But wait! There’s more!

Posted on 10 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Have any of you ever ordered something through those fast talking and annoying TV ads?

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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30 Responses to But wait! There’s more!

  1. robtbrown says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:05 am

    I regularly buy Oxi Clean but from Sam’s not through TV ads.

  2. Mike Morrow says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:20 am

    Yes. Ten years ago I ordered a set of flashlights. I spent most of my time on the phone trying to avoid all the special enhanced and unrelated product offers that were being made by the automated sales robot, including avoiding the pitfall of reverse-worded questions where “no…I don’t want any” actually means “yes…send me a thousand”!

  3. Bryan Boyle says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:27 am

    Nope. As a contrarian, I never do/buy/participate in anything that madison ave or the media says I should.

    Or answer emails to claim my million dollar inheritance from my long-lost {british|nigerian|russian|south african|ukranian|urdu| relatives, that winning lottery ticket that’s waiting for me, or anything else.

    I went to an information security conference a few weeks ago (which is my current career…); it was agreed that the greatest threat to your personal identity was not the snotty little creep working out of a dank basement in China somewhere, but all the other commercial vendors and search engines on the net, and Madison Ave. They’re all tied together….telemarketers, tv pitchmen, google/bing/yahoo/etc, and the dons that come up with new ways to entice you to part with your hard-earned ducats.

    Just Say No.

  4. Catholicofthule says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:28 am

    What did you get, Father? And what was wrong with it?

  5. Banjo pickin girl says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:28 am

    I got a Windshield Wonder, actually 4 of them. I got the two for deal and accidentally ordered two sets of two (my fault). I have lots of neighbors with bad backs though so I gave two of them away. I have one in each car. It does work very well. It’s also good for reaching the top of windows on the house. And applying wax (with a dedicated “bonnet”) to that center stripe of the car roof that you can’t reach so well.

  6. Velle Mere says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:33 am

    Husband bought ShamWow.

  7. Random Friar says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:51 am

    I’ve never ordered through the phone. I bought one kitchen gadget, which worked very well, until it broke three days later.

    If something tempts you, I suggest going to Amazon.com , and checking out the reviews there, or search for “x product reviews” on your favorite search engine. Most of them are great in theory, but so cheaply made that they do not last.

  8. Patti Day says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:54 am

    Yes and No…I ordered a commemorative coin that was $29.95, but if you call within the next ten minutes, we’ll send you two for the price of one! This is your opportunity to own two of these extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime, highly-collectable coins…….But Wait, there’s more…

    I never did get the coin, but I did start receiving a glossy men’s “lifestyle” magazine.

  9. benedetta says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:54 am

    Have never gone that route, and will never buy anything from the qvc, but I will admit that there certainly have been other instances when I have been duped into assenting to all the promises of all varieties of glamorous hucksterism. It seems that is at this time in history unavoidable as the new American way. Daily I look for help in the resistance.

  10. Gail F says:
    10 June 2011 at 8:57 am

    When I was a kid (30+ years ago) my brother badgered my mom into ordering a set of records called “The Best of Old Time Radio.” It had one with great speeches, one with radio shows, one with wacky songs, one that was all Spike Jones. I think wore out the latter two, we listened to them so many times.

  11. fieldsparrow says:
    10 June 2011 at 9:35 am

    I’ve bought things from QVC, but they were things I already knew I wanted anyway (like my Keurig) and which were at a good price.

    When I didn’t have a job/life that required me to wake up at 5:30am, I used to be a major night owl and have watched many, many infomercials. I admit to being entertained by a certain sense of schadenfreude. Ahem.

  12. JohnE says:
    10 June 2011 at 10:02 am

    ShamWow. Seems like the perfect product name for one of these TV ads. “It’s probably a sham, but wow I just gotta get it. ” Or maybe WowSham — “Wow that looks amazing.” But 6-8 weeks later, “Wow, what a sham!”

  13. digdigby says:
    10 June 2011 at 10:07 am

    Don’t have TV but I’ll tell you something about QVC jewelry. On Broadway in the 20′s in Manhattan are the bargain jewelry dealers (fun place to shop!). I used to see ‘sold out’ QVC jewelry that was originally priced $20-30. It was in original packaging and marked $3 or 2 for $5. It is made out of worthless junk and it is worthless junk.

  14. Theodore says:
    10 June 2011 at 10:26 am

    Complete set of Doo Wop videos from Time Warner. Lot’s of old time artists still able to rock.

  15. david andrew says:
    10 June 2011 at 10:40 am

    Many moons ago I bought a hand-hammered wok. It actually is what they advertised, and while I don’t cook with it nearly as much as I would like to or should, it does work very well, and was worth the purchase.

  16. RichR says:
    10 June 2011 at 11:19 am

    I bought a ShamWow……and I’m not Velle Mere’s husband.

  17. KAS says:
    10 June 2011 at 11:39 am

    No, I figure if the product is so good, why isn’t it available at walmart, target or lowes?

    I dislike sales very much. Pushy people hovering like vultures seeking to manipulate you into buying something you do not need are best avoided.

    I take it even further, if a company’s ad is annoying or repeats often then I will avoid shopping there too.

    Getting mad at the manipulative advertising really has helped my budget!

