Vacuum
Written By: Tom on March 12, 2002
478 Comments
Tonight we bought a vacuum from a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman! It was his 3rd sale ever! The sales-manager (“the guy on the phone”) thought that it was his first. We got a really good deal. I’m such a softie for door-to-door people.
We bought a TriStar EXL. I won’t say how much it cost, but trust me I checked on Ebay and we stole this one.
I went today for an interview from an ad that was placed in the newspaper. The ad read “Need extra Christmas money? Guarrented pay!” I replied to the ad and filled out an application. I was told the job was for Tristar home cleaning systems. She said I would not be selling but displaying the systems in home that the appointment were already set up. She assured me I would not be selling but setting up the equipment in a customers home. I was told I would make $200+$50 gas for the 1st sale and the same for the second sell. The 3rd sale and the on I would make $300+$50 gas. She said on average 1 out of every 3-5 appointments is a sale. If I went to 29 appointments in 2 months and nothing sold I would still get $800.
Sounds like a sales job to me. She assured me It was not a sales job that when I got thru with the my part of the appointment the sales person on the phone would handle it. Also she said after I got experienced I would need to come in the office to help set up appointments after she had already assured me the appointment were prearrange by referral only..no telemarking. She showed me on a pamplet where she had been the world’s best seller making over $1800 a week for three weeks. She assured me the job was very easy and I could work as much or little as I wanted. Is this too good to be true.? She told me she would call me back between 5 & 6 today and she did to tell me she approved my application. I would like some imput before I waste my time on 3 days training. I need advice from someone experienced with TriStar. The name of her company is A & M Allergy Relief.
Tristar salesman Ryan came to my home last Monday. He did his demonstration and when we said no about buying it today, that is when he came up with the financing terms of $50.86 a month for 3 years. I asked him what interest rate that was and he said 21%. Ryan said I would only end up paying $50.86 x 36 = $1,830.96 total payment. I am an accountant so I told him that is wrong. I told him to go to the web site http://www.investopedia.com/calculator/FVAnnuityDue.aspx. What Ryan was talking about was simple interest not compound interest. If you use $50.86 as the payments, 36 as the time periods and 1.75% (21% per year / 12 months)you will get $2,565.05. Ryan argued with me and proceeded to tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about. He actually said “Honey I’ve been doing this for seven years and you are wrong”. Then he wouldn’t leave the house. He kept asking to use our phone for his “next appointment” but the person on the other end kept telling him things to say to get us to buy. I finally had to tell him I was done talking and he had to leave. He still kept trying to get me to say yes by asking how much I would pay today for the Tristar vacuum. I finally had to say $100 so he would leave me alone. My husband made the mistake of telling Ryan he had breathing problems. Then Ryan told me “Don’t you care about your husband?” and he also had the nerve of asking my husband if he wanted to buy the vacuum!!! My husband correctly said “my wife is the boss when it comes to finances; you have to talk to her”. I told Ryan that it is not a good tactic to try to cause a fight between husband and wife. Then he didn’t even want to give us the prize for listening to his demo. He first said no but then gave us the prize. If the vacuum clearner is so good, why does Tristar use such high pressure tactics to sell one? I do not like companies or individuals that survive by taking advantage of other people. I have registered a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Affairs Dept. I think there is a law about full disclosure when it comes to credit terms so I will also file a complaint with the District Attorney of Texas (where Tristar is) and Arizona (where I live).
Hello everyone.. I see that this has discussion has been going on for some time.. I want to ad my two cents in..
First, allow me to introduce myself. I am a trainer for Tri-Star. I started selling vacuums (a different brand) in 1995, at the tender age of 16, and was very successful at it until I joined the military at 20. I am now 27, and have recently gotten back into it..
