The Great Kirby Fiasco...

I really struggled with the title of this post. So many other things seemed fitting. But Kirby Fiasco it is.


I've had quite a day. Early this morning the "right hand man" of our builder stopped by to deliver a roll of our carpet to me. Why? I have no clue. Thanks though.


Shortly after that the wonderful Comcast guy showed up and gave me the internet. He was here for about an hour or so. No problem.


A little while later our neighbor from across the street popped over to ask about dog sitting, as I mentioned in a previous post.


Well..here's where the fun begins...I had cleaned the whole house this morning both upstairs and down. Thank goodness I did for all the people who wanted to visit me today.

Around 4 something this afternoon a ring of the doorbell sent me downstairs. It was none other than Isaiah with Kirby. *rolls eyes* He asked me if I'd be willing to help him get a free vacation to Mexico, all inclusive, if he could just shampoo my carpet. I told him it really wasn't necessary..we just moved in. The house is brand new. He said that's even better and tried to tell me about how regularly shampooing carpets improves longevity...


Ok, well it's been awhile since I had some adult interaction..sure why not. He told me he would send a female back to do the carpet since he noticed my husband wasn't home yet.

He left and I went back upstairs and looked out the window to see him doing a little happy dance on the sidewalk. I'm glad I could make someones day...


Around 5pm Jessica shows up to do the carpet cleaning and rolls in with a Kirby. Not what I was expecting, but I honestly should have known. She proceeds to begin her sales pitch..asking me what type of vacuum I am currently using.


"Ok..Ashley, now what I am going to do is vacuum this area with your Dirt Devil and then I'll vacuum the area again with the Kirby to show you what you're leaving behind..."


Something about premium suction power, a Porsche motor, a Boeing fan to keep it from overheating...a new feature which, by the way, allows you to leave the Kirby running all day in one spot to act as an air purifier....


At this point her boss knocks on the door, to check up on her and see how she's doing. Some how the subject changes to dogs and how she really wants to buy a puppy and how he has a dog right now that he likes but ultimately he'd love to get a Husky...I tell them I love golden retrievers and about Gunner. Some where in the conversation I mention I am a dog nerd and tell them about my dog book...Justin wanted to know what a Shar Pei looked like...The two of them proceed to talk about puppies and dogs and sit on the couch looking at the dog book for a solid 20 minutes. Justin says he has to go check on his other salesmen, but thanks me for taking the time to show him a Shar Pei.

He leaves, she talks a bit more about dogs asking me questions like I'm Ceaser Milan...and then goes back to telling me about the gadgets this Kirby comes with...


I informed her that was all very tempting, but since we just bought the house our new budget was very strict and I just didn't think a Kirby was in our future.

She showed me a few more features and then got on the phone (which I know to be a strategic sales move, as Richard was once a Kirby salesman too...) and I smiled to myself knowing the bull she was about to feed me. She told the girl on the phone how I really liked the Kirby..how I had one beautiful child and another on the way, how we just bought a house...etc.

She hangs up and writes down her super deal on a Kirby Hepa filter...

I smiled at the ridiculousness of it all...and I told her that unless the Kirby could drive Richard to work, it just wasn't in the cards for us at this time.

She finally says, "ok well I guess I should show you the shampoo feature since that is what I came here to do."

The shampoo feature...wow. What a beauty. Dry foam that the Kirby lays out and then picks back up. It's so simple and easy to use and can even get dried blood from the carpet! AMAZING! Lol.

She finishes that task and then asks me how I'm feeling about it. I tell her that it seems like a great machine.

I know Kirby's do good work my mom has one that once sucked half of the shoe lace of my favorite faux suede boot right off. It seems they never lose any suction....

But really, we're broke since we bought this house, our budget is much tighter than it once was, and honestly we just can't afford it right now. Plus, Richard wasn't even here to have a say.

So I tell her a less detailed version of all that, and she tells me...ok...I have one last thing I can do..(again, I roll my eyes...knowing the tricks of a Kirby salesperson).

She goes into her bag, gets out a pink folder and digs around, then writes down another offer. It's a little less than half of the starting price...She's looks hopeful and my inability to say NO takes over.


I tell her that I really don't feel comfortable making a purchase like this without talking to my husband. She tells me that the contract has a 3 day buyers remorse plan...and if I talk to Richard and he freaks out then we can simply cancel the transaction for a full refund.

Ughhhhh.......I reluctantly agree....Stupid, silly, woman that I am. So, here she is folks, my brand new Kirby Sentria.

Richard called me around 10pm tonight and I told him the whole story. He cracked up laughing about most of it. When I got to the part about making the purchase, he coughed a little and said, "I'm sorry...what?" I then told him more about this new machine and how light weight it is compared to a Kirby from the past...and He was indeed impressed. I know how he feels about Kirby attachments too..we have quite a few of them in our garage right now, and there was one on my Dirt Devil too that the Kirby people got a kick out of.

I guess I've learned a lesson here today. I need to get tough and just say NO.

I am afraid I'll have to fill out that buyer's remorse paper work tomorrow so that Richard doesn't have the chance to see the Kirby at all. I know if he sees it, he will want it too...and as I said before...it can't drive him to work...