So I was looking for a new job. I wanted to make more than what I was making so i wasn’t always living check to check. I was on an online job board and found "simply solutions” with the pay being $1,000-$1,800 a month. And to me that was what I was looking for. So I applied not expecting to to get a call from them. But needless to say I did. I went in for the first interview and Brittany explained what the job would entitle but was very vague and wouldn’t exactly tell us what we would be doing. I asked about the payment and she said it would be $900 every two weeks and that would be the base pay without making any sales. She told me to
come back the next day and i was hired on and she gave me details of when orientation would start. I still didn’t know what i was selling. But In my head I was thinking i found the dream job. Day 2: After everyone left they made us watch a video with Lindsay Vonn as the spokesperson of the company. I still didn’t know what we were selling but based off the video they had a variety of products. I was told I would never have to knock on a door and I would have preset appointments. I asked what time these appointments would be set up, I was told 10, 2 and 4 and sometimes 7 pm. I was supposed to do three demos a day at least 5 days a week.
This should result in at least three sales. They told us out of every 3 demos we do at least 1 would buy. But that would never happen. In most cases I was in fact being put in peoples homes. But I was assured that the homes were being prescreened and pre qualified, and would of course be in the "nice" neighborhoods because we only wanted to target those who could really afford it and have good credit. I was thinking i would be in safe area. Since they pre set up the appointments. And pre screened them as well. Brittany(the lady who brought us all in, the DPS) told us that it takes three people to make the sale. The first is the one who set the
appointment, me the demo person, and the mgr who comes in the closes the deal - so I do not have to do any negotiations. And we all get an even split 1/3 for all, Depending on how much we sold it for. So it would differ for each person. I asked how long we would be in the homes. I was told sometimes an hour or two. It sounded okay. Day 3: we find out we have three full days of training that is unpaid but required so we can learn how to demo the Kirby. We are given a stack of paperwork to sign and contracts to sign and I ask for a copy. They said it would all be in a folder for us. At first they were reluctant but I told them I would need it for
my 1099. After bickering with them they finally gave me a copy. That same day at the end we would get our badges. They collected our drivers licenses and took copies of them. Used the photos from our License and put them on a badge with our names and gave us the title "Dealer". That was news to me. No one ever said they were using me to deal anything. This was misleading in hiring me. That raised a red flag for me but the money seemed promising still. First official day: they told us to arrive at 8:45 am and that the meetings would start at 9 am sharp. The meetings would be like a pep rally and i felt uncomfortable. But That could be
farther from the truth. I would get there as instructed at 8:45 am and it would be 9. The meeting hasn’t started. 10-15 minutes go by and still the meeting hasn’t started. At this point I was irritated. Why have us come in early if you aren’t going to start on the time you set yourself. They keep throwing at you and follwing up with no body can make you do anything you don't want to do. Being as that we are independent contractors. But if you want to see a penny you better show up and do what you are told. I did get that out of orientation. Anyway, after wasting 2 to 3 hours in a dumb meeting(Yes that’s how long them sometimes are).
At the end we are assigned to a team and put in a van with 3 or 4 other dealers, a team leader/manager and a canavasser (which from the training I understood was going out to fill in extra appointments between the already preset appointments) - I was wrong). We pile in the van with people you don’t know. I have no clue where we are going. We go to gas station to fill up before heading out. In my head I’m thinking after this we will be out in the field. I was wrong and lied to again. We would sometimes stop for hours (still in Tuscaloosa) wether it be for food or for them to have a smoke break. And by then it would be 11 or 12. We literally wasted
3 hours just siting in a van waiting for them to get food or whatever else they "had” to get. Once we were on the road and left Tuscaloosa I would ask where we would be going. No one would say. Everyone was quiet. It was the most awkward car ride I’ve Been in. No one was friendly or tried to get know us since we were the new group. We finally get to where we needed to be (btw we stopped twice so they could get more snacks and cigarettes). By then it’s 2 or 3 I’m the afternoon and we’ve done nothing at all. We finally start knocking. I asked about the appointments. Everyone laughts and says don't believe anything Brittany told you. There are
no present appointments. You have to knock doors. And that’s if we get in the door. My first day was miserable. They would put us in these houses or trailers that to me couldn’t even afford what we were selling yet they made us knock anyway. I feel like we were targeting people who could be talked into getting something they didn’t want. They wanted us to target older couples or the elderly. Now this is where I get screwed. Remember how I was told we all got an even share by Brittany. Well that was an all out lie. The one who knocks you in gets a set amount for getting you in the door, so they really only care about Getting you in.