Here’s what you need to know. First of all, does a salesman make a commission for selling you a TriStar? OF COURSE!! You have to be realistic here, people.. No matter what product you buy, or where you buy it, the person who sells it to you makes money for doing so. Do they make hundreds or thousands of dollars per sale? NO!! There just is not that much markup in a product that is built the way Tri-Star is.. That magnesium alloy that the product is made from is not cheap, nor is Lexan, the plastic that is used in it.
Think about this, however.. When the rep comes to your home, he is spending his time, putting wear and tear on his vehicle, and using his gas to show you a product. He should be compensated for that!
As to the bad salespeople out there… I have went to WalMart and gotten both great and horrible customer service. Same with Starbucks, Jiffylube, McDonalds, and pretty much every where else I shop. That is they way it works when you are dealing with people. If you experienced that with a TriStar rep, I am sorry.
I will tell you this; My reps are honest from the get go. They do not lie to get in your home, nor do they lie to get your business. If my rep is in your house for an hour, it better be because you asked him to stay. I train each rep that comes out of my office, and they do a powerful product show in aprox 25-30 minutes, depending on your questions and level of involvement. Are there exceptions? Of course! I personally have done a 3 hour presentation, and ended up in the family’s home for almost 5 hours total.. Because they where interested, asked a ton of questions, then the husband asked me to stop so he could run somewhere for a half hour and he didn’t want to miss anything.. They purchased, and then they invited for dinner, which I accepted.. That is the exception, not the rule!
I want to address the question of why the sales people are so adamant about you purchasing TODAY. First, the salesperson should not try to talk you into buying if you have stated you are not interested. If, however, you have indicated interest but for whatever reason want to wait or can’t afford it right then, it is his job to try and figure a way to help you make the purchase that day. The reasoning behind this is simple… If a good presentation is done in the home, we know that we have about a 30% chance of making a sale. If you do not purchase that day, we have less then a 2% chance of earning your business.. If you do not make a favorable decision with the dirt and machine in front of you, then you probably never will.. They are not, or at least should not be, pressuring you into getting something that you are not interested in owning. If you are interested, however, it is their job to make it as affordable and easy for you to purchase as possible. If you want them to go away, simply tell them that you do not want the product.
Finally, as to the product.. I believe that I have dealt with every vacuum on the market today, and I have seen two vacuums that I would personally use in my home, the Tri-Star, and the Silver King. The Silver King is water capable, the Tri-Star has better filtration and is easier to use, either is a fantastic product.
The tri-Star is amazingly durable, very simple to use and maintain, is 100% effective, and will last you a lifetime. I would recommend it to anyone, and yes, I do own one!
One last comment.. I have personally reversed the motor on the Kirby by hooking the two hoses together, so to the gentleman who claimed that that is not possible, I am sure you had the best of intentions in that post, but you are incorrect. No offense intended.
Questions? Comments? Contact me via email at mapeterson@yahoo.com
This is all a load of shit. I bet when the sales team are trained they are taught that carpet extraction or steam cleaning is shit (rubbish the carpet cleaners). well, this is the best way to clean shitty carpet. You wash your clothes and see the dirt go down the drain. Why not wash your carpet and see the same result. I bet they give you the vacuum test. Where by they use a styrafoam ball and hold the wand tight down over the ball and turn the machine on. To your surprise the ball is still there. Lets see this happen when you force water into your carpet while holding the wand tight down on the carpet and dragging it over the water. Oh yeah it creates mud, apparently. What a load of shit. It is the only effective way to have cleaned carpets. Not their so called dry cleaning or crap foam that gets the stains from the top of the pile. What about underneath where the dirt is. Oh yeah, the brush beats it out. It is still dirty dickheads. Wash the fucker. What about when you spill a sticky liquid and it sinks to make mud. how does the dry cleaning from these crap machines or the brush get this crap out. to stop the airborne dust from travelling through the machine, wet it and drag it out with the cleaner, IE carpet steam cleaning. Oh but us guys stretch the carpet or leave it to wet. Fuck off we clean it just like clothing it is damp if done right and will dry in the breeze. At least it will be cleaner then any form of dry crap cleaning. Check out a carpet cleaners drum or collection barrell after he has cleaned your carpets and see the sand and grit and black water. Even after these crappy high priced machines have been over it. What a joke. Like a prior post said. We live on the earth it is dirt everything is dirt lets go outside and vacuum all the dirt and shit up otherwise we will get asthma or some shit. Well i have news for you it is everywhere, outside inside. Our ancestors lived in dirt and shit before these machines were invented and they lived to ripe old ages. We seem to be getting cancers and diseases more these days then ever before and it isn,t from dirt. In fact the fuckin carpet itself is probably the cause with all the chemicals to manufacture the shit. Fuck me some people are docile, You a fed bullshit to sell it then the customer is fed bullshit to buy it. I ask you to clean your carpet with your high priced machine. Lay on it sneeze your arse off then have a carpet steam cleaner come and clean it and lay on it and feel which is cleaner which is fresher. Then make a decision. Buy a cheaper extraction machine and learn how to use it. Clean your carpets each week dry vacuum and every 3 months with a washer.hell you can buy one for less then these fucked machines and it will have 2 or 3 motors and have 3 times as much power. Wait on the power isnt what works. its the brush. Fuck off. Forcing water through and sucking it out is the best brush to use. These machines do both jobs dry cleaning and washing, You can even add a powerhead to them and beat your dirt out. In fact for a couple hundred you can have an Italian powerhead that works the same. Try the salt test. It will bounce just the same as these $2000 machines. Talk about over priced shit. We all need jobs but, aren,t you sales guys sick of telly marketers and door to door pushers. I am FUCK OFF If Kirby, tristar and all the other crap are so good why after 10 years of owning one of these machines do you pull dirt out of your carpet each week, when they tell you it will be all gone after 3 months of using it. It shit, thats why
Well,
Seems to be a lot of interesting things said in here. First, I would like to introduce who I am. I’ve been working with Tristar for approximately 3 years as a representative. In this time I
Hello! I am former FILTER QUEEN distributor. I was a distributor for 8yrs. I was a sales rep for two years after wich I became a regional distributor, then following a “promotion” I became a “master distributor”. Let me be as clear as possible about my personal experience. The entire operation is a big huge scam! Yes! You read that right…A BIG SCAM! From the unethical hiring practices of young people to the telemarketing scam to get into peoples homes and of course the most disgusting “near thieving” sales practices inside the home. I know it all!!! Any questions? Please ask! I know it all because I lived it! I left the industry a few years ago. Toward the end I felt like I was loosing my soul! I’m not kidding.
However I wish that there were more info out there exposing this industry. I know Ripoff Report has some stuff on Filter Queen. However most of the stuff I found involves other brands such as Kirby, Tri-Star, Rainbow, etc…Although all door to door vacuum sales operate the same way. I wanted to ask to see if anyone out there knows of other “venues” that exposes this type of stuff specifically Filter Queen?
I just bought a TriStar from a rep that came to our home last night! He was WONDERFUL!!! Very, very polite and informative – and I never go for that whole sales pitch thing! Now I am having buyers remourse after reading all this…we paid over $2200 – and now I am thinking we could have gotten it cheaper! Any suggestions??? Should I try and do anything about it?? If it is REALLY & TRULY worth it then that is one thing – I am just so nerous because thier are so many kimicks. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Interesting reads here. Obviously I am biased. TriStar is a fantastic product and am very proud to work for them. Currently we are looking for experienced TriStar reps who have worked or would like to work in our northern CA office. Feel free to Contact me at TriStarDealer@aol.com if interested.
Ok, folks. Here is the bottom line, real world truth about vacuums. I was a Kirby salesman, won trips, the whole bit. I was a Rainbow distributor, I sold Filter Queens in my undergrad days, and spent four years as an Electrolux branch manager. Because we always took trade-ins I kept abreast of the competition. I learned a lot.
