It’s called the Global Discovery Trade-show and for three weeks, a crew of Colombian salespeople had it going at the Princess Hotel. For weeks in advance it had been hyped up on local television channels and that created the buzz which sent hundreds possibly thousands of Belizean to the Princess looking for the super products that they had seen on TV. But, what you see is not always what you get, and this morning one disgruntled patron sounded the alarm. Since then we’ve heard from a number of consumers complaining that the products don’t work as advertised and in some cases, don’t work at all. And while truth and advertising rarely go together, this is another matter: these folks claimed they were conned in demonstrations. Pastor Paul Cassanova is the one who first spoke out this morning. He told us why he is in a pan temper.
Pastor Paul Cassanova, Consumer
“I saw the advertisement on several TV stations and the products seemed to be something worth investigating.”
And what he wanted to investigate were these non-stick frying pans.
Pastor Paul Cassanova,
“Off your right as you get in there you have the jewelry and the next stop is basically where they are demonstrating the use of non-stick frying pans. I got really interested in those right away. So I stood there along with the rest of people and watch the demonstration with the pan cake and the egg and see how easy the egg would just slip out the pan with the man just blowing it with his mouth and the egg just slide out. So I said those are good pans.”
And he was sold on them. He bought a set like this for $100. But when he compared
them to the ones his niece bought at the same show, he saw a notable difference in thickness. This one on the inside is for his niece and on the outside is his. But how could his niece have gotten a different one when they bought same product same place for same price?
Pastor Paul Cassanova,
“And she stopped at the frying pan booth, watched the demonstration, got interested and she said to give her a set of the frying pans but I want those two that you are doing the demonstration with. So she got those.”
But his niece also got one of the thin ones and she noted a difference.
Pastor Paul Cassanova,
“The ones he gave me from the demonstration actually browned the pancakes perfectly and does the egg just the way he does it but the other one he gave me, which would be this one, burns the egg.”
Cassanova took his complaint to the supplier and got a refund, and an explanation/
Pastor Paul Cassanova,
“We had a back and forth and what they did explain to me afterwards was that the set that I bought, if you watch the box, it says standard and that in fact they have another set that the box is elite. So that this one they were using as the demonstration is the elite set which is heavier and this would be the standard that they actually sold us.”
Well lesson learnt, there's not always truth in advertising.
Jules Vasquez,
I hate to tell you but all the stuff you see on TV worldwide, it’s a fake. And you know $19.99 and you end up buying it and it is scrap.
Pastor Paul Cassanova,
“Well that’s true. Seeing it on TV, one is less inclined to go and purchase but standing up there and watching the man demonstrate in person, then seeing actually becomes believing because you are right on the spot.”
Jules Vasquez,
So you’re saying he pulled a bait and switch on you?
Pastor Paul Cassanova,
“Well I would say I got tricked, real real trick, right in front of my eyes. I can’t accept nothing else. So if I get this that is worthless than I believe that it is so fraudulent, I can’t accept that I will be paying a $100 that maybe I could go to Simon Quan and pay far less for a frying pan that will burn my eggs and cook it right if I know to use the frying pan because this is just an ordinary pan just like everything else in my estimation.”
Speaking this evening with Miguel Ponce of the Global Marketplace he said that there is a difference in the thickness of the two sets of pans, but no difference in performance. He says that both are basically the same because they have the same non-stick coating. He conceded though that the salesperson should have explained the difference to those buying the products. But that’s not enough for Cassanova who has gone to the police to make a report, claiming basically that he was conned. A police source told us that they are looking at it as a form of deception.