The team leader gets paid if you get in as well and sell one. After i do the demo i had to sit there and listen to our team lead push and bully some elderly person or keep on badgering them and refusing to leaving and take no for an answer (now my instructions are I have to keep my mouth shut when they come in to negotiate). We explain to our team lead what they could afford(that’s if they could) and they always try to suck as much money out of the customers to help them get paid. Half the time if I did sell one it would be the lowest amount. They had theee types of loans. A,B, and C. Even though they would hassle and try to get
them to pay high payments it wouldn’t work. So if I sold anything they would be C loans. And in my case that means I don’t get paid at all but my manager Tony does. It doesn’t matter what price I sell them for if it’s a C loan I don’t get paid but he does. It’s totally unethical and unprofessional as a business to do that. We would go out all day for 10-12 hours being stuck in a van going Into people’s home trying to sell them the Kirby for high price to help themselves get paid except us, the "dealer”. I was with them for about a month. I never got paid even though i sold multiple Kirby’s. Needless to say I’ve been scammed into believeing that I would get
paid $900 when in actuality you don’t get anything unless someone else gets some of it. If you ever plan on working here or hear about it don’t go at all. They will waste your time and money over and over again. Don’t believe what they tell you.
I live in NE Tennessee, and yesterday I unknowingly allowed a Kirby sales team into my home. What a mistake! This is how they work: A fast-talking, southern-accented woman came to the door, explained she worked for a company that cleans rugs, and she would like to do a demonstration. I balked, but she explained she needed to do five demonstrations per day and only needed to do one more (this was later in the afternoon), so I relented. She “sweetened” the deal by giving me a bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid.
She came in, asked what types of flooring I had, was very complimentary about the house, and I decided to have her do my large, polypropylene braided kitchen rug, as I knew it would be the dirtiest. She then went to get her “assistant” (who was waiting in the car, and I had no idea he existed). He came in with a large and small cardboard packing box. Once I saw “Kirby” on the side of the larger box, I knew I’d been duped.
I immediately explained that they were welcome to clean my rug if they wanted, but that I was not interested in purchasing a vacuum cleaner. (He then cheekily pointed out that it was not a vacuum cleaner – it was a FLOOR CARE SYSTEM. It came with enough attachments it build a house.) The woman then used my vacuum cleaner on an area of my kitchen rug and left (as in no longer at my house). I retreated into my office while the demonstrator was supposedly cleaning my rug. In reality, he vacuumed over one very small area (maybe 18” square), frequently replacing a filter pad that showed how much dirt my cleaning service was missing and how much dirt was still in the rug. I explained to the demonstrator that yes, there was a lot of dirt left behind, but it did not concern me. He tried to convince me that I should be concerned.
He then said he’d noticed how our hardwood floors were scratched, that they were being damaged, and the machine could polish the hardwood floors. I explained that I was aware the hardwood floors were scratched, but I was not concerned about it. He went on to explain that the vacuum would remove the dirt that had settled between the boards in the hardwood floors. I explained this is a 100+ year old farmhouse and I liked the space (and the dirt) between the boards; it added character.
Then he pointed out that leaving dirt behind in my wool wall-to-wall living room carpeting would shorten the life of the expensive carpeting. I again explained I wasn’t concerned about it. He then made some comment about wasting money and did I like to waste money. I foolishly stooped to his level and tried to explain to this insolent young man that based on my husband and my ages, I did not anticipate remaining in the house many years into the future, and that I would deal with any damage to the hardwood floors and wool carpeting whenever we decided to move.
After arguing back and forth, I finally made it clear he was wasting his time. I didn’t give him an opportunity to demonstrate the machine beyond its vacuuming ability.
This team may have been from the Knoxville area because, adding insult to injury, when he had packed up his machine and attempted to call his partner to pick him up, his phone wasn’t charged. He had to call her, in a Knoxville area code, from our phone. After calling her, he took his wares outside where he waited for at least 15 minutes before she picked him up. I also gave him back the bottle of Dawn. Good riddance!