The reason a new, expensive vacuum always pulls so much dirt is that people vacuum infrequently, too quickly, and DO NOT MAINTAIN THEIR VACUUMS!
When was the last time YOU vacuumed ONE spot 40 times with a new bag, belt and brush in your vacuum?
Any canister vacuum will lose efficiency over time because the hose wears on the INSIDE! Do you honestly believe that sand that is shredding the customer carpet will not abrade the interior of the hose over time? I saw repeatedly, hundreds of times, that a new hose on an old canister vacuum immediately improved the efficiency of the vacuum. If we, as Electrolux salesmen, could not sell a new unit, we did the ’steel balls’ test on the customers old unit with a new hose. A hose sale was better than NO sale. That was one advantage to being associated with Electrolux. The salesmen made money on bags, parts and service, and so had a vested interest in servicing the customer AFTER the sale.
All canisters are sucking all the dirt through a long tube assembly, not very efficient. A single, open fan upright is much more efficient. The belts and brushes are easy to change, keeping the efficiency high. Yes, the fans can break, if you are careless about what you pick up. Yes the bags are porous, but you know what? If you change them often the leakage is minimal. If you remove more dirt you auromatically remove more allergens.
Do the math, folks. An 1600.00 vacuum financed for 24 months, with a 300.00 dowm payment will be paid off at 80.00 per month equalling a total cost of nearly 2200.00. Take the 300.00 downpayment and buy a decent upright, and spend one payment a year on bags, belts, and a new brush, and use the dang thing, for crying out loud. How do you think Kirby trades people into a newer “more powerful” machine every 5 to 6 years? They put a new bag and belt on their old unit, but neglect to replace or even adjust the brushroll.
A basic, no frills upright (Koblenz is an excellent example) and a good straight suction canister (several out there for 200.00) with proper usage and maintenence will keep a home cleaner (and your wallet fatter) than any expansive vacuum that is seldom used and poorly maintained. No one likes dirt, and no one likes to be thought of as someone who would not want a cleaner home. That’s what makes it so easy to sell a $2000.00 vacuum to educated, otherwise frugal, sensible people. Think about this: Without all the hype and hoopla that EVERY door-to door vacuum company has to use to brainwash their salespeople common sense would overcome the impulse to spend that kind of money on vacuum. Canisters are not designed to clean carpet and uprights are not designed to clean with a hose. Buy a moderately priced unit of each type, change the bags, belts and brushes often and take a well-desreved vacation with what you save!
The Tristar is a nice vacuum,but it is not worth the money u pay for one.I am a former employee and I know that the salesman is only out there for profit u may pay $2400 and your neighbor will only pay $1500.The call customers Suckers,if the saleman dont like the way your home or vehicles look most the time they wont even stop.Befor you bye one from a rep in your area check and see if they are independent that they are a member or the Better Buisness Burue and a member of commerce.The one in Seymour Indiana is neither!
Let me begin by saying that Tristar is not a bad product, but its selling price is just not worth it. we has a salesman show up on a sunday morning(WTF???) we were half sleep and annoyed by the fact that he was aware that we were not interested in buying a vaccumm for that price.(we asked the price before he even said a word, when he didnt answer we figured it was more than we could afford). this guy was a good guy, but he kept talking about how other houses were in worst conditions and dirtier (we have 2 toddlers and although i cleanup after them, there will always be a mess and toys everywhere). he went outside like 3 times for a smoking break(at one point he even asked me if it was okay to smoke in my house!!!!WTF, thats when i was ready for him to go, he told us not to let his boss know that he had been smoking. anyways my husband was lured into buying on “really cheap” after 3 hrs of him letting us know how much dirt we had in our area rug…WE HAVE HARDWOOD FLOORS FOR CRYING OUTLOUD!!! I still cant believe we fell victims to something like this…my husband had promised me a Dyson (which wouldve cost him alot less) for Xmas and now im stuck with this expensive, unwanted, piece of machenary that i cant even stand to look at. IT COSTS MORE THAN MY EFFING CAR!!!
