CC?

 

Hi Rose,

 

The rest of my weekend was better even though I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted on CC. Driving home from work today I could see a fellow in the distance wheeling 2 big boxes ... and once I was just about to drive past him I saw "Kirby" written on one of them ... obviously they've targetted our area. I did write to the editor of our local paper hoping he'll put something in the paper, to warn local residents these people are preying on locals - whether it gets printed is another matter.

 

PAC:o

[rugbypopsie]

PAC, sounds like our evening on Monday night:rolleyes: Got a phonecall to ask us to an evening about cheap holidays, well of course I thought yeah!! and if you turn up you get $120 voucher for Coles/Myer, we thought ok, so we went. There were about 10 tables and they sat us separately, they did the speel, then couldnt get the video working haha!! each table was assigned a sales person, so we had another couple join us, our guy was Indian and we couldnt understand most of what he said!.......it was basically a timeashare thing, we have been interested in Accor timeshare for a couple of years and still doing the research and thinking.........then they got onto cheap cruises, well they were not as cheap as some as the online TA's! we hit them with a few questions and he basically ignored them.......he told my hubby, "your wife is really smart" because I guessed the price, derrrr I looked it up on their website before we left, they must think everyone is nieve:p......then he offered me a job haha!!!

But i love it at the end, when they say, tonight if you sign up you can have it for $5990, but tomorrow it will cost you $13990, I hate that and told him so!

 

Anyway we are off to another Accor one in a couple of weeks, at the Pacific Bay resort at Coffs Harbour, we get two nights accommodation and a $40 gift voucher for dinner.........and this time we might buy, but wholesale onlline for 1/3 of the price:D..........and we will see if our vouchers for the other one turn up in the mail, fingers crossed:o

 

Chez

xx

 

DH and I purchased an Accor Vacation Club membership as we had been happy with our Accor Plus card anyhooo...$13,000 each later we discovered we could have bought the same membership for less than $11000 total not the $26,000 on ebay. We haven't actually used it yet...dont know that it will work well for cruises..however I feel pretty stupid about paying so much, pays to do the research.:eek: