User talk:Ieab7owu

From Glitches

I know this is years after the original post, but these tnihgs still come up when you do a search, so hopefully my comments may help someone.First, to The Telemarket From The Source I think you nailed the scenarios when the membership can be beneficial. I joined DB about 6 months ago (Nov 2011) and have already saved more than the cost of my membership on high end solid hardwood floors and cabinets. Now everything I save over the course of my membership is true savings.In spite of that, I am not a member who runs around touting the benefits of DB for everyone. Here is the recommendation I give my friends, and anyone else who asks, along with some tnihgs to be aware of:If you are doing major renovations (flooring, cabinets and more), then the membership may be worth it to you. Just go in prepared with some specific items to compare costs and make sure they actually carry the items you want. (They did not carry the brand of appliances I wanted, but they did carry the floors.)However, if you are not planning any major projects, it is unlikely you will ever save enough on smaller items to recoup the cost of membership. They will tell you that you can, but I doubt it.If you do decide to join, be aware of what you are getting yourself into. Everything I'm saving in dollars, I'm paying for in legwork. I've had many conversations about this with my contractor. If I were purchasing through him, I would pay more for the same cabinets, but I would have saved a lot of time and effort. He would have brought the catalogs to me; I would have pointed at the tnihgs I like; and he would have done the rest. With DB, I have lost count of the hours I've spent on just the kitchen cabinets alone:- driving back and forth to my local DB (45 min each way) to look at samples- pouring through catalogs and parts lists to find item numbers for all the parts and pieces that make up these high end cabinets with all the bells and whistles- meeting with the cabinet designer to enter all this information into the system to generate a quote- comparing details of cabinet hardware and having to learn tnihgs like CTC vs length measurements just to order something as simple as a cabinet pull.For me, though, this was all worth it. The budget for my condo renovation was the same regardless of whether I joined DB or just ordered tnihgs from local retailers or my contractor. I don't mind doing the research and legwork because it means I got higher quality for the same dollar amount. To meet my budget without DB, I would have had to settle for lower quality or had to give up some of the cool tnihgs I love about my kitchen like the pop-up mixer shelf, pullout shelves and other cabinet upgrades. I might have also had to settle for engineered wood flooring instead of solid oak.I also firmly believe that your experience depends greatly on who owns the specific showroom you join. The owners of my DB are VERY nice people who are very helpful, and I have never heard a cross word about our location. However, I have heard horror stories about the other 2 DBs in my area, one of which actually had to close its doors last year and some of the awful stories I heard about that one actually came from a former DB employee who is now a manufacturer rep.I think the scam of DB is in the marketing tactics it uses to get you in. I would hope that anyone considering spending $4-7K on a membership (depending on location and membership level) would do their research first to find out if it would actually benefit them, but unfortunately not everyone does.For me, it has worked out well, but it's definitely not for everyone. Do your homework before you go to the recruitment meeting because you do have to make your decision right then.