Are you really quoting a story from that shady show "inside edition?" is anything they report reliable?

are you really quoting from that shady show "inside edition"?

Actually was surfing around and saw this story. The salesman who basically had a credit card application and just took the old man's hand and made a signature on all the relevant places. Wow. The application was pretty much blank. Praying on the elderly is just sad.

"I've done it all. Dug checks out of the garbage that they didn't shred...reactivated credit cards, gone to the bank."

^^^^That's dirty!

@realist.com: Are you really double-posting?

@Dead Wrestlers Society: So is 'preying'.

"Most contests are just "lead-generation" opportunities for the businesses."

I love it when you come out with these news flashes.

@arch05:

I hear "praying" can actually be quite helpful.

"Praying" = Good
"Preying" = Sad

@homerjay: I probably didn't figure out that contest entries = nothing more than lead generation until I was in my early or mid 20s. I think this is a point that needs to be stated explicitly so that teenagers and young adults recognize every sweepstakes and contest for what they are. That doesn't explain why the elderly regularly fall for it though.

@nytmare: Oh okay....

@Toof_75_75: Are you trying to educate me or DWS?

@arch05:

DWS. And really, I was just playing off the words more than anything. Not so much educating.

@Toof_75_75: I actually heard that "praying" is just talking to yourself but we obviously have different sources. :P

That's just sad. I hope that Carolyn woman spend lots of sleepless nights on her cheap mattress.

But Craftmatic beds cost less than many high quality flat beds!

@IrisMR:

HAHA Touche.

Anyone else wish that they could have worked some sort of Craftmatic inspired death in one of the final destination movies, they always looked like they were one control button push from compacting the old people into nice flat human squares...

Don't they know that in order for people to buy their crap they need z-list celebrity endorsements? For example, Linda Carter, Valerie Bertinelli, or Lindsay Wagner (sleep number scam) would all work.

@arch05: okay grammar Nazi. You knew what I meant.

Kirby Vacuums, while being nice machines, follow the same exact sales routine.

@lpranal:

Exactly. They are amazing vacuums, and one of the last actually made in the US - but buy one that's 2 or 3 years old on eBay and you'll save about 60-70%. For a machine made to last a lifetime, what is 3 years?

Oh man, how I would love to be hiding behind a wall during one of these crapmatic sales while they are in a middle of a hard sell with an elderly couple. I would then step out ala "to catch a predator" and as the sales rep tried to leave I would say "have a seat". Hey that's a good idea for a TV show where they bust these type of sales meetings. You would'nt even have to change the title of the show from "to catch a predator"

@Dead Wrestlers Society: I prefer Grammar Gestapo. Thank you.

@arch05: Why don't you actually add something useful to the comments instead of nitpicking what someone else said?

@Dead Wrestlers Society: Comments fight! Dude if you get so bent out of shape over that, maybe you should get a Craftmatic.

@arch05: No, I just don't understand all the rudeness and such. If you're so anal over a random comment, maybe you should get one.

@Dead Wrestlers Society: I heart you.

"Certainly Sir!"

am i the only one who vividly remembers the commercials for these beds? with the cheerful, young and robotic "operators standing by"? they were brilliant! too bad the beds themselves are a sham. being able to sit up in bed and watch tv was one of the few things i was looking forward to about getting old.

Personally I was looking forward to the coupon for a free 20" color television.

@arch05: Actually I think either 'praying' or 'preying' would work here... if you are praying on the elderly, sure, it cushions your knees, but it can't be comfortable for the person under you. :)

Kirby vacuums are NOT "nice" machines. They are heavy, cumbersome to maneuver, difficult to maintain, overpriced, and offer no better suction than a vacuum available at one-tenth the price.

@Said Not: Sleep Number scam?!? I certainly hope they're not doing shady things like these Craftmatic salespeople. We bought our Sleep Number bed online 4 years ago, it has held up great, and we've had no hassles from the company to buy anything else. It went together easily and was *much* easier to move than a conventional mattress. Plus, it's the only time my husband and I have ever been happy with the same mattress because of our radically different firmness preferences.

They only problem I have with them is when they get people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to shill for them. Sleeping with the enemy, indeed!

Are these beds endorsed by Elliot Spitzer

thank you for my first laugh of the day@alphafemale:

@thirdbase:

If so, you know they are expensive...

@cmdr.sass:

Funny. As Kirbys were described upthread as the last vacuums made in the USA...your list of Kirby "cons" very accurately matches up with cars that are made in the USA. Except for the suction, of course.

A friend of mine once worked for Craftmatic but not for long as He wouldn't pressure the old folks to buy the Crapmatic bed......they fired him.

@nytmare: When people get older sometimes their judgment starts to slip a bit along with other things.

@Said Not: I don't think it's fair to call Sleep Number a scam. They make a good product that gets good reviews. Overpriced, perhaps, but so are a lot of mattresses.

Blake: You got leads. Mitch & Murray paid good money. Get their names to sell them. You can't close the leads you're given, you can't close spit, *you are* spit, hit the bricks pal, and beat it, 'cause you are going *out*.
Shelley Levene: The leads are weak.
Blake: "The leads are weak." The fscking leads are weak? You're weak. I've been in this business fifteen years...
Dave Moss: What's your name?
Blake: Fsck you. That's my name.
[Moss laughs]
Blake: You know why, mister? 'Cause you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight, I drove an eighty thousand dollar BMW. *That's* my name.

@ekthesy: Hmmm... sounds to me like the suction applies too.

@cmdr.sass:

They're heavy because they're metal. They're metal because metal lasts. See Consumer Reports for ratings...Kirby definitely holds its own.

That said, buying a new one is a huge scam. And I don't own one anyway, I just appreciate quality.

I got the TV.
...

I got the Microwave!
...

I got the VCR!
...

@ekthesy: Yeah, american cars suck just fine, thank you very much!

@John:
Great movie, especially Pacino.

@friendlynerd: Oreck vacuums are also made in the US. Also overpriced crap, but still...

SirWIred

@Toof_75_75:
"Praying" = Really sad. You think your non-existent sky ghost cares?

@friendlynerd: And they're always topped in Consumer Reports by cheaper vacs that last as long with lower maintenance costs and equivalent or better cleaning power. Even if they were the best vacs on Earth, no one should support a company that relies on high pressure intimidation and scare tactics to push product. SO what is your point? that there's some mystique to owning a "Kirby"? No. It only labels you as a sucker.

@cmdr.sass:

Not at all...just saying that the sales tactics are horrible and if you want one, buy one on ebay.

I worked for a local Kirby distributor many moons ago, and we didn't really do the sweepstakes thing; instead, we'd offer a "free carpet shampooing of one room in your house". Said shampooing was done with the shampooer attachment of the vacuum, at the end of the in-home demonstration (hopefully while the buyer was writing the check).

We did do the contest thing once, though, in conjunction with a local restaurant. One of the sales guys even got to do a radio ad for them. It was interesting.

And they are fantastic products, but I'd definitely hit eBay for them. Practically brand new ones sell for half as much as Kirby themselves will sell them for, and if you don't mind an older one, you can get quite a deal (I recently bought a 15-year-old one, heavily used but still in fantastic working condition, for $130 including shipping). Unfortunately, you do miss out on the lifetime warranty that way, though. Still well worth it.

@emjsea: Man, I love Edgy Atheists. Hey, could you regular non-asshole atheists come collect Nihilist Boy over here? He's getting adolescent resentment all over the carpet.