door to door scam


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Thread Number: 12783
door to door scam

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Post# 136749 5/16/2011 at 18:07 (4,722 days old) by joshdonnell ()
Checkrate/Likes who has gotten sucked into these scams ? i know kirby is one of the biggest on but i havent heard and complats one filter queens, aerus and rainbow . whos thinks filter queens another big scam or aerus or rainbow .

Post# 136750 , Reply# 1 5/16/2011 at 18:22 (4,722 days old) by Brandon_W_T ()
Checkrate/Likes In all honesty, Its not really a scam. Its a sales technique to use high pressure tactics. But unfortunately many in todays sideways society thing its oh so wrong. But 40 years ago it was every day life.

Post# 136752 , Reply# 2 5/16/2011 at 18:58 (4,722 days old) by Trebor ()
Checkrate/Likes *what is the scam?* Do you mean telling people they won a free carpet cleaning or set of steak knives and then subjecting them to a 3 to 5 hr demonstration? Or do you mean placing "set up assembly display" ads or carpet shampooer ads to lure people into selling machines to their family and friends on their 'turn out weekends'? If people know they are going to see a cleaning product demonstrated and are giving an opinion for receiving the gift, where is the scam? The scam lies in sending people who are untrained into homes where they subject people to an interminably long demo. Unnecessary. If a new person is shown how to use the equipment to pull dirt, and to get the customer involved in using the equipment, and simply asking "What do you think about the job it is doing compared to your present cleaner?" Do you like using it?" "If it were affordable, would you like to have one?" The key is to show the need for the machine bu pulling lots and lots of dirt, and to do a good training class when the customer buys. It takes a fair amount of stamina to do a selling presentation, and most distributors want to sit with their feet up on the desk one they are promoted. I never lied to make a sale, never pressured anyone into buying anything. The problem is distributors who don't want to go with new dealers, and resent paying full commissions when they are earned. I have seen it all, in Filter Queen, Rainbow, Kirby, and Electrolux. The problems lie in upper management and trickle on down. While the machines of necessity cost more than off the shelf vacuums at big box retailers, they need no cost as much as they do. When one can have a central vac installed for the same or less money as a Kirby or a Rainbow, that is just ridiculous. If the machine costs 500.00, the inventory needs to be replaced. The office needs to make 100.00. the salesman needs to make 200.00 the distributor needs to make 100.00, and the sales end of the organization needs to make 100.00 to provide gas cards for lead generation, bonus prizes, etc. That is 1000.00 for a 500.00 machine. So start at 1200.00 to give some bargaining room, and if a sale is made for 1200.00 then the salesman makes 100.00 more, the sales organization makes 50.00 more, and the distributor and the office each make 25.00 more. The salesman is the LAST on to lose any of his extra 100.00. Raising the price of the machine to lower the number of unit sales to pay monthly expenses is self defeating, and the main reason so many offices go under. The distributor needs to be out with a salesperson every evening to develop them, but they won't. No vacuum cleaner should be priced above 1200.00 in my opinion. Less disparity in what people pay, fewer aggravated customers over the price. With so many poor quality vacuums being sold, there is a market for high quality door-to-door units, but not at $2500 to $3000 The best selling plan I ever heard of was used years ago in Fort Wayne, IN. People were solicited by means of a survey to give an opinion on the Rainbow. They were shown how to use the equipment, signed a receipt for it, and were left to use it for 3 or 4 days. 75% or better said "You can't have it back. I want to buy it" People made up their own minds based upon the dirt they saw removed, the improved feel and appearance of their carpets. and the improved air quality. Fill out the paperwork, collect referrals, do a training class. Set up the referrals with a survey and an in home trial and start the cycle over. Greedy RGDs wanted to make more money, which meant doing high pressure demos and demanding on the spot decisions to buy to get a higher price, which meant fewer sales. Craziness

Post# 136761 , Reply# 3 5/16/2011 at 21:12 (4,722 days old) by twocvbloke ()
Checkrate/Likes I don't think door-to-door sales are a scam, pressuring people into buying the items demonstrated (whether it's a vacuum cleaner, sound system, kitchen appliance or whatever) who cannot afford or even need such things, or even just taking the money and not supplying the product, then it could be considered a scam. What IS a scam is people knocking on your door asking if you need any jobs doing round the house (cleaning, repairs, electrical, etc.), these are the people who are out to scam, especially the ones who come to you asking if you want something fitting on the outside of your house (e.g. Facia boarding, new guttering etc.), and you say no, and then they do it anyway and send you an extortionate invoice, those are scams, and I know all too well about them cos someone did just that to my grandma many years ago, though they ended up in court and she won... So, selling physical products D2D isn't a true scam, but selling services is...

Post# 136798 , Reply# 4 5/17/2011 at 16:04 (4,721 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)
Checkrate/Likes *i don't think* it's a scam,it's just a creative marketing Technic.

Post# 136806 , Reply# 5 5/17/2011 at 17:21 (4,721 days old) by BrianKirbyClass (Eudora Kansas)
Checkrate/Likes Last year i had an African American woman knocking on my door late one Sunday Evening,,by late i mean about 9:30 PM. I live in an all white neighborhood/suburb,,not that blacks arnt welcome, they just dont live here. So, it was kind of alarming. She was very poorly dressed,,and was carrying her high heeled shoes. Her accent was so strong and speech was so poor, i could barely understand what she was saying, but i figured out what she wanted. To sell me a Kirby. I had to HOLD TIGHT to the screen door, as she wanted to push her way into my home. If i hadnt of locked the screen door, she would have EASILY pushed her way in. After telling her i wasnt interested MANY times, and that i owned many Kirbys, and could probablly sell HER one,,she left,,or so i thought. I looked out the front window about a half hour later, and there she was sitting in my outdoor chair right by my front door!,,still with her shoes off,,evidently her feet hurt. (maybe wear comfortable shoes next time?,,and look presentable?) I would have offered her a glass of water, but was affraid she would take it as an invite to start selling! Finally after about an hour, she went on her way. Poor thing,,,what a way to make a living. I doubt she sold very many Kirbys that night.