wow. i really can’t believe how long this post has been going. I recently became an employee of tristar. The dealer is based out of Red Deer, AB, Canada. Now i agree with so many things that everyone has said. As far as the salesperson(s) go, yes it’s the same as any other type of business where you’re required to be in personal contact with the customer. It is selling though, no matter what way you put it. displaying, demonstrating, etc. If you didn’t go into the home, would there be any sale??? And the phone call at the end of the “demo”? true it is to try to get the customer the best price, but, it’s still not in the customers best interest. when i went to the interview nothing was mentioned about a vaccum cleaner, it was an “airflow product”. yeah ok, so it’s a vacuum cleaner that you can so called “purify” a 10 by 12′ room with too, and oh yeah, if you put a few drops of your favorite scented oil on the discharge filter it becomes an air freshener while you vacuum. now there’s an attachment where you put the hose onto the discharge of the vacuum and put a little sprayer on the end, and voila!! you have a dust mite and odor neutralizer. ok, don’t get me wrong these are maybe all nice things… but they’re glorified wayyy too much. Yes i do work on a commision. and after the way things went today, i will not be working for this dealer anymore. i’ve only been there for a week, and realize what i signed so i don’t expect any money from them. but today i tried calling the company 5 or 6 times in the morning to tell them that i wouldn’t be coming in, no answer, ok, fine, i’ll explain it tomorrow right? well the message i got from my cell phone when i got home went like this. “hi this is your boss, i guess you don’t want to return my phone calls or return my kit, buddy. i’ll break your fucking legs. i’d recommend you get it back here NOW!” THIS WAS AT 11:30 PM yes PM. Then i went out to my vehicle to get the “kit” that i was supposed to get my legs broken over. (which consists of a few papers, a binder with pictures, blah blah blah, and a 15 lb container of sand) to my amazement i found that my side window had been smashed and the kit gone. now what am i to think when i have cd’s scattered everywhere but none missing, a $5000.00 stereo system that never got touched?? hmmmm… i don’t think that takes a rocket scientist to figure out. I’m not saying that all tristar reps are this way but after reading through all of this i’m even more sure of my decision to walk away and also to press charges and damages. little do they know that my neighbor has had a surv. camera installed on his balcony since last month which overlooks both our vehicles because his mustang was broken into and gutted. between that and the message left on my phone i know i have a very strong case. anyways, all i have to say to anyone thinking about joining this type of venture is to make sure that it’s what you want to do and that you’re not letting yourself be screwed over, look out for yourself in this kind of a business. fuck the company, you’re working for a commission so if you’re making money so is the company, don’t let them tell you different.
here are a few of the ads for hiring in this company:
this one is for telemarketing:
UP to $2000/mo. $500 in bonus/month * Full time *Overtime available * No selling * Training provided * No exp. required * Phone staff 346-0333 email: supair@telus.net
the one i replied to was similar only said that guaranteed $2400.00 a month. but what it doesn’t say is that it’s not guaranteed at all… you have to do 72 demos per month to get that… and if your commission goes above that you only get your commission.. you don’t actually find this out until you’re done your training on the fourth day and get the contractors agreement to sign. and you can earn your “gas money” of up to $30.00 a morning by running door to door in selected areas stuffing bingo cards into mailboxes. not hourly though, because if you only deliver 200 of them in 3 hours you only get $20.00 even though they tell you that you get paid $10.00 an hour. guess my calculator must have been broken when i tried figuring 3 X $10.00.??
now i’m done my ramble. but even as the company states it “educated consumers make the best decisions, RIGHT??” i couldn’t agree more with that statement.
oh and one other thing about when i was hired. before i went to my first interview i was told that there were a number of positions available. funny thing is that there weren’t any options mentioned. it was just to become a contractor under the company when everything was all said and done. and yeah, got the whole line about dressing “sharp” for training (why??) and after signing the contract was told that i couldn’t work for them if i didn’t have dress pants, and didn’t wear a hat. i realize that you want to look presentable, but that’s going a little extreme and to most customers in this area that i know, they would rather see someone in blue jeans as their equal, it’s more like buying something from a friend that way, not like getting hit up by “slick” tryin to sell the fake rolex’s.
