DirectBuy of Calgary

I am considering looking for a wall cabinet and the thought of going through the hassle of pouring through books and books and not getting much help from staff is depressing to say the least. I have ordered things before, had some good experiences when i knew exactly what I wanted down to the size, colour, model number etc., but when I didn’t have part numbers and really specific information that the average buyer wouldn’t have, the buying experiences were horrible. I don’t know how many hours I spent going over the books and then left exasperated. I wasn’t even able to bring my 80 year old mother to accompany me in the showroom. I recommend you don’t even think about purchasing plumbing parts or anything that connects together because I can almost guarantee you won’t have ordered all the required parts. Plus the cost of additional handling, shipping, etc. really brings the prices back up to close to retail, and it takes sometimes two months for your item to arrive. It would be great if they had a few people who knew what was in the catalogues and helped us figure out what was required to order. The warehouse people are helpful but the behind the counter people are terrible.

We aren’t builders or contractors, but we did build a house and we opted out of many of the builder upgrade options. We have saved tens of thousands of dollars on these very same upgrades through Directbuy. Blinds, appliances, laundry room cabinets have been our best deals. We are currently finishing our basement and working on our bathroom. I couldn’t afford many of the upgrades that we are using if it weren’t for our Directbuy membership.

There’s no doubt that if you’re a home flipper or general contractor, this model can be leveraged for savings. However, you have to buy a LOT of stuff to break even on the very steep membership price. On top of that, the staff are condescending and use very high pressure sales tactics to get you in. Think carefully before you go to an open house. Once you turn down the initial offer, you can’t go back for 7 years!