Direct Buy Consumer Reviews

I did a TON of research before I bit the bullet and paid their VERY high membership fee.
After spending close to $20,000, I ended up receiving several e-mails from different people letting me know that this item or that item was no longer available and to make a different selection. I did, and 2 weeks later found out that item wasn't available either. For other items, I was given a replacement option that was not even close to the same item. Several items that actually were available, were not in stock, so their estimated delivery was 3-4 months out.
I placed my full order on May 21st-(bedroom sets, dining table and chairs, sofas and chairs, tables, washer and dryer, dressers, bunk beds, mattresses, etc) today, June 19th the only item I have received is the Washer and Dryer and no one has even contacted me to schedule delivery for any other item.
I spoke with Drew from the escalations department; I wanted to cancel my remaining items that haven't shipped, and get my membership refunded. She was completely unwilling to help or understand. She just kept saying "you're past your 30 days to cancel, and there is no one else you can talk to about it." Even though, I was not even notified until after 30 days that the items weren't available or they were delayed.
She even said they couldn't tell which items had shipped, and every manufacturer would have to be contacted separately.
The worst part, I even asked the sales representative before I purchased my membership, if it would be possible to coordinate the delivery for all the items, and he said "he was sure they could, just use the concierge service". This was a LIE! I can't even get furniture items before 3 months, or items fulfilled that aren't discontinued. At this point, coordinated delivery was the least of my concerns, but that was flat out a lie. The sales guys will tell you anything to get you to buy.
I even asked Drew in the escalations department; “would you really prefer I leave my negative experience on the review websites as opposed to just refunding the membership fee?”
She said “I hope you wouldn't do that, but you are past the 30 days so we will not be refunding your fee”.
Don't fall victim like me. If you are looking to furnish a house, go to a local furniture store, pay a little extra, make a deal with them and get your house furnished in a timely manner; you will save yourself SOOOOOO much hassle, disappointment, stress, etc. Direct Buy savings is not worth your mental health through the process!

PARK CITY, UTAH -- I placed an order. The address defaulted to my house in California. I wanted the Four Hands set to go to my Utah House. I notified Direct Buy that the address had defaulted to the wrong address and that the couch should go to our Utah house. DB did not respond to that request. I went to look at the status of the order on December 15, 2021 and I noticed that the address was never changed.

I wrote to DB again. They told me that I had to cancel the order and reorder in order to have the couch go to Utah. When I placed the order on November 30, 2021 the item was on sale. They cancelled the order and told me that they would not honor the sale price. This was for a couch that has not been manufactured. If DB had responded to the initial request, we would have been able to get the couch at the same price. They have been AWFUL to deal with. I would not recommend joining and I will let my membership go. It is NOT worth the headaches. I have encountered a few other issues that cost so much time energy and effort and all the issues could have been easily resolved.

MERRILLVILLE, INDIANA -- My husband and I bought a membership from Direct Buy and we took advantage of the savings when we remodeled our kitchen, put hardwood flooring in our living room, and bought high end furniture for a really reasonable price. But, apparently, we used our membership too frequently for their liking so we were put on the "list." When our furniture (which was shipped from overseas) came in (weeks later than promised), we were told that the ottoman was damaged so they were returning the whole set.

We said we would like to pick up the furniture and we would take the chance of the ottoman not matching exactly. About four months later, when we still hadn't received our ottoman, we called to check on it. We also called to inquire about carpet. No response. We called several times... on the fourth or fifth call, when the voicemail said, "I will get back to you at my earliest convenience," I left a message about how it obviously was never convenient. So, since it was open, my husband and I decided to drive to the warehouse to talk to someone. When we arrived, we had to wait 1/2 hour to talk with someone (that was fine).

When she finally got to us, I apologized about the message (which was not rude, just not the nicest). She said, "You didn't threaten me did you? If you threatened me I will call the police." We laughed and she said, "I am tired of crazy customers insulting me." My husband told her that we did not threaten her and let us get to the matter at hand. She helped us and said our ottoman would be in in the next couple of weeks. As we started to leave she started up on the message again and threatened to call the police if I said anything she didn't like.

My husband asked her to not talk to his wife in that tone as he walked toward the door (away from her). She started yelling that she was going to call the police (we thought we were on Candid Camera) and that she felt threatened. The owner called me to find out what happened and when I told her we had spent a lot of money at her establishment she told me I was stupid. She said that it was a wholesale company and the only money she makes off us is from our membership dues.

