Kirby Vacuum Good, Sales tactics not so good.

by Mark
(Pa.)

I want to start by saying the manufacturer of Kirby vacuums, produce a high quality, durable, and high performance machine that will last a long time.

Unfortunately however Kirby gets a bad reputation because of some of the independent distributors of Kirby.

They use less than honest tactics to sell these vacuums to say the least. Not only do they vastly overstate the price of the machine, they seem to target people who are unable or afraid to resist high pressure sales tactics.(I've heard several personal stories.)

The customers are not the only victims. The young sales persons or dealers as they are called, are often lied to and treated like crap.

I actually feel sorry for the sales people. They're just trying to earn a paycheck like the rest of us.

I own a Kirby G4 that I bought 15 years ago. It still works like it did the day I bought it. The machine sold itself. The salesman had little effect on my decision to buy it. In fact, I use to take pride in my ability to chew door to door salesmen up and spit them out just for fun. (not literally.)

That brings me to the price. Back then The first price quoted on my G4 was $1600. To make a long story short, I got it for $1100. I probably could have gone lower, but I wanted the kid to get a commission. You CAN negotiate.

Now a little tid bit of info on the price of the latest model. The Sentria.

I bought some stuff on ebay recently. The seller shipped it to me in a Kirby Sentria box. The MSRP on the side of the box reads: Sentria with attachments- $1349.00, Carpet shampoo system- $179.00.

There were optional accessories listed as well.

Now knowing this, when the Kirby guy knocks at your and throws you a starting price of $2100.00, You can say NO ,we'll start at $1500.00 and tell him why.

Now you know why they always take the box with them.