What's On Your Mind? Chemistry.com, GE, Right Size

Dating sites are most successful when they can match up two people who are pretty compatible. They are less successful, it seems, when they raise expectations to an unrealistic level.

“All my Chemistry.com matches looked like the all-American-Next Door Girl types with nice photos as if they're in Gap Magazines,” William, of Enlgandie, Neb., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “Really, to have all 30 matches looking like they're from a catalog shoot is just heaven on earth.”

William thinks dating sites should provide a 30-day trial in which you can actually meet some of these people who look so perfect in their pictures. Most sites, however, insist on a one-year contract.

Watch your fingers

Karla, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., was using her GE Profile double over this week when she cut her finger on the stove handle.

“The vents are rather long, and multiple, and apparently, extremely sharp,” she said. “Why in the world would they not round off the metal as a safety precaution instead of leaving them razor sharp? Clearly, this is material flaw that needs to be corrected as it is extremely dangerous.”

It's possible that the flaw wasn't part of the design, but just affects Karla's stove. Either way, Karla should report her experience to GE and the Consumer Product Safety Commission so it can be checked out. In the meantime, Karla says consumers with the same model stove should use caution around the air vents.

Catch-22

You see it all the time. Try the product for free or a low price. If you don't take any action, you are signed up for future shipments. It's classic negative option marketing, and there's nothing wrong with it if the marketer is absolutely upfront about how it works. Juliann of Cape Vincent, N.Y., thought she understood how it worked with Right Size Health and Nutrition.

“They advertise the trial for their weight loss product as a little less than $19,” she told ConsumerAffairs.com. “You are led to believe that you can try two flavors of their product for this trial. If you like it, don't do anything and they will bill you $100+ and continue send you their product. If you don't like it, call within the trial offer period to cancel.”

Deciding to give it a try, Juliann ordered two flavors.

“The first one I tried I didn't like,” she said. “To be fair, I wanted to try the second flavor before I made up my mind completely about their product. I tried the second flavor. It wasn't as bad as the first, but not great either. I thought I'd try it a couple more days. I still didn't like it very much, so I called today to cancel.”

As Juliann understood the offer, she would only have to pay $19 for the trial order. That's not how it worked out.

“I was informed since I opened both cannisters, I had to pay for them and they would be billing me $100+ next week,” she said. “ I asked how I was supposed to try them without opening them? She said that it is explained when you order. It was not explained when I ordered. It was not expleained that way on the infomercial. I was led to understand, you pay the trial price to try them. If you continue to receive them then you of course pay the regular price.”

We have to side with Juliann on this one. We fail to see how it's any kind of trial if you have to pay full price to try to product. Juliann might want to chat with someone in her state attorney general's office.

Huh?

One of the dictionary definitions of “warranty” reads as follows: “a written guarantee given to the purchaser of a new appliance, automobile, or other item by the manufacturer or dealer, usually specifying that the manufacturer will make any repairs or replace defective parts free of charge for a stated period of time.

So when Adrianne, of Sewickley, Pa., bought her son an Emerson flat screen TV for Christmas last November, she felt confident that, should anything go wrong in the first year, Emerson would fix it.

“Now he's telling met that the TV doesn't come on and when I called customer service they advised that while the TV is still under warranty, the parts are not,” Andrianne said. “They actually wanted me to pay $150 to get this tv fixed when I paid $200 for it in the first place!”

The Emerson warranty we found online reads: “Should this EMERSON product fail to operate during the warranty period, warranty replacement may be obtained upon delivery of the EMERSON product together with proof of purchase and a copy of this LIMITED WARRANTY statement to an Authorized EMERSON Warranty Centre” Standard manufacturer's warranties include parts and labor. Otherwise, what good is the warranty? We advise Adrianne to try calling again.