Kirby vacuum came to my door, I let them in cause they said they would clean two rooms in my house plus two pieces of furniture. So I said sure not thinking it would take hours! I do mean hours! The demonstration was okay, but the guy who actually sold us the vacuum was pushy. We said no, he still pushed until we said yes. The vacuum isn't the real problem here though, the sales person is the problem! We told him we didn't want our credit pulled cause we were in the middle of trying to buy a house and had just put the loan paperwork in the day before and we were advised to "freeze our credit" as in don't have anyone else pull it.
Imagine my surprise and horror to be told by the lady on the phone when he called to set the payments up... Surprise we pulled your credit! I'm pissed off, rightly so, they didn't have my permission to pull my credit! Kirby reasoning for this was and I quote " well we asked the salesman and he said you did" and the coffin nail "well we can't go back on it now cause it's already pulled, so the damage is already done! I'm pissed we ended up loosing the loan, all because this company can't ask the person directly to pull credit before they pull it! It isn't right and it's against the law! Something needs done! And I better get my house! THEY COST ME A F***ING HOUSE!!!!
I was sitting at home, with my front door open when a young guy showed up outside my door and just started talking to me. He gave me a bottle of Tide and asked if I was willing to take a survey, it would only take a few minutes. I agreed and he said he'd be right back. Next thing I know, this other kid is bringing a large box up to my door and asking to come in. I had laundry all over my living room do I told him I would rather do this outside. After 5 minutes of back and forth, I just gave in. He comes in and starts his demo. I'm thinking this is gonna be an hour long at most so I just let it happen. He starts up by constantly telling me to keep an open mind. After hours, no exaggeration, of this demo and lots of hand shaking and saying welcome to the Kirby family and complimenting my intelligence, it's finally over. I tell him I don't have the money to purchase at the moment and I can't take on a monthly bill. He pretty much tells me I'm lying to him. His manager comes in and is working the price down with every no I give him. They then try to guilt me, saying no price is too high for a clean home for my kids and I repeat over and over that I'm not interested. The guy very slowly packs up his stuff while him and his manager keep making guilting and rude comments about my family and giving us dirty looks. They are relentless. I went online and researched and realized this was a huge scam. I finally got them out of my house and now I'm actually scared to ever open my door.
The Kirby Company Reviews
So I was looking for a new job. I wanted to make more than what I was making so i wasn’t always living check to check. I was on an online job board and found "simply solutions” with the pay being $1,000-$1,800 a month. And to me that was what I was looking for. So I applied not expecting to to get a call from them. But needless to say I did. I went in for the first interview and Brittany explained what the job would entitle but was very vague and wouldn’t exactly tell us what we would be doing. I asked about the payment and she said it would be $900 every two weeks and that would be the base pay without making any sales. She told me to
come back the next day and i was hired on and she gave me details of when orientation would start. I still didn’t know what i was selling. But In my head I was thinking i found the dream job. Day 2: After everyone left they made us watch a video with Lindsay Vonn as the spokesperson of the company. I still didn’t know what we were selling but based off the video they had a variety of products. I was told I would never have to knock on a door and I would have preset appointments. I asked what time these appointments would be set up, I was told 10, 2 and 4 and sometimes 7 pm. I was supposed to do three demos a day at least 5 days a week.
This should result in at least three sales. They told us out of every 3 demos we do at least 1 would buy. But that would never happen. In most cases I was in fact being put in peoples homes. But I was assured that the homes were being prescreened and pre qualified, and would of course be in the "nice" neighborhoods because we only wanted to target those who could really afford it and have good credit. I was thinking i would be in safe area. Since they pre set up the appointments. And pre screened them as well. Brittany(the lady who brought us all in, the DPS) told us that it takes three people to make the sale. The first is the one who set the
appointment, me the demo person, and the mgr who comes in the closes the deal - so I do not have to do any negotiations. And we all get an even split 1/3 for all, Depending on how much we sold it for. So it would differ for each person. I asked how long we would be in the homes. I was told sometimes an hour or two. It sounded okay. Day 3: we find out we have three full days of training that is unpaid but required so we can learn how to demo the Kirby. We are given a stack of paperwork to sign and contracts to sign and I ask for a copy. They said it would all be in a folder for us. At first they were reluctant but I told them I would need it for
my 1099. After bickering with them they finally gave me a copy. That same day at the end we would get our badges. They collected our drivers licenses and took copies of them. Used the photos from our License and put them on a badge with our names and gave us the title "Dealer". That was news to me. No one ever said they were using me to deal anything. This was misleading in hiring me. That raised a red flag for me but the money seemed promising still. First official day: they told us to arrive at 8:45 am and that the meetings would start at 9 am sharp. The meetings would be like a pep rally and i felt uncomfortable. But That could be
farther from the truth. I would get there as instructed at 8:45 am and it would be 9. The meeting hasn’t started. 10-15 minutes go by and still the meeting hasn’t started. At this point I was irritated. Why have us come in early if you aren’t going to start on the time you set yourself. They keep throwing at you and follwing up with no body can make you do anything you don't want to do. Being as that we are independent contractors. But if you want to see a penny you better show up and do what you are told. I did get that out of orientation. Anyway, after wasting 2 to 3 hours in a dumb meeting(Yes that’s how long them sometimes are).
