Complaint Review: Uniway

I just found this website and noticed "buying clubs" was one of the business types reported on so I absolutely had to click. I am responding to not only the gift post but to the others claiming Uniway is a scam.

I am a former employee of a company called United Buyer's Service, and also worked for a company called Unimart. Unimart was part of the Uniway family until a falling out in 1979 but enough history.

And before you start thinking I am a company hack I welcome the editors of this website to email me directly and I will gladly provide them with proof of the company that I own. I own an alarm company in the Northeast. I hate scammers. I'm in an industry where scams cost lives. The editors can then attest to me not being a hack and just being someone who has first-hand knowledge of this industry.

I came across this "complaint" and I couldn't help but laughing because you're complaining about these gifts Uniway gives out.
I also had to laugh because it appears the President of this Uniway is a former colleague of mine from years back. Now he and I are in no way shape or form pen pals, and while we dislike each other on a personal level I can tell you that he's d**n good at what he does, and he loves that business.

Now back to the gifts.
If you had been the one to win the car you'd never have complained, but you were the one who wound up with the fishing line tennis bracelet, a vacation to a timeshare resort, and a bunch of other gumball machine prizes. I am not disputing the quality of the gifts you received, and I wish that the gifts didn't have to be used to bribe people into the showrooms. It was embarassing handing out some of those gifts at first but then it became almost comical. One club was handing out a box of "steaks". People would cram the lobby holding their gift mooch cards and dreaming of TBones. It was like Willie Wonka. Everyone dreaming of getting something for nothing only to be Oompa Loompa dee dood out the door with a box of hamburgers in their hands.

The gifts are carny and crass but if you ever sat on my side of the desk you'd have to laugh. It was impossible not to.

We handed out plastic cameras, diamond rings, home alarms, steak knives, family portraits and hand cranked food processors. One lady "won" a whirlpool spa and hired contractors to pick it up. It was akin to a garden hose with a sprinkler attachment.

Oh did P.T. Barnum ever hit the nail on the head.
I swear if they offered an invisible man as a prize they'd still pack their lobby.

I do take issue with your attacking this company because you didn't get the best toy. Stay home. Just say NO the next time the greed bug bites.

The car promotion probably works the same way it did twelve years ago.

The company doing the mailings (not Uniway) will mail out ten thousand keys to people in your area.
9,999 of those keys will be losers. 1 of those ten thousand is the winning key. Out of the ten thousand keys that get mailed out roughly 9,900 will be thrown away by the receiver.

The odds of winning that car are now at 1,000,000 to 1. Uniway would love it if you won the car because it won't cost them a dime and it makes them look better. The contest is insured like those Hole-in-One contests you see at Golf outings.

The sad part is that so many people miss out on the message because they are blinded by the greed associated with the gift.

Uniway is one of two worthwhile buying clubs still in existance. Unfortunately they feel they still have to acquire leads by using cheesy gifts. It makes them look bad, and it sullies the concept.

Uniway is a very good deal if used properly. They are not a "perceived savings" as I saw someone else say. The savings is legit.

Of course the salesman will make it seem as if you'll save $500.00 on a $300.00 golf club but hey, he's a salesman. He's the same guy who will present you with your brand new, state-of-the-art, limited edition, invisible man at the end of the tour.

Uniway sells merchandise at it's cost plus shipping and handling. If they can only save you money 50%, 40%, 30%, 20% whatever percent of the time then so be it. It's better than never saving at all. Isn't it?

No store that I've ever shopped at sold me something at their cost. Uniway calls it a membership fee. Retailers call it profit. At least with Uniway you know exactly what they are making.

As for it being a scam well I'd imagine General Electric's, or Sony's due diligence process would have exposed them by now. But those 2 companies, and hundreds more still do business with Uniway some 30+ years later.

Now if you need to buy something immediately Uniway can't do it. If you're looking at saving a million bucks on a TV that's not happening either, but they still offer a ton of first quality merchandise (not seconds, grey market, or last years models) for a whole bunch less than you're going to find anywhere else. Alot of Uniway members probably don't think that way but they'd change their minds if they spent some time in the service center.

Alot of members feel ashamed that they joined because others have told them they got duped. If anyone reading this has a Uniway membership and never used it then do yourself a favor and grab Sunday's newspaper. Take the store ads down to Uniway, and compare prices on everything. get an idea of how it works. By letting that card sit in your wallet unused even though you're paying the fee you're wasting money.

Think of it like car shopping.
Next time you go to buy a car you'll wonder how much the dealership paid for it while the Uniway member will know what the cost is. Who do you think will wind up with the better deal?
The one with the facts. The ones with assumptions are the ones who makes the stores so rich.

I also see people claiming to be duped by the contracts. Holy mother of GOD who's fault is it if you sign something without reading it?
It doesn't take a year and a day to read a contract and if you don't agree with what it says don't sign it. If you do sign it without reading it then shame on you and not shame on the company. I will provide the legal analysis on every contract you (everyone) will ever sign. All contracts, regardless of industry, are the same.
The company is always right, and you're always wrong. You agree to pay, while they agree to nothing. Failure to pay requires you to pay more. Failure on their part is just an oversight and is to be expected.

Now I am off to look at the security system complaints because I am sure there are quite a few valid ones (sadly), but I hope this helped shed more light on Uniway.

I'd also like to tell the editors of this website that I am very impressed with it so far.

My story of Uniway sounds like the rest of the stories I've read concerning Uniway. I was fast talked into committing to a contract that I really didnt know much about. And I dont know how many people have read their contracts but I didnt understand most of it. And when I said I wanted to go over it and think about it, I was told that if I left I could never join. And when I began to question some of the things in the contract I was given broad and unhelpful awnsers. Now Im receiving phone calls daily from their offices, and every time I talk to the so called rep he gets an attitude with me. He continues to threaten me with legal action. And all of the rebuttals that I have read all sound the same to me. They sound like another sales pitch for Uniway. Every rubuttal states how long they have been a member and how great the prices are and how they always recommened them to their friends. Few address the points of argument that are being made toward Uniway. The words "Legal Binding Contract" are used in quite a few rebuttals.

Why would regular every day costumers of Uniway go out of their way to look up negative comments on Uniway and defend it? I understand why upset individuals would come on Rip Off Report and report what has happen to them. It sounds a little fishy to me.