Kirby distributor not returning my money/holding up his end of contract

[Jdsmitty10]

Hello,
My wife and I made a huge mistake paying $1400 for a kirby vaccum from a door to door salesman. We signed a contract when we purchased that said we had 3 business days to postmark a cancellation notice to return the item. We did that since we decided we were crazy for making this purchase. The cancellation notice got returned to us saying they moved and it was the wrong address. I called the guy a couple times and told him we wanted to return. He answered the phone at first but now is ignorig our calls. My wife blocked her # and got through to him today and he acted as if he knew nothing about this transaction. We tried finding a place of business at the kirby corporate supplied address for this distributor and it is an abandoned building. We also found out we were lied to about it having a lifetime warranty. It doesn't according to kirby corporate. I have been in contact with kirby about this for a few weeks with no luck. What are our options to try to get our money back? We have the post marked envelope for returning the item as proof it was sent in a timely manner according to the contract. Even if we were keeping it we are still owed some vacuum supplies included in the deal..

They were very professional and knew the kirby product very well and also very good at suckering us in to this purchase. The address on our contract matches what Kirby's website says for the distributor in our area. Kirby told me the actual address they have on file now for this business which doesn't match our contract. The guy even showed us his license to prove who he was. I am starting to wonder if he is going out of business and unloaded merchandise to me..

Who can I report this "business" to? BBB? attorney general? How can I go about making sure I get my money back? What are my options here? I don't know much about law and courts but I will go as far as I need to get my money back and hopefully ruin this guys reputation...

Thanks for any help!!

 

[Antigone*]

Hello,
My wife and I made a huge mistake paying $1400 for a kirby vaccum from a door to door salesman. We signed a contract when we purchased that said we had 3 business days to postmark a cancellation notice to return the item. We did that since we decided we were crazy for making this purchase. The cancellation notice got returned to us saying they moved and it was the wrong address. I called the guy a couple times and told him we wanted to return. He answered the phone at first but now is ignorig our calls. My wife blocked her # and got through to him today and he acted as if he knew nothing about this transaction. We tried finding a place of business at the kirby corporate supplied address for this distributor and it is an abandoned building. We also found out we were lied to about it having a lifetime warranty. It doesn't according to kirby corporate. I have been in contact with kirby about this for a few weeks with no luck. What are our options to try to get our money back? We have the post marked envelope for returning the item as proof it was sent in a timely manner according to the contract. Even if we were keeping it we are still owed some vacuum supplies included in the deal..

They were very professional and knew the kirby product very well and also very good at suckering us in to this purchase. The address on our contract matches what Kirby's website says for the distributor in our area. Kirby told me the actual address they have on file now for this business which doesn't match our contract. The guy even showed us his license to prove who he was. I am starting to wonder if he is going out of business and unloaded merchandise to me..

Who can I report this "business" to? BBB? attorney general? How can I go about making sure I get my money back? What are my options here? I don't know much about law and courts but I will go as far as I need to get my money back and hopefully ruin this guys reputation...

Thanks for any help!!

I'm sorry but why on earth would anybody pay $1,400 for a vacuum.


Oh yea... US Law only

 

[Jdsmitty10]

They were good salesman. And the vacuum is quite impressive but Believe me, I have the same feeling and don't know what we were thinking. What do you mean by US Law only? I'm in Pennsylvania.. Searching around the net people pay way more than I did for this vac. But what I paid is not what is in question. I am looking for advice on how to get the refund. I held up my end of the contract for a full refund and he is avoiding me and not holding up his end.

 

[Zigner]

Sue the bad guy in small claims court.

 

[jiggy78]

If you can find a good address and serve him. How did you pay?

 

[Jdsmitty10]

Not sure why I can't reply with quote but I paid with cash/Check. After they left I had second guessed our purchase and thought about putting a stop payment on the check($1200)...but didn't...wish I did now..

We THINK we know where he lives. He told us what street he lives on in our town when he was here as he was assuring us he wasn't out to scam us. My wife checked that street and found his vehicle. So I am pretty sure we have an address to serve him.. but I have no clue what that means as I am not into Law at all. How much am I going to get into paying out of pocket to get a lawyer to get my money back? I don't really want to spend money to get money and come up even. I have no clue what that type of stuff costs.
Thanks for the input everyone!
Jon

 

[Proserpina]

Not sure why I can't reply with quote but I paid with cash/Check. After they left I had second guessed our purchase and thought about putting a stop payment on the check($1200)...but didn't...wish I did now..

