Q Talk

[Nataliesgramma]

Does anyone think they should get rid of customers calling in to comment during presentations?

Yesterday, one caller was talking more about the weather where she was at than the top they were presenting...the next hour a caller was talking about her knee replacement.....

Callers don't make me want to purchase something and I think most people order on a device or online these days anyway.....

[Mimi 1883]

@Nataliesgramma  Couldn't agree more!

That's just one reason why I very rarely watch QVC. If I am watching and they go to a "caller", I change the channel. In all the years I've been watching Q, not one caller has enticed me to order one thing.

If you notice, the vendors are not too thrilled when the host announces a caller on the line. 

[Pook]

Most seem to make the host and vendor very uncomfortable since they often do not stay talking about the product.  Probably a lot are lonely women who just want someone to talk to.  I don't watch much but I can't remember the last time someone actually talked about specifics of a product.  

[World Traveler]

Does anyone think they should get rid of customers calling in to comment during presentations?

No, I don't. I find them valuable. I trust their opinion of the product more than I do the host. And in many cases, I find new ways to use the product by listening to the caller tell how they use it.

As one who has called in on the testimonial line, I gave pertinent information about the product, including how the product had improved/enhanced my life in a specific area.

And by the way, I am not a lonely person needing someone to talk to. And I am not trying to entice someone to order the product. I am just relaying my experience. That is why you are asked to call the "testimonial" line....to tell about your experience.

[Krimpette]

I find them to be a nuisance and an absolutely waste of time.  No redeeming value to them, as nearly as I can determine.  They seem to be even worse on HSN.  Not sure whoever thought of this idea, but it's definitely a channel-changer for me when they have a caller on the air.

[sann]

When someone calls in to give their life long medical history I reach for the remote, and change the channel.

[chiclet]

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.

[Gorgf]

I dislike hearing the poor host trying to end the call and move on, while trying to be polite. Some of the callers voices are so grating , they are home sick, smoke heavily or  cackle like 100 years old. These people wait a long time to talk and usually say nothing rather than stick to why it is a great  product to purchase. The health problems are annoying  what can the host say but we wish you the best and sorry for your illness.

[Group 5 minus 1]

ITA. And then there are the callers on ST. Patricks Day telling us they have Irish ancestry.

Or the skin care ones that say they are 88 and look 16.

Just eliminate the calls. All of them

[Caaareful Shopper]

Count me as someone who dreads the customer calls. 

More times than not (much more), they are excruciatingly awkward.  The sob stories, medical issues, all the "one more question" as the host desperately wants to end the call, painful non-dialogue because as the caller is watching on TV they forget that nodding their head cannot be heard through the phone. 

On rare occasions they are sweet and/or funny.  But more often they just seem like time fillers so the producers can catch up with tallying sales numbers.

Those calls are such a relic of the past.  In the 15+ years I have watched QVC, I have never been persuaded to buy from a testimonial call.  In fact, I have turned the channel frequently.

QVC claims they are undergoing changes this year.  I hope getting rid of the testimonial call-in line is one of them.