Door-to-door pitch on vacuums takes pushy up a notch

Door-to-door vacuum pitches hardball, spawn complaints

MINNEAPOLIS -- Andy Poirier vividly remembers the night a vacuum cleaner salesman appeared at the door of his Shakopee, Minn., home.

He said the salesman, in his early 20s, spent nearly two hours demonstrating a $2,500 Kirby vacuum cleaner and ignored his requests to leave. Then, Poirier said, a supervisor showed up and told him the salesman needed one more sale to earn a reward trip.

"Don't you feel bad?" Poirier recalls the supervisor telling him. "You just wasted this kid's entire night, and you're not even going to buy anything?"

Instead, Poirier said, he posted a no-soliciting sign and complained to police and the Better Business Bureau. "It's not an acceptable way to do business," he said.

Homeowners in various parts of the Minneapolis metropolitan area have found themselves opening their doors to salesmen who, according to police reports, use over-the-top sales tactics to hawk vacuum cleaners.

Several homeowners point to representatives with Burnsville-based RG Enterprises, in particular, for arm-twisting that they find annoying, confusing and downright scary.

Mike Gerber, owner of RG Enterprises, said in an email to The Star Tribune in Minneapolis that he was sorry for frustrations caused by his business and that its home demonstration approach "sometimes raises eyebrows." So far this year, he said, his company has sold 140 vacuums.

"Because I'm not with all of the salespeople who affiliate with my business all of the time, I sometimes don't know of things that aren't as they should be until after the fact. ... I know the Kirby Company does not tolerate 'pushy' sales tactics," Gerber said.

Minnesota residents in Savage and New Prague have called police after sales visits from RG representatives, officials said. Two cities -- Isanti and North St. Paul -- said enough was enough and revoked RG's sales permits.

Armed with complimentary cans of air freshener, the salesmen reportedly spend hours showing off their Kirbys until they're asked to leave. Then they become rude and resistant, according to the pattern noted anecdotally and in police reports.

One homeowner reported pulling out a gun to hasten their exit, while another gave them $20 to go away.

The Better Business Bureau recently updated RG Enterprises' online profile to reflect four complaints about their "misleading and high-pressure" sales tactics.

"We're watching it pretty closely," said Dan Hendrickson, a bureau spokesman.

At North St. Paul City Hall, "our phones were just ringing off the hook," said City Manager Craig Waldron. "It was quite concerning."

Four companies besides RG Enterprises also sell Kirby vacuum cleaners door to door in the Minneapolis area, said Halle Sminchak, chief compliance officer for Cleveland-based Kirby. That's the only way they're sold.

The problem isn't door-to-door sales generally, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, spokesman for the St. Paul police. It's the aggressive approach taken by companies like RG.

"I think they take advantage of people and their niceness," Ernster said.

Door-to-door salesmen are uncommon today, which may account for some of the resistance to RG Enterprises, said George John, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business.

Better Business Bureau officials said they receive complaints every summer about door-to-door solicitors selling such things as magazines, asphalt and alarm systems.

SundayMonday Business on 04/22/2018

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