BRIBERY and BULLYING

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Graham

Guest Shopper
Hello ShoppingTelly.com … I answered the phone and on the other end was Steve Bennett …..

I ask if OK and of course I get the answer NO, he is annoyed at both my posts and my tweets …. He tells me that Scott Worlsfold was upset at my last tweet and has yet to see my latest as he is on air.

I explain that it is my opinion that Scott is the worst presenter around at the moment; he said then tells me that he is a very good friend and is one of his best sellers.

THEN … uses two words BRIBERY and BULLYING, I don’t think I really got to the bottom of either, he said about Bribery and advertising, I said YOU are an advertiser, we went around in circles but was disgusted that he accused me of Bribery, I have an opinion, he may not like it, he may not be able to control it but it is my opinion.

I will say after this accusation of bribery, as long as I own ShoppingTelly.com, when the Jewellery Maker advertisement runs out in May we will never accept advertising again from any part of Coloured Rocks Ltd.

I told Steve that In My Opinion GemsTV was now unwatchable, he said simple don’t watch …. I explained I run a website about shopping telly so I have to watch.

He tried to say that I light the flames and members of shoppingtelly.com follow, this annoyed me the most as I have opinions you have opinions and that is that. BTW I am not in any way upset at this, I am bloody annoyed but that is that.

I said about the heartbeat etc. … he said that when he took over he didn’t like them but explained he sells more with the gimmicks!
I asked if he had opinions about other channels, he said yes but would not post about them, I didn’t mention that he does say about the “competition” loads of times on the telly.

In the end I said we agree to disagree, he sounded angry, but this was yesterday, YOU as members of shoppingtelly.com I believe deserve to know what happened, I love Shopping Telly and believe THIS site is here to mae sure channels do not disappoint!
 
Graham - please stop igniting my flames......:wink:

...seriously I think we are old enough to come up with our own opnions and if we disagreed with you then we would tell you so.

The heartbeart - flippin annoying. Being patronised and yelled at - off putting. Shown ladies clevages - unnecessary. Fib and untruths - disappointing. Quality of goods and service - woeful......................all opinions I have formed on my own based on my own experience - using my own pretty little brain - arent i clever?

All the above is my own work.

The words quoted make SB sound like a market trader - didnt they alway used to preach no tricks no gimmicks?...or am I confusing them someone else. Be careful Mr B - dont do a Gerald Ratner on us and treat your customers like fools - they soon bite you on the bum!!!
 
I don't say this with any pride but I was once (probably) considered to be one of GemsTV best customers typically buying their high end pieces. So, I have my own opinions and am not swayed, bullied or badgered into anything other than having my own opinion. It's also important to state that Graham and I have (quite publicly) on occasion fallen out so if I felt Graham was wrong, I would say so and have done so in the past.

Graham is not wrong.

Graham has the right to state his opinion - as much as anybody else.

Presenters whether they are on television, the radio, main stream or specialised are open to criticism - both good and bad. Why should Scott be immune from that? In fact, why should any of the presenters be immune? If they do a good job, it's normally reflected on here. If they don't, well that's on here as well.

Because Scott is a "friend" and is "upset" is of absolutely no consequence. He should grow a pair and perhaps LISTEN to the criticism. There's been enough written about him lately regarding his aggressive/dodgy car dealing tactics. If I were him, I'd be more worried about being perceived in that way and would do something about it.

As for bullying - just what on earth does Steve think he was doing then? Trying to bully Graham into not speaking his mind is exactly the same thing that he's accusing Graham of.

This Site has been going for years and the forum (in general) has swung from being super-supportive of GemsTV to quiet to indifferent to the current state of absolute amazement at how bad things have got. A company cannot rest on its laurels. Once a reputation is built it needs work to keep it there. A very good example of this not happening is RocksTV that started well, improved continually and then nose dived spectacularly - customers who were fanatical became their harshest critics.

Let's face it, if GemsTV listened to their customers who had been loyal customers in the past, listened to what they wanted, there wouldn't be as much criticism. It seems to me that as soon as something negative is posted eg presenters shouting the reaction is that there are promises to put things right that never materialise. In this instance the response was "It'll be dealt with in our next training session". Months later, the position is worse and the criticism has escalated. Now then, who's at fault? The customer? No.

People only fall for sales gimmicks for a short period. If GemsTV want short term, low spend customers then they're doing the right thing. If they want loyal long term customers then perhaps LISTEN and stop blaming everything and everybody else!

Meeshoo
Of Sound Mind
Able to make my own decisions
Not bought or paid for by anybody
No particular axe to grind
Not affiliated or related to anybody on this forum (that I know of)
Lover of decent quality gemstones and jewellery
 
Last edited:
There's only room for one type of sheep in my life. <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D4%252F4%255F8%255F2v%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_8_2v.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0"><img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D4%252F4_8_2v%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a> I'm sure the Widow Twankey is well able to speak for herself, and perhaps SB should learn to take it on the chin. By constantly responding, he simply causes further antagonism on both sides which is fruitless and very unedifying to witness. You know what they say, "if you don't want to hear what folk are saying about you ..............". Difficult I know, but Steve is a mature businessman who should know that some things are best left unsaid and a dignified silence is the better response. xxxxxxxxxxxx

Steve, if all the tricks and gimmicks work for you then so-be-it, but those of us that don't like it have to be free to say so without accusations of being sheep. I'm very disappointed in the way the company has gone and do not need Graham to tell me what to say, I'm plenty gobby enough without his help thank you. I've sent a lot of business your way and am still a customer, but I have for some time been feeling uncomfortable as I'm very uncertain as to the company's ethics. xx
 
Blimey!!! :eek:

If Steve looked closely at the threads in this section he would see that Graham starts very few threads, most are started by the members.

As for bribery, well he has lost me on that one, who is Graham bribing and what with???? :confused: :wonder:

If Gems listened to the comments made here and really took them on board then there wouldn't be as much for them to get "upset" about.

Saying that Scott, or any of the presenters are a friend really isn't an answer. It is very difficult to manage people in the work place when they are your friends, very hard to reprimand them and equally they think they can say/do what they like without fear of reprimand as the boss is a friend. Not a good basis for a business.
 
I find this thread saddening and shocking, that Steve Bennet didn't distant himself from our concerns and gripes, in this forum giving us our freedom to chat amongst ourselves.
I admit I have read some threads about some female presenters and thought 'Ouch' because I thought the threads were getting a little bit too personal and some times quite vicious .
What Steve Bennet and his team might want to note is that some of us love and take jewellery seriously and we can be fanatically about gems and that we are fed up of being fed horse ***** by some of the presenters and taking us all for simple fools.
Granted,the returns refund time has become more respectable but there is still a lot of 'junk' being sold but then it may not be junk to someone else.
But please stop telling us it is ' Rare, rare, rare, Gems TV is making a loss , hundreds on the telephone , the computer had a mind of it's own and dropped the price to low and most annoying comparing the quality of the jewellery to top boutiques such as Cartier, Boodles etc. Their jewellery is hand made and not from ring casts churned out by the thousands plus most in the trade can spot cheap asian made jewellery a mile off even if it has British hallmark.
I now watch the other channel with Rocks name in it, I find the presenters still sell hard but talk to their audience with believable degree of honesty. Even if you don't buy , the shows can be entertaining and factual.
Gems Presenters all sound to me like dodgy market traders (with the exception of Alan and Matt)
to watch
Mr Bennet has to accept the criticism of Gems TV as well as the praise of Gems TV on this forum.
Throwing his toys out of the pram at the site owner was not very professional
All this in MHO. of course :)
 
Doesn't like any type of criticism, our Steve, does he?

He needs to learn that surrounding himself with mates and family won't build a wall against negative opinion.

Business is business; if he can't provide the product or service we require, we'll go elsewhere. He may have enough customers at present to fulfil his financial plans for the company, and he obviously is happy to let his coterie have carte-blanche when it comes to selling, so he must feel he is doing something right. That shouldn't, however, allow him to try to exert pressure on those facilitating an open forum in an effort to suppress comments he doesn't like.

All round a very distasteful reaction - and I'm not surprised in the least, sadly...

Jinny
 
Hearing about this phone call has only served to add to the impression I have already formed that this man is totally lacking in the professionalism required to run a company - "family run company" or otherwise!

How ridiculous to phone and have a rant in this "toys out the pram" manner. Much more dignified to retain a silence while noting the feedback and acting on it as being representative of a cross section of his past and possibly present and maybe even future customer base. Where else does a company have free access to such a wealth of market research? A missed opportunity surely?

