I recently lodged a complaint with both BBB.org and the Texas AG's office for DirectBuy not fully disclosing their price match policy as part of their sales presentation or prior to the sale of the membership. This was impactful as I had comparison shopped for a flat panel TV that I found on Amazon (fulfilled by Amazon, not a reseller) that was better and cheaper than a comparable one DirectBuy had. When I asked the staff, they told me they do not price match with online retailers such as Amazon. Their explanation was they could only do so with "Authorized Retailers". Rather interesting that they consider Amazon (a retailer often held up as the standard for customer service and delivery) as a retailer that is not "qualified" per their policy. This was all after the fact (when the agreement is signed) and it was only then I was told the full details of the price match policy.in filing my 2nd complaint with BBB.org and now with the Texas AG's office, the DirectBuy contact now informs me that the policy has changed. Rather interesting given the first complaint handled by another contact (who is no longer with the company - of course) reaffirmed their non-compete price match policy with retailers like Amazon back in December. I've not seen written confirmation or evidence that this policy has changed, when it was changed and to what criteria the policy now applies, other than the current contact telling me so. After multiple attempts to explore other savings avenues and options, I requested to have the membership canceled, monthly dues/payments ceased with nothing further owed. Even after explaining the indisputable, irrefutable details that clearly show the membership has not yielded the savings promised as part of the sales presentation, the lack of full disclosure of key information and no meaningful savings that I can take advantage of (not to mention a lack of response to multiple inquiries - to which they had no explanation), their response was the membership cannot be canceled and the agreement applies. So net net, they choose to hide behind the agreement they have shown they cannot live up to while disregarding the customer experience.
I did notice on BBB.org that the NY AG's office did obtain a $500K settlement with DirectBuy over this very issue, " "Attorney General Schneiderman's investigation found that the company used deceptive tactics to induce consumers to purchase memberships costing thousands of dollars, and then failed to deliver on the savings." The DirectBuy contact, by the way, when informed of this legal action, responded by telling me my situation was not like the one involved in NY. The facts are irrefutable, indisputable and cannot be denied.
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