Wow, I can’t believe what I’m hearing here…we’ve owned a Tristar for over 8years!!! It’s the best vaccum we’ve ever owned and my mother tried to “steal” it from me!!! I’ve used Rainbow’s, Kirby’s, Kenmore’s, and this is the BEST!!! I use it on carpet, tile, wood… I dust everything with it too!! Please don’t regret buying it, it’s worth every penny!!
Why the hell do they have to use YOUR HOME PHONE to call “their boss?” The guy had a cell phone clipped on his hip. When they finally left (2 1/2 hours later) I Lysoled my phone and vowed to my husband that I would never let any salesman into our house ever again. We redialed the number when the guy left and someone said “hello…” we swear it was the salseman (who called his own phone from our house phone)…..I kept telling the guy that our 11 month old had to go to bed and he said “one more second..” One second turned into 2 hours!!! The lady on the phone who set up the appointment said this all would take 30 minutes… PFFFT!!! NEVER AGAIN. TRI-STAR YOU SUCK!!! And your vacuum is ugly. My 100 dollar vacuum does just fine.
oh and one other thing… your 3 days and two night vacation thing that got you into my door in the first place is also a scam. SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!!!!!! I can’t believe how many gullible people out there actually bought this thing. The salseman almost started to cry when we told him NO about a thousand times…
yesterday, we received a scratch bingo card in the mail, and after my wife scratched it, we had won!!! Wow, how stupid do I feel that when I phoned to receive my prise they told me all I had to do was listen to a pitch about a vacuum, and I would get one of the prizes listed. I somehow knew exactly which prize I was going to win, but I figured that for a half hour demo, the worst prize wouldn’t be so bad after all. Anyways the guy came in the door and for the longest time he was the most pleasant ever, he started demonstrating the product taking his jolly old time, and to be honest with you I was getting interested in the product, because I will admit it does seem like a very good high quality product. So when he finally finishes his speech, he starts asking questions about whether or not we owned our house, getting hints about our income etc etc. stuff that the average sales person does not need to know. Then he finally presented the price somewhere in the range of $2600…but they would take our vacuum in trade (and give it to the needy) for $400. So I think to myself, this is starting to sound a bit weird. But more importantly, way too expensive. But since we had never purchased a vacuum, I didn’t really realize how much too expensive. Anyways, we told him it was too much money. So he asks what it would take for us to buy it, and I say at least $1000 less. So he asks to use our phone to phone his manager, and after some useless jibber jabber, all of a sudden they could sell us a demo vacuum for about 1600, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get it at this price, and we would be the only people in the world who would get it this cheap. my wife and I go upstairs to discuss this new price, and I take a peek at Ebay to see what this vacuum is worth and if it is as good as he says it is. Wow same vacuum for 300 on ebay, thats interesting. So we go down stairs and tell him we are not interested. Then he starts getting really pushy almost to the point of “I’m not leaving till you buy this thing” So he has to do the phone the manager thing with our phone again and he starts asking how we will pay etc etc. I usually have a high patience level, but I was running out of patience, We no fully realize what kind of awful scam this is, and we give him a final NO. So he SLOOOOOWWWWLLLLY starts to pack up his vacuum. and then he gives us our prize…$100 travel certificate that we can only use by making a long trip and phoning 3 months in advance. Afterwards we felt sooooo stupid for allowing him into our house and wasting a total of 2 1/2 hours of my time which I could have spent using our other vacuum…O did I mention the only carpet we have in the house is a small area rug, the rest is hardwood. Never let one of these useless salespeople into your house, they will do whatever it takes to rip you off. Including Lying to your Face