At the end we are assigned to a team and put in a van with 3 or 4 other dealers, a team leader/manager and a canavasser (which from the training I understood was going out to fill in extra appointments between the already preset appointments) - I was wrong). We pile in the van with people you don’t know. I have no clue where we are going. We go to gas station to fill up before heading out. In my head I’m thinking after this we will be out in the field. I was wrong and lied to again. We would sometimes stop for hours (still in Tuscaloosa) wether it be for food or for them to have a smoke break. And by then it would be 11 or 12. We literally wasted
3 hours just siting in a van waiting for them to get food or whatever else they "had” to get. Once we were on the road and left Tuscaloosa I would ask where we would be going. No one would say. Everyone was quiet. It was the most awkward car ride I’ve Been in. No one was friendly or tried to get know us since we were the new group. We finally get to where we needed to be (btw we stopped twice so they could get more snacks and cigarettes). By then it’s 2 or 3 I’m the afternoon and we’ve done nothing at all. We finally start knocking. I asked about the appointments. Everyone laughts and says don't believe anything Brittany told you. There are
no present appointments. You have to knock doors. And that’s if we get in the door. My first day was miserable. They would put us in these houses or trailers that to me couldn’t even afford what we were selling yet they made us knock anyway. I feel like we were targeting people who could be talked into getting something they didn’t want. They wanted us to target older couples or the elderly. Now this is where I get screwed. Remember how I was told we all got an even share by Brittany. Well that was an all out lie. The one who knocks you in gets a set amount for getting you in the door, so they really only care about Getting you in.
The team leader gets paid if you get in as well and sell one. After i do the demo i had to sit there and listen to our team lead push and bully some elderly person or keep on badgering them and refusing to leaving and take no for an answer (now my instructions are I have to keep my mouth shut when they come in to negotiate). We explain to our team lead what they could afford(that’s if they could) and they always try to suck as much money out of the customers to help them get paid. Half the time if I did sell one it would be the lowest amount. They had theee types of loans. A,B, and C. Even though they would hassle and try to get
them to pay high payments it wouldn’t work. So if I sold anything they would be C loans. And in my case that means I don’t get paid at all but my manager Tony does. It doesn’t matter what price I sell them for if it’s a C loan I don’t get paid but he does. It’s totally unethical and unprofessional as a business to do that. We would go out all day for 10-12 hours being stuck in a van going Into people’s home trying to sell them the Kirby for high price to help themselves get paid except us, the "dealer”. I was with them for about a month. I never got paid even though i sold multiple Kirby’s. Needless to say I’ve been scammed into believeing that I would get
paid $900 when in actuality you don’t get anything unless someone else gets some of it. If you ever plan on working here or hear about it don’t go at all. They will waste your time and money over and over again. Don’t believe what they tell you.
I live in NE Tennessee, and yesterday I unknowingly allowed a Kirby sales team into my home. What a mistake! This is how they work: A fast-talking, southern-accented woman came to the door, explained she worked for a company that cleans rugs, and she would like to do a demonstration. I balked, but she explained she needed to do five demonstrations per day and only needed to do one more (this was later in the afternoon), so I relented. She “sweetened” the deal by giving me a bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid.
She came in, asked what types of flooring I had, was very complimentary about the house, and I decided to have her do my large, polypropylene braided kitchen rug, as I knew it would be the dirtiest. She then went to get her “assistant” (who was waiting in the car, and I had no idea he existed). He came in with a large and small cardboard packing box. Once I saw “Kirby” on the side of the larger box, I knew I’d been duped.
