From the Connecticut Post, May 18,2011: A Connecticut federal judge has rejected as "meager" the proposed settlement of a nationwide, class-action lawsuit against DirectBuy Inc. for fraudulent pricing practices. "The court cannot conclude that this settlement falls within the range of reasonableness," U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall said yesterday in a written opinion. Judge Hall explained her decision by noting that the proposed settlement called for DirectBuy to provide free memberships worth some $3,000 each to approximately 800,000 class members. "The best possible recovery...may amount to well over $2 billion," Judge Hall wrote. "In light of this best possible recovery, the Settlement Agreement -- which the court has calculated as being worth, at most, between $15 million and $27 million -- appears quite small." In late April, the attorneys general of 27 states, as well as those from the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, objected to the proposed settlement, arguing in a 36-page amicus curiae brief that it "offers no real benefits to consumers. "The proposed settlement is, in essence, a sales vehicle for defendants designed to drive current and former customers into membership renewal contracts and to the same manufacturers and suppliers from whom defendants have acknowledged receiving kickbacks and incentives," the brief stated. DirectBuy promotes itself as an insider's buyers' club where members can purchase brand-name goods directly from manufacturers at wholesale prices. In addition to annual fees, members pay anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000 to join the privately held company's "clubs." The 2009 lawsuit (Wilson et al v. DirectBuy, Inc., et al) accused the Indiana-based company of fraudulent misrepresentation, alleging it received tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks and incentives from suppliers and manufacturers, inflating the cost of its goods well above the advertised wholesale prices. The lawsuit accused DirectBuy of failing to disclose this arrangement to customers until early 2009. DirectBuy spokesman Mike Georgeff told Consumer Ally in April the company was confident Judge Hall would approve the settlement. While yesterday's decision was disappointing, he said it wasn't completely unexpected. "We were disappointed to learn of Judge Hall's decision, but not entirely surprised given the great deal of publicity that has surrounded this case," Georgeff told Consumer Ally. "We were hopeful for a quick resolution to this matter which would have ultimately benefited class members. While we disagree with the decision, we look forward to successful closure of the matters at hand, and will continue to work with the attorneys general of any state to ensure we remain compliant with all state consumer protection laws," he added. The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, which represented a class member who objected to the terms of the proposed settlement, applauded Judge Hall's decision. Had the proposed settlement stood, the group said a statement, more than 836,000 class members would have been forced to relinquished "a broad set of claims" against the company in exchange for extended DirectBuy memberships. "We are pleased that the judge agreed with our argument that the proposed settlement was essentially a coupon of little or no value to the class," Michael Kirkpatrick, the Public Citizen attorney representing one of the objecting class members, said in a statement. "Absent class members should not have valuable claims released in exchange for so little." Public Citizen also cited other class-action suits against the company, which alleged a number of abuses, including high-pressure sales tactics to pressure consumers into spending thousands of dollars on DirectBuy memberships, as well as prices that often result in little or no savings compared to traditional or online retailers. "Within the last several years, a number of lawsuits have been filed in addition to this one, accusing DirectBuy of misrepresentation, fraud, and coercion, " Judge Hall noted in her decision. Consumer Ally wrote about several of the lawsuits in an October 2010 feature on the company.

Plans with Oxford are going well. We went out and visited Jacob back in October. We brought him a plan we had developed ourselves (with help from GW) and told him exactly what we wanted. We got a bid back in the mail about 10 days later and were very pleased with the price. We tweaked our plan a bit after that and went back out to visit Jacob again in December. We showed him our new plan and he was able to revised his bid right on the spot. We left a deposit and expect to receive our cabinets in March! Both of Jacob's bids had installation available for an extra cost which we took him up on. Jacob works with someone who does measurements and installation for him. Unfortunately, we live too far away for the guy to come out to do the measurements (our contractor did the measuring instead), but Jacob's guy will be installing our cabinets.

