@febe1 wrote:
I'm always surprised when I hear a caller say that she's been waiting for "years" to talk to a host. I've been asked at least every other time I've done a phone order if I wanted to speak to the host. I've always thought there was a shortage of callers. Myself, I've always declined, however, I've wondered what kind of screening they give the calller as I've never heard a "negative" calller.
Oh my, you are lucky. Here are a few of the cringeworthy doozies I've heard over the years (and yes, I have watched too much QVC for too long).
--A jewelry cleaner was on, Lisa R was the host. Someone called in and started ranting about how horrible the cleaner was and it ruined all her Barbara Bixby jewelry. This went on for minutes before the caller just hung up.
--Some lady called about a shirt on air that she said she had just placed an order for it but had a question. I can't remember which vendor. She starts asking all these questions about the fabric, is it stretchy, can you describe the color better, etc, etc, for a good 2-3 minutes. THEN she goes, "you know what I don't think I'm going to like that, will you transfer me to the operator so I can cancel my order"
--A brand of bedding/sheets was on. It was not northern nights (do they even have that brand still?) anyway, Jill was the host and this woman calls in to say that Northern nights was her favorite brand of sheets and she would never consider buying another brand.... again, this was not the brand that was on air.
--This type has happened many times, but one particular call was for bare minerals when Leslie Blodget still presented. the poor thing was saying that she lost her hair and brests to cancer and the make up helped her feel pretty. It was heartbreaking, she was sobbing. Again went on for minutes. Felt terrible for the woman and I wanted to reach through the Tv and hug her, but it certainly did NOT make me want to shop. Again, callers getting upset and crying happens regularly. How this is supposed to 'boost sales' is beyond me.
--A woman called, she was obviously hard of hearing. This was in the Lisa Mason days. Poor Lisa was just asking her things like "how are you today?" and "what color did you get" the normal stuff. Every question, this lady answered "whaaaaat? I can't hear you honey." and so Lisa was screaming and repeating herself and the lady kept saying she couldn't hear. again went on for minutes.
--Someone called and said she was buying herself a $1,000 piece of jewelry from her cat to her for her bday. She said her husband would never have spent money like that on her but now that he has passed away, she can buy whatever she wants. Then she proceeded to ask the host to say Hi to her cat, who was sitting next to her, watching the Q.
I'll probably think of some more. anyone else have any stories??