Random musings and general banter.

[Jazzydrury]

I do wonder if Dean had already agreed to go back to C&C before Thursday, there vacancies, and he has always felt loved by the viewers, guests have said how happy they are to have him present there shows again

 

[Jazzydrury]

Hasn’t Joe had a spell on Crafters Companion TV ? He will be know what it’s about on C&C. Also Jodie ( Tonic) started off in catering didn’t she.

Yeah to all of that

 

[cheeky chappie]

As a looooong time viewer of IW and long time poster, as always everything comes to an end, and just a special nod and thanks to a few superb posters on this forum, The Duke of Cheese, Hammy60, SiRich and Cheeky Chappy, Many thanks best wishes and best of health in the future.

Thanks SCO, sincerely wishing you and everyone else on here the same.

As you say, everything comes to an end. From my own point of view, I can remember looking at selly telly almost in wonder when I first got cable tv all those years ago. I suppose partly because I was younger, partly because it was a new thing in the UK. I'd only had the 5 main channels up to that point. Truth be told I was never a hardcore watcher of any selly telly channel and never bought anything off them, however I used to enjoy watching bits and pieces of IW and before it closed, Bid back in the day. More for entertainment than anything to do with shopping I suppose.

Gradually though I started to see IW in a different light. Don't get me wrong, I never looked on them as saints in the first place! However the underhand selling tactics started to increasingly annoy me and I think they maybe got worse for that in their latter years. With hindsight those tactics were maybe partly (or largely) linked to an increasingly precarious financial position behind the scenes. The increased pressure selling, Peter S saying things like 'where can you buy a vacuum like this for only £29.99?!?' when that was actually the first of 4 flexi payments but not verbally mentioned. The bullsh1t about low remaining numbers and sell outs. Waxing lyrical about obviously cheap watches as if they were worth hundreds more and could indeed sell for thousands. etc etc. Barrow boy tactics dialed up to 10.

I still however don't knock selly telly in its entirety. It still has its place (although I think that will increasingly become more precarious) and for those who enjoy watching and/or buying, who am I to judge. Whatever floats your boat as they say.

Can I just say not only has this televisual journey been thoroughly ... it's also been a delight to behold the masterly way in which ... and of course we can't forget the illusionary exemplar methods of ... purity of examples ... earthly conduits of time ... leading me to conclude only one thing ...

JUST BUY IT

 

[Flying Pigs]

Not all viewers are welcoming Dean back full time with open arms as is it less about crafting and more about the life of Dean.

 

[Deleted member 21838]

Just thinking about a Worst Ever Items Top Ten.... Probably a Top 100 is easily possible. But in anyone's IW Worst Top 10 has to be that cockney barrow boy type from The Apprentice and his 'magical' golf club..

 

[Hammy60]

As a looooong time viewer of IW and long time poster, as always everything comes to an end, and just a special nod and thanks to a few superb posters on this forum, The Duke of Cheese, Hammy60, SiRich and Cheeky Chappy, Many thanks best wishes and best of health in the future.

Thank you for your kind words and same back at you S C O, best wishes and good health , had many a laugh and serious moments reading & posting on here. Watching IW has been a real strange affair, the channel & presenters could evoke so many extreme emotions, one moment they would have you in fits of laughter with their sheer idiotic comments and behaviour to the next when you'd be utterly irritated and angered with them for spouting lies & misinformation or saying check out your baskets/gonna sell out for the 100th time in a show.

 

[Hammy60]

Just thinking about a Worst Ever Items Top Ten.... Probably a Top 100 is easily possible. But in anyone's IW Worst Top 10 has to be that cockney barrow boy type from The Apprentice and his 'magical' golf club..

Guest that's thick as mince selling cheap Chinese junk.

I give you............

Baby Fields with Swan & Edgar watches.

 

[SiRich]

Thank you for your kind words and same back at you S C O, best wishes and good health , had many a laugh and serious moments reading & posting on here. Watching IW has been a real strange affair, the channel & presenters could evoke so many extreme emotions, one moment they would have you in fits of laughter with their sheer idiotic comments and behaviour to the next when you'd be utterly irritated and angered with them for spouting lies & misinformation or saying check out your baskets/gonna sell out for the 100th time in a show.

