qvc.co.uk > Reviews (11)

QVC was founded in 1986 by Joseph Segal and began broadcasting in the USA in November of that year followed by the UK in 1993. Germany in1996 and Japan in 2001.

I first came across QVC when I bought a freeview box and started flicking through the channels. At first I didn't see anything very interesting but carried on flicking over the next few weeks and one day found a show that did appeal to me and started watching and from then on I was a convert!. My husband used to say "you're not watching that again are you"but now even he has been known to watch the odd show as well as bought things. More accurately he has asked me to order them and he would pay for them. At Christmas/ birthday times he'll ask if i've seen anything on QVC I want and if I have then that saves him the bother of trying to guess what to get me .

You have 30 days to try out your purchases and if for whatever reason you're not happy you just send them back. That applies to everything including makeup and jewellery. I don't think Boots would take back a half used pot of facecream after 30 days or can you imagine taking a pair of earings which you had tried on back to the store and asking for a refund? I know what the answer would be!

One of my favourite shows is Butler and Wilson who do a unique range of costume jewellery for men as well as women, beautiful ornate handbags,clothes and accessories. Some of his jewellery have become collectors pieces and can be seen on ebay at much more expensive prices than those on QVC. It is also used in fashion magazine shoots and award ceremonies so if you're looking for antiques of the future you should check out his stuff. Simon Wilson has a small shop in London which some famous footballers and their wags often visit when after a bit of bling. Once you are a member of QVC you can receive a 10% discount on any goods bought from Butler and Wilsons shops or online site.

If you like fairies you should tune into Kirks Folly. Jennifer Kirk is from America and she does a lovely range of costume jewellery based on fairies and other mystical creatures.,

Another really useful item i've bought from QVC is coathangers. Yes I know coathangers aren't very exciting but these ones are called Grip to Me and are velvet coated which means the clothes stay on the hanger and not the wardrobe floor where most of my clothes end up with ordinary hangers. But what impressed me the most with them was the amount of space freed up in the wardrobe by them. They are very slim and don't look very strong but they can easily hold 4 or 5 pairs of heavy jeans and a jacket on top without bending out of shape. I have gained 50% more wardrobe space by changing to these hangers so I can go and buy some more clothes now to fill it up again! Of course they are more expensive than regular hangers but for me it's worth it to have the extra space not having to iron clothes again that have fallen off the hanger and they generally make the wardrobe look so much tidier.

QVC I have found to have a wide diversity of products and pricewise they aren't bad especially when items are on a Todays Special Value which they are offered at a much discounted price for one day only.

Some of the catagories are crafts, DIY, kitchen equipment, fashion, electrical goods including computors, gardening/plants, food (Thorntons have their products on for us chocoholics), jewellery and beauty just to name a few. Yankee Candles can also be bought from QVC . I wish I had smellyvision when their shows are on!

The beauty department has an extensive range of products with Clientele.Decleor, Elemis, Gatineau, Molton Brown,Phillip Kingsley and Philosophy being some of the names you will recognise. Before joining QVC beauty presenter Alison Young was a trained beauty therapist who worked with Clarins so she can answer any questions about the products she is demonstrating. You are encouraged to ring in with any questions (freephone) and you can even talk to the presenters live in the studio.

QVC is on channel 16 on freeview or 630 on Sky and by pressing the red button on the remote control you can see what shows are on for the next seven days as well as what Todays Special Value is and view products that have been featured during the previous 24 hours

Ordering can be done by phone with a freephone number as opposed to other shopping channels who charge premium rate or online . The website is well laid out and easy to use and there is now a facility to review products you have bought from QVC to help other potential buyers. They print good AND bad reviews so they are not trying to hide anything about their products. Not everything will have a review as this facility hasn't been going very long having started a few months ago with only reviews for beauty products but now they have extended that to everyhing sold on QVC. Unfortunately you don't get paid for reviewing but hey you can't have everything!

Delivery is generally within a week for in stock items or if an item is out of stock you can go on a waitlist for it. This means if the item comes back in stock within 40 days they will send it out to you and your credit/debit card is not charged until it's sent.I f it doesn't come back in stock within that time the order will be cancelled or you can cancel it yourself at any time if you change your mind. Delivery prices I have found to be reasonable compared to other shopping channels.

Customer services are very good and friendly and are also a freephone number. As I said earlier you have 30 days to keep or return the product even if it has been used and at Christmas QVC extended that period until the 25th January in case anything bought as a present turned out to be unsuitable.

If you have a favourite show you can request an email alert which lets you know when your show is going to be on so you don't have to keep tuning in to find out.

When you make your first order you will be given a membership number and asked for a pin number both of which you will need when making subsequent orders. Once you have these you will be able to use Q Cut which is an automated touch phone service to place your orders . As it's name suggests this cuts out queing on the phone to place the order and it is done in seconds.

I have never had any problems ordering or returning anything from QVC and would recommend you take a look you just might see something that takes your fancy.

Visit www.qvcuk.com for full details. Thanks for reading