Product quality not always ‘as seen on TV’

If the experts are right, increasing numbers of consumers will be shopping by phone, mail, or online this holiday season. If our 30-year experience is any teacher, a growing number of those shoppers will contact us with complaints about junk merchandise, non-delivery, items that don’t perform as promised, or products that don’t work at all.

Lorraine L. of Ellsworth wrote recently: “I ordered an ‘Easy Folder’ through a 1-800 number after seeing an ad on TV. Next to ironing, I hate folding laundry more than any other household chore and the ‘Easy Folder’ promised to make folding laundry simple. When the product arrived about three weeks later, it consisted of several sheets of plastic that bent in a variety of ways depending on what you want to fold. Not only was it of cheap manufacture, you’d have to be an engineer to understand the instructions. I tried the ‘Easy (yeah, right) Folder’ on some towels and it was more work than if I had just folded them by hand.”

Ms. L. went on to say, “I feel like such an idiot! I paid $23.65 for this junk which now sits useless in my laundry room. I don’t expect to get my money back, but I want to warn others about this product and from now on I will make sure my credit card and TV are not in the same room.”

Well, the company that marketed the “Easy Folder” offered a “money-back guarantee” so we contacted them on Lorraine’s behalf anyway. Three months and four letters to the company later, she had her refund of $23.65 and had learned an important lesson in the process.

Priscilla R. of Belfast had a similar experience when she ordered a “Magic Hair Wand” that promised to make hair styling a “snap.” “The only thing that ‘snapped,'” Priscilla writes, “was the thing itself. The product, for which I paid $13.70 (including shipping and handling) was a thin strip of plastic that literally snapped in half while I was trying to braid my daughter’s hair. Even worse, the damaged end was sharp and scratched my daughter’s head when it broke. I guess that teaches me for buying something sight unseen on impulse.”

That’s the ticket Priscilla, these TV and Internet deals depend on impulse buying. Maybe you should do what Lorraine (above) did. Keep your credit card in another room when you are watching TV.

Cathy K. of Hampden experienced an even more complicated situation when she ordered a “Child’s Collection of Christmas Classics,” a CD containing 21 songs for $9.95. Within a month after receiving the first CD, Cathy began receiving additional disks priced at $24.79 each. When she called the company, they reminded her that the ad stated “you will receive additional disks in the collection on a monthly basis.” Cathy had been busy writing the 1-800 number down and missed that comment. There was an option to cancel, but it took 7 months, 7 returned disks, five letters, and four calls to the company before the mailings (and charges to her credit card) stopped. “Lord, what a hassle,” Cathy wrote COMBAT, “I had no idea!”

Companies that market these products count on naive consumers Cathy. So in addition to keeping your credit card and the TV in separate rooms, we suggest you read (or listen) to the “fine print” in these ads before ordering.

In all of the above cases, the time and gasoline spent buying at local stores would have been far less of a hassle because the refund line at the service desk usually moves faster than mail. Sometimes at-home “convenience” shopping isn’t so convenient.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT/The Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. For help or to request individual or business membership information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.