Wonder if anyone ever actually checked out a basket in response to that relentless plea with the occasional ‘i dont want you to miss this opportunity’ chucked in for good measure or 70 percent sold answers on the back of a postage stamp.

What a naive and shoddy rabble they were.

 

[SiRich]

Guest that's thick as mince selling cheap Chinese junk.

I give you............

Baby Fields with Swan & Edgar watches.

is his old man mr gamages and egg?

Gave the impression that if he had a brain cell, it would be lonely, on qvc last week.

 

[stratobuddy]

Just thinking about a Worst Ever Items Top Ten.... Probably a Top 100 is easily possible. But in anyone's IW Worst Top 10 has to be that cockney barrow boy type from The Apprentice and his 'magical' golf club..

Don't forget those glass healing angels

 

[harrytumkins]

Have I missed anything?

Not had a chance to read the forum yet but will do later tonight

Firstly I have sympathy for anybody who loses a job

I have seen some snippets on social media from some of the presenters quotes including "profits over people"
and "I want to say a lot we have been told things but I can't"

Now I am sorry but Ideal World was a business, not a charity, it hadn't made money for a LONG time, and eventually, all the assets were stripped
because it has been in a dire state for a long time.

I am unsure if some of the presenters are deluded about the whole thing but lets remember it "was upgrade work" only weeks ago we were told and everybody on this thread knew that was highly likely to be utter rubbish. Being told to say it on air is one thing but believing it I do not buy for a moment.

A fair few have been here before and if this thread could see the end was nigh (we all thought it was a possibility months ago then it was a matter of when the last month) I personally do not believe the presenters thought all was good, in fact, that isn't possible.

I would love to know more about what the TJC "buying" the Freeview 22 from Ideal World a while back actually involved, I suspect as well as a cash injection for Ideal at the time it gave TJC some other benefits (the sudden influx of some Ideal product lines/suppliers) and even presenters who at the very least had an Ideal World connection.

This thread has been great and will be massively missed by me, all the best to everyone who has ever posted

 

[Deleted member 21838]

This is a recent Trust Pilot review:-

Ordered garden furniture before it went bust. Money gone, no delivery even though I had an email saying it was being processed. Emailed, obviously no response. Very angry they still took payment for order when they were in this position

Did those final days presenters present to air goods they knew, or had a good idea, would never be delivered to those ordering them?

 

[Deleted member 21838]

Here’s another…


Took a £599.99 (in full), Order for Garden Furniture on 25/6/2023.
Told that we would receive our Order within 7 to 10 days….., then NOTHING:

No messages,
No Garden Furniture and
No Refund of my missing £599.99 (now: 10/07/2023)

Date of experience: 10 July 2023

 

[Jazzydrury]

Have I missed anything?

Not had a chance to read the forum yet but will do later tonight

Firstly I have sympathy for anybody who loses a job

I have seen some snippets on social media from some of the presenters quotes including "profits over people"
and "I want to say a lot we have been told things but I can't"

Now I am sorry but Ideal World was a business, not a charity, it hadn't made money for a LONG time, and eventually, all the assets were stripped
because it has been in a dire state for a long time.

I am unsure if some of the presenters are deluded about the whole thing but lets remember it "was upgrade work" only weeks ago we were told and everybody on this thread knew that was highly likely to be utter rubbish. Being told to say it on air is one thing but believing it I do not buy for a moment.

A fair few have been here before and if this thread could see the end was nigh (we all thought it was a possibility months ago then it was a matter of when the last month) I personally do not believe the presenters thought all was good, in fact, that isn't possible.

I would love to know more about what the TJC "buying" the Freeview 22 from Ideal World a while back actually involved, I suspect as well as a cash injection for Ideal at the time it gave TJC some other benefits (the sudden influx of some Ideal product lines/suppliers) and even presenters who at the very least had an Ideal World connection.

This thread has been great and will be massively missed by me, all the best to everyone who has ever posted

Don’t go anywhere young Harry Im sure we will continue on here or a new thread, plus we need more content on your channel

For those who haven’t got the furniture, is it worth them contacting you garden

 

[Paul B]

I'm thinking of stepping in and filling the void left by IW with my own shopping Channel.

