Current Events > Kirby salesman last week: If you don't buy one now, we're never coming back

(+) Yeah! (+)

Me: OK, that's fine

So they left

Then today, I get a loud knock on my door

Her: Hey, I don't know if you've heard of Kirby

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(>^(>0_0)>

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what the heck is a kirby

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SSJKirby posted...

what the heck is a kirby

It's a $2500 vacuum cleaner

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Buy one but only if the salesman throws in a radio, electric blanket, lamp, and toaster.

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SSJKirby posted...

what the heck is a kirby

Its a vacuum, they sell them door-to-door using high pressure sales tactics, very shady (the sales tactics, I have no idea of the vacuums are actually any good or not)

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MrToothHasYou posted...

Its a vacuum, they sell them door-to-door using high pressure sales tactics, very shady (the sales tactics, I have no idea of the vacuums are actually any good or not)

I mean, the vacuum cleaner itself works really really well

I'm just not paying $2500 for it.

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How can I help you King DDD?
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(p-_-)p

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Spidey5 posted...

How can I help you King DDD?

I want a vacuum to clean dat dair Kirbeh!

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This is my worst nightmare. A retired salesman with alzheimers

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MrToothHasYou posted...

Its a vacuum, they sell them door-to-door using high pressure sales tactics, very shady (the sales tactics, I have no idea of the vacuums are actually any good or not)

So who's selling 'em? Waddle Dees?

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Master_Bass posted...

I want a vacuum to clean dat dair Kirbeh!

That's what we do best at NME.
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Don't they use some sort of pyramid scheme as well?

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is that another morentz surround system scam?

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Turbam posted...

(>^(>0_0)>

Remember when we banned this for implied rape?

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If you don't buy one now, we're never coming back

Dont threaten me with a good time

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Do y'all live in the 50's? I seriously can't remember the last time a salesman ringed my doorbell, but it was at least 3 presidents ago.

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M_Live posted...

What kinda sales tactics I'm curious

When they gave me the whole presentation, it was incredibly rushed. They talk SUPER FAST. It's probably because they have limited time to do presentations for multiple houses, but... They gave me the piece of paper that said I could either pay $2500 up front or like $97/month until it's paid off. I was immediately thinking "Oh, THAT'S why they say these things are expensive."

He was going through the presentation super fast. He demonstrated the kirby vacuum vs the crappy one I have and the kirby definitely performs much better. I'll probably end up getting a better vacuum cleaner at some point, but I'm never going to pay $2500 for one.

He went through like 10 different attachments and 10 different modes the kirby vacuum has. They even used it to blow up a balloon.

Then at the end they were like "So do you want to buy it in cash or do you need to set up a payment plan?"

I can afford to do $97/month, but I'm not willing to pay $97/month to total $2500 for a vacuum cleaner. I'd rather invest that money and get income back over time. I told them that and they started trying to reduce the price and making phone calls to see how low they could go.

Then they hit me with the "threat" about never coming back if I didn't buy it right then and there. Apparently they don't advertise on TV or the internet. Kinda dumb, but oh well.

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M_Live posted...

What kinda sales tactics I'm curious

Well the first step is getting you to actually let them into your house. A lot of times they will wait for bad weather to do rounds because youre gonna feel guilty sending them away in the pouring rain. When one came to my friends house they had an intern with them who needed to give the sales demonstration in order to get class credit, which was a new one I hadnt heard of before.

Then they bust out their vacuums and give you a demo. Since they are just using the demo model they say they cant use regular vacuum bags with them so they have these little filter discs they put in to catch all the dirt and dust. Then every few feet of vacuuming they have to swap the disc out, and drop the dirty disc on your floor. So the whole time they are vacuuming your living room they are leaving a little trail of dirty, dusty discs to make you feel like your living room is filthy. The one who came to my friends house tried to guilt them at the end saying it would really help out that interns grade if she made a sale. All weird psychological sales tricks, probably not all that different from the kind of stuff youd see from the Bathfitters guys at the mall or from the QVC sales pitch folks. Just general slime, you know?

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MrToothHasYou posted...

Well the first step is getting you to actually let them into your house. A lot of times they will wait for bad weather to do rounds because youre gonna feel guilty sending them away in the pouring rain. When one came to my friends house they had an intern with them who needed to give the sales demonstration in order to get class credit, which was a new one I hadnt heard of before.

Then they bust out their vacuums and give you a demo. Since they are just using the demo model they say they cant use regular vacuum bags with them so they have these little filter discs they put in to catch all the dirt and dust. Then every few feet of vacuuming they have to swap the disc out, and drop the dirty disc on your floor. So the whole time they are vacuuming your living room they are leaving a little trail of dirty, dusty discs to make you feel like your living room is filthy. The one who came to my friends house tried to guilt them at the end saying it would really help out that interns grade if she made a sale. All weird psychological sales tricks, probably not all that different from the kind of stuff youd see from the Bathfitters guys at the mall or from the QVC sales pitch folks. Just general slime, you know?

Yeah, one of the things they said to me was that the dude doing the presentation was new and he was trying to win a trip to Las Vegas.

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CableZL posted...

they started trying to reduce the price and making phone calls to see how low they could go.

I got suckered in to selling Kirby vacuums forever ago. They promised a guaranteed $400 a week if you did a certain number of demonstrations...And then made it impossible to actually do that many. You only got paid if you sold one, and it wasn't much. I did a few days of the training course and never went back.

That being said, the salesperson already knows the minimum selling price they're allowed to offer. It's just another tactic to make you think you're getting a deal. If I remember right, back when I did it they started at $2,000 and we could go down to $400 and the company would still be making a profit. Of course the more you sold it for, the more commission you would get.

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MisterPengy posted...

I got suckered in to selling Kirby vacuums forever ago. They promised a guaranteed $400 a week if you did a certain number of demonstrations...And then made it impossible to actually do that many. You only got paid if you sold one, and it wasn't much. I did a few days of the training course and never went back.

That being said, the salesperson already knows the minimum selling price they're allowed to offer. It's just another tactic to make you think you're getting a deal. If I remember right, back when I did it they started at $2,000 and we could go down to $400 and the company would still be making a profit. Of course the more you sold it for, the more commission you would get.

Hey, I'd pay $400 for one. I may see if they'll go that low when they come back

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Fwiw, my parents have one from the 80s/early 90s, and it still works. They must have been a lot cheaper back then because theyre not the types to spend that much and never have been. I assumed the company went out of business years ago. >_>

Kastrada posted...

Buy one but only if the salesman throws in a radio, electric blanket, lamp, and toaster.

Underrated post.

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CableZL posted...

Hey, I'd pay $400 for one. I may see if they'll go that low when they come back

I doubt it would be that low any more (I'm thinking $500 may have been the bottom price actually), but I say get them as low as you can. And then don't buy it anyway.

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Alucard188 posted...

Remember when we banned this for implied rape?

I lol'd

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