Post# 136822 , Reply# 6 5/17/2011 at 19:40 (4,721 days old) by whirlpolf ()
Checkrate/Likes *while the majority here agrees, I tend to to disagree* Scam? Good point.... Is a scam just something plainly fraudulous? Or does it take something stronger to swallow the medicine? To me a fraud / scam is anything that does NOT stand up to its own promises. Simply put: Why does Kirby have to put up with misleading "consumer reports" asking about dust in mattresses? Why do some persons have to take so-called "polls" to get their feet between doormat and doorframe? Why can't people announce what they are going to do? A vacuum demo. I can already hear you sales guys screaming: "Because otherwise nobody would let them in!" Right. I wouldn't either. Trying to get INTO houses with other promises but the ones that were there first place IS a scam. Very simple, isn't it? I had my share of this horrible lie-filled business, I don't ever want to get back there. Appalling, disgusiting, integrity-to-be-put-to-the-curb, shoving your foot in business, what ever else. I am no longer on the side of any direct-selling company. D2D by itself IS scam to me (have seen it as customer, seller, manager and consumer counsellor). Never again.

Post# 136839 , Reply# 7 5/17/2011 at 20:53 (4,721 days old) by Trebor ()
Checkrate/Likes *Is is not a poll a scam if...* 1) people are left to use the product on their own after being shown how to use it, 2)no demo, just a quick how to, and 3) no poll is taken until the unit is to be picked up. 4)If they didn't like it, no harm no foul, take the opinion the the machine and move on. 75 to 80% of the Rainbows tested by the consumer in this manner led to a sale, at full price because the customer decided they did not want to clean with their old vacuum any more. Try selling Kirbys like that! The method failed because the management wanted the sales NOW and because they had to make a bigger investment in their own business, they had to own enough Rainbows for each salesperson to place 8 to 10 machines per week, resulting in 6 to 8 sales. The rest of the time was spent collecting referrals, and setting them up with a Rainbow to use so they could render an opinion. No one was forced to participate, but those who did bought for the most part. That's not a scam, it's brilliant marketing, the way it ought to be done. And if the Rainbow were somewhere close to a reasonable price, it would work today, providing you could get an RGD to support it.

Post# 136844 , Reply# 8 5/17/2011 at 21:48 (4,721 days old) by vac_whisperer ()
Checkrate/Likes These people kept coming to my house trying to give us a free container of baking soda. They came to our house 4-5 times. Well, a few days later it came across the radio that it was a scam so that the people can get into your house and see what you had. If there was anything worth any value, well, you know the rest. If someone comes to the door with a box and its not the Fed-Ex guy, im "not home". VW

Post# 136853 , Reply# 9 5/17/2011 at 22:38 (4,720 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)
Checkrate/Likes About three times per year, I have some men that come buy in a white van or a truck with no company name going door to door asking people if they want to buy beef at a discounted price................... Really? I never do it.......GROSS.......No way am I buying meat from some shady looking guy in a white van with no company name on it. I'll stick with Schwans. I wonder if anyone buy their meat? Ugh

Post# 136854 , Reply# 10 5/17/2011 at 22:45 (4,720 days old) by gmerkt (Edmonds WA)
Checkrate/Likes *Tough racket* Door to door sales is one of those dying institutions in our society. Once common, we had Fuller Brush men, Watkins men, Avon ladies, and a number of other legitimate door to door vendors. When I was a youngster growing up in the 1950's, these people came around exclusively during the daytime, when "housewives" were apt to be at home. Over the decades since, so many households have become two worker homes where nobody is home during the daytime, who would answer the door? We also had bread trucks and ice cream trucks slowly cruising the streets, but these weren't exactly door to door sales. These vendors had products that were desirable enough that people would come out of their houses to buy the products. The drivers of these trucks also carried certain sundry items for convenience, such as cigarettes, in a time when not every individual had an automobile at their disposal. Door to door sales of vacuum cleaners is one of the few hold-outs of door to door sales, but it's a fairly desperate occupation. Employee turnover is extremely high. It seems to me that only fairly uninformed people would now take up this form of income generation. Knowledgeable people are aware of how difficult it is to make this kind of sale today. I've read that one of Kirby's favorite sales venues is trailer parks. Think about it. Residents of trailer parks have the smallest spaces to vacuum and tend to have low incomes. Kirby likes these prospects because they also tend to have the lowest resistance to sales pitches and tend to be least informed about consumer prices/issues. Kirby makes a fine machine in many ways and I own several. However, in my opinion, the only way to buy one is second hand. I don't want to be the one who pays all those various levels of commission. I find it interesting that Fetzer and Scott are owned by Berkshire-Hathaway, the fund run by "The Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffett. I wonder if Mr. Buffett ever contemplates that some small part of his fortune is made by pressuring little old ladies, the weak-willed, and the feeble-minded into buying an over-priced product?

Post# 136863 , Reply# 11 5/18/2011 at 01:41 (4,720 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)
Checkrate/Likes For DTD sales problems with vacuums-ALL of the DTD vacuum companies have been involved in "scams" if some call it that.Not only Kirby,but TriStar,Rainbow,Filter Queen,Miracle Mate,the list goes on.The salesperson is trying to pressure the client into buying the product-no matter what the vacuum company says.It was LESS of a problem when the DTD salespeople were EMPLOYEES of the company and not contractors as they are now.

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