By ordering as much as we did she had to pay more staff. She then informed me that she was revoking my membership. I called the corporate office and they said that she is the owner's second wife and has created many problems for the company (the owner of the Merrillville store is the son of the original owner) but there was nothing they could do. They suggested I go to the Naperville, IL (more than an hour away) to see if they would honor the membership. Nope... done.

Incidentally, when they called us to pick up the ottoman, she threatened me to "not make any trouble," and said she would have police presence. Are you kidding me? When my husband and I arrived she was waiting with her chest puffed out... when she saw us she slinked into her office and put her head down (maybe we were not the ** she expected?). We loaded our merchandise and left. Ridiculous.

LAKE WYLIE, SOUTH CAROLINA -- I have been a customer of Direct Buy for 10 years. My experiences years 1-5 in Rochester and Albany, NY, were stellar. When we moved to SC, we had a costly and horrible experience with kitchen design, cabinets and recommended contractor. Then Direct Buy closed the showroom. My closest showroom is now 4 hours away in Atlanta. We were told not to worry, that concierge services would be available free of charge. In the last 3 months we have moved and tried diligently to utilize Direct Buy to purchase items. After 2 experiences of doing extensive research and being ready to place an order We were told that they no longer were able to access those manufactures that remain CURRENTLY LISTED ON THEIR WEBSITE, we tried to use the concierge service, only to be told that is an extra $100 fee. Yesterday, I Requested a quote on a mirror and (with all added fees) was quoted $480. I can buy it locally for $465. They say that their base price was less (which it was), but the TOTAL price was more. Sadly, In my opinion, DB has become a bait and switch rip off.

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY -- Direct Buy Warranty's lack of professionalism and complete disregard for the customer means CUSTOMER BEWARE. They took my money, wouldn't honor the claim because it was substantial and then used all the loop holes they could fabricate to keep from paying me.

My transmission had a bad valve body so I contacted Mercedes, their technical staff, and pulled their Technical Specifications and all are in agreement that the transmission is a sealed unit and does not need to be serviced prior to 39k miles...... and still they wanted service records and would not fix it. General fluid levels were always kept up.... it only had 26k when we bought it... beautiful car. From the first day the claim was submitted it is not "how can we help you" ... it's all about "how can they get out of having to pay for a legitimate claim".... from day one the lies and deceit kept coming.

Here is a list : 1. Told my wife and Mercedes that they would be sending one of their Techs to look at the vehicle..... never heard back from them and I was forced to call them back. 2. Initially was verbally accused of buying a damaged vehicle and trying to get it repaired at their expense..... this happened repeatedly. 3. I was then told that they do not cover the Valve Body and my claim was denied.

4. Contacted a lawyer and validated the verbiage in their contract implied "all internally lubricated parts" and that the valve body was definitely a lubricated part. This is when they changed their story and now they wanted service records? More lies.

5. At this point they changed their story again and requested service records? I explained that this transmission only requires that you check the fluid level... There is no service required until 39K miles... The car was only at 30k. I even got Mercedes on the phone, but they refused to talk to them. More lies.... especially when they say this was the #1 reason... not true... They kept making stuff up regardless of how I tried to answer their request.

So.... picture this.... every time I had to call them I received the same runaround.... someone would ask what was wrong... then they would ask for my service contract #... then they would ask what the problem was..... This would go on for ten minutes..... I would have to ask to talk with a supervisor and they would transfer me to a voice mail and I would not hear back from them again..... NOT ONCE did they call me back.

6. This company is a joke.....once I finally did get hold of someone that supposedly was legitimate, all he did is belittle me... ** (probably not even his real name)....who said he would contact Mercedes and get me on the phone to have a joint conversation about an alternative solution... Do you think I heard back????? Hell no..... I am angry that this type of a fraudulent business is allowed to operate in the United States. Stay as far away from this company as possible... and let other people know the same. They are all nice up front... but the minute you have a problem you are screwed.

5072 WILLIAM PENN HIGHWAY, PENNSYLVANIA -- My husband and I got duped into joining Direct Buy about 1 year ago. They kiss your butt during those orientations, offering you drinks and making you a bunch of promises. Once you shell out the joiners fee (which is absolutely ridiculous, in retrospect), all of the help and hospitality goes right out the window. We can barely get help when we make the drive out to the center... heaven forbid we ask for someone to return a phone call!

