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Super Contributor
Posts: 408
Registered: ‎01-18-2016

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...

@seaBreeze. Yes! It drives me crazy when a caller accidentally hits a button on their phone and you hear that loud beep. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,421
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...

I too wish they'd do away with the calls. In fact, I will change the channel or mute the TV as they drive me so crazy.  And some are just cringeworthy. Remember awhile back during a show for the 8Greens a call had to be abruptly ended as the guy dropped the f-bomb.  He sounded like he was drunk or on something.   I say stop the phone calls!

Valued Contributor
Posts: 919
Registered: ‎11-22-2018

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...

Yes agreed the caller phone calls are annoying but they are a good mine for home shopping as the viewers are the ones that actually sell the products.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,246
Registered: ‎08-14-2015

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...

I don't care for them, there a big waist of time and I always mute them. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,421
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...

Agreed they are a waste of time. Most involve the caller gushing about host and/or vendor, kissing their backside.  And the host is trying to hurry the caller off the phone, not wanting caller to talk too long.  Don't see any benefit of it.

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Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,020
Registered: ‎05-06-2016

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...

I was live on air on Evine. They do not pre-screen, they just ask if you want to talk to the hosts on air. I kept it short and thanked them for having nice plus size clothes at decent prices. Considering the majority of calls are IMO cringeworthy, I just mute them. I think the calls are a big reason why TV shopping channels still have the stigma they do and it's associated with lonely old ladies.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,889
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...


@this is my nic wrote:

This topic has been discussed here for years.  Most people hate the calls, but the Q keeps on using them. There must be a study that shows the calls are beneficial or they wouldn't continue.  I am with the majority on this topic;  stop the calls! 


 

I agree with all of this, and was just about to write the same.  I didn't mind the calls years ago, but I think they seem old-fashioned now.  I'm sure, however, that QVC monitors this, and knows that calls increase sales.  They won't stop the calls unless the numbers show otherwise.  

 

Most calls are boring, IMO, or weird or off-topic.   And especially since some hosts are terrible at giving details and actually describing items I'd far prefer that time be dedicated to the product and not wasted on calls. 

 

(Those "reviews" mean nothing to me.  They're just random callers and for sure other people don't like the very same items.  It's hardly a scientific study.)

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,889
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...


@DearPrudence wrote:

I have a feeling that the customers who call in to give testimonials also call in to a live rep to place their orders instead of ordering online.  Both of these activities give them a captive audience to whom they can brag about all the purchases they've made.  "I have six of these Dyson vacuums but I need to order three more to give to friends and neighbors".  " I have twenty of these Kitchen Aid mixers but I like the new colors so I'm ordering three more."


 

Yes, there does seem to be an excessive amount of callers who are ordering more, more, more!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,889
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...


@chiclet wrote:

@World Traveler wrote:

@chiclet wrote:

They are pre screened before they go on air so not a really good review.  I am sure that if someone said the stuff they were selling was garbage they would not put them on.


@chiclet I was NOT prescreened as to what I would say. The only thing I was asked was whether or not I had purchased or used the product, not what I thought of it.

 

I had called in one other time, prior to this one, and all I was asked was my name and where I was from, and was told to hold on the phone. But the show was over and I was never called on, so I hung up. Then when I called back on another presentation of the same thing, I told the screener about my prior experience of being told to wait to talk with the host and it never happened. He said: "I will put you on next." That was the time that all they asked was whether or not I had purchased or used the product.

 

Quite frankly, they SHOULD screen you as to what you will say. Why would a company who wants to make money put someone on who would bash the product? No one should be surprised if the calls are screened.

 

A couple of years ago when I made most of my purchases by phone instead of going online, I would frequently (around one out every five orders) be asked if I would like to talk with the host, and I would reply "not at this time." I had not even tried the product yet, so there could be no prescreening done as to my experience with it. I assume they were just going to ask WHY I was purchasing the product.


I am surprised.  I really thought they would screen people because I have heard callers say that when they were talking to the person before they came on etc etc. that they had told them this and that.   Good to know they are real reviews.


 

When I called, I was pre-screened.  And I have a friend who is a QVC fanatic and she has called in many times.  She's always pre-screened.  Of course once callers are on-air they can say anything they want, but most seem to stick to whatever positive things they said to the screener.

 

It makes sense that QVC would only want positive reviews on-air.  There's a reason why we hear so much positive and rarely anything negative from callers, and it's not because every product is fabulous.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,889
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Eliminate Customer calls in presentations...


@MrSour wrote:

Yes agreed the caller phone calls are annoying but they are a good mine for home shopping as the viewers are the ones that actually sell the products.


 

Really?   They don't sell any products to me.  Why would a random, disembodied voice have the ability to get me to buy something?  I'm not even swayed by hosts, and I can see them, they're somewhat familiar to me, etc.

 

I couldn't care less what someone on an anonymous phone call says.  And I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that way.