Are All Infomercials Scams?

For the past year I’ve been an operator for several of the big names of the infomercial industry. I’ve learned all the tricks. I know how they get you to buy more than you originally intended. I’ve talked to you over the phone and realized how your credit card will be charged more than you realize-unless you ask me one important question. I’ve taken orders and wished I could tell you one secret to save you time and money. But I’ve always had to do my job. I could never vary from the script the company puts in front of me. Now I’m going to tell you the secrets that can save you time and money.

Awesome or Junk

The first question you may be wondering is–do the products work? Unfortunately, that question is impossible to answer. It is the same as if you go shopping at the store. Some products will become your favorites and you will use them every day while others will collect dust and you’ll wonder why you needed to buy a new exercise DVD when you have ten others that you never use. Infomercials are governed by law and you will be hard pressed to find a definite scam. You will get the product that you paid for. Whether it works well or not will depend on the company.

Call to Action

Call to buy this product in the next ten minutes and we’ll knock off one of the payments!” You hear the urgent voice on the commercial urging you to act now so that you can save money on the product or get another item thrown in for free. Try this the next time you see a commercial. Call the operator after the call to action time has elapsed and ask what the price is or if the bonus shown on the TV is still available.

This isn’t false advertising. If you call in the next ten minutes you will get what is offered on the television. Chances are, though, you will get the same bonus if you call an hour later or even next week. This call to action is meant to reel you in before you have a chance to think about whether or not you want the product. Infomercials aren’t scamming you when they do this. Local stores do it in their advertisements as well. Hurry, these savings won’t last long!” It’s a powerful and almost hypnotic marketing technique. But once you know about it you can avoid falling under its spell.

Customer Service

When you call to order the product, you are given the impression of a company that runs smoothly and efficiently. You rarely have to wait on hold. Your operator is probably American and helpful. And, of course, the order line is a toll free number and is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can feel confident ordering from a place like this.

But, what if you decide to return the product? What if you agree to take the trial offer of vitamins but you’ll need to call and cancel? Is it the same number? Your customer service experience can be vastly different from your ordering experience. They want to make the ordering experience easy, but the returning hard. Before you order a product, your first phone call should only be to ask for the customer service number and hours. You may be surprised at how much harder it is to contact customer service than it is to contact the order line. Some companies do not even have a toll free number for customer service. Others might use American operators for their order takers but outsource customer service. Another problem might be long wait times. Call the customer service number. If you can easily get through then you can feel confident about ordering the product.

Get a Better Deal

Some companies offer better deals than what they have advertised on the television. How do you get those? You might be offered a reduced price if you cancel your order. Either the operator might be able to give you a better deal on the spot to save the deal, or you might get a call from the company later offering the same product at a better price. There is no way to know beforehand whether or not a better deal can be offered, so doing this might be a waste of your time.

Another, and perhaps easier, way to get a better deal is to search for the product online or even in the stores. Some stores have an as seen on tv section. You might not get the bonus products that are shown on tv, but you can save a lot of money.

It Cost How Much to Ship?

You watch the commercial and see the price and the little print that says “plus shipping and handling.” Don’t assume that you know how much the item will cost to ship or that the company will tell you. Some companies are wonderful about the shipping and handling. Just because they are selling their products by infomercial doesn’t mean that they are out to scam you of your money. These companies charge fair shipping and handling and will tell you how much it will be before your order is placed.

Other companies, however, don’t want you to know how much s&h; is. They’ll tell you if you ask, but they certainly won’t volunteer the information. Because they include handling, they can charge more than the actual shipping costs. So a small light weight package that you though would only cost a few dollars to ship might cost $10. If you buy more than one of the product you might get discounted s&h;, or they might charge you the original price again. Don’t get off the phone until you ask about this price, or your card might be charged more than you though.

The Never Ending Upsells

You see a product you want on television and you call to order. You are then offered ten related items to make the original product so much better. It’s not a scam, but it can be annoying. You ask the operator to skip the additional products, but you are offered another product instead. Why? Well, the operator is simply doing her job. You can usually skip these but you need to know the magic phrase. What you say depends on the company. Some companies will allow the operator to skip the upsells if you say that you don’t want to hear any more offers a couple of times. For other companies, you may have to threaten to cancel your order to get the operator to skip them. Whatever you do, don’t get angry at the operator. They can get fired if they don’t perform their jobs and no one is willing to risk unemployment to save a stranger a couple of minutes.

One trick some companies use with upsells is to sell you additional items that sound similar to the original product and price. Some customers who aren’t paying close attention will say yes to an upsell and agree to purchase an additional product but think that they are only agreeing to the original offer. This is caught later on if the customer asks for a total price but several customers hang up at the end of the call without asking for a total. You can avoid this trap if you listen carefully and ask for a total.

The Final Verdict

Infomercial companies want your money and will employ these legal tricks to get more moolah from you than you realized. Most of the people who complain about being scammed by infomercial companies weren’t lied to or had money taken from bank accounts without their permission; they simply didn’t listen and fell for the marketing traps. But I’ve exposed these traps for everyone to see. If you’re careful, you can now buy over the phone with confidence and never fall for a scam.