Provisionally named 'The Luxury Gift Channel', I'd like your suggestions for which currently 'resting' telly selly veterans I could consider employing and what sort of products I can offer?

FYI the products will all be of the highest quality and will be priced accordingly (between £1.99 and £19.99 ex P&P).

 

[Deleted member 21838]

As Harry said along the lines of and so eloquently, the presenters cannot have it both ways. They either had no idea the website wasn’t really down, but perhaps had the plug pulled until some more money was found, or they were completely aware of that, and a lot more. And if so to the latter, It’s no good therefore getting all moral and precious after the pack of cards fell down permanently. Not when they were telling the viewers and potential customers on air one thing, but knowing something off air completely different. And if this led in turn to people buying things in the final days, thinking that the business was running smoothly-things that they have ultimately not received - then the presenters concerned are every bit as culpable for that as the business itself overall in my opinion. I still really can’t get it inside my head, a presenter selling an expensive piece of furniture that they were pretty sure was going to have serious problems in ever reaching the buyer because of the dire state of the business. If so, it just turns my stomach. Sometimes the need for basic human decency outweighs the need to bring in monies to a failing business.

 

[harrytumkins]

Well said Duke

The moment when the £599.99 garden set went from " a few left" and "limited stock" to as many as you like with zero explanation must have been a warning sign for even the most positive

Did the last batch of this set ever exist?

 

[Deleted member 21838]

Maybe their resident expert on stock levels, Von Sellzhinaire, would know, H.. He was virtually living in the studio for the last few days they were going, wasn't he? I presume he wasn't doing that for free either?? I hope he feels proud of those last few days 'work'.

 

[PhædrusR]

When I was catching up the hundreds of messages the other day, somebody said that there was a comedy on BBC Sounds called Buy Me Up, a send up of shopping telly, sorry can't remember who said it on here.

There's 2 episodes plus a pilot. They're not available for long, the pilot expires in 12 days. I heard the pilot and it was hilarious! Selling absolute tat and the presenters are ghastly. Will hear the rest this weeknd.

Just had notification of another 3rd Buy Me Up episode from 22nd Mar 2008, with guest Rich Hall. Available for 28 days it says. Downloaded it.

Episodes 1 (Eamonn Holmes), 2 (Ruth Madoc rip) and the Pilot episode also still available.

 

[PhædrusR]

TjcThey're probably the worst watch brand on IW & TJC for spouting absolute bullshit. They're watches are overpriced and some of the lowest quality on shopping TV. They don't design or make anything they just pick from various options offered by the Chinese watch wholesalers like these folk.

Hong Kong & China Online Wholesale and Manufacturing Suppliers | HKTDC Sourcing

Source quality products online from reliable China and Hong Kong wholesale suppliers & Chinese manufacturers on HKTDC Online Marketplace, a leading HKTDC sourcing platform connecting global buyers with Asia & China wholesalers and China manufacturers. Try the HKTDC sourcing service now.

sourcing.hktdc.com

Alibaba.com

Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com

This early model on IW they claimed took 6 months to design, hand assemble by their expert watchmakers, sold around the £120 mark.
View attachment 26014

In reality the watch didn't need 6 months to design as it already exist, Swan & Edgar just went to the Chinese watch wholesalers and picked the watch from a catalogue and added their branding.

You can get the same watch for £27 direct from China and that's retail not the much lower wholesale price that Swan & Edgar would be paying.

View attachment 26015

So you can buy the same watch model for *ONLY* £695 from Gamages.london website. Presumably to appeal to International Americans who think they're getting some sort of London caché?!

Limited Edition Grand Exhibition Automatic - GAMAGES of London

[vc_row full_width="stretch_row_content_no_spaces" el_id="coloana"][vc_column offset="vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs"][/vc_column][/vc_row]

gamages.london

Or a "bargain" (not) from TJC for a more reasonable yet still more than from China £89:

GAMAGES OF LONDON Limited Edition Hand Assembled Grand Exhibition Automatic Watch - Brown - 6717359 - TJC

GAMAGES OF LONDON Limited Edition Hand Assembled Grand Exhibition Automatic Watch - Brown - 6717359 - TJC

www.tjc.co.uk

(*slight mod of the 3 o'clock sub-dial complication, facia printing)

Hmmm, 'caveat emptor', as they say.