Talk:DirectBuy

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[edit] DirectBuy Editing out Consumer Complaints Section

The Wikipedia is not a tool for companies to advertise their services. It is intended to provide all relevant and true information about the company. There have been many complaints about the company and some organizations are involved in investigating DirectBuy's misleading representations and deceptive practices. The page should include this information to let people know the truth, so that the company does not scam any more customers out of thousands of dollars.

[edit] Complaints

While I agree that there should be a complaints section, it should be written from a neutral point of view (as hard as that may seem). Therefore, I have restored the complaints section and will be rewriting it as to contain links backing the statements. To whomever is removing it: I am watching this page and will change it back instantly. While I agree with you that Wikipedia is not made for bashing companies, it is made for presenting the two sides of every coin. Cmcfarland 06:48, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

The following statement is untrue... "all purchased items incur a processing and shipping fee, which is not included in the original price quote. In many cases, these additional costs usually bring the total price to that above what can usually be found at many traditional retailers."

At a minimum it should be changed to the following... "While DirectBuy prices have been proven to be lower than some of their competitors' prices, some purchased items incur a handling fee, which is not included in the original price quote."

Additionally, the following should be deleted unless it can be documented and proven... "In many cases, these additional costs usually bring the total price to that above what can usually be found at many traditional retailers." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.228.159.59 (talk) -- azumanga 03:06, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

I re factored the Complaints section to remove items cited only from informercials.com and inserted Criticism section including information from Consumer Reports and WCBS TV. [1] Here is the prior complaints section:

Many customers have complained that they have been deceived by DirectBuy into signing expensive contracts for the privilege of purchasing goods supplied by the company. A three-year membership usually costs about $5,000, with yearly fees in the hundreds layered on top of that. Furthermore, potential members are told at the information sessions that unless they commit to it right then and there, they will be ineligible for membership for another seven years. While DirectBuy prices have been proven to be lower than some of their competitors' prices, all purchased items incur a processing and shipping fee, which is not included in the original price quote. In many cases, these additional costs usually bring the total price to that above what can usually be found at many traditional retailers.

The above information may be reinserted if the source(s) are clearly attributed. regards, --guyzero | talk 23:54, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

I have attended one of the DirectBuy sales pitches. They use a number of fallacies in their presentation. Would the write up of an analysis of what they're doing to people's heads have a place in "complaints", or should I create a separate heading? (I'm not signing to keep anonymity; they make me nervous) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.252.48.158 (talk) 14:07, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

We can only write was has been attributed by reliable sources. In other words, if Newsweek publishes something about DirectBuy sales pitches, we can include that information. We cannot write stuff that does is not verifiable by reliable sources. We can't write about our own experiences as this crosses into original research. regards, --guyzero | talk 19:20, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Grammar

"In many cases, these additional costs usually bring" - i guess the "usually" should be removed from that sentence, as "in many cases" and "usually" are conflicting terms (not meaning the same, also redundant) -- 80.139.31.173 00:28, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Edit requested

Added to Streisand_effect#Notable_cases:

In an attempt to suppress the Streisand effect, marketing company DirectBuy copyrighted a cease and desist letter to a critic and threatened legal actions against copyright infringement should the document be revealed publicly. The letter was promptly posted by its recipient, and numerous legal defenses against copyright infringment action have been proposed and posted by various parties. In effect, the attempt to supress the Striesand Effect has produced exactly the opposite of the result desired by the assertor.[18]

This should be referenced from the DirectBuy article - (appropriate text is not here provided) - Leonard G. 03:00, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Um, unless I'm wrong, this page is not protected. There should be no problem. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 21:20, 13 October 2007 (UTC)



Here's some info on DirectBuy that can add credibility to the page:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071213/aqth075.html?.v=32 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.206.104 (talk) 04:06, 22 December 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Unnecessary Citations

I don't think these two statements require citations:

DirectBuy is headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana with more than 145 showrooms across the United States and Canada.[1]

United Consumers Club (UCC) remained the holding company for DirectBuy until December 19, 2007[2]

Also, both citations point to direct buy website and may be COI and/or attempts at link spamming.

69.68.125.6 (talk) 00:37, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Heya. It's OK to have self-pub cites for non-controversial statements (such as the location and number of franchises and the ownership history of the company.) We have had multiple COI edits to this article, so I definitely understand your concern. The use of the citations in these two instances you mention show that editors have fact-checked these statements by using DB-published information. (I believe I added these cites after a COI cleanup several months ago.) For example, we could use DB's website to cite the name of the president of the company, etc. kind regards, --guyzero | talk 00:45, 1 January 2008 (UTC)