So, I have read several of the posts and for some unknown reason felt compelled to leave my 5c worth of information. My wife and I joined direct buy in 2005, and we paid about $3000 for our membership. At first, I was afraid we had made a huge mistake, because the savings with our small purchases were not making up for the membership costs. $100 back then was a lot of money for us; $3000 was a fortune! In 2006, we bought a Condo and we re-did one of the bathrooms. Travertine and glass tile, granite countertop, 2 sinks (Kohler), 2 faucets (danze), 2 shower heads and 2 body sprays (Kohler), shower valves and diverters (Danze). I shopped online and found that prices for fixtures were about 40% cheaper at DB, and for granite countertops about 20% cheaper than local quotes. I figured we recouped about $1500 to $2000 that first project. Nevertheless, back then, I often would become frustrated because I would find products which were cheaper or really close to the prices at direct buy elsewhere. After the initial 3 years, we began paying $150 per year to keep our membership. We made several small purchases, which did not amount to a whole lot of savings. Things really changed in August 2011 when we bought a large foreclosed house, a total gut job. This is our dream home. Our new place has about 10K square feet, 5baths, 2 powder rooms, a sauna with a shower. We purchased through direct buy: - all plumbing fixtures (kohler, hansgrohe) - tile / marble (emser) - hardwood floors (indusparquet and homerwood - $7.80 for solid walnut floors vs $16 per sqf locally) - heated floors / heated towel bars (warmly yours / Amba - kitchen cabinets (Omega solid walnut) - vanities, laundry room cabinets (Brookwood) - bar cabinets (Ultracraft) - Fireplaces (Regency) - Sauna (Amerec) - Steam generator (Kohler) - appliances for a second kitchen and bar (kitchen aid, marvel, Perlick kegarator, summit) - all light fixtures, including trims for recessed lights, LED strips, exterior lights (eurofase, Eglo) Direct buy does not offer Thermador, which we bought for our kitchen from Nebraska Furniture Mart. Regarding costs? Our kitchen cabinets were 22K for solid walnut cabinets. 20K local quote for veneer doors; 23K for solid cherry local We used Kingston Peninsula 16x32 for 3.50 per sqf, vs $11.40 per sqf at wayfair / walmart, but I think you can find it for around $8 per sqf. Assuming $4 difference, in 5K sqf we saved about 20 grand. Now, let's say you shop online or somewhere else and you find a product cheaper than DB's price. It actually happened to me. I was looking at the Hansgrohe raindance imperial 600 ( retail $4500, cheapest online $2700). I actually found one at plumber surplus for $1600. I requested a price check at direct buy (sent internet link, showing lower price and item in stock, available for purchased). Direct buy lowered the price to $1150 (all fees included). Is direct buy perfect? Not by a long stretch. As other members pointed out, there is little support in terms of selecting or getting info about products. You have to do the leg work yourself, research products online, etc⦠Not all manufacturers ship to home, but nowadays a large number of them do. Also, as pointed out earlier, items are not available off the shelf. This is a problem if you need something right away. Our washer broke, and we bought a new one from Lowes⦠All and all, I think direct buy is a really good deal if you have a large project (even a total kitchen redo). It is a bad deal if you require a lot of assistance, are not willing to do the research on products yourself, cannot wait 1 month or more for shipment, and if you are not planning to buy a lot in the near future. I hope my experience helps...

I just went to a DirectBuy guest orientation. To tell you the truth, their speech/presentation sounded like a pitch for a timeshare. Their membership is $4990 for 3 years, no you can't just get 1 year, it's a 3-year deal. Every year after that is only $200. They say they get straight from the manufacturer at their cost. Well, the membership price made me sceptical, but I thought, ok I will see what they can offer on a washer/Dryer/Refrigerator that I just purchased. When I purchased those items, I went to a couple of the big stores and found all their prices then haggled with one to price beat. Here was the run down that DirectBuy gave me and the outcome: Samsung washer WF448AAP - their price $1000+ my price from BestBuy 951.20 Samsung dryer DV448AEP - their price $1000+ my price from BestBuy 886.41 Samsung refrigerator RFG297AARS - their price $2000+ my price from BestBuy 1969.99 When I told him that, he said that he didn't understand how a store would be below the manufacturer's price (not MSRP), how can they do that. He acted like I was lying, when I wanted him to compare my TV price...he pretty much said goodbye it was nice talking to me and tried to get me out as fast as possible. It pissed me off a bit, but I guess when they don't really offer a deal...it's not good for them. When I told him that maybe I'll talk it over with my fiance for her to check it out, he said that even if she became a member and I married her, I wouldn't be allowed to be in the club, pretty much I'm not welcome there. So they aren't what they say they are. Too fishy, beware. Take your time and a little research, you can save the money without forking up $5k then justifying it, because they saved a few 100$ on items you bought. It seems that it's a club that makes it seem like you are getting a deal, but if you end up researching and looking around, I guarantee you'll be disappointed you joined them. As for the prices above....Lowe's had the lowest price, but I liked BestBuy and they said they would match (when they put the w/d in their system....I got an additional amount off since it was bought as a bundle...that was a mistake they tried to fix, but I talked them into not changing it.) I'm on the search for good furniture resources...We are getting a house built and I need to get some new stuff....does anyone know of any good resources that give good deals? I wish I would have looked into the forums before I went, I wouldn't have wasted 2 hours of my day.