Kirby salesmen

nudeyorker

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I certainly didn't mean to imply that gated communities don't pay taxes. Remembering back to the one gated community I lived in for about a year, though, the security was indeed very heavy-handed. I'd have friends and/or "gentleman callers" park across the street and walk them in through one of the pedestrian entrances. The gatehouse was difficult and highly intrusive, with guests required to not just show an ID, but leave it there.

And the moves, both in and out, were a special cycle of hell.

I'm sorry you had that experience. Things in Hawaii are much more relaxed where I live. They just keep the Kirby salesmen out and don't really have any issues with the residents or invited guests.
 

Bbucko

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I'm sorry you had that experience. Things in Hawaii are much more relaxed where I live. They just keep the Kirby salesmen out and don't really have any issues with the residents or invited guests.

Back when I was still doing out-call design consultations for the different furniture companies I worked for I had lots of experiences with gated communities, both in Connecticut and Florida. I guess the degree to which security becomes oppressive really varies from complex to complex and I've experienced the gamut, though none as absurd as the one I actually lived in.

I think the differences might have something to do with location. Every other gated community I've visited was basically suburban and spread out; Wilton Station, where I lived, was in an area which, at least by Florida standards, was quite urban.

I was told by residents who'd lived there from its inception that the police-state-ish security was in response to some of the earlier residents who evidently thought they were living in a party spot and abused the quieter nature of some of the more elderly residents. As it was built as condos, they couldn't evict fellow homeowners so instead hired a new management company with the express goals of "maintaining order" to the point of squeezing as much fun out of the lifestyle they market as possible. The draconian gatehouse strategy was really the tip of the iceberg.

Anyhoo, OT:

My current housemate owns a Kirby. It's huge, heavy and does not have a hose attachment. It's probably the least convenient vacuum cleaner I've ever used, not to mention its complete lack of aesthetic appeal.
 

FRE

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My current housemate owns a Kirby. It's huge, heavy and does not have a hose attachment. It's probably the least convenient vacuum cleaner I've ever used, not to mention its complete lack of aesthetic appeal.

And not to mention how expensive it is.

I don't know whether they still do, but at one time they had attachments which were truly bizarre for a vacuum cleaner, such as paint sprayers. To clean the air in the house, the company actually recommended running the vacuum cleaner for hours at a time, never mind that a high pressure low volume blower is not suitable for that purpose.
 

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I clean for a living and i tell my people i'm not going to use their kirby. I compare it to trying to push a small child around the house on top of a regular vaccuum. And forget carrying it up and down stairs. My Mom used to do that with her clients. It didn't take long for us to invest in a few Oreck's and we carry them in our cars all the time.

Anyway, i was cleaning for a client when the salemen showed up and i told her i wouldnt use it. She said my several hundred dollar commercial vaccuum would pale in comparison to the Kirby. I said, sure, I'm sure it works well for the price of a used car. It better work well for that price. But i'll keep using what i can maneover easily throughout her home without dinging the furniture legs. She didn't buy one thankfully and the sales people were very pissed off when she didn't.

They offered her a free gift to come into the home- it was one of those room fresheners with the little clear balls inside of it. It's hardly worth the 2 hours they spent in there wasting our time. They kept making multiple calls to their manager for "deals" It was a horrible Who Wants To Be A Millionaire negotiation experience.
 

FRE

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I clean for a living and i tell my people i'm not going to use their kirby. I compare it to trying to push a small child around the house on top of a regular vaccuum. And forget carrying it up and down stairs. My Mom used to do that with her clients. It didn't take long for us to invest in a few Oreck's and we carry them in our cars all the time.

Anyway, i was cleaning for a client when the salemen showed up and i told her i wouldnt use it. She said my several hundred dollar commercial vaccuum would pale in comparison to the Kirby. I said, sure, I'm sure it works well for the price of a used car. It better work well for that price. But i'll keep using what i can maneover easily throughout her home without dinging the furniture legs. She didn't buy one thankfully and the sales people were very pissed off when she didn't.

They offered her a free gift to come into the home- it was one of those room fresheners with the little clear balls inside of it. It's hardly worth the 2 hours they spent in there wasting our time. They kept making multiple calls to their manager for "deals" It was a horrible Who Wants To Be A Millionaire negotiation experience.

The client actually permitted the Kirby salesman to waste her time for two hours?!?! I believe in being courteous, at least to a reasonable degree, but listening to a spiel for two hours is ridiculous.

Would you use my central vacuum system?