Rainbow Demo. Will I really get the gift?

[dlb764]

Hi everyone. I wouldn't call myself a vacuum enthusiast but growing up that job was always passed off onto me. So I at least know my way around one well enough.

Last weekend I was at the Daytona Beach boat show with my girlfriend. There were some other non boat vendors there as well. While walking around my girlfriend saw a big glass display with money flying around and wanted to go check it out. I asked one of the representatives what was going on and they told me to fill out a slip of paper with my info and then a guess of how much money was floating around. I filled out the paper and was told they would call me if I won.

I got a call a couple of days ago from someone working for Rainbow and they told me I wasn't the winner of the money. However I was able to win a 3 night stay at a destination of my choice if I allowed them to come over and show me their product. I could already tell what was going on but I went ahead and said sure come on over. I have no intention of buying the vacuum but one of the ladies at the kiosk was pretty cute so I'm hoping maybe she'll be doing the demonstration. Fingers crossed!

My questions is if any of you have had one of these demonstrations before and if they really follow through with the gift. If they don't I won't be too disappointing but I'm interested anyway. My guess is that they already know I will be a hard sell due to my young age and not being married. If they need a to meet a quota of a certain number of demos a month then I'm glad helping them out that way though.


Read only if interested.

I have no reason to purchase the Rainbow since I already have a very good central vacuum installed in my house. I doubt the Rainbow will be able to outperform it. The extension tube broke once and I had to borrow my girlfriend's Dyson while a new one was being shipped to me. I hated it. It looked like it did a good job of cleaning the carpets but good luck getting that thing under chairs, beds, etc. Although it looked like the Dyson did a great job getting the carpets clean when I got the new extension tube I vacuumed with the central vacuum again and it pulled out a lot more grit and sand that the Dyson had left behind. So if the central vacuum can outperform the Dyson that supposedly never loses suction then I expect it to at least be able to perform as well as the Rainbow.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I had that demo YEARS ago!!!

I'm NOT bashing, (do I bash?) I'll only relay what happened with me.  Again, I had NO intention of making a purchase, and told him he was NOT going to rip a bag out of my 1076.  After his LENGTHY demo,  I said ,"No".  He tried EVERYTHING,  made phone calls, (this was before cell phones).  He was exasperated after I turned down 'the deal', numerous times. 


  Needless to say, I'm still waiting for that luggage.  This was 1983.  THEN, he pressed my bigtime to give him names of family and friends. "Are you kidding me",  I asked.


  I hope you get your gift.  Perhaps things have changed.  This was just MY experience.

 

[mark40511]

What a sneaky

way to get leads. I wonder if anyone actually won the money?

 

[electromatik]

Stuff like this is what gave door to door salesmen a bad name. I too would like to know if anybody ever got the trip or other prize. I'm sure your central is more than adequate, but thankfully canisters are growing more powerful seemingly by the year. Not too long ago, 100" waterlift was strictly the domain of central vacs. Today, many canisters are generating far above 100". One day soon the curve will meet.

 

[alkirbyguy]

We bought a FairFax canister from a d2d salesman back in about '98. We were promised a vacation of choice. Well after papers were signed, that was the last we ever heard from the company. Literally right after we bought it, we could no longer get through to "customer care." We couldn't even find a way to get bags and filters for the damn thing. As many know, I am a huge Kirby fan, but I will be the first to admit that d2d sales practices are very sketchy, especially with more obscure products like the FairFax that I mentioned.

 

[countryguy]

Just a couple of months ago I had a similiar promise of a free gift but it was from Filter Queen although there was no mention made of a vacuum demo but rather an air purification system. I said sure come on over as I wanted to see their reaction when they asked to see my vacuum and I bring out a Filter Queen! The girl came over and demoed the air purification machine. She then started to open the boxes for the vacuum and that's where I stopped her and told her she was wasting her time. I showed her my newest model Filter Queen and she just said 'oh OK, you don't need a new vacuum'. She still tried to sell me the air purification unit but when I asked the price it was $1200 and the vacuum was $2500!!!. I just told her she was crazy if she thought I would pay that much when I already had a Honeywell air filter that I purchased for less than $225. She packed up and left without giving me my gift! It took me many phone calls to her boss out in Vancouver but when I finally threatened them with calling the police, the girl showed up at my door within the hour to give me my gift.