It took me 2 days to read this thread and now I want to put in my 2-cents about overpriced vacuum cleaners and the low-life scum that try to peddle them door to door..A couple of days ago, I was at my girlfriends house on the computer..I heard her talking to somebody in the living room and thought she had company show up..Then I heard a vacuum cleaner,I got up from the computer to see what was going on…A tri-star salesman was giving a demo..I waved my girlfriend over and asked her WTF is he doing here..She said she heard a knock at the door and 2 guys were there…She said only one of them was doing the fast talking and talked her into letting the quiet one in to do a demo..I told her to get rid of him or he would never leave…She said “ah, I’m too nice to tell him that”..I figured, WTF,I’ll just be sure she don’t buy it..Anyway, before the 2 guys showed up, my G/F had just put a meatloaf in the oven..Well, 2 and a half hours later, my supper was cold and the demo guy made a call and the fast talker showed up at the door..Me and my G/f started eating our supper and the fast talker started with all the high pressure tactics..He said the vacuum cleaner was $2900.oo and asked if the payment was gonna be check or cash..My G/f said WHOA,I can’t afford that and she told them she wasn’t interested..The fast talker then started asking all kinds of questions about her credit..I called my G/f into the computer room and told her thats it,get rid of em..She then told me that they wouldn’t leave..I am a prison guard at the state pen and trust me..They were fixing to leave one way or the other..As soon as my G/f went back in the living room, she received a call from her daughter saying that she was in the emergency room with my G/F’s 6 week old grandson..As we were getting ready to go to the hospital, the fast talker more or less told my G/f she was a liar about not being able to afford the vacuum cleaner..they finally left because they saw that we were going and it was no use anymore to sell the vacuum cleaner..All I got to say is..Unless you call one of these companies or you really want a overpriced vacuum cleaner bad..Don’t even invite them in your house..Be polite and tell them you are not interested..Slam the door in their face if you have to..I can get a tri-star Vacuum cleaner on e-bay for $200.00..Who cares about the warranty..Instead of paying $2900.00 for a new tri-star..I can buy 2 or 3 of em used on e-bay and when the 1st one tears up, use the other one and have the 1st one for parts or something..I know everybody has to make a living but why would anybody want to be a vacuum cleaner door to door salesman?..When they answer the ad in the paper about the job, they don’t even know what kinda job it is because the company gives a bullcrap description like a management job,air system or office job..The company don’t even have a sign outside the office of the company name, just a street number..Uh Duh..You see any red flags yet?..Can you imagine how hard it would be to sell a product that costs $300.00 new from the factory and try to sell it for $2900.00?..Might as well take a carnival barking job with a travelling circus or pick up coke and beer cans up off the side of the road..Thats like me buying a box of cookies from a girl scout for $3.00 and going door to door and resale it for $42.00..Unreal
Ok, let me state that the price does seem steep. I was impressed with the demonstration, however I have never had an in home demo, by anyone previoiusly. The sales man did offer some finance options, but did not barter. When I stated that we were not interested in making a purchase today, there were no arugements or calls made, however I wish he would have left his card. I did ask what his sales ratio was and he claimed 53%. I felt the extra monies were for the bi-annual service, access to the carpet cleaner etc. In reading this lengthy post, I was shocked and disappointed that so many individuals could not express their passionate feelings without reverting to foul language and insults. I run a large call center (not sales) and am always embarrassed for both parties involved when someone can no longer express thier concerns without cussing or insulting either intelligence or status. Have some respect for your fellow human, you can express your frustration or passion without reverting to these improper, unethical tactics. If you feel that you were ripped off, post the reason. If you feel you love the product, tell us why. If you feel both, state it. If you experienced deceptive practices, explain what happened and what could be done to reduce this negative feeling. If you are going into the sales staff, remember all feedback is good. There is plenty of feedback here. If you feel that your morals are being compromised, leave. You can not have a sense of accomplishment in success without keeping your morals.
