West Michigan Residents Concerned About Suspicious, Pushy Vacuum Salespeople

Residents in several West Michigan counties are voicing concerns about a group of salespeople using aggressive techniques to sell vacuum cleaners.

The group is going door to door late at night, knocking on people's doors, and telling them they want to give them free Tide Pods. If the owner of the home accepts the pods, the salesperson then tells them that they want to show them the products they have for sale.

In some cases, when the resident refuses, the salesperson has put their foot out to block people from closing their door.

There are several red flags raised with this type of behavior, Capt. Mark Bennett told WZZM-13:

Number one, the time of day. They came late in the evening, 8 to 9 p.m.; and, second, the person didn't have the required license."

The group reportedly works for a company called Cezo, Inc. Cezo is an independent distributor for Kirby vacuums, based out of an office in Wyoming.

The incidents have occurred across Kent, Ottawa and Barry counties, authorities said.

One of my friends had one of these salespeople come to his door recently, here's what he had to say about the experience:

One of those guys shoved my door open as I was closing it. I told them to leave four times, (the fourth time was with an expletive and was shouted). As I shut the door, he shoved it open and it slammed against the wall leaving a nice dent, before walking in.

A neighborhood in Rockford sent its residents a letter warning them of a saleswoman who tried to push her way into someone's home. There have also been complaints filed in the Ada and Cascade areas.

Police are urging residents to call them if it happens to them.

Cezo, Inc. sent WZZM-13 the following statement regarding the complaints:

Thank you for allowing Cezo to respond to your questions. Cezo wanted to address your questions in writing to make sure the information we provided was accurate.

For almost twenty-five years, Cezo has been an independent distributor of Kirby products. Throughout our history, we have made sure that our dealers conduct themselves to the highest ethical standards. We recruit and teach our dealers to offer a great product while providing the best in customer service. Cezo has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau of Western Michigan

Our dealers are taught to adhere to the soliciting hours established by municipal codes. We conduct background checks on all of our dealers before they are allowed to canvass at or enter homes for purposes of demonstrating the Kirby cleaning system.

Cezo was unaware of any complaints filed with the Ottawa or Kent County Sheriffs Departments. As we looked into your concerns, we learned that a police report was filed in Coopersville against dealers for a distributor who did not have a peddler's license. We will try to obtain a copy of that report, but we have no records to indicate that those dealers were affiliated with Cezo.

Cezo is proud to sell the best cleaning system to customers in western Michigan. Thank you again for the opportunity to respond.

Sincerely,

Chris Cortese
Owner, Cezo Incorporated