Secretive DirectBuy Can Save, But Is It For You?

Hartford Courant:

DirectBuy, with two franchises in Connecticut, promises to save you up to 50 percent on everything from golf balls to new kitchens. All you have to do is fork over almost $5,000 to join the buyer’s club for a couple of years.

Since its incorporation in 1981 under the name of United Consumers Club Franchising Corp., the privately held, Indiana-based company has grown into a giant merchandise club with franchises throughout North America.

It now generates more than $500 million in annual revenue and claims to have hundreds of thousands of members.

DirectBuy proudly points to its high renewal rate as proof of customer satisfaction.”That 80 percent of our members voluntarily pay to renew their memberships every year also tells us that our members do indeed find that the DirectBuy system works for them and saves them thousands of dollars,” said Mike Georgeff, DirectBuy communications coordinator.

But hundreds of others have written complaints on Internet consumer sites saying that they wished they had not become members and that they have been victimized by fast-talking salesmen, false promises and nonexistent customer service. Many of those who complain say that by careful comparison-shopping a consumer can get a deal as good as DirectBuy can deliver without paying membership fees as high as $7,000, which is the cost in California.

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