  18. buffaloknit says:
    10 June 2011 at 12:36 pm

    Yes. Sorta. I have purchased a “Today’s special value” item from QVC which was a good deal on a brand-name item that is rarely ever discounted at department stores (Clarisonic face-brush). QVC even graciously took my off their email list as I do not want daily or weekly emails about more things. Good customer service!

    I have seen “As Seen On TV” storefronts in shopping malls and at road-side tourist attractions. They do sell some awesome looking things, like the upside-down tomato thing (which is also available at Home Depot-I think). There is even as seen on tv dot com website.

    Finally, my husband bought me a “free” Stauer necklace-only pay for shipping and handling! Even small grandchildren will know enough not to fight over this particular family heirloom some day. I don’t know if Stauer has ads on TV but they are in the same vein.

  19. lucy says:
    10 June 2011 at 12:38 pm

    Yep, hubby gave in to a late night tv watching prompt to buy kitchen knives. They are pretty good, but not great. It’s probably best to just avoid those late night cravings.

  20. jkm210 says:
    10 June 2011 at 1:06 pm

    We have the GTExpress, the Betty Crocker Bake-n-Fill, the Ninja, and the 6-second abs thing. My husband actually purchased all of these products, but I am shamelessly addicted to kitchen gadget infomercials.

  21. APX says:
    10 June 2011 at 1:15 pm

    I can honestly say I have not. I find the products for kitchens are often an insult to my intelligence (ie: that egg cracker thing).

    I will admit to being one if those sly door-to-door salespersons.

  22. Centristian says:
    10 June 2011 at 1:52 pm

    I never have, although I have to say the Shamwow/Slapchop guy slays me. His commericials are more entertaining than alot of the TV shows that he advertises on.

  23. Unfinished says:
    10 June 2011 at 2:27 pm

    Yes, I ordered some gizmos from late night TV once.

    It was a horrible idea. After I ordered, they called me the next day to “confirm” my order. As it turns out, it was just them trying to sell me more stuff. I told them no several times, then after 10 minutes I had to just hang up on them. It was never ending.

    This continued for WEEKS. Even though I am on the “do not call list,” I think this gives them permission to call you as much as they want. They just wouldn’t quit. Sometimes they called me 3 or 4 days in a row even after me telling them “No, leave me alone and stop calling” every single time. Even worse – it wasn’t the same number poping up on caller ID, so I kept getting duped into answering it. I just stopped answering the phone and they gave up, but it literally took at least a month for them to leave me alone.

  24. APX says:
    10 June 2011 at 3:20 pm

    Late night infomercials are terrible. My family ordered a bunch of exercise equipment that has never been used for their intended purpose. AB rollers work wonders as a guitar stand for multiple guitars. Those exercise balls make great nintendo chairs, and “The Stimulator” that’s supposed to get rid of various forms of joint pain via electrical shock, it’s more fun to shock your friends with it.

  25. Martial Artist says:
    10 June 2011 at 3:20 pm

    Yes, a few years ago, one time only, I decided that it would be useful to have some microfiber cloths for cleaning up liquids, etc. So I called the number to place an order for Sham-Wow. I was quite satisfied with the products received and with the price.

    That having been said, I will not ever likely do so again, because of the experience of attempting to get off of the phone after completing the order, which was complicated by the multitude of offers through which one must navigate using what Mike Morrow at the top comment above refers to as the automated sales robot. I spent more time on the phone trying to get to the end of the list to ensure that I didn’t get stuck with something additional, than I had placing the order itself. Most annoying, and not something I would voluntarily do again.

    Now, instead of ordering by phone, I look to see if I can order via the web, or look for the specific product at the “As Seen on TV” retail store.

    Pax et bonum,
    Keith Töpfer

  26. benedetta says:
    10 June 2011 at 3:45 pm

    I understand it is popular but I would still be unable to get over the name of any product called, Sham Wow.

  27. guans says:
    11 June 2011 at 1:38 am

    before the age of the do not call list, someone always called selling light bulbs etc.
    after going through every excuse in the world(none of them worked), I finally said:
    “I don’t use light bulbs” (It worked!)

  28. Banjo pickin girl says:
    11 June 2011 at 4:55 am

    centristian, the guy’s name is Vince Offer.

    Another funny story, I recently bought a Happy Feet foot washer in the “as seen on TV” section of CVS. But I am so ticklish I can hardly use it! My feet really are happy, they are screaming with laughter, and not at the Slap Chop commercial.

    Most grocery chains also have a “as seen on TV” section.

  29. Banjo pickin girl says:
    11 June 2011 at 4:58 am

    I don’t know about the do not call list cuz nobody ever calls me but there is a web site you can go to that shuts off your junk mail. I now only have to go to my mailbox every couple of days because it’s not full of catalogs I don’t want. The only catalogs you will get are the ones you are currently ordering from. You can find the web site with the search terms “junk mail” and “opt out.”

  30. trespinos says:
    11 June 2011 at 9:31 pm

    Might as well contribute the thirtieth story. I purchased an infrared oven last year. It’s been working well and I’m quite pleased with it. I can’t say the same about the jewelry / loose gemstones vendor who wore down my resistance with the soft Southern accents of the TV hosts and the sparkling colors of their 50-carat gemstone kit. Gacck! The great majority of the stones were chipped, carried inclusions, lacked strong color, or were so tiny I could have inhaled them if I wasn’t careful. Never again.