Why the Kirby Vacuum is the Worst Product Ever
It may come as a surprise that Dog Chapman from Dog the Bounty Hunter series on A&E used to be a Kirby salesman back in the day. Maybe the company didn't operate then the way they do nowadays. Let's take a look at some reasons the Kirby vacuum is the worst product ever put on the market.
The Kirby Vacuum Unethical Sales Pitch
While sitting outside on my front porch one day I was approached by a pleasant woman dressed in business attire. She told me she was promoting a new carpet cleaning service and asked if I'd like one room in my house steam cleaned. Then the woman handed me a flyer with the name of a carpet cleaning company and phone number on it. After telling me it would take about half an hour to complete, I agreed. All she asked was that I recommend the company to friends and family and that I consider using them in the future.
Later on that day, a white van pulled up to our house and that's when a man and woman dragged their equipment in. I decided to let the "carpet cleaner" do their thing and I went ahead cleaning the kitchen. I have never been more wrong in all my life.
My husband and I had absolutely no idea that this was a sales pitch. We felt so stupid. But we listened to her pitch and watched her put swatch after swatch of "dirty carpet" all over our floors. This lasted for two hours. No big deal - we have a clean carpet at least.
The Size of the Kirby Vacuum
The Kirby vacuum is of monstrous size, compared to vacuums you see on shelves today. When the sales cult demonstrated its use in my home, it took a man and a woman to bring it inside. Of course, there was still the suitcase of accessories to haul in. The saleswoman actually dragged that into our house. With everything spread out on the floor it took up most of my living room.
I didn't think it was too humorous when the sweaty saleswoman couldn't figure out how to plug some of the attachments into the vacuum. Here was a trained individual that was unable to use the product she was trying to sell. How was I expected to catch on? It was so big she could barely turn it around in our tiny room.
The Kirby Vacuum Persuasion
It was nowhere near over. After we told her we needed to prepare dinner, and that we appreciated all she had done, etc., she broke out into tears. She began shaking and crying so profusely I asked if she wanted me to call the hospital. She explained that her boss was going to kill her if she only finished one room in the house. I can only believe that we were in shock because we let her clean another room.
Four and a half hours after it started, it was 9 pm. Our baby needed to be put to bed, and by this time we had already politely asked her to leave twice. Her boss then came to pick her up and she pointed at us, crying again, sobbing that we wouldn't buy the Kirby vacuum. Her boss, dressed in suit and tie, then began to pitch us. It was at this time I told them I had lost all patience and was going to call the police. They left within two minutes. But before they left, they walked into my bathroom without permission and began cleaning the equipment, leaving behind filth in the sink.
Was it our fault that we let it go that far? Absolutely. But we had never encountered this type of situation before and were unsure how to respond.
The Kirby Vacuum Price
We were quoted a price of over $1200. Later that week I found out some of my elderly neighbors had been quoted over $2000 from the same female that entered our house. Sometimes an expensive product will give you great results, but for the price of a Kirby vacuum I expect it to be a little easier to handle and more reputable.
I have heard that there are generations of families who have enjoyed Kirby. But I will never hand over my hard earned money to such an unethical company where their own employees can't properly use the product. It is encouraged that you do some research before buying a Kirby vacuum or even allowing a "carpet cleaning" company into your home.
Published by E. Wright
Bio View profile
- Review of Dyson, Kirby, Hoover and Oreck Vacuum CleanersA comparison of the four vacuum cleaners that I own at this time. Descriptions of which one is best for which task.
Product Review: Kirby SentriaAn honest review of the Kirby Sentria upright vacuum. - Dyson Absolute Animal (DC17) ReviewA review of what is good about the Dyson Absolute Animal vacuum cleaner and some comparisons to a Kirby vacuum cleaner.
- Sebo Vacuum Cleaner ReviewThe German made Sebo vacuum cleaner outperforms any residential vacuum in its price range today.
The Kirby G-Six Product Review, Worth Buying?Kirby has been around for years, are their vacuums up to par with the newer models?
- 3 Reasons to Avoid an In-Home Kirby Vacuum Demo
- My Kirby Vacuum Experience
- Kirby Vacuum Brings a New Twist to Door-to-Door Sales
- How to Avoid Being Pressured into Buying a Kirby Vacuum Cleaner
- Where to Buy Kirby Vacuum Supplies in Tampa, Florida
- Kirby Vacuum Presentation: A Very Poor Demonstration
- Rainbow Vs Kirby Vacuum Cleaner - a Consumer's Review
- The Kirby Vacuum Unethical Sales Pitch
- The Size of the Kirby Vacuum
- The Kirby Vacuum Persuasion
100 Comments
Post a Commentim sorry if the guy you bought it from was curupt but its there and in the contract..read also kirby has been around sence 1914 so gooooood luck
yall are stupid, the kirby vacuum is a home maintenance product which makes maintaining your house fast and effecant, and nothing is moved around and dirt is trapped. im sorry that there are some curupt disteperters but it is by far the best actual vacuum in the world nothing else works but this. and its not hard to use and it does 90% of the work for you and can turn very easily
Hi Everybody!
