Style over substance, it seems... (Auction World.tv)

Member Name: angry chris

Product:	Auction World.tv
Date:	17/11/02 (1692 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Parts of it are well done, It is still addictive, It seems cheap enough

Disadvantages: The products are tripe., I DO NOT WANT A MOBILE PHONE!!!!, People seem to have had serious problems.

Those of you who have read my review of Bid-Up.TV will know how much I dislike shopping channels. To be short and to the point, I find them slimy and cheesy, full of TV rejects and failed second hand car salesmen. I have not, and will not, ever buy anything from one. I do not need a steel briefcase, a lapis globe or a chocolate kettle(depending on the day I watch). For the full venting of my spleen on this subject, read my Bid-up introduction. You'll get my point.
Thus, by rights, I should hate Auction World TV.
For those people who have had problems, I apologise in advance. I cannot, and will not be a ble to rate the service, only the channel. I promise to come back to you before I finish.
The Auction World channel is available on Sky Digital channel 651, from 1pm until 1am. In the meantime, it becomes "buy it now". For those who don't know, this is merely a normal shopping channel: call in, buy the product at the price advertised.
In normal hours, though, the format is run in a similar vein to an auction. A "Lot" is put forward for sale, and a minimum bid is required. There is a limited amount of the item per auction, and as the amount of bidders increases, so too will the price. Call the number on the screen, follow the instuctions, bid and hope for the best. Use your credit card to pay over the phone, and hey presto!...you are a winning bidder.
Now, this is no longer original. Bid-Up.TV has been doing it for longer: indeed, this channel has just celebrated it's first anniversary. And it shows. The presenters are, in general, appalingly insincere. They are precisely the kind of people you would not buy a penny chew from, let alone a piece of jewellry. They repeatedly contradict themselves, muttering nonsense at times in a bid to sell you something.
The pieces are awful. I cannot for the life of me see what people would want to bid for here. If you do not believe me, watch for
yourself.
There is a DEFINATE shortage of items to sell. There is a DEFINATE loop on the products being sold. You can guarantee that the same product you saw yesterday will be on today. Ans there is a worrying amount of Mobile Phone and contracts up for auction. Turn to this channel at random, and I promise that within 10 minutes of switching over, you will be offered a mobile and a contract for sale. I kid you not.
However, I STILL like this channel, for one reason and one reason alone. After 10pm, a bloke comes on and presents the show until close. His main show is "collectamania", and he presents it well, very well. His patter is good, his products are good and he actually sounds like he wants to sell you something as oppose to needing to sell you something to save his crappy job. He, single handedly, saves this channel, and is the only presenter who makes me switch over from Bid-Up.Tv.
Now, as those who have read my other opinions know, I normally fill them with sarcasm, humour and sly asides. I have not done here for two reasons:
1. All my sly asides can be read on my review of Bid-up.TV.
2. It would not be fair on those who have had problems with this channel and thier service.

It appears that some people have had problems with this channel with regards to the actual RECIEVING of the lots they have bought. I have not bid, ever, and so I cannot know, but so many of you cannot be wrong. This has to have a bearing on my rating, as that is the whole point of thiese channels: to provide a service. If this service is not provided, then the whole itme is to be held in disrepute.
Despite all of this, I still like the Auction World Channel. Like Bid-up, it has an addiction value that I cannot pin down, though it is probably due to the presenter I like. And good luck to him. So watch it, if you please. I do, and I will. But on the basis of what I have read, I can only recommend that you do not a
ctually buy anything, as you may feel let down...

Summary: