Keith L. Rhodia

My grandmother undeniably loves infomercials. Not only does she love them, she goes out of her way to convince everyone in the family to use the infomercial products that she purchases or to abandon their current product of choice. My grandmother has yet to figure out, the true meaning of, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

While some of the products make my grandmother happy, others are a total ripoff. One bad investment was the MagicJack telephone service. The MagicJack is a phone service that connects a household or cellular phone to a computer allowing customers to make unlimited long distance calls, via the internet. My grandmother was so proud of this new “thing” she began to tell everyone that they were being ripped off by their current providers.

“You all never listen to me, that’s why you always have problems with your phones and phone bills.” Suddenly her opinion of the MagicJack changed. She began to experience connection, static and interruption problems when placing calls. There was a distinct “echo” while placing successful calls. To add to the frustration, MagicJack charged her account during, what was supposed to be Free Trial period. Then MagicJack sent her a $289 phone bill 60 days in to the service – a service that was only supposed to cost $19 per year.

The Economic Crimes Division of Palm Beach County as well as the Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with MagicJack, over numerous allegations and consumer complaints.

Grandma’s latest gadget is the Ab Circle Pro. This machine works your abdominals side to side in a semi-circular motion, while on your hands and knees in a somewhat prone position. The actual commercial for this $14.95 piece of equipment says, this machine is much healthier and safer than attempting traditional sit ups and hanging leg raises.

I am no scientist, but I disagree. I attempted to use this machine, and first of all I continued to fall off, time after time. Secondly, the exercise felt so unnatural, also hurting my lower back in the process. I am healthy and 30 years old, and my grandmother is a 74 year old recovering from past knee and hip surgeries. I said to her, “Grandma you are going to seriously hurt yourself on this thing, be careful please.”

But to my surprise, she has lost approximately 20 – 30 pounds to date. She uses this machine every morning, and in addition has incorporated a healthy diet into her lifestyle. Now the significant weight loss can also be attributed to my grandmother’s diabetes being under control.

I have seen infomercials for these “cinnamon” pills that claim to lower blood sugar levels. I hope she never sees one of those ads. Because I am sure that these pills will find their way inside grandma’s medicine cabinet.

What infomercial products have you bought? Were they a good deal?

Photograph Credit:
Sabrina Segal