My name is Jennifer Banks.
I would like to share my experience with Kirby Vacuum.
I first heard about the job on Craigslist, the job was very vague, and said something about receptionist, so I thought I would check it out.
They scheduled me for an interview, and they explained the different job openings they had.
They told me how much I could make as a receptionist, and then they showed me how much I could make cleaning carpets.
I CHOSE the cleaning carpets myself, because I wanted to make more money to get out of debt.
I went to orientation Wednesday, listened to the distributer talk about the company,and I was impressed.
He told us we don't have to worry about trying to sell them all because we are new, we just have to show the people the vacuum, and he will close the sales for us, he told us he is a very good salesmen, and he will close all of the sales, he just needs us to do a good job showing the customers the vacuum :)
Well I was in orie
After reading the above story, mine was a mirror of what happened to me last spring. I had a very young girl come to my house dressed a business casual suit handling me a flyer and explaining that she is offering a room cleaning for free, blah blah. I told her no thank you, but after a few mins of begging I agreed to let her come in and show me how the vacuum works. 2 freakin hrs later I'm wanting this girl to leave so I can get stuff done. She starts to cry and beg me to please purchase the vacuum cause her boss will kill her if cause she's spent so long at my house. Her boss knocked on the door and she started crying as he was asking her if she closed the sale. She explained to him that I wasnt interested. He started chewing her out and she started crying even harder. My heart went out to her, and so I agreed to buy the damn thing just to have this drama scene over with. And yes I know what your thinking I was tricked and suckered and I saw it coming. Anyway, I have this $220
I got a cold call as a new homeowner from Kirby. They offered a free cleaning. I told them the new house had a central vac system and we were not in the market for a new vacuum. They said it did not matter because they would be happy with a good referral.
The salesperson showed up late and when I told her I was not interested in sitting through her pitch about the vacuum she left in a huff.
A real bait and switch. Speaks volumes about the way they do business.
I worked for these band of grifters in the early '90's. I did it my own way, my conscience wouldn't allow me to do otherwise. After a month or so I scammed the scammers out of a few hundred bucks and went on my way. I advise anyone encountering a "free carpet cleaner" to tell them to leave your property at once or deal with the police. They particularly like to prey on elderly people living alone. A truly scandalous company, I know from the inside how unseemly they are.
While the kirby machine may be 'wonderful' the scam and sales pitch are not. They push and push their high priced product while showing how much 'dirt' is in your carpet. We let them in to clean one space; after 45 minutes they had not even got to that space. At 60 minutes; we told them to leave.
I went through all the initial training with Kirby and am very impressed with the machine. I am very impressed with the training. I am not at all impressed with the 10 fold "bait and switch" hard core sales approach they use to recruit. The quality is in the product and appears to be in the product, but the necessity of the high cost is largely due to the "direct sales" model which develops huge personal fortitude to make work, but also often cultivates dishonesty and disrespect as core "actual" values in the company. Every single tactic known to hard core direct sales is employed to sell the product and build distributorships. The product is in a class by itself with anything I've seen in the US or Europe. By comparison there is no other cleaner and there is no more aggressive and manipulative sales approach. It takes a real psychological artist to make this work long term and have customer respect. It can be done, and by some,frequently--60% closing ratio for some stars. But
Here is the second half of my comments, this site cut it off...
EVER! And I am so pissed off about how he acted in my home with his insults and guilt trips, I may NEVER buy one at all! There just is something wrong with a vacuum costing this much. It is a freaking vacuum!! SO NOT IMPRESSED! They better come up with a better sales pitch and a better price before I will EVER let them in again!
We just had a Kirby salesman in our home and took the better part of our Saturday to show us his wonderful vacuum! He pretended he was a carpet cleaning company, and was offering to clean one room for me for free. What did I have to lose? MY MIND!!! He did his cleaning and placed black dirty cloths all over my house! This was to show me how dirty my house is. When he started to place the clothes around, I began to realize we were in for a sales pitch! He talked, and talked, AND TALKED!!! It was so annoying! He showed me 100 demonstrations and talked 90 miles a min! Finally 4 hours later, I was really hoping he would go AWAY! Finally he did. But he was persistent and just would not quit! My home is 90% lino and hardwood. We could not justify his stupid price of $2,700! And what is worse, he would not take no for an answer! Now after doing some research I am seeing we are not the only ones being bombarded by these guys! I will NEVER buy a Kirby for this kind of money EVE