Yesterday while I was on the deck talking story with my brother and a friend, I spotted the Kirby Man driving up my street.  Then he parked in front of my yard.  I thought he was bringing the rest of the items he promised to deliver by Thursday so I was happy to see him.  But when I opened the front door, outside stood a guy that sort of looked like the salesman but only he looked tore-up.  Sorta like after a weekend of non-stop drinking or a typical night for me at the Casino.  You get the gist.Anyway, he asked if I had used the vacuum and I told him I had.  Then he mumbled something about his boss being mad at him and something about me giving him my vacuum for three days while I use his loaner until he brings me back a new vacuum.  Sounds fishy yeah?  So I gave him that “watchatawkin’bout” look.  Then he noticed my brother and friend so he said he’ll come back later to talk to me about it.  Then he left.  Ok, that kinda threw me off so I told my friend the story about the sale and we figured his boss was mad at him because he didn’t make a profit on the sale.  Afterall it was a $2000.00 machine so they tell us.

A few hours later he returns to my house and asks if he can speak to me outside.  Right away I’m thinking he’s going to want to take my vacuum or charge me more for it so I tell him to come inside so my husband can hear what he has to say.  He shifts uneasily for a moment, he was nothing like the confident salesperson we dealt with last week.  He was unshaven, his eyes were both bloodshot and he wasn’t dressed in his usual sales attire.  He started off by saying that he went to Seattle and spent the cash that I had given him when I purchased the vacuum.  I didn’t say anything which I guess made him feel more uncomfortable so he continued by saying that his boss was threatening him with filing charges if he didn’t get the money from the sale or the machine, MY machine.  That’s when I stopped him.  I told him first of all, I have the supporting documents to prove that I had legally made a purchase from his company and paid for the product in full.  He nodded his head and agreed with that.  He said he came to offer me a proposition, that I agree to take his demo for three days so that he could return the machine to his boss and it would give him time to make another sale so he could earn a new machine which he would use to replace my new one.  Sounds confusing yeah?  I told him that what he did is not my problem.  I explained that I am just a consumer and our business was concluded when he accepted the money and I accepted the mechandise.  Anyway, I was really nice about it and told him that he needs to straighten his mess out with his boss.  I also told him that it was very unprofessional for him to come to my home and lay his burden upon me.  I really don’t want anyone to go to jail, that’s not like me but I also don’t like that they involved me (the customer) in their business dealings.

I tossed and turned lastnight thinking about this whole mess and I worried that if the money wasn’t submitted what about my contract and registration card.  So first thing this morning I was on the phone with his boss.  I couldn’t believe the boss did in fact give him the option of coming back to me to try to “work things out”.  He apparently thought I was a personal friend of the salesman.  I told him I thought it was very wrong of him to even suggest he return to a client’s home as an option to fix the problem.  I told him that he was the employer and this business should’ve been worked out between them.  He tried to tell me that he had considered the vacuum to be a stolen item and that if he got the police involved it might be confiscated.  I softened my voice and told him that I have no problem writing very long letters to the Kirby headquarters about this incident and that the salesperson represented the KIRBY company and sold me a Kirby product.  Then I told the reason I called was to check that my paperwork was submitted and my vacuum would be registered.  I think it was then that he realized I really wasn’t a friend of the salesperson and I wasn’t about to give up the vacuum.  And he kept mentioning that I had a $2000.00 vacuum, but the truth is I have an $865.00 vacuum that is worth $2000.00.  Anyway, after going back and forth he apologized for involving me and he spoke to the salesperson again.

While I was on the phone with my mom, the salesperson called me to thank me for clearing things up with his boss and they will work out the problem in-house (as it should be).  After he called, his boss called me back and thanked me for suggesting his salesperson work off his debt and having him sign an incident report to prevent this from happening again.

I don’t know if this will have a negative affect in future dealings with the “Kirby family”.  I hope not because I don’t want to have to bring out my tita side if at all possible.  ~L~  Maybe now they like adopt me out of the family?