Joel Hirschhorn

Resisting High Pressure Sales Methods



Posted: Sunday, February 28, 2010

by Joel Hirschhorn
http://www.delusionaldemocracy.com

There are two reasons why consumers continue to be victimized. Greedy and dishonest companies and individuals are willing to go to extraordinary extremes to steal peoples' money. So many consumers have too little intelligence to detect the truth about those who want to steal their money. Here is my newest discovery of a major consumer scam.

If you want to experience one of the most painful, hard sales pitches in the universe, then accept an invitation to an open house at a Direct Buy showroom. If you have ever suffered through a lengthy sales pitch for a time share or remember your absolutely worst experience in a car dealership, then you have a hint of how awful the Direct Buy sales pitch is. From reading many comments from people who have also been suckered into a Direct Buy showroom there is a highly structured sales pitch given everywhere.

The process consists of three time-wasting stages: first spend time with small talk with a smiling sales person, then get herded into a room with other couples attending the open house to hear a much more detailed sales presentation, including several videos and lots of clever question and answer sessions with the audience. Following that you are taken back for another private conversation with the first sales person who is clearly the closer; that is when you really get the high pressure treatment designed to get you to sign up that day and pluck down about $7,000 for a ten year membership (though the price seems to vary with location). If you don't sign up that day you are told that it will cost another $1,000 at a later time.

With the original invitation to the open house you are told that you will get a 30 day free membership. But that membership is very limited. What really angered me was that there was no piece of literature that we were given to look at with details about membership rights and costs that we could take with us. Talk about a high pressure sales pitch!

Here is the best part of this story. After my bad experience I discovered that there is a national class action lawsuit against Direct Buy for fraudulent marketing. Here is what the suit claims: The company misleads customers by promoting a $5,000 membership fee which entitles members to purchase a wide array of goods at wholesale prices with no markup, and that it makes no profits other than from the membership fees. In reality, it makes a substantial profit from product markups, exorbitant shipping and handling fees, and tens of millions in annual rebates from manufacturers that it conceals from customers. I found this lawsuit totally consistent with my reactions.

I know lots of Direct Buy members will surely write in that they are very happy and satisfied. Scammers, rip-off artists and thieves like Bernie Madoff are so successful because such a large fraction of people are dimwits or just too busy to carefully examine things. And once someone pays more than $5,000 upfront for a membership they are psychologically programmed to conclude that they have made a smart choice.

Here is my bottom line: The very nature of the sales pitch used by Direct Buy says something very, very negative about the company and what it is selling. The way I was treated was not appreciated and I do not want to patronize a company that uses such tactics. How a company tries to sell you something is probably more important than exactly what they are selling. The medium is the message, as we used to say.

Joel S. Hirschhorn has succeeded as: a full professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison; a senior staffer, U.S. Congress (Office of Technology Assessment); head of an environmental consulting company; Director of Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, National Governors Association; now an author and consultant. Recent books are: Sprawl Kills - How Blandburbs Steal Your Time, Health and Money, and Delusional Democracy - Fixing the Republic Without Overthrowing the Government. He has published hundreds of articles in newspapers, magazines, journals and on many web magazine sites. He has given hundreds of talks at a wide range of conferences worldwide. He focuses on American culture, politics and government, and health issues.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Joel Hirschhorn 2 years 87 days ago.
63 fans.
I have continued, for the fun of it, finding more and more negative things about Direct Buy on websites; here is a favorite: I was recently employed with Directbuy Hamliton/Niagara, Ill save you the time and the 4200 membership fee! They are a scam! They only get people that are stupid and have money! The way they talk about prospect customers is degrading and direspectful! Do NOT and i mean DO NOT attend an open house!
 
And another good one:
 
I attended one of these scams and walked out. The salesperson that invited me, almost tackled me as I was trying to escape.
 
Its an out and out scam. The one in our town has been in operation for over 5 years and is still in business. Seems that we have a lot of people with lots of money and no brains.
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