I'd be very surprised if Gemporia are around in 6 months time (even more so if they're still here in 12 months).
There are so many things wrong, I just can't see how it can survive without a massive overhaul from top-to-bottom.
- It's become highly boring to watch. Long lectures from the three amigos and the same gemstones over and over again (especially Jade).
- The presenter line-up is the worst I've ever known. Even Price Drop / Bid TV had a better line-up than this - that's how bad it is!
- Prices up (considerably)
- Quality down (considerably)
- Customer service has gone into severe decline (considerably).
- Far too many misleading and ludicrous claims that may (debatable!) just about stay within trading laws and broadcasting guidelines, but morally, are very questionable.
- No identity or USP any more. Gone are the days of 'Good quality at affordable prices'. A lot of the jewellery now is low quality at over-the-top prices.
- They've gone from being a unique jewellery channel to another general selly-telly TV channel that is of the TJC and Ideal World mould.
Steve has been back for around 5 weeks now - and what has changed for the better? Quicker refunds. That's it. I can't think of anything else that has changed.
Sure, its going to take months for 'physical' changes - new designs need to be made and imported, they need to flog old stock to make way for new stock, etc. I accept that these things take time. I wouldn't expect an overnight change.
But other issues, that viewers have made clear are huge reasons for turning off, remain. For example:
- Why are the three amigos (but predominantly Dave Troth), STILL giving us lectures every day, multiple times a day?
- Why so much Jade? I appreciate they've got to shift stock - but does it really need to be on EVERY day? At least give us a break from it periodically.
- Why are the overnight hours shows still so bad? The sound and graphics have been out of sync for weeks. Surely this is a relatively quick fix for their technical staff.
- Why does it still take so long to get through to customer services on the phone? Once upon a time, getting through was easy - but now, at certain times of the day, it can take 20 minutes or so to get through to someone. If they've made call centre staff redundant, then they could easily make some options available on the web that would easily reduce phone calls. Why not give us the option to cancel an item online, rather then having to phone up to do it? Why not give us the option to increase quantity of an ordered item in case we want to add an extra one later in the day? (Something I used to do quite often on Gem Collector). If they've been unable to take payment or payment on a split pay item, then why not give us the option to make the missed payment online instead of having to phone up to do it? Again, simple things for their IT department to add to the website. This would then reduce the amount of people calling in because people would only need to phone up for things they can't do online, such as price pledges, general queries and questions, calling about a return, etc.
There are so many things that need to be 'fixed', I just think they're now 'trapped' in the situation they're in. They can't change the presenter line-up without employing more presenters - which, they presumably can't do in their current financial situation - but they won't get customers back (and therefore, income too) if the presenters that drove them away in the first place, remain. They also won't get new customers or returning customers if Gemporia continually annoy them with constant Jadeite shows and Dave Troth ramblings that bore people to tears. All of those things have a negative affect on income - but they need more income to change some of the other issues that they currently have (they need money in the bank to get a wider variety of gemstones, money in the bank to get new designs made, money in the bank to have an overhaul of presenters, etc). I'm not sure how they break this cycle - unless Steve puts more of his own money into the business - and I can't see him doing that because I get the impression he lost interest with Gemporia 5 or 6 years ago, plus, will he really want to risk losing his own money should Gemporia not manage to survive?
As for the non-gemstone items. I understand why they've done it. As time goes on, more and more mines close, stones become harder to find, stones that have become popular or rare go from being affordable to unaffordable, etc. But is the solution more non-gemstone items? If they're struggling to create enough jewellery to fill airtime, then simply reduce airtime. Close COMPLETELY between midnight and 7am. No re-runs. No staff in. Close completely. That gives them more jewellery to last throughout daytime hours, and also saves them overheads overnight because they wouldn't need call centre staff outside of opening times, they wouldn't need producers / directors / floor managers / middle-management, etc.
IF they really do need to have non-gemstone items on-air, then why not have dedicated days and / or times for those shows so that people know when to tune in to, or when to avoid, those days / hours? Everyone will know where they stand then. If people have stayed in on pay day to treat themselves to some jewellery, they're going to be frustrated if they tune in to find Dave Troths wonder coffee, Katies face paint, Steves Primal Pile cream, or Hattie and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat. Whereas if people know in advance that every Wednesday is non-gemstone product day, or every Thursday between 4pm and 6pm is Destello day, viewers will know then that Wednesdays aren't worth watching because they're not interested, or Thursday between 4pm and 6pm is essential viewing so don't bother arranging that cup of tea and slice of cake with Aunt Sally.
A few people have said that Gemporia should branch out into synthetic gemstones - but as far as I am concerned, that would be the final nail in the coffin for me. In my opinion, synthetic gemstones are over-priced costume jewellery. They may look nice, and they may look as good, or better, than a real gemstone - but, they have no history. No worth. No value. They're man made. Surely the whole idea of gemstones is their fascination of being formed naturally, their rarity, their history and their potential value? A synthetic Ruby may look nice, but as far as I'm concerned, it has no more appeal for me than a piece of red glass. Both man-made, low cost to produce (and therefore, low worth), both can be made in endless amounts, so there's no rarity. No, just no. Synthetics looks "too good" too. Why would I want a synthetic Ruby that is flawless? Why would I want a synthetic Ruby that looks identical to someone else's synthetic Ruby? Inclusions are unique to each gemstone and gives each stone its own look and appeal. Differing shades of colour make each gemstone unique. Someone's Amethyst gemstone could look much deeper or lighter than someone else's Amethyst - but both look equally as beautiful. What about the unusual piece of Clear Quartz that has a large blue Gilalite inclusion in it? You just don't get them abnormal / unorthodox stones in synthetic form.
If they wanted to go down the synthetic route and have a channel dedicated solely to synthetics, then sure, fair enough - but synthetics on the main Gemporia channel? It's a big no for me - my custom would be lost once and for all.
Plus where would it end? Would anyone pay for synthetics in gold? Personally, I wouldn't. Precious gemstones belong in precious metals. I don't see the point in putting a worthless man-made stone in precious metal.
Again, in my opinion, synthetics would need a channel of their own and priced accordingly. Maybe bung them in Stainless Stell rather than wasting Silver and / or precious metals too.