Gary

 

[rugsucker]

door-to-door demos

In most cases with the major companies you will get promised gift.There are 2 ways to look at in home demos.If you had black/white TV that worked and were then shown color TV you would probably ask 'where can I get this,how much is it'?It can be the same with vacs using a 'standard' and then seeing a 'deluxe'.--A good central vac with good atts is one of the very best ways to clean a house.Pipes should be in every house built.---And the rainbow is one of the best canisres,but there is no one perfect choice for every home.

 

[jfalberti]

When I worked for Kirby

The area distributorship I worked for used to have a booth at two fairs every year.  I used to work the booths, and we would have the current model on display.  We would sign people up for a chance to win the Kirby on display.  Of course, we used all the entries for possible sales leads, and offer them a free shampoo of one room of carpet if they agreed to a demo.   I am proud to say that every demo we booked from those leads got the promised carpet shampooing, or if they didn't need a shampoo an alternate gift of their choice.  My office was a great place to work, and we took pride in our product, and care of our customers.  I know not all other d2d people, even other Kirby dealers,  can make the same claim, but I don't regret most of my time working for Kirby.  As for the Free Kirby,  YES  we really did give the Kirby away at the end of the fair.  I had the pleasure of surprising the lucky winner a few times and you should have seen the look on their faces when weshowed up and delivered their new Kirby.  I'm sure they thought there was a snowflakes chances in a blast furnace that we would really give the machine away for free.

 

[vacuumman206]

promised D2D gifts

I kept getting these adds in the mail for some company that sold Kirby's door-door. I passed off the first few and then I figured I'd finally check out what it was all about. They were offering a free rug shampooing or upholstery cleaning. I figured what the heck, lets get a rug cleaned for free. For one, I figured they'd want me to buy something in the end. Turns out they come to my home to give me a full kirby demonstration. I got the carpet cleaning, but it'd been nice to know they were going to waste 2 hours of my day showing me a machine I'll never buy. What was even better was in the end flat out telling the bs sales people I have no intentions of ever in my life spending $1400 for a vacuum, even if you put it on a payment plan that is less than what I pay on my truck monthly. Oh and they had a hard time demonstrating how much my old vacuum missed because I ran over the carpet with my best elite first and then the rainbow before they came. She had to go over that rug like 12x before she finally got some carpet fuzz.

 

[kirbysthebest]

In short, more than likely you will not get the gift. The internet is full of stories where they were promised trips, overnight stays etc. (These, however, were not for Rainbow). In any case the story always ended. They may have received the voucher, but they "forgot" to sign the validation certificate. In most cases they did not receive the gift.

I will second for Kirby, that you will always get a door prize, usually a knife set, a carpet shampoo, etc that was promised.

 

[nycwriter]

vacuumman206 ...

"What was even better was in the end flat out telling the bs sales people I have no intentions of ever in my life spending $1400 for a vacuum, even if you put it on a payment plan that is less than what I pay on my truck monthly."

That a shitty thing to do.

You're a big boy -- you know the deal. NOTHING is free. No one is going to come to your home and clean a rug for you without expecting SOMETHING in return. Two hours for a sales pitch is hardly unreasonable.

And if you really had NO intention of buying the product, you totally wasted that poor salesperson's day. And it sounds like you were kind of an a$$ about it, too. These people are trying to make a living, just like you. I don't know what YOU do for a living, but I'm sure you don't appreciate when someone wastes YOUR valuable time on the job -- and even more so when they rub your nose in it like you did with that poor saleslady.