We live about 2 hours away from our local Direct Buy, but were promised it would be worth our drive. HAHAHAHAHA! We were also promised there was no shipping on goods, unless we decided to have them shipped to our home. HAHAHAHA! They failed to mention that the manufacturer, not Direct Buy, will charge you "freight" on all weighted items if they choose...I.e. - We ordered a $300 bed from Ashley Furniture... We paid almost $600 by the time they added freight... AAAANNND we had to drive 2 hours into the dregs of Pittsburgh to pick it at some crummy warehouse on a deserted, creepy street.

I ordered a table at the end of April which is still not in and it is now mid June. Best part is, once the item comes in you only have 2 days to pick it up or they start charging you a storage fee. Our worst experience, however, is our countertops. We were told at the orientation that countertops take 2 weeks to come in. They even made a big stink about making sure our cabinets were ready for those counters because they will be installed in 2 weeks and they won't wait for us. We placed our order for Silestone counters on 04/10/10. It is not 06/17/10 and I still have not heard ANYTHING about the counters. I keep calling the center and never get a returned phone call.

You have to pay for all of your goods up front, so we shelled out almost 4,000 and can't even get a returned phone call?????!!!!! We also ordered a butcher block top for our island on the same day we ordered the silestone. That was finally installed on 06/15/10, However, when the guy from the manufacturer came to measure for installation (he did a great job, you can tell he wasn't a Direct Buy employee), he brought to our attention that Direct Buy charged us for a much larger top than we needed. I called to ask about it and they said once the purchase was complete they would see about trying to get us a refund on a credit card.

We paid with a freaking check, but we can get a credit refund??? Really????? I called and left a message this morning threatening legal action, so we will see where that gets us. We are building a house and Direct Buy has us way behind schedule. To sum it up, Direct Buy employees are liars, frauds and cheats. You pay waaaay too much to join this this group (almost 6 grand) and you get stress and headaches in return. This is, by far, the worst experience that I as a consumer have had. They suck!! Don't buy into their schemes!!

INDIANA -- I recently purchased a used 2003 Ford Explorer and due to it being used and me not knowing the history of the car I felt it would be wise to purchase an extended warranty to cover myself in case there were problems. The suv drives nicely however on night without any indication or even slightest signs, it just stopped on me. After I could not get it restarted I had it towed to the dealership and contacted Direct Buy Warranty to advise and to initiate a claim.

Well lo and behold once the vehicle was diagnosed, I was informed that the claim was denied. The cause of the mechanical breakdown was not a covered problem but in addition to that at the time the car was being diagnosed, the dealership became aware of another problem with the vehicle and it was too denied. The reason for the denial was basically that it was a pre-existing problem.

I challenged the Representative by asking how would I know about pre-existing problem when it's a recently purchased used vehicle and told him that in fact was the reason why I purchased the warranty because the vehicle is used and I don't know the history of it. At that point, the Representative told me that I should have had a 120pt inspection.

Needless to say nothing went smooth about the conversation after that because as I explained to him that while they were selling me pipe dreams about how fantastic their company was, they never mentioned that I should have an inspection prior to purchasing the plan even though we talked extensively about it being a used car that I recently purchased. He then goes on to tell me that no that is not something that they tell their customers...to which my response is "well why are you telling me now after I've purchased your plan and filed a claim that was denied?"

This company is so bogus until it's unbelievable. They also insinuated that I bought a car with mechanical problems then purchased a plan from them because my breakdown occurred 6wk after purchasing their plan.

My question and concern with this company is why would you sell extended warranties for used vehicles if claims are going to be denied claiming they are pre-existing? I thought that was the whole concept behind selling used car warranties was to protect the consumer from having to pay expensive car repairs in the event of a mechanical breakdown. Now I understand that if the item broken is not a covered item but to have a covered item and then to be denied saying it's pre-existing well that is all the proof I need that this company is fraudulent and not worthy of business with.

They keep you on the line selling all these great points when they are trying to coax you into choosing their company but once you're in they don't honor claim. I requested that they immediately start processing my cancellations of this policy. I don't need to $1900 for a warranty that isn't worthy the paper it's written on. Buyers beware. My recommendation to anyone considering buying a warranty from this company is to make sure you have your used vehicle inspected prior to making this purchase because they do not honor claims.

