Better off without them (Betterware)

Member Name: sandrabarber

Product:	Betterware
Date:	06/10/04 (2348 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: arrive on your doorstep, reasonable prices, lots of choice

Disadvantages: delivery time is long, items are poor quality

I knew I shouldn’t have done it. I knew as I filled in the form that it was a mistake. But they just kept putting those catalogues through my door and I was really, really bored one day and decided to flick through and have a look and … well, the name, BETTERWARE … it makes you think you might be getting something QUALITY (even if the flimsy catalogue and even flimsier looking items therein tell you otherwise). And this was the day I’d had the carrot-grating finger accident …

But I’m rambling. This is to be a coherent, informative review, so I’ll start again.

Betterware is a mail order company selling a wide range of household items. They work by having agents who pop their catalogues through your door, with a little pre-printed note letting you know when they’ll be back to collect your order.

The catalogues themselves are small, square affairs, printed on thin, not very glossy paper. The catalogue is full of photos which are described in terms sometimes perfunctory and other times glowing – you won’t find so many ‘miracle’ items in such a small space anywhere else on earth!

Betterware sell the following types of items:

Cleaning products - a wide range from polishers, stain removal, laundry, car and general purpose
Garden products - hoses, tools, cleaners and more
DIY gadgets and products - tools, fillers, gadgets, garden ornaments and many others
Cookware - from pots and pans to microwave cake tins
Personal care items - remove unwanted hair, dry the hair you do want etc. etc.
General homewares - window cleaning systems, mops and buckets, lots of ingenious devices you'd have never have dreamt up yourself

Among the products come a whole variety of things you never knew you needed, such as a ‘mobile phone cleaning pouch’ (‘Just pop the phone inside and rub’), a ‘ring remover stone’ (‘Specially formulated to remove limescale from around the toilet rim’) and ‘foot scrub wipes’.

Prices are reasonable and quantities/sizes are often large, making the products seem like good value. Also, there are often plenty of special offers with money off the usual prices.

Anyway, to explain my earlier ramble: I was bored, so picked up the catalogue and had a flick thorough.

I had just been making a salad and had been grating carrots on my bog-standard silver upstanding grater. Yet again, I’d sliced off a good portion of my finger.

And what did I find in the catalogue but the ‘Twist and Grate’, a plastic and metal contraption in which you drop your cheese/carrots/nuts etc. You then put the top on, twist, and hey presto - grated food drops out of the bottom! And it was only £4.99.

I felt a bit mean just ordering the one thing, so added on some CD wipes. They were £3.99 for a pack of 40 and promised to remove dust and scratches in a safe way, making those annoying skipping and smudged discs playable again. I was a bit suspicious but figured it was worth a try on my damaged discs which sat unplayable on my shelf.

Next day, my local agent collected my order and informed me I could pay (by cheque, cash or card) upon delivery.

Three weeks later, my order arrived.

First the ‘Twist & Grate’: I was surprised to find that it was only about 5 inches tall. Somehow I had imagined it to be twice that size. Disappointed, I chopped some cheese into pieces small enough to fit into the two grating cavities (by which time I could have just grated them), popped the lid on and twisted. Or tried to twist. Nothing happened. I put more effort into it and managed to get a twist. Nothing happened. I gave it all my strength. Ditto.

I threw it in the bin.

Next the CD wipes: I took three damaged CDS (one dusty and jumping, on with a scratch and a habit of sticking, and one with finger marks that both jumped and stuck). I wiped as per the instructions, then tried them one by one in the CD player. No improvement. I repeated the whole process. Ditto.

I threw them in the bin.

Next day, moaning about Betterware to my Dad, I discovered that he had had similar experiences with some mildew remover and smear free window cleaner.

So, to summarise …

Betterware sell a wide range of household goods at reasonably cheap prices. The goods take forever to arrive. In my experience, and that of my Dad, they do not work. Hence they are not value for money.

Betterware … Yes, but better than what?

Oh yes, they have a web site too, at http://www.betterware.co.uk. On my one visit, that didn’t work properly either.

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