 

[vacman1961]

Have a little fun with the Rainbow salesman, before they arrive pour about a cup of powdered laundry detergent (NON High Efficiency type) onto the rug that you will be having the demonstration on, take a brush and work the detergent into the nap of the carpet to make it almost invisible. When he goes to vacuum that area with the Rainbow the detergent will get sucked into the water bath and suds will be blowing all over LOL. No harm to your carpet, it will be effectively vacuumed out with your central vacuum. I have a friend who did it with talcum powder on an older Rainbow, the powder does not get dissolved in the water it floated out and blew all over the place. On the other side, I have to say the demo is impressive, you already have a central vacuum, so there is no dust recirculating in the air and chances are if you have a decent one it have twice the suction of a Rainbow, do the credit card test, put a credit card on the end of the Rainbows suction hose, then with your central vacuum hose you can suck the card right off the Rainbow hose showing the central vacuum has more suction. Good Luck.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

I agree with

Matt its not a joke what these people do its how they make a living . Why would anyone try to destroy someones vacuum with soap powder ? Thats just evil along with wasting a poor hard working persons time . Remember what you do in life will come back to you if not now when you least expect it . They give gifts to try to get in the door and hope you purchase if you dont want to buy a D2D vacuum dont invite them to your house .

 

[nycwriter]

OMG. Why are you people so mean spirited??

I see vacman1961 deleted his own post above about "having fun" with the Rainbow salesman by putting powdered detergent in the carpet before his arrival.

These are PEOPLE. Where is your empathy? Can you really not put yourself in this person's place? That salesman got up that morning, showered, shaved, put his clothes on, kissed his kids good-bye, and set off for what he hoped would be a successful and productive day. Little did he know that he was doomed before you even called him for that demo, because you were looking to "have fun" with him, and you really had absolutely no intention of helping him be successful that day. In fact, you intentionally set him up for failure that day.

Indeed, you *stole* from him just as surely as if you'd have picked his wallet. It's worse, of course; the lost sale he COULD have had that morning or afternoon while you were "having fun" with him was likely worth many times more than what he would have been carrying in his wallet. It would have been more merciful for you to have just swiped his cash.

Is this how people treat YOU at your place of work? I have a lot of respect for these people in sales -- particularly THIS kind of sales. The nerve, the moxie, and the alligator-tough skin they must have! I can't possibly imagine doing it myself (and I'm a former network radio and television REPORTER, for God's sake! You don't get much more thick-skinned than that!!).

Would you treat any other professional this way? Would you call a lawyer to your home, on the pretense of drawing up a will for you and your wife (or husband), only to have "no intention" of engaging his services, but to "have some fun" with him when he arrives, drilling and quizzing him on the finer and most obscure points of probate law, just to humiliate him when he answers incorrectly?

Or how about going to a doctor, after reading the latest esoteric study on glyconutrients, and trying to stump (and humiliate) him in front of his staff?

How about going to a Honda dealership, taking a new Civic out for test drive, then insisting the salesman jump into your Audi with you while you demonstrably tear down everything about the Civic, unfairly comparing it to your A8?

Vacuum cleaner salesmen are doing a job. Most of them really believe in and love their products, and believe they are doing you a valuable service by sharing them with you. To intentionally set them up and breaking their spirit is one of the most mean-spirited things anyone could do.

Do they engage in practices that are sometimes less than ethical? Yes. But do you really think that's their choice? They're doing what they're told by their employers. Who among us hasn't had to eat a little sh!t for their jobs, forced to carry out tasks that are contrary to our better judgment, only because we need to pay the mortgage and the ConEd?

I learned a very valuable lesson from my grandma many years ago, when I was still a child. I was the apple of her eye, and always made her so proud. I beamed in the light of her admiration. But one day, she overheard me cutting down another kid's dad. You see, his father never went to college -- dropped out of high school, in fact -- and was "just" a janitor. MY dad, however -- a nuclear engineer! Let me tell you, to this day, nearly 40 years later, I still feel that sickening black void in the pit of my stomach -- the sheer shame -- from the profoundly disappointed look in her face when she heard that. I know I hurt the other boy's feelings, too. Grandma sternly took me aside (sternly! -- I'd never seen her without a smile on her face until that moment) and told me how very, very wrong and mean it is to insult a man's livelihood. And she reminded me that my own grandpa was "just" a manual laborer in an electric factory -- but it was good enough, darn it, to put his three kids through school, pay for the chair I was sitting on in her kitchen, and the cookies I had been happily munching on (but of course had quickly lost the appetite for). All these years later, I honestly get sick over the hateful little cuss I was that day to that boy.