I immediately explained that they were welcome to clean my rug if they wanted, but that I was not interested in purchasing a vacuum cleaner. (He then cheekily pointed out that it was not a vacuum cleaner – it was a FLOOR CARE SYSTEM. It came with enough attachments it build a house.) The woman then used my vacuum cleaner on an area of my kitchen rug and left (as in no longer at my house). I retreated into my office while the demonstrator was supposedly cleaning my rug. In reality, he vacuumed over one very small area (maybe 18” square), frequently replacing a filter pad that showed how much dirt my cleaning service was missing and how much dirt was still in the rug. I explained to the demonstrator that yes, there was a lot of dirt left behind, but it did not concern me. He tried to convince me that I should be concerned.
He then said he’d noticed how our hardwood floors were scratched, that they were being damaged, and the machine could polish the hardwood floors. I explained that I was aware the hardwood floors were scratched, but I was not concerned about it. He went on to explain that the vacuum would remove the dirt that had settled between the boards in the hardwood floors. I explained this is a 100+ year old farmhouse and I liked the space (and the dirt) between the boards; it added character.
Then he pointed out that leaving dirt behind in my wool wall-to-wall living room carpeting would shorten the life of the expensive carpeting. I again explained I wasn’t concerned about it. He then made some comment about wasting money and did I like to waste money. I foolishly stooped to his level and tried to explain to this insolent young man that based on my husband and my ages, I did not anticipate remaining in the house many years into the future, and that I would deal with any damage to the hardwood floors and wool carpeting whenever we decided to move.
After arguing back and forth, I finally made it clear he was wasting his time. I didn’t give him an opportunity to demonstrate the machine beyond its vacuuming ability.
This team may have been from the Knoxville area because, adding insult to injury, when he had packed up his machine and attempted to call his partner to pick him up, his phone wasn’t charged. He had to call her, in a Knoxville area code, from our phone. After calling her, he took his wares outside where he waited for at least 15 minutes before she picked him up. I also gave him back the bottle of Dawn. Good riddance!
Kirby vacuum came to my door, I let them in cause they said they would clean two rooms in my house plus two pieces of furniture. So I said sure not thinking it would take hours! I do mean hours! The demonstration was okay, but the guy who actually sold us the vacuum was pushy. We said no, he still pushed until we said yes. The vacuum isn't the real problem here though, the sales person is the problem! We told him we didn't want our credit pulled cause we were in the middle of trying to buy a house and had just put the loan paperwork in the day before and we were advised to "freeze our credit" as in don't have anyone else pull it.
Imagine my surprise and horror to be told by the lady on the phone when he called to set the payments up... Surprise we pulled your credit! I'm pissed off, rightly so, they didn't have my permission to pull my credit! Kirby reasoning for this was and I quote " well we asked the salesman and he said you did" and the coffin nail "well we can't go back on it now cause it's already pulled, so the damage is already done! I'm pissed we ended up loosing the loan, all because this company can't ask the person directly to pull credit before they pull it! It isn't right and it's against the law! Something needs done! And I better get my house! THEY COST ME A F***ING HOUSE!!!!
I was sitting at home, with my front door open when a young guy showed up outside my door and just started talking to me. He gave me a bottle of Tide and asked if I was willing to take a survey, it would only take a few minutes. I agreed and he said he'd be right back. Next thing I know, this other kid is bringing a large box up to my door and asking to come in. I had laundry all over my living room do I told him I would rather do this outside. After 5 minutes of back and forth, I just gave in. He comes in and starts his demo. I'm thinking this is gonna be an hour long at most so I just let it happen. He starts up by constantly telling me to keep an open mind. After hours, no exaggeration, of this demo and lots of hand shaking and saying welcome to the Kirby family and complimenting my intelligence, it's finally over. I tell him I don't have the money to purchase at the moment and I can't take on a monthly bill. He pretty much tells me I'm lying to him. His manager comes in and is working the price down with every no I give him. They then try to guilt me, saying no price is too high for a clean home for my kids and I repeat over and over that I'm not interested. The guy very slowly packs up his stuff while him and his manager keep making guilting and rude comments about my family and giving us dirty looks. They are relentless. I went online and researched and realized this was a huge scam. I finally got them out of my house and now I'm actually scared to ever open my door.