DirectBuy of Greater Orange County

If you are ever approached for a DirectBuy membership...RUN! Run like the wind!

First, you are pressured by a one-time only offer. They don't tell you until the end if you don't sign up at the initial presentation you are never allowed to join. But, we were going to remodel so we figured we would pay the thousands of dollars to join and save a bundle on windows, doors, bathtubs, etc.

So, did we save any money? Yes, but not any more so than we could have with careful shopping. In fact, we ended up buying some things cheaper from Home Depot, Amazon, and eBay. Further, we were told that ALL products from their manufacturers were available, but that turned out not to be true. In addition, products made special for stores like Home Depot are not available so the original claim loses even more luster.

They also don't tell you that they are just like any other retailer. It is basically a club membership like Costco, albeit at a much greater membership cost. Further, their calculated savings is based upon MSRP - but, as we all know, no one actually sells at MSRP so those savings numbers will be inflated. You can usually get cheaper or close to the same price elsewhere.

Even the doors and windows, which we figured would be the greatest savings, we bought elsewhere because we felt more comfortable with the other vendor. And guess what? We only had to pay about $150 more than the DirectBuy price!

So, bottom line, we did save some money but in no way have we recouped our initial investment. I hear that discounts on furniture are much better, so that may be where we save in the future. It certainly isn't in electronics, since their pricing seems to be higher than electronics store pricing at Fry's, BestBuy or Amazon.

And here's another problem: Apparently DirectBuy's credit is not good enough to have open accounts with all their manufacturers. I ordered wood flooring and was advised there would be a few days delay because DirectBuy had to mail a corporate check to the manufacturer before they would release the order. So, they're a cash in advance only customer? Seems like a sketchy situation to me...

All that being said, here's the main reason not to join DirectBuy: their customer service is horrible. Not really - it would have to improve just to be considered horrible! I have had better service at K-Mart. But then how can you expect the staff to be any better than the owner, Geoff Rocke? He commits to following up on problems and keeping you informed, but then repeatedly fails to do so. He claims to want to expedite repairs to damaged product, but then doesn't schedule workers in a timely manner. You explain to him what you as a MEMBER expect and he responds, "That isn't going to happen." He claims problems are the result of "lack of training" but has no clue that he is the one who dictates staff training. He basically throws his employees and vendors under the bus - nothing is ever his fault. (Related: he has to close the store himself because he doesn't trust his own employees. Just an indication of the type of manager he is.) I truly believe the reason Geoff runs his own company is that he would get fired for incompetence if he worked for anyone else.

I tried to resolve some complaints with DirectBuy corporate and was told I was lucky to be dealing with Geoff because he is one of their best owners. WTF! If Geoff is the best they can do all I can say is...RUN! Run like the wind!