The change in your pocket....

[ERICS MUM]

....... Kathy flogging a faux Lola Rose bracelet. 3 easy payments of £4.40, p&p £2.45. Oh she says, you won't notice that - change in your pocket, down the back of the settee, coppers you give the kids, coins you keep in the car for parking etc etc.

Well, I'm on quite a decent pension but I still think twice about spending a fiver on a piece of plastic tat that I could probably get for 99 pence in the Claire's sale (if I wanted it that much). I find this sales patter very patronising.

Sorry if I'm speaking for a minority of one - I'm not implying that anyone else is as tight as I am !:blush:

Linda xx (Bah humbug)

 

[barbedwire]

No - you're not being tight, mean or miserable. They really shouldn't say things like this. I am on a tight income. Anything I buy from Le Q has to be saved for (likewise anywhere else!) and every £5 to me is precious. It isn't change, a throwaway amount or something I wouldn't miss from my Debit Card! If I had £5 down the back of my settee then I'd seriously be questioning my need for a) trousers with better pockets or b) the need to get my delicate little bum cheeks down to the DFS sale (starts 9am Boxing Day) :wink:

 

[Boris Bear]

I saw this too, they love to push easy pay by saying that you only have to pay £x now but of course you do have to pay the full amount eventually. Yes I wouldn't really miss £4.40 but if you buy several items on easy pay then the £4.40s add up. If I was going to buy something I would rather pay in full in any case.

I don't think you are tight Linda, you are just sensible and there's a lot to be said for that.

 

[klarionthewitchboy]

I saw this as well: the part that made my jaw drop was when Kathy said that you wouldn't miss £4.40 as it was "The kids' lunch money".

Now, I'm not sure what sort of parents would rather buy a bit of tat rather than ensure their kids' were fed, but is this REALLY what sort of message QVC wants to be sending out? :sad:

 

[silversequin]

and let's not forget that the p and p won't be lagging far behind the £4.40p so in effect you will be parting with at least £7 to get the piece of tat to your house. Well I could put a good meal for 4 together for £7 with some careful shopping and using my slow cooker!

 

[merryone]

The way I see it, if you're needing to go down the back of the settee, having to root through your pockets and bags to gather up all the loose change you can find, then you're broke and in no position to spend that money on part payment for a piece of plastic tat. Don't get me wrong, a £15 bracelet isn't an expensive item but it is if you can't afford it, and ok, breaking it down into £4 installments would make it easier to buy, but that speaks for itself surely. We don't need to be told by Ms/Mr presenter what we could sacrifice in order to furnish our wrists with plastic, especially not the kid's lunchbox!

 

[Boris Bear]

The way I see it, if you're needing to go down the back of the settee, having to root through your pockets and bags to gather up all the loose change you can find, then you're broke and in no position to spend that money on part payment for a piece of plastic tat. Don't get me wrong, a £15 bracelet isn't an expensive item but it is if you can't afford it, and ok, breaking it down into £4 installments would make it easier to buy, but that speaks for itself surely. We don't need to be told by Ms/Mr presenter what we could sacrifice in order to furnish our wrists with plastic, especially not the kid's lunchbox!

I agree, I have often seen less expensive QVC items being sold with easy pay and thought that if you need easy pay then maybe it would be wise to reconsider whether you need the item. I appreciate that there are lots of expenses leading up to Christmas and understand why people would use easy pay to spread the load but "treating" yourself to this is a different scenario.

 

[silversequin]

And let's face it, they are not really trading in life's essentials are they? Visited a good friend on Christmas Eve who had just received the news that she is to be made redundant soon and this, sadly is quite a common scenario.

 

[missshopalot]

I'm glad it's not just me then. I also saw this and felt like phoning in but was too embarrassed! I was made redundant in 2008, used my redundo money to pay the bills while I went to college for a year (couldn't gey any benefit because I was was doing 17 hours a week at college and the max you can do is 16 to claim), and at the end of 2009 got the job I was aiming for. Now although I am earning, it is only just enough to cover my outgoings and every last penny is accounted for. So, hearing that £4.40 is what you'd have rattling around the bottom of your handbag just made me sit back and think more than ever how out of touch the presenters really are.
Do QVC believe that the only people watching are those with money coming out of their ears, able to buy absolutely anything on a whim?

:mysmilie_365:

 

[loveheart]

I am sorry for all the unemployed and poor people who watch QVC and I speak as one of them, I have been out of work for 6 months however I can't get upset or annoyed at a woman on a shopping channel saying silly things to me. OK, to a lot of people £4.00 odd is nothing and to others it's a fortune but it's my choice to watch QVC and I decide what I want to buy and what I can't afford.