We THINK we know where he lives. He told us what street he lives on in our town when he was here as he was assuring us he wasn't out to scam us. My wife checked that street and found his vehicle. So I am pretty sure we have an address to serve him.. but I have no clue what that means as I am not into Law at all. How much am I going to get into paying out of pocket to get a lawyer to get my money back? I don't really want to spend money to get money and come up even. I have no clue what that type of stuff costs.
Thanks for the input everyone!
Jon

Good lord. At some point I'll have to add to my sig line - do not sign ANYTHING relating to Kirby vacuums unless you absolutely KNOW your remedies after the fact!

And really - don't buy ANYTHING from a door-to-door salesperson. Yes, yes, I know - they need their commissions otherwise they don't get paid (as a rule - and that's another thing that these companies tend to hide when they're hiring these poor contractors). But come on now, if you actually need something costing $1400, you'd surely go and purchase it yourself, right?

Sigh. With that said, contact Kirby directly. Check your paperwork, since there should be a contact number for Kirby (not the salesperson's info). Talk to THEM. You might get lucky.

 

[Jdsmitty10]

I know I know. As I said it was a big mistake.. Shoulda never let them in my house.. I AM in contact with kirby and hoping they can help me but the weeks keep going by with no resolution yet. I really don't know why I purchased this.. I am an online shopper who won't over pay for ANYTHING.. I mean ANYTHING.. But for some reason I let my guard down, was in awe of this vacuums performance(110 swipes with my vacuum dint suck up baking soda out of my carpet and a single swipe did with the kirby which was quite impressive) and made a huge mistake handing my money over. I even told they salesmen I found it online cheaper and they claimed you don't get the lifetime warranty if you buy online and if could be stolen merchandise.. Well lifetime warranty is BS as I found out after the fact... I should have been more deligent searching my phone while they were selling me this...

 

[BL]

If contacting the higher ups doesn't get you anywhere ,file a complaint with your local Office of Attorney General - Consumer Affairs.Send copies of your documents keeping the originals.

That Office has the contact person for Companies and will forward the complaint to them.

It could take up to 30 days to get a response, and they realy do not have to respond by any law.

Most reputable companies will respond.

Meantime - do not use the vacuum.

 

[Jdsmitty10]

The higher ups are "working on a resolution". I just don't know how long I should wait before moving forward...

 

[Jdsmitty10]

Update:
My wife called and left a message on this guys phone which he never answers giving him 3 options:
Refund us our 1400 bucks and take the vac
Refund us 600 bucks(found after the fact that lots of people haggled better than us and got it for 800 which te vac is definatly worth 800)
3rd option of us getting a lawyer

He called back in 20 min(first returned call we recieved)

He is supposed to get back to us by 11am tomorrow. He also said he has a meeting with kirby Monday to "get money released" which I don't know if it is bs cause we wrote HIM the check not kirby.

That's the latest

 

[Antigone*]

Update:
My wife called and left a message on this guys phone which he never answers giving him 3 options:
Refund us our 1400 bucks and take the vac
Refund us 600 bucks(found after the fact that lots of people haggled better than us and got it for 800 which te vac is definatly worth 800)
3rd option of us getting a lawyer

He called back in 20 min(first returned call we recieved)

He is supposed to get back to us by 11am tomorrow. He also said he has a meeting with kirby Monday to "get money released" which I don't know if it is bs cause we wrote HIM the check not kirby.

That's the latest

Why dont' you send me a PM with your address; I've got this bridge, I'm just dying to sell you.

 

[Jdsmitty10]

You have a lot of helpful posts in this thread thanks!!

 

[Gail in Georgia]

"'But for some reason I let my guard down, was in awe of this vacuums performance(110 swipes with my vacuum dint suck up baking soda out of my carpet and a single swipe did with the kirby which was quite impressive)"

Perhaps you should simply keep this vacuum and call it a day.

 

[Jdsmitty10]

Not surprisingly he didn't get back to us by 11 so I called and left a message stating he had til Monday to return our Money or I was contacting the BBB, attorney generals office and my lawyer. 10 min later he texted he would see us Wednesday with our money. I said cash only since I don't trust this prick as far as I can throw him at this point and he said he would bring cash. I replied with Wednesday being is FINAL chance before I file complaints and get a lawyer involved and he calls me bitchin about me demanding cash since I paid him by check. I said ya I paid u check and u also know we're I live plus who has $1400 laying around their house? I said do you really expect me to trust you with a check after everything? He said "I will have time money Wednesday and that will be that last you see or hear from me goodbye" and hung up... Classy piece of trash..