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tequila
Guest Shopper
i dont know if any of you have had a day at the Gems studio i did last year and they actually do tell the presenters in the ear pices what to say which i must say did surprise me
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Graham
Guest Shopper
You are so right and they should be replaced sooner rather than later.
argeybargey
Retired - Don't Quite Fit
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2008
- Messages
- 2,780
I'd be very interested to know the truth about the sudden and unannounced disappearance of Derek, Emma and Ali. All good and capable presenters, and I'll bet those who disliked Ali's voice would happily have her back in exchange for the howling Lucy. Given the times, I had assumed that their disappearance may have been simple financial cuts, but as they've been replaced this is clearly not the case. As Derek is a person of honest moral principles, Emma would seem to be similar and Ali could probably have done modelling or similar, there could well have been questions as to their happiness in their work, so I hope they left of their own accord. If they were sacked or in any way encouraged to leave, simply to be replaced by this noisy and uninteresting lot, then I'm hopping.
I liked Rae initially, as she was clearly experienced and capable, but of course it only took a very few weeks for her to become one of the required clones. I noticed last night that the inexperienced and rather quiet Liz is also fast becoming a clone, and worse. I'm sure she's a sweet enough young woman, but seems very short on personality.
I'm not happy making personal remarks about presenters, but where other channels just one or two are irritating they at least have their own methods. Gems is shocking me due to this horrendous cloning of some very bright and personable characters.
When Customer Services was dessimated there was a very bad period of appalling CS, inexperienced and tired staff becoming irritable and offish, massive waits on the phone and slow refunds. Fortuntely I assume that "upstairs" at least learnt from that one as it seems to be normal service resumed on this front.
Miss Marcasite, we all have different experiences and expectations. If you are happy with Gems then that's okay, don't let us intimidate you into not posting. We are interested in all opinions whatever you may feel. We are wary when newbies come in with first posts telling us how wonderful they find a particular channel simply because we have been "bitten on the bum" a few times by channel staff members coming in and banging their drums. Hopefully you will see therefore that any initial coolness is simply wariness and nothing personal. If you wish to speak up then please feel free to do so, and don't feel that you can only "lurk". Deeply frustrating when you are desperate to speak and certainly not good for the "soul". <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D36%252F36%255F1%255F41%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_41.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%253D36%252F36_1_41%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a>
Argey xx
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Meeshoo
Guest Shopper
This forum is about the good and bad of shopping telly. Everybody is entitled to their opinions whether others believe they're harsh or not.
If you had been reading this forum over the years Miss Marcasite you would have seen that there was very little negative posting on the GemsTV forum. Everybody felt part of the GemsTV family - we had Steve Ashton helping everybody, CS who were supreme. No problem was too small to deal with. Ok, there was the occasional blip but they're not robots and nobody would expect 100% satisfaction.
Turn to the past 18 months and the wave of feeling changed. GemsTV changed it's management team, their website, their products and the majority of the CS team. Things changed but not for the better - and I'm somebody that embraces change.
No longer were customers treated in the same manner. The website became more difficult to use, presenters (the great ones) started leaving like rats on a sinking ship and all in all, it became an unhappy situation.
I have bought hundreds upon hundreds of items from GemsTV. I used to love them. Now? I think they have the occasional piece that says "buy me" and I wouldn't hesitate to post up a good news thread showing pictures - which I have done in the past year.
You need to understand that for some long standing customers (and there are many on this forum), GemsTV changed too much, too quickly and not for the better. The customer suffered and many of us just haven't gone back. The family feeling, for me, and I suspect others, has been lost. It's a shame but that's how it is.
In terms of the presenters, some of the "oldies" and I don't mean in age(!) are still there and great as ever. The new batch leave a lot to be desired. Even Lucy who's been there for years has very rarely got a good review on here. The majority of viewers seem to dislike her voice/style of presenting - but she's still there. I applaud GemsTV for sticking by their presenters but at what cost? I do not believe that she sells the same amount of items as the other presenters because she'll either be on mute or turned off/over. If GemsTV want to win back ex-loyal customers then giving us dire presenters is not the way forward.
The powers that be do read this forum and it would be great if they took our thoughts on board. I appreciate we're a small sample of the general population but when there's a general concensus on here it's indicative of a fairly substantial problem.
I'm sorry we don't agree on GemsTV at the moment. I would love to be in the happy camp also. Please do carry on posting as differing views are always good.
If you had been reading this forum over the years Miss Marcasite you would have seen that there was very little negative posting on the GemsTV forum. Everybody felt part of the GemsTV family - we had Steve Ashton helping everybody, CS who were supreme. No problem was too small to deal with. Ok, there was the occasional blip but they're not robots and nobody would expect 100% satisfaction.
Turn to the past 18 months and the wave of feeling changed. GemsTV changed it's management team, their website, their products and the majority of the CS team. Things changed but not for the better - and I'm somebody that embraces change.
No longer were customers treated in the same manner. The website became more difficult to use, presenters (the great ones) started leaving like rats on a sinking ship and all in all, it became an unhappy situation.
I have bought hundreds upon hundreds of items from GemsTV. I used to love them. Now? I think they have the occasional piece that says "buy me" and I wouldn't hesitate to post up a good news thread showing pictures - which I have done in the past year.
You need to understand that for some long standing customers (and there are many on this forum), GemsTV changed too much, too quickly and not for the better. The customer suffered and many of us just haven't gone back. The family feeling, for me, and I suspect others, has been lost. It's a shame but that's how it is.
In terms of the presenters, some of the "oldies" and I don't mean in age(!) are still there and great as ever. The new batch leave a lot to be desired. Even Lucy who's been there for years has very rarely got a good review on here. The majority of viewers seem to dislike her voice/style of presenting - but she's still there. I applaud GemsTV for sticking by their presenters but at what cost? I do not believe that she sells the same amount of items as the other presenters because she'll either be on mute or turned off/over. If GemsTV want to win back ex-loyal customers then giving us dire presenters is not the way forward.
The powers that be do read this forum and it would be great if they took our thoughts on board. I appreciate we're a small sample of the general population but when there's a general concensus on here it's indicative of a fairly substantial problem.
I'm sorry we don't agree on GemsTV at the moment. I would love to be in the happy camp also. Please do carry on posting as differing views are always good.
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persianglitter
Fire up the Quattro!
Hi Miss Marcasite, and welcome. I think what we are all trying to say, we arent being negative; I have watched GT since March 2007, and i can remember my first purchase, it was a madagascan ruby and white sapphire ring, and Scott was doing the presentation on it. From the moment i bought my first item, i was hooked, for me it was an adrenalin rush - but slowly, the production roles started to change; and presenters literally disappeared overnight, with no mentions as to where they had gone or why; Ali, Emma, Lynne Garnett, Caroline Lindsay and Derek, and not to forget Steve Ashton. Steve Ashton was the linch pin in my own personal opinion, and when he left, i think people lost a bit of hope. Dont get me wrong, i still have my personal favourites, I like Scott, Fiona and Liv (Fiona is expecting a baby, any day now, and Liv is on maternity leave) I like sam, Lynne Jinks, I dont really watch Rod Jinks, Drew i sometimes do.
There is nothing wrong with Adina, Angeline, Lucy and Vickie C, they just tend to go hyper, and talk to the viewers like we have just landed from the moon; i dont want squealing and ranting and raving, and over use of some new street cred phrase that is in, i just want to see the items that are on sale, theres a point it used to be referred to as a game, they keep changing those formats. Rae, Liz and Liam, are only just breaking their shoes in, so to speak, only time will tell if they will calm down, they just seem to go from hyper one minute, to if you can dazzle them with brillaince then baffle them with bullpooh mode. Also take in to consideration that GT are now trying to sell many things that are not genuine gems stones, items like gold plated jewellery with austrian crystals, its not what GT was once all about, it has lost its steam/oomph/pzazzz/zing and sometimes this is reflected by the presenter; the newbies come across as trying to sell to hard, and thats only in my oho :flower: others might not agree with me, and i might not agree them - but thats what makes the world go around :wink2:
There is nothing wrong with Adina, Angeline, Lucy and Vickie C, they just tend to go hyper, and talk to the viewers like we have just landed from the moon; i dont want squealing and ranting and raving, and over use of some new street cred phrase that is in, i just want to see the items that are on sale, theres a point it used to be referred to as a game, they keep changing those formats. Rae, Liz and Liam, are only just breaking their shoes in, so to speak, only time will tell if they will calm down, they just seem to go from hyper one minute, to if you can dazzle them with brillaince then baffle them with bullpooh mode. Also take in to consideration that GT are now trying to sell many things that are not genuine gems stones, items like gold plated jewellery with austrian crystals, its not what GT was once all about, it has lost its steam/oomph/pzazzz/zing and sometimes this is reflected by the presenter; the newbies come across as trying to sell to hard, and thats only in my oho :flower: others might not agree with me, and i might not agree them - but thats what makes the world go around :wink2:
Lottie
Silly Moo
Just had a quick look and caught the Scottish guy (I think!)
I haven't watched it before so I might have caught the wrong Sottish guy
I don't think it's a strong accent at all - I can understand every word.
I used to go out with a glaswegian and had to get him to write things down when i first met him cos I couldn't understand a word
Just heard him apologise for shouting, maybe he's reading this thread :wonder2:
And my 12 year old has just called him a rubbish presenter because he keeps being distracted (he doesn't normally comment on shopping channels except for telling me to turn them off)
I haven't watched it before so I might have caught the wrong Sottish guy
I don't think it's a strong accent at all - I can understand every word.
I used to go out with a glaswegian and had to get him to write things down when i first met him cos I couldn't understand a word
Just heard him apologise for shouting, maybe he's reading this thread :wonder2:
And my 12 year old has just called him a rubbish presenter because he keeps being distracted (he doesn't normally comment on shopping channels except for telling me to turn them off
)
Ballerina
Registered Shopper
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2008
- Messages
- 978
Diamond Finery - gah!
Could be Meesh.
Maybe she will go on to say Firey diamonds as in "the ring of fire" or just the ring she talks out of?:cheeky:
Could be Meesh.
Maybe she will go on to say Firey diamonds as in "the ring of fire" or just the ring she talks out of?:cheeky:
Sammi
Westcountry wench!
I think part of the problem is that the presenters are presenting shows to two different types of people: newcomers to the gems scene on the one hand and seasoned jewellery buyers on the other.
For the newbies, the GTV excitement and looser approach to presenting is possibly a breath of fresh air and the introduction of alot of new gems not seen in the high street probably takes away from the actual content.
To seasoned buyers, who know a fair bit about the gemstones by now, their interest lies in the detail - weight, dimensions of stone and whole piece, cut, clarity, camera angle, light refraction, colour etc.
The presenter must bear both lots of audience in mind while trying not to bore either type of buyer out of their minds!
For the newbies, the GTV excitement and looser approach to presenting is possibly a breath of fresh air and the introduction of alot of new gems not seen in the high street probably takes away from the actual content.
To seasoned buyers, who know a fair bit about the gemstones by now, their interest lies in the detail - weight, dimensions of stone and whole piece, cut, clarity, camera angle, light refraction, colour etc.
The presenter must bear both lots of audience in mind while trying not to bore either type of buyer out of their minds!
argeybargey
Retired - Don't Quite Fit
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2008
- Messages
- 2,780
They managed perfectly well before Sammi. I can remember quite a lot of detail about the workshops and gemstone mining and cutting. After a while, I'd heard it all but was perfectly happy to treat these as breaks or sit through them fo the sake of newbies. They were after all just a small part of the whole. Now that it's just a load of old twaddle coming half from people who know better and have sold themselves, and the other half who don't have a clue, I can't be doing with it. xxx
persianglitter
Fire up the Quattro!
a wise friend once said to me "if things dont change, they stay as they are!" i am all for change, as long as it is for the better - but as AB mentions, for the last 18 months things have not been going well, i think, that back at that point in time, they shouldnt have tried to change so radically, and so fast. They used to always use the mantra, Gems Tv only sells real gems - not synthetic or manmade - and ooops what are they selling now? one of the new ranges, and i am not on about the pilgrim range, it is listed on their web site, its gold plated and austrian crystal. I watched yesterday and saw all manner of things being sold, handbags, hidden treasures, compact mirrors, the wooden jewellery and mop, it is starting to remind me of a bazaar/market (dare i even say car boot??) its all gone threepenny bits up! lol XXX:flower:
Hey you! I'm not a Tiger I'm just a great big loveable pussycat!
Arbroath Smokies - yum yum! "Square Sausage" or Lorne Sausage as we call it up here, brilliant on a roll with tomato sauce - mmmmmmmmmmmm!! Oh and don't forget our Fish Suppers - battered haddock and chips, not that horrible cod that they kept trying to give me when I lived South of the Border! I draw the line at the deep fried Mars Bars though. I can't eat a Mars Bar without the batter never mind with it - too sweet yuk.
By the way, I have really enjoyed reading this thread. It's a while since there's been some controversy and it hasn't been me that's started it! Meeshoo - you're a woman after my own heart and I luv ya!
persianglitter
Fire up the Quattro!
Klosblue, i love the picture of the cat, he looks how i feel. (my name persian, is due to the fact, that my boys call me a persian, when i am not happy i pull a face and apparently it reminds them of a persian cat!!!) lol. Square sausage and fried onion bap, yum! :flower: and really nice scotch pies, and my pal used to put the baked beans on the top; i am not talking about food, i am hungry, and just thinking about the smokies, is making me mouth water! lol i am droooling !!!! :flower: xx
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tequila
Guest Shopper
I know some people must think we are picking on Gems but that is not so i for one have spent thousands with them over the years and in the good old days very rarely had to return anything because i didnt like it or it didnt look the same as on tv and never had to return because of damage or stone coming loose i loved all the presenters even Ali and would sit and watch any chance i had even at 1am got lots of friends hooked who also bought some gawjuss jewellery i even spent the day at the studios and was amazed how happy they all were but then the rot set in all these good presenters disappeared over night rings were delivered with stones missing or that came loose within days we the regulars know what good stuff they sold and this is our way of telling them what we think
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Graham
Guest Shopper
I agree I was a fan right from day one, I just don't understand why they can just come onto this forum an answer customers questions. They read the forum but just appear not want to do anything about the points raised.
I don't think coming on here telling us not to watch if we don't like a presenter is very constructive, in my opinon they now only have 5 presenters that I enjoy watching, the rest either shout at me or are as dull as dish water.
glitterbug
Registered Shopper
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 197
I have read this forum for a while but only joined recently as it seems to be a place where I can "have my say" to like-minded people. ie people who buy too much jewellery from shopping channels!
I started with Gems tv some time ago and have spent more than I care to think about in that time. Now I just find most of the presenters are so hard to watch that I rarely bother. It isn't just that I find their personal style a turn-off, rather the hype about the mixed-quality products.
I do accept that I know a fair bit about the gems but even with Adina exhorting me to buy because some z-list celeb was sporting a similar style didn't put me off in the past. At least we used to get more hard facts as well.
You certainly can't please everyone but I've settled so buying my cheaper stuff elsewhere and having some off my highend loose gems set by an independent designer.
I still drop in occasionally just to see what's happening but have not been tepted - maybe one day...
I started with Gems tv some time ago and have spent more than I care to think about in that time. Now I just find most of the presenters are so hard to watch that I rarely bother. It isn't just that I find their personal style a turn-off, rather the hype about the mixed-quality products.
I do accept that I know a fair bit about the gems but even with Adina exhorting me to buy because some z-list celeb was sporting a similar style didn't put me off in the past. At least we used to get more hard facts as well.
You certainly can't please everyone but I've settled so buying my cheaper stuff elsewhere and having some off my highend loose gems set by an independent designer.
I still drop in occasionally just to see what's happening but have not been tepted - maybe one day...
Buy too much? Us??!!! Crikey, I never thought of it that way!!
Well, if you could take Adina, then you are a hard core Gems-babe......:grin:
I think you speak for a lot of us.... thanks!
argeybargey
Retired - Don't Quite Fit
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2008
- Messages
- 2,780
I've found of late that I find myself somewhat despising presenters I have enjoyed in the past, it feels as though they've "sold their souls". However, I am aware that it's not so easy when you are either trying to make a career or have a family to fend for. This may be why Gems seem to be moving towards couples (Drew cursing us with Lucy comes to mind), if they have them both then that couple are trapped. xx
persianglitter
Fire up the Quattro!
AB my sentiment too - three women in particular if and when they are on, i cant be bothered to watch, i say three, some days i can make it more lol :flower:
BRING BACK DEREK!
And please will somebody stop hiring presenters whose main requirement seems to be that they have to pretend to be overexcited about every single little thing, presumably actors who want to get on the telly. The point is that unless these people have got experience in teh jewellery industry, they probably know less about jewellery than any of us who have been buying jewellery for years. I find it very condescending and the dramatics are just ridiculous. One of the new girls (I think she is called Liz) has this very irritating habit of waving her right hand around and pointing and I just can't watch her, even if I like the jewellery.
I know that Lynn and Adina and others overdo the dramatics but at least they have been doing teh job for a while and have some knowledge of the industry. These new presenters go on as though they've been on caffeine overdoses and I just wish they'd calm down and stop performing.
And please will somebody stop hiring presenters whose main requirement seems to be that they have to pretend to be overexcited about every single little thing, presumably actors who want to get on the telly. The point is that unless these people have got experience in teh jewellery industry, they probably know less about jewellery than any of us who have been buying jewellery for years. I find it very condescending and the dramatics are just ridiculous. One of the new girls (I think she is called Liz) has this very irritating habit of waving her right hand around and pointing and I just can't watch her, even if I like the jewellery.
I know that Lynn and Adina and others overdo the dramatics but at least they have been doing teh job for a while and have some knowledge of the industry. These new presenters go on as though they've been on caffeine overdoses and I just wish they'd calm down and stop performing.