So when you go to make that appointment for an in-home demonstration, please don't waste anyone's time. Don't call unless you are really serious about buying. And when they arrive, be respectful and courteous, and let them do their presentation for you. They're trying to impress you, and most of them really are excited about *sharing* with you. And even if you know that your XYZ vacuum can easily outperform theirs, keep it to yourself. Refrain from rubbing their noses in it. Discretion really is the better part of valor.

Please have some humanity.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

My sister had an Electrolux demo and was promised she would get the side kick as a gift. She ended up buying the electrolux because she really needed a new vacuum, she however didn't get her gift. I called to ask why and they told me her credit wasn't very good and that's why she didn't get her free side kick, they disqualified her gift but she could buy one if she wished. she didn't lol

wtf??????

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I was not mean to my d2d guy

I didn't set him up, rip him off, etc.  I wasn't happy when HE told Me "You really don't want that HOOVER".  I replied, "Yes, i do". He told me how he HAD to do these things.  I said, "Fine".  I'll let you 'practice',  etc.  I was as nice as possible.  HE was the one who got "snarky".   I had a similar experience with a Bose dealer...trying to see me a unit for the school in Philly.  That's another story.

 

[tolivac]

Wasn't there a story a while back about a vacuum collector that invited a Kirby man to his house-and the Kirby guy plugged his Kirby into an outlet wired for 220V-If someone has the full story would like to hear it-anyway-that incident would be MEAN and DANGEROUS to the Kirby man.And it is a code violation to wire an outlet for 220V when it should be for 120V.That poor Kirby man lost a vacuum HE has to pay for.Yes,I agree-don't invite a DTD man to your place UNLESS you have some intention of buying his machine.I know the feeling-When I was selling TriStar vacuums with another salesman-we got a call from someone in NewBern NC for a demo.The place was a two hour drive each way from Greenville.The prospect didn't even want us to go in his house or even let us take the TriStar from the box for a look.What an IDIOT!!!4 hrs WASTED.So I know what its like.In 4 hrs time you could give a few demos to someone closer and more likely interested.That prospect also owned one of the sewing machine dealers in town---We gave HIM a BAD ref!!!So-what goes around comes around!We had two other customers in New Bern that LOVED the TriStars.One wrote a check for the machine as we were pulling it out of the box for a demo-simply showed her how to work the machine-she had an older TriStar that she wanted to keep.Wanted it for my collection.

 

[kirbysthebest]

It is true these guys and gals are trying to sell to make a living. However, when they are told up front that you are not going to buy, and are forced to pressure you in hopes to change your mind once they are in your home, I feel they are coming in with eyes open.

No, you should not do anything to damage their machines. Most sales people have these checked out to them and are required to pay for all damages that occur while in their care.

That said, if they come in with you saying "I am not buying" and they reply. "I need x amount of demo's" they are actually lying. In most cases they are not paid for the demo's only the sales. The demos are on them in hopes to make a sale.

I personally would not set an appointment telling them up front that I was not a qualified buyer. If they insist, I would keep the gift.

My Niece "worked" for two weeks for Rainbow. All she got out of it was a high gas bill because they disqualified all of her demos. The one that did sell, credit wouldn't qualify. It is a hard job in these days.

 

[countryguy]

Also, if they call, tell you that you have won a prize and all you need to do is have a demo of an 'amazing home air purification system - no purchase is necessary' and no mention is made of a vacuum cleaner, then you should in fact get the prize and shouldn't have to hassle them for it.

Gary