What's been your biggest waste of money from QVC?

[thatu]

Mine was definitely the Jack la Lanne juicer. Cost about £230, used about 6 times, a real faff to clean and sat on the worktop for years before OH nor I couldn't stand the sight of it any more so took it to the tip. If anyone has scrounged it from there, good luck to them. I couldn't charge anyone to have that amount of cleaning and still have bits in their juice, so a total waste of money and left too late to take advantage of the 30-day MBG.

 

[whitesnake]

My Emu stinger Lo boots. I cannot walk in them. They slip and slide about and hurt my shins when I wore them. I use them as slippers when its freezing. After a few wears my big toes went through the sheepskin. An absolute waste of money

 

[whitesnake]

Oh I have just remembered something else that was really bad too. A few years ago I bought a Prestigio tablet from QVC, they no longer sell this range but its gone over to Ideal World. It was so slow and kept freezing and eventually just would not turn on. I contacted QVC to tell them but they did not want to know. It was not cheap, about £160.00 but it was not fit for purpose. I just thought this was how tablets worked, that they were slow and clunky things till I saw a friends Hudl from Tesco. I bought one of these and I have not looked back since. I am so cross that I fell for the QVC hype and bought the Prestigio rubbish. I should have kept well away especially having never heard of the actual brand. It was a stupid impulsive purchase that I regret to this day.

 

[Miss Grumpy]

Collectively, all the exercise equipment. My obsession started with the Total Trainer in 2000, progressed to the Pilates Reformer, via the LegMaster, the various Pilates things and rings to hang on door frames, two Tony Little steppers, and all the rest.

Result, loss of at least £1000 in money, zero lbs in weight, and ripped knee tendons requiring two lots of surgery.

Nowadays I walk. Costs nothing.

 

[Brissles]

There have been SO many !!!

I think in a haze of red wine I succumbed to a 3 tier illuminated plastic drinks fountain by Kirkland (Costco trade name) - it was a tsv and I thought how useful it would be for parties. Er, WHAT ****** parties ? I barely have 3 people for dinner, let alone a houseful for parties ! It remained in its box in the garage for years and I finally donated it as a raffle prize.

Then there was the watering can with hose pipe attached - I thought that would be one way around the hose-pipe ban ! Still new in its box.

The most expensive was a dvd player that also (allegedly) converted videos to dvd. Dear Lord it cost me over £500 and it took me 4 years and a 15 year old nephew to show me how to use the dvd player function ! This was around 2006, I'd just retired and thought it would see me out, - well, it wore me out ..... mentally !

 

[Turandot]

No one big purchase but over the years multiple things I should have returned but didn't.Examples - Time Bomb TSV.Dennis Basso mac which never got worn, various fashion items never returned but never worn.Oh yes a Bibi Bijoux TSV with the dangling heart.Still not worn in public.

Now I am much more strict with myself ,don't impulse buy and I know the fashion will not suit me.

 

[Pick-a-Lily]

Oh God, where to begin?
Total Trainer, no no noooo! hair removal , lock & lock tubs in all the wrong sizes, frumpy kim & co clobber, unwearable Skechers, blistering Birkenstocks, 'non tarnish' tarnishing jewellery boxes, tonnes of beauty products that went rancid before I got round to using them, ludicrously expensive shower gels, ugly & completely obviously 'faux' diamonds, and no doubt a million other things that fail to come to mind. Such a lot of money wasted over so many years, I feel quite ashamed.

 

[maymorganlondon]

I've wasted a fair amount over the years - it's a case of kissing a lot of frogs to find your prince!

I stupidly bought fashion intending to slim down to fit it... then after the 30day MGB I realised that even if/when I slim down, they would still not be items I would wear... so there are some never worn items which have made their way into the charity bag.

I've bought a lot of other stuff, but happily have been very pleased with the majority of what I've bought.

 

[boffy]

bethlehem lights 4 purchases of industrial lighting that is not industrial

 

[Letz-be-avenue]

For me it has to be a pair of Birkinstocks, that made unattractive feet look even less appealing, and so big! I don't think I ever left the house in them. Also every large jar candle I have bought from Yankee/QVC this year has had such a weak scent I have thrown most of them away, I shan't be buying anymore and will stick to melts as they seem to have a much better throw

 

[Brissles]

I've wasted a fair amount over the years - it's a case of kissing a lot of frogs to find your prince!

I stupidly bought fashion intending to slim down to fit it... then after the 30day MGB I realised that even if/when I slim down, they would still not be items I would wear... so there are some never worn items which have made their way into the charity bag.
I've bought a lot of other stuff, but happily have been very pleased with the majority of what I've bought.

Oh THE GUILT when this happens ! shoving stuff in the black bag so you don't see it, is a bit like throwing unopened food away that's past its date. I do it with my eyes closed, and then once its gone I never think about it again. Although my saving grace is believing I'm helping a charity with my unwanted goods - if I had to write a cheque of equal amount that I'd given it would amount to thousands..... GULP !

 

[Pick-a-Lily]

I registered as a gift aid donor with British Heart Foundation, and they send me a letter every now and then to let me know how much they have sold my donated items for - and how much the gift aid has increased the amount by, which is the actual purpose of the letter. It's certainly an eye opener to see that my unworn, and often still labelled, contributions really only raise a tiny fraction of what I paid for them. I console myself with the thought that perhaps someone very needy will benefit, but I do wonder sometimes how much is creamed off by charity staff before it even hits the rail, or is bought for peanuts and resold on eBay by someone with more wit than myself!