 

[merryone]

I am sorry for all the unemployed and poor people who watch QVC and I speak as one of them, I have been out of work for 6 months however I can't get upset or annoyed at a woman on a shopping channel saying silly things to me. OK, to a lot of people £4.00 odd is nothing and to others it's a fortune but it's my choice to watch QVC and I decide what I want to buy and what I can't afford.

As a watcher of QVC, I find these little observations that we make, great talking points, and imo make this forum all the "richer". At times (many times) the presenters do come out with stuff that is either insensitive, and downright ridiculous (eg suggestions for teacher's gifts). Do, I follow their advice to the letter...No, of course I don't, Do I switch channels when it's getting on my nerves?...most certainly, yes. In fact I did that very thing yesterday 'cause if I heard Dennice on IW say "Little Yellow" one more time, I think I might have smashed the telly! Am I really angry or upset by what they say? No, but in this case for example the OP did make me think., sadly not everybody has the good sense to consider the consequences of buying something they cannot afford, and therefore do not do it. It might be a cheap plastic bracelet, but it's got to start somewhere. I believe a lot of elderly and/or lonely people watch shopping channels as they are friendly and chatty, you've only got to hear some of the T.callers who phone into say they've just bought their 100th item of Indigo Moon! Shopping channels can be dangerously addictive, and what an easy way to start, gathering all your loose change together, like i say, not everyone has the good sense, willpower to step back and think.

 

[amn]

And let's face it, they are not really trading in life's essentials are they? Visited a good friend on Christmas Eve who had just received the news that she is to be made redundant soon and this, sadly is quite a common scenario.

Mr amn recieved similar glad tidings two weeks before chrimbo.

 

[Capirossi]

On the other hand, you have to bear in mind that the presenters are not talking to you personally. They have a wide audience, all ages, all incomes. They are a sales channel, they (rightly I suppose) assume that people are watching with the intention to buy. If they dumbed it all down, empathising to the people who can't really afford to shop with them I am sure they would have a barrage of compaints about being patronising!! I am deeply sorry for anyone who has lost their job, but we must remember that QVC is a shop and the presenters are there to sell. Don't take it so personally. I hate it when people comment on my spending habits. I work full time and I will spend my money on what I like thank you very much. This doesn't mean that I am not sorry for all those people who have lost their jobs. Lesson one: Shopping Telly is a shop, just happens to be on tv. If you are sensitive to other people being able to buy things when you can't, don't watch! Lesson two: don't take things so personally! Live your life to the best of your ability and b&gger everyone else!!

Ok, rant over, sorry :blush:

 

[merryone]

On the other hand, you have to bear in mind that the presenters are not talking to you personally. They have a wide audience, all ages, all incomes. They are a sales channel, they (rightly I suppose) assume that people are watching with the intention to buy. If they dumbed it all down, empathising to the people who can't really afford to shop with them I am sure they would have a barrage of compaints about being patronising!! I am deeply sorry for anyone who has lost their job, but we must remember that QVC is a shop and the presenters are there to sell. Don't take it so personally. I hate it when people comment on my spending habits. I work full time and I will spend my money on what I like thank you very much. This doesn't mean that I am not sorry for all those people who have lost their jobs. Lesson one: Shopping Telly is a shop, just happens to be on tv. If you are sensitive to other people being able to buy things when you can't, don't watch! Lesson two: don't take things so personally! Live your life to the best of your ability and b&gger everyone else!!

Ok, rant over, sorry :blush:

Not strictly true......Yes, it is in the way that it offers goods for sale, but for some (sadly), it's a way of life, the presenters are like "friends" in their living room, coming to trust them, will take advice from them, like you would do a friend. As for taking things "personally", why would I? I've got a job, I'm reasonably comfortable financially. I don't want to switch off thank you, but I would like the presenters just to consider, that to some they are more than just a shop! I live my life to the best of my ability thank you, but bugger everyone else? .....not always!

 

[Boris Bear]

No, but in this case for example the OP did make me think., sadly not everybody has the good sense to consider the consequences of buying something they cannot afford, and therefore do not do it. It might be a cheap plastic bracelet, but it's got to start somewhere.

I posted somewhere else about easy pay being easy debt, which was originally posted here. Someone else replied that they had ordered something on easy pay but it wasn't debt as they would pay for it with their debit card. I replied that if you buy something and only pay 1/3 of the cost then you owe 2/3 of the cost and that is debt. So yes I agree with you that not everyone has lots of commom sense when it comes to finances.

 

[ringtree]

That is very true boris bear - easy pay is a debt until it is paid - i had never thought of it like that really. but QVC is an expensive shop really and not a cheap bargain hunters paradise. so it should be treated with respect or caution. but i think the change in your pocket is a misleading idea as none of us have money to spare. also tv is more seductive than the high street as it is in your home.