The Kirby Center

the vacuum I financed was faulty the company kept it for several months and was unable to repair it The vacuum I financed in September was shooting sparks. They were unable to pick it up even though they sold it door to door, so I had to drive to [redacted] N.C. from [redacted] N.C. to return it for repair, drive back to pick up a loaner then, when it was sent back to [redacted] center it didn't work for them. They again returned it to the factory for repair. They sent it back to [redacted]. I picked it up and the light would cut on but the motor would not cut on. I returned the new vacuum and the loaner on May 19 14 asked for a full refund and told no.Desired SettlementI want the money I paid the finance company back,and my credit cleared.I also want my old vacuum back in working condition as they are using it to vacuum their company vehicles with it.Business Response Thank you for allowing The Kirby Company (the "Company") an opportunity to address [redacted]'s ("Ms. [redacted]'s") concerns regarding the Kirby home cleaning system she purchased from [redacted] Distributing [redacted] an authorized, independent distributorship of Kirby products located at [redacted] NC XXXXX.As a matter of information, the Company manufactures high quality cleaning systems, which it sells to independently owned and operated businesses or "distributorships," such as [redacted] These distributorships, through a network of salespeople or "dealers," then sell the cleaning systems to consumer end-users via in-home demonstrations. As such, the relationship between the Company and the distributorships is that of vendor/vendee. The Company takes complaints against its independent distributors very seriously. As such, upon receipt of Ms. [redacted]'s complaint, which was initially filed with the State of North Carolina Department of Justice, we immediately contacted [redacted] provided the following summary of what transpired between the distributorship and Ms. [redacted]:* Ms. [redacted] purchased her Kirby home cleaning system from [redacted] in August 2013.[redacted] did not hear from Ms. [redacted] until January 1, 2014, when she called with what appeared to be an issue with the motor of her unit. * During this call. Ms. [redacted] stated that she could not bring her Kirby system in for inspection, so [redacted] sent a representative to Ms. [redacted]' home on two occasions - January 11, 2014 and January 17, 2014. Ms. [redacted] was not home on either occasion. [redacted] contacted Ms. [redacted] to inform her of its attempts to retrieve the Kirby system. Ms. [redacted] responded that she would be out of town for the next few days, so [redacted] and Ms. [redacted] reached an agreement whereby her son would bring the unit to [redacted] for inspection. * Ms. [redacted]'s son brought the unit to [redacted] on January 25, 2014. [redacted] service technician inspected the machine and determined that the only possible issue with Ms. [redacted]'s unit was that she had vacuumed up a screw. Page 10 of the Owner's Care Manual that came with Ms. [redacted]'s Kirby system cautions users not to "pick up heavy objects, such as coins, screws, rocks or similar objects" as this may "damage the fan." * Less than two months after [redacted] inspected her machine, Ms. [redacted] called the distributorship to again raise concerns that her unit still was not working properly. [redacted] again asked to inspect Ms. [redacted]'s machine, and she brought the machine in for inspection on March 22, 2014. While inspecting the unit, [redacted] provided Ms. [redacted] with a loaner unit. In case damage had been done to the motor when Ms. [redacted] vacuumed the screw, [redacted] decided to have the motor in Ms. [redacted]'s unit replaced. Even though that damage would have been caused by Ms. [redacted]'s misuse of the machine, the distributorship still replaced the motor at no charge. After the motor was replaced, [redacted] left numerous voicemails for Ms. [redacted] and a voicemail for her son letting them know that Ms. [redacted]' system was ready to be picked up. Toward the middle/end of April, Ms. [redacted] retrieved her unit. * Approximately four weeks later, Ms. [redacted] brought the Kirby system back to [redacted] and said she wanted to return the unit. On May 9, 2014, [redacted] service technician again examined the unit but could not find anything wrong with the machine. Since the inspection, [redacted] has left Ms. [redacted] four (4) voicemails indicating that the distributorship honors all warranties but cannot find any issues with her machine. Ms. [redacted] has not responded to those voicemails, nor has she made an effort to retrieve her cleaning system. [redacted] proposed two (2) suggestions for possible resolution of this matter to the Department of Justice. First, [redacted] suggested returning Ms. [redacted]'s machine to her home. [redacted] concern with this suggestion was whether Ms. [redacted] would be home and/or if she would refuse the return of the machine. The second suggestion [redacted] proposed was to have the Company inspect Ms. [redacted]'s machine. The Company has informed [redacted] that we would be pleased to examine the unit at no charge. The Company will continue to mediate this matter and inform you of the outcome. If you have any questions, please contact me directly at [redacted]@kirbywhq.com or [redacted] at (XXX) XXX-XXXX. Thank you.Very truly yours,/s/ [redacted]Director, Customer and Public Relations and Business Compliance