 

[Miss Grumpy]

I registered as a gift aid donor with British Heart Foundation, and they send me a letter every now and then to let me know how much they have sold my donated items for - and how much the gift aid has increased the amount by, which is the actual purpose of the letter. It's certainly an eye opener to see that my unworn, and often still labelled, contributions really only raise a tiny fraction of what I paid for them. I console myself with the thought that perhaps someone very needy will benefit, but I do wonder sometimes how much is creamed off by charity staff before it even hits the rail, or is bought for peanuts and resold on eBay by someone with more wit than myself!

Me too. In my case, Age UK. Some years ago I bought a lot of Centigrade pure leather coats, really good quality, far better than their offerings now. Within a few months I had piled on a huge amount of weight and most of the coats lay in the wardrobe. Then one day I donated them, and new M&S pure wool coats, unworn. To my horror, my three monthly statements ever since for Gift Aid show each time that they raised about £7 each 3 months from the sale of those coats. No way! Someone in the back room has put them on eBay.

 

[Whatsinaname]

Bloomin' great big Bissell carpet shampooer. Used it once, years ago, took ages for the carpet to dry. It's still gathering dust in the cupboard under the stairs as I keep thinking I'll give it another go but I never do :mysmilie_10:

 

[Moth]

Oh God, where to begin?
Total Trainer, no no noooo! hair removal , lock & lock tubs in all the wrong sizes, frumpy kim & co clobber, unwearable Skechers, blistering Birkenstocks, 'non tarnish' tarnishing jewellery boxes, tonnes of beauty products that went rancid before I got round to using them, ludicrously expensive shower gels, ugly & completely obviously 'faux' diamonds, and no doubt a million other things that fail to come to mind. Such a lot of money wasted over so many years, I feel quite ashamed.

Oh dear, I could have written this too! I would have added a bundle of unworn coats of various brands too. *hangs head in shame*

I don't feel any joy in giving to charity shops anymore, having known a couple of people who volunteered for them. They would come in to work every week showing off the bundles of new or worn-once quality clothing they'd essentially pinched from the back rooms. Loads of it, probably hundreds of pounds at retail, and they'd put 50p in the collection tub for it! Makes my blood boil frankly. And a neighbour who has filled his loft with stuff from the charity warehouse he used to help out at. I never even knew if he paid for any of it either, but he'd take stuff that other people had paid for. He'd remove the "reserved" sticker and just ignore it. Grrrr.

 

[Brissles]

That's a lot of the problems Whatsinananame, large items !! I have often longed for a carpet cleaner, but they need a room for themselves they are so huge ! so I soon talked myself out of them. That's why I never bought one of those multi coloured Dysons vacuum cleaners, they need an aircraft hangar to house them, and too ugly to have out on 'display'.

 

[donna255]

I going back in time, I learnt my lesson now.

The home waxing kit in the roller thing. Seems a great idea watching the demo. One you had to wait until the hair was a certain length, boring. Two they stopped selling the refills and cloth strips, company still did so ordered from them. But no long afterwards they discontinued this model and refills.

The sonic toothbrush, the heads were so big hard to get round the back teeth. A week after the warranty ended it stopped working, so just one year and a week. I went and bought a Philips Sonicare at 75% off in Boots straight afterwards, 5 years later it still works.

 

[maymorganlondon]

I just can't let myself think of the potential dishonesty of volunteers at the charity shops... if I did, the stuff would be cluttering up my home and my life. I would never put stuff on eBay - I might think about it, but I'd never get around to it, and be rather nervous of doing it anyway.

So I just grit my teeth and into the charity box it goes. If someone, somewhere puts it on eBay, it's on their conscience... sooner or later what comes around goes around.

 

[Bea Frugal]

Me too. In my case, Age UK. Some years ago I bought a lot of Centigrade pure leather coats, really good quality, far better than their offerings now. Within a few months I had piled on a huge amount of weight and most of the coats lay in the wardrobe. Then one day I donated them, and new M&S pure wool coats, unworn. To my horror, my three monthly statements ever since for Gift Aid show each time that they raised about £7 each 3 months from the sale of those coats. No way! Someone in the back room has put them on eBay.

I can't speak for all charity shops but I volunteer in one that has a lot of good quality items and if the workers want something they pay the same as the public even if it hasn't reached the rails. Also, most of the volunteers are in their 80's and certainly not selling on ebay! Hope that might give you a crumb of comfort. As for your statement, well that is really annoying, but again, some people are incredibly generous and if they feel that an item is undervalued they will put an extra donation in the collection box. I would much rather give clothes direct to a shop than put them in a general collection bag that just gets peanuts for scrap.

 

[Letz-be-avenue]

Me too. In my case, Age UK. Some years ago I bought a lot of Centigrade pure leather coats, really good quality, far better than their offerings now. Within a few months I had piled on a huge amount of weight and most of the coats lay in the wardrobe. Then one day I donated them, and new M&S pure wool coats, unworn. To my horror, my three monthly statements ever since for Gift Aid show each time that they raised about £7 each 3 months from the sale of those coats. No way! Someone in the back room has put them on eBay.

Going a bit off subject, I do wonder how these charities can confirm how much your particular items have raised for them, I have a gift aid card for BHF and often am surprised to see how much my items have raised when I get one of their letters, as they just taken donations off you and price them up and seek the, whenever how can they tell who gave them what? Surely it is just a guestimate?