dont work for the cleveland akron or canton ofices in tristar. they lie to their employees. you get a 1600 month guarantee that is worthless. i know i worked for the company. the reason it is worthless is there is no way you can hit 55 demos. they will not let you. they say they will, but there was a guy named mark who ran 53 and sold 6, 4 were secondary(25 dollar commission, no 200)and he sat in the office all day hearing how slow we were today. you will not see any 3 demos a day like they promise. i once heard the akron distributor say to a rep after 90 days, if you want benefits find your own. paid vacations you have to earn by selling 8 tristars or 12 in a month. you spend your life chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. the only way to get it is to lie cheat or steal. ask charlie. you can sell drugs and still be own your own business. the girls lie to the people on the phone to set the appointment. it will take 45 minutes my ass.they sometimes say 5 to 10. the reason the job sounds so good is they can practice on people every other week to do what they dont want to. they make you go out and sell to your friends and family your very first weekend, and high pressure them on the phone and piss them off. they promise you the world but when you need them all that you will have is your friends and family whom you just pissed off.they take anyone who isnt smart enough to see them for what they are. crooks. charlie and timm are both crooks. how do they look in the mirror after what theyve done to people. i gave them my best and they gave me nothing. please dont get ripped off. you cant take the money with you when you die and the only way to make it in tristar at onyxx group 1 or mapas is to cheat. i wasted over 3 years and it was for nothing. i ended with less money than i started, and was broke the whole time. dont do it. just say no.
Just so everyone knows I am involved with Tristar as an independent contractor. Yes, I read the contract and agreed to the terms so I knew what I was getting into before I signed up. As a matter of fact, after doing a bit of research and finding this very site I still decided to see for myself what Tristar was about. I can tell you that I am quite satisfied with my decision and believe wholeheartedly in the Tristar cleaning system and believe it is worth every penny you pay for it, no matter what it is. For the people who can not get over paying $2000 + for a “vacuum,” all I can say is it doesn’t matter what it is. If it was a broom that was $2,000 +, as long as it does what it says it is supposed to, then it is worth it. If you do a cost comparison/price analysis you will find that in the long run the Tristar will save you more money and give you a cleaner home more efficiently than any other machine. Anyone will any comments/questions can feel free to contact me at mhsparr@yahoo.com. Any comments or questions containing profanity will be deleted and those senders blocked from my account.
I am a Tristar distributor and have been for several years now. I originally started in our business when I was a full-time college student. I worked part time and it eventually became a full time career. I love our business! Let me share with you some basic facts about human nature. If someone is happy with something (i.e. a purchase they made, services rendered…) it rarely gets talked about. Let’s just say most people are happy to be happy. On the other hand, if someone is unhappy or upset about something you can be sure others are going to hear about it. If you don’t believe me turn on your television tonight and watch your local news. How much is negative and how much is positive? They’ll talk all night long about people or businesses that aren’t doing the right things, but when was the last time you heard about someone who IS doing the right things? Simply put, the negative gets a lot more attention than the positive. That seems to be the case with many of the comments here. THAT is why I’ve chosen to post a comment here. First, my priorities in life are this… 1.God 2.Country 3.Family 4.Career. I pride myself on being a completely honest and forthcoming, friendly, sincere and hardworking person. How else can you be successful in any endeavor? Can I say the same for EVERY person in our business… no. But understand that no matter what the business is, or the position within that business that someone holds, you are going to find people that aren’t honest, sincere, or friendly. Does that make the grocery store, gas station, department store, or restaurant that they work at a bad place to do business? No. It just means that there are a lot of different kinds of people out there. Some we enjoy dealing with