CLEVELAND, OHIO -- Direct Buy has a new business plan and it excludes brick and mortar. The online shopping website is slow and searching for items is one of the poorest websites I have ever used. A member for about 10 years, I have saved a lot of money but now that everything is online I will not renew my membership. I have read a lot of reviews for the Direct Buy travel and would not recommend it to anyone, I am getting pop-up in December for renewal of a APRIL membership expiration. REALLY. Very annoying marketing scheme.

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY -- I purchased a extended warranty for my R350 Mercedes for $1,959 dollars. Their elite bumper to bumper. My transmission was giving off a code that indicates the valve body needs to be replaced. Direct Buy auto warranties says it is not covered. Here is the actual verbiage from the contract. "All internally lubricated parts including: torque convertor, vacuum modulator, internal linkage, and transmission mounts. The valve body in question is definitely lubricated."

My wife took the car into Mercedes and it took over an hour to get a response from Direct Buy and then we were told we would have to schedule another time to have a Direct Buy representative look at the car and have to start all over.

We waited to hear back but didn'€™t so I had to call them and they said they would not cover anything inside the transmission and now they were not going to have someone look at it... they were just going to deny it because the part is quite expensive they tried to claim this was existing. Then they wanted maintenance receipts when Mercedes clearly states that you do not need to service the transmission until 39K and our car was only at 30K. Then they said we were trying to get something fixed that was a previous condition...... every trick in the book because the fix was about the same price as what I had paid for the warranty.

They ran us around, wouldn't let me talk to the boss, made us tell the same story to 8 different people. This is clearly illegal, I even contacted them and asked for coverage on another one of my cars to see if I would get the same lies I received from the first sales person..... and again specifically asked if all lubricated parts were covered inside the transmission.. They stated yes and my wife, kids and answering machine recorded it.

This is totally unbelievable..... all they have to do is deny it and force you into arbitration where "of course"€ they have a 1500 dollar limitation and make you fight them in New Jersey....... so if you have a tranny or engine problem, it will never be fixed!... And if you wait the 30 days you lose 20% of what you paid. Even if you try to work it out, the representatives are extremely rude and mean and keep passing you around to different people. I wish there was someway to let more people know how fraudulent this company is so they do not have to be exposed to this type of abuse.

Everyone.... please read the trail of emails tied to Direct Buy Warranties.... They are all the same.... Someone needs to stop these people.

A scam can be defined as an attempt to intentionally mislead another person with the goal of financial gain. This company changes its name frequently because of a poor consumer record. It was formerly known as UCC Total Home & UCC and is now Direct Buy to hide the previous poor consumer record. There are many online reports on both companies regarding their poor consumer record. Look up 'direct buy scam' on any search engine. Since you are reading this you probably don't know much about how a company like this does business.

A company with a dubious product or service for sale (like this one) will attempt to use coercive persuasion to make you buy. This may be a 'fear of loss' technique (you will not be able to tour the showroom and check prices again for 7 years if you don't sign-up today) or 'power close' techniques to 'intimidate' you into buying. Remember, they have nothing to lose... They will not see you again if you don't buy 'today' so they are liable to try anything that might 'close the sale' with your personality type.

Time share is sold this way and some health club memberships because so many people drop out and don't use their memberships. They are really just selling 'time' to use their facility ... they have virtually no additional expenses when you join. The contract, which no attorney would ever let you sign, is so one sided that it is patently fraudulent, in my opinion. But since you cannot take it home to review it... most people who do join based on hype and inaccurate claims, find themselves holding a document that gives them virtually nothing for their money.

They are selling the equivalent of a SAM'S CLUB or Costco membership for thousands! Personally, I can find better deals than SAMS or Costco normally on the internet (that deliver to my home, not a warehouse) so Direct Buy selling for thousands is a total Rip-Off! You are paying for a 'buying club' that gives almost no service, has prices that can be beat by almost any discount retailer. They hide behind a clever contract that gives you no rights to contest anything.

They are only in business because of gullible people that they can intimidate. Beware, they employ a large in house complaint response team to counter 'real' actual consumer complaints published in various blogs. AVOID! If it were a good, decent company they would be happy to let you try it for a month for free and then pay monthly. But if they did that no one would pay their price.