By alienating his customers like this, are we to assume that loyalty to his old customers counts for nothing and he is now reliant on new customers? If this pattern is set, then the list of customers as they arrive and then disappear at a later date when they encounter various problems and CS issues will be finite until they dry up altogether. Not the best business practice in the world really.

On a personal note, Mr B is often to be seen posting on here that we should feel free to email him directly with any concerns or questions. I did just that almost a fortnight ago and am still waiting for even an acknowledgement of my email far less a reply.

First lesson in business - if you don't like criticism and aren't prepared to take the rough with the smooth, are you in the right line of work?
 
perdita said:
Hearing about this phone call has only served to add to the impression I have already formed that this man is totally lacking in the professionalism required to run a company - "family run company" or otherwise!

How ridiculous to phone and have a rant in this "toys out the pram" manner. Much more dignified to retain a silence while noting the feedback and acting on it as being representative of a cross section of his past and possibly present and maybe even future customer base. Where else does a company have free access to such a wealth of market research? A missed opportunity surely?

By alienating his customers like this, are we to assume that loyalty to his old customers counts for nothing and he is now reliant on new customers? If this pattern is set, then the list of customers as they arrive and then disappear at a later date when they encounter various problems and CS issues will be finite until they dry up altogether. Not the best business practice in the world really.

On a personal note, Mr B is often to be seen posting on here that we should feel free to email him directly with any concerns or questions. I did just that almost a fortnight ago and am still waiting for even an acknowledgement of my email far less a reply.
First lesson in business - if you don't like criticism and aren't prepared to take the rough with the smooth, are you in the right line of work?
Click to expand...


Having happened to me twice in the last few weeks, I have taken it personally. To not even pass them on to someone else if he's too busy, is the height of bad manners. <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D10%252F10%255F15%255F6%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_15_6.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0"><img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D10%252F10_15_6%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a> xxxxxxxxxxx
 
I'm sorry to read about this Graham and I can understand that it has affected you so much. I'm somewhat offended that Mr B doesn't consider me to have a brain of my own, but heyho, when you put blinkers on, you'll start to see things differently I suppose. If I read on a forum such as this that one of my employees was seen as being untrustworthy by my customers, I'd worry - friend or not - because this will inevitably eventually rub off on the whole company. After all, if someone is prepared to employ and defend someone who seems so shifty, what else goes on behind the scenes? I'm not even going to start again on the unpopularity of the majority of his screaming presenters because they too are his friends!
As to the unanswered emails, that's very interesting because I posted in another thread a few weeks ago that I thought I must be persona non grata as I hadn't received a reply. Now I'm beginning to think it was maybe just discourtious and I should get over my paranoia!
 
I watched Steve earlier presenting a show, he brought up something along the lines of "others copying Gems, but they make sure they stay ahead". Now i would like to take issue with this comment. If Steve recalls "TJC" took a lot of flack and critiscism over a number of issues, took note and went improved things. Why dosen't Steve and the Gems management do the same and LISTEN to customers and make things better? I'm sure Steve himself knows that his former CS was the thing that brought us all back to Gems, if he wants to keep his customers happy and coming back for more, why not return to the past CS we knew and loved?

As for Bullying and Bribery, I don't see it myself.
 
Do you think Steve might have meant 'blackmail' rather than 'bribery', and accidentally used the wrong word?

Please note I'm NOT suggesting that you are guilty of those things, Graham; it's just that the word 'bribery' makes no sense at all in the context.
 
MissMagpie said:
Do you think Steve might have meant 'blackmail' rather than 'bribery', and accidentally used the wrong word?
Click to expand...

Bribery, bullying and blackmail? I can think of another word beginning with B to sum it all up.

This is getting more exciting than the murder mystery I'm currently reading. :happy:
 
I've been watching Steve on Jewellery Maker today and to be honest he looks to me like a man under pressure.
 
wow, what a low thing for mr b to do, I may not be as big a spender as i once was but i am not swayed by anybody else but my bank balance, and having seen the drivel that they have been trying to sell and the tactics used, how can he try and blame Graham and this forum for his own mistakes!!!
Gems you have lost my business
Now, off to channel hop using my own mind, eyes and fingers, how clever am I!!
 

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