My story is a little different. Most of the people I've read about on here unfortunately fell victim as Kirby Dealers. I was a secretary/receptionist. Here we go:
I moved across my state to live with my best friend, her boyfriend, and her friend. Her friend is a 21-year-old Kirby Distributor in the Western MA area. I actually lived with the distributor. My best friend was the receptionist. She learned fast that Kirby is a scam, and the distributor is a manipulative liar. She disappeared. Moved out of the house, left the job, etc. The distributor made up lies to me about why my friend and her boyfriend disappeared and moved, and unfortunately, I believed it, and began getting brainwashed.
I worked for Kirby in my friend's place as the secretary for about a month and a half.
Here's a list of what Kirby did to me in that month and a half.
-The owner lied about her income, and what actually completely broke.
-Paychecks bounced.
-I still don't have my last paycheck that's owed to me.
-She STOLE the rent money I gave her for our house and put it into her Kirby company. [I have the images of the stamped rent checks, "Pay to the order of Kirby of Western MA" on the back]
-We got EVICTED by our landlord for non-payment of rent. [I had to move all the way back across my state because of this.] She took my rent money, put it into the company, and got us evicted because of it.
-She brainwashed me into hating my best friend that had moved out. [We had since reconnected, and put the pieces together, seeing how much this distributor messed with our heads.]
-She rented a moving truck for her dad under my name because her license was 2 months expired. She told me her father [co-owner of the office] would drive the van. I accepted. I then found out after he had left with the truck in my name that his license has been suspended for who knows how long. [It was suspended because of a high number of pull-overs for soliciting when out on the van.]
-They returned the moving truck with no gas in it, so to avoid a higher fee, they RE-RENTED the truck under my name for another day. He drove it around and left it in a random parking lot over night. On MY license.
-The distributor disclosed how much I make in salary at Kirby to everyone in the orientation/training class. It was in an effort to "show them how much they'll make selling Kirbys." I felt violated, and offended by this, even though I made more money than every dealer in that office with the exception of one dealer.
-I was asked to forge tax paperwork, and contracts.
-I took all the ad calls and set the interviews. This distributor, AND her racist father refused to hire african american people, which made me SICK. I set up interviews for anyone that called. When people of a certain race/background came in for their interview, she'd yell at me: "Can't you TELL they're black over the phone?!" "No... And if I could, I don't care." UNBELIEVABLE.
-Anyone waiting for an interview of a race that was not caucasian, she would walk out and say "Sorry, all the positions have been filled except for door-to-door vacuum sales, thanks for coming in." Then throw away their applications.
-She, like all distributors, offered no health insurance, no sick time, personal time, vacation days, holidays, RESPECT. Nothing.
-Theft. Besides the 700 dollars in rent the distributor stole from me, at home she always took all of my food/soda, etc. [She's morbidly obese.] I'd come home, and a massive amount of my food and drinks would be missing. I started buying more fresh fruit & vegetables, which of course, were left alone. I would bring my lunch to the office, and she would take part, or most of it, and eat it.
-I didn't get a meal break, which is illegal. I worked 8.5 hours M-F, and a few hours every Saturday morning. For every 8.5 hour break, I was allowed a 15 minute Unpaid break. Whenever I'd try to take my break though, the co-owner would come outside [I'm a smoker] and give me grief about the phone ringing, or whatnot.
-Cancellations! 3 days allowed for a cancel, as most of you know. I was told I HAD to ONLY take messages from customers, and I was not to put someone on hold to get the owners on the phone. They purposely avoided the cancellation/complaint phone calls so they wouldn't have to refund the money.
-They never gave anyone their down payments back. They called it a "restocking/rebuilding fee." [They never did ANYTHING to rebuild the vacuums.] They just kept the money because they're broke.
I could go on for hours about the things they've done, but I guess I'll cut it here. For anyone reading this that's from the Western MA area, and had answered a Kirby job ad between April-the end of May, you probably talked to me, and I'm sorry for lying to you about the positions they were trying to hire for.
I hated my job, and I hated lying to innocent people that were just trying to get a job. And I IN NO WAY support acts of racism like that. One of the major reasons why I quit. I didn't want my name associated with such nonsense.
Stay AWAY from Kirby job ads, even though they can be hard to spot.
If a company isn't willing to advertise with their name, location, and proper description is a SCAM. Don't open your door for sales people, don't let them use your phone. They're only gaining your phone number to harass you further. DON'T buy a Kirby. You're taking out a loan, and will destroy your credit. Do you want to pay 1,2, 3 THOUSAND dollars for a vacuum cleaner?
I was a secretary. Trust me. They pay $318.00-$350.00 per machine and sell them for 2 grand. I've seen physical order forms, and those numbers are 100% True. If you see a van full of people, and/or Kirby boxes, just call the police and tell them there is soliciting in your area, and they'll come kick em out, trust me.
I'm looking forward to rebuttals, since I had access to all business related paperwork, so they can't lie their way out. It disgusts me how BRAINWASHED these people are. I can't even fathom what's really going on in their heads. I think they really believe they're rich... Which is sad. I'm not afraid of hard work. I've had MUCH more mentally and physically demanding jobs than that of a Kirby dealer. I just enjoy having a REAL job, with growth opportunity, benefits, normal hours, respect, etc etc etc. I LIKE having a 9-5 paycheck.
Throw all your brainwashed "We Are POSITIVE!" bull at me if you wish, it's only going to make you look dumber.:)
Former Kirby Secretary
East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
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