How does the Kirby Vacuum scam continue to exist?

BrotherVoodoo

I mean, it's all over craigslist, and there seem to be numerous debunk sites. I don't even understand how it continues to make money/exist. Anybody got any good links on the matter?

ascannerlightly

short answer: stupid/gullible people. same reason you keep hearing about people falling for the nigerian prince inheritance/bank transfer scam.

Bartholamue

I'm glad I didn't fall for the bank transfer scams, but what's this Kirby vaccuum scam?

DasUberEdward

People are desperate and not everyone is informed. Just try to spread the word around that it is a scam and eventually more people will know.

Also you're the Sorcerer Supreme now. Congrats.

WonderMink

Is it a scam? I thought they just sold vacuums that were good, but expensive with many proprietary parts that you had to send it back to them to get fixed.

s_86

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grungebox

They aren't bad vacuums, my gf's mom has one. They're just incredibly overpriced, loud, and kind of heavy. So it's not a scam. Comparing Kirby Vacuum to a Nigerian scam is somewhat fallacious.

wallabeeX

we're on the same page that 3,000 pounds is a lot for a vacuum, right?

Rook

wallabeeX wrote: »

we're on the same page that 3,000 pounds is a lot for a vacuum, right?

That would still be a lot for a vacuum that hoovered your house on it's own, and did the dishes afterwards.

Echo

Ever seen a cartoon where a vacuum sucks up the carpet?

Yeah.

Viscountalpha

I saw those kirby commercials and the fact that they didn't talk about the price seemed really shady. I wouldn't say its a nigerian scam but it does seems really scam-like.

I don't buy any of the info-mercial garbage because so much of it is hype and/or camera tricks. I've heard many are not legit but a rare few are.

There are reasons why retailers have not lost their edge to online sales. People like to see items in person and try/see them on display.

SAY NO TO INFOMERICALS

Mannenbrough

Who else was imagining a vacuum that had a little Kirby as the head?

Suck up bothersome dust mites AND pesky Waddle Dees!

xeviq

Hell, Kirby is such a fucking scam, they scam their employees. I would know because I was one for a week.

They promised me a "high-end" desktop PC for a week's worth of work, never got it, even though I was there for a week. Never fought it, because at that point I didn't care that much.

Also, it's the "manager's" "job" to make sure everyone in his car has ten "shows" a week. If you would get all ten shows, weither you sell or not, you get a pay check for $1,000 plus commission. If you don't get ten in the one week, you only make commision.
My week there I had one show at a 100% sell rate. I made $70. Granted I did about 30 mins of actual work. Sitting in that hot ass van for 10 hours a day didn't make the week worth 70 bucks.

It was about day 3 I decided I was going to quit. By then I still had no shows. I also decided to do stuff to make my manager mad before I actually quit.
One example was in the middle of a show when someone else was about to sell 2 vaccums to some poor fool, I decided to take a huge shit that ended up clogging their toilet. Needless to say no Kirbys were sold to that house.

I hate that company, I hate their product, I hate the people who are "managers" who's job it is to make sure No One gets ten shows a week.

PeregrineFalcon

xeviq wrote: »

Hell, Kirby is such a fucking scam, they scam their employees. I would know because I was one for a week.

They promised me a "high-end" desktop PC for a week's worth of work, never got it, even though I was there for a week. Never fought it, because at that point I didn't care that much.

Also, it's the "manager's" "job" to make sure everyone in his car has ten "shows" a week. If you would get all ten shows, weither you sell or not, you get a pay check for $1,000 plus commission. If you don't get ten in the one week, you only make commision.
My week there I had one show at a 100% sell rate. I made $70. Granted I did about 30 mins of actual work. Sitting in that hot ass van for 10 hours a day didn't make the week worth 70 bucks.

It was about day 3 I decided I was going to quit. By then I still had no shows. I also decided to do stuff to make my manager mad before I actually quit.
One example was in the middle of a show when someone else was about to sell 2 vaccums to some poor fool, I decided to take a huge shit that ended up clogging their toilet. Needless to say no Kirbys were sold to that house.

I hate that company, I hate their product, I hate the people who are "managers" who's job it is to make sure No One gets ten shows a week.

That is hilarious on a deep, immature teenage level.

Funguy McAids

I briefly worked for a similar company in Vancouver.

Some asshole imported cheap absolute trash 'commodities' from China and had a huge crew of people taking this stuff out in cardboard boxes and selling it on the street. We'd literally walk all over the city with boxes and talk to people about how cheap this stuff is, they should buy 3 or 4 as xmas presents, that guy over there already has 5, you'd better buy now, etc.

Even the boxes were printed with a fake USD number on it. For example a toenail cutter box would have 5USD printed on the front yet was bought for 25 cents so we'd tell people its a super sale only 3 dollars get it now.

We had to make a certain quota to get a bonus at the end of the day which was fucking stupid hard to reach. I only sold for one day and got paid around 30-40 bucks which sucks.

There was also a ceremony at the end of each day where all the crew would stand in a circle, take turns saying how much they sold and if they hit quota got to ring a bell while being frat-boy cheered by the rest.

Valen200

Kirby is a network of independent distributors that hire independent contractors. My primary complain is very simple. The hiring process is a complete lie. The add was for customer service with a salary. You would go to set appointments. Very slowly the real details would leak out. You are expected to spend 10 - 12 hours a day in a van. you must do about 60 appointments a week (or you don't get paid in some cases). The "set appointments" were really just appointments set by people cold knocking door to door. But the entire time they sell the company and the lifestyle to you. It's very intoxicating and it makes you feel as though if you just stick through the process you can make some money. I left at the end of training when i demoed the vacuum for some family members. They kept asking for references without seeming to actually use them as job references (they wanted people to visit and doors to knock on). I feel sorry for the people who tried to stick it out and ended up not getting paid due to one of he many random hoops set-up to prevent such n occurrence. Unless you are a natural salesperons, it is a bad idea to try this. Only someone who really wants to devote 60 plus hours a week to traveling around towns and doing product demonstrations for commission (or for free if you can get any sales and don't get enough appointments) should even think of this. Given that the described job does not match the actual job .. I would call it a scam. I am not saying the product is bad (stupidly over priced, but not bad). The hiring process is bad.