HSN Needs Sensitivity Training

True. I’ve said it before and I’ve say it again.

Allowing the callers to talk longer would garner more sales than the tired stuff that the hosts and vendors say over and over.

 I guess they are afaid of the unknow. ..Afraid that the callers might eventually blurt out the ‘wrong’ thing.  :womanlol:

Television air time is very expensive and even though I see your point it is not advantagious to take up air time talking about other things no matter how touching and compassionate that it is.  You don’t know whether Iman requested prior to airing they not speak of her husbands passing.

  I feel that it was done out of respect for Iman .  HSN did the right thing.

Thank you for sharing:)

Peace and love:)

I think for a caller to get personal is way out of line period.  

Besides once she get’s that bag, she proably won’t ever want to talk to any of them again anyways.  :womanlol:

And, on the next caller, the line went dead just as the caller began offering condolences. … ??

      I think The host or Joy could simply thank the caller for her kindness and immediately change the subject.

I can see this two different ways.  Iman and most anyone who recently went through such a huge loss in their life, might not want to be reminded of it every day.  They do need to get on with their life, and doing a show like this would be a good way to occupy ones mind.  However, Iman has some loving fans who  may have felt it only proper to offer their condolences   I would also say to be fair to the real bosses (the consumers) that if a vendor needs to be shielded from callers giving condolences, maybe it would have been best to delay their show for a few more weeks.

I’m not sure if everyone that is commenting actually heard it.  After the woman had raved to Iman about her products, she quickly gave her condolences.  She stated her husband had also passed away last week.  Then HSN censored and dropped the call and when the sound came back, they just went on like nothing happened.

she was very courteous and got treated badly. Maybe she needed some kind words from the people she gives up a lot of her money to.  I know that is not what they were there for, but these are the human beings that are lining their pockets.  They’re your best friend when they’re trying to sell you something. Unfortunately for this woman, she believed that they really care about her. A little respect isn’t asking for a lot.  If Iman was not in a place to handle callers, they should not have taken calls. Andrew Lessman doesn’t take calls and he still sells a lot. 

I agree with the OP.  QVC never does this to a caller.  They are trained to handle it professionally.  Don’t see the point of HSN removing the sound from the caller.  It was said, the host and vendor heard it.

I personally did not hear this conversation but as they say, it’s live TV, and as long as the caller used no foul language or was ranting, I see no reason for the censorship.

I also felt bad for the lady getting cut off when she was talking about her own husband dying, and thought it was uncomfortable how they acted as though it didn’t happen, but I felt the worst for Iman. And, therefore, I think HSN more or less did the right thing.

Think about it – the caller is an anonymous woman (only first names given) who’s calling from the privacy of her own home and can go have a cry when she hangs up. Iman is trying to appear happy and sell a product on live TV. That was not the time or place to bring up her husband’s fairly recent death.

Normally it irritates me when people try so hard to make themselves feel better over your own sad situation that they keep bringing it up, offering to help you and don’t respect your need for privacy. But I’m guessing in this situation, the woman’s judgment was just clouded because of her own recent loss. So it was more just a sad situation than a major faux-pas, in my view. 

being a celeb these days has it’s huge downsides mostly due to the instant information available due to todays technology.

they are not allowed privacy even when they beg for some

public feels they know them

public feels they can decide what topics are ok

public feels entitled to dictate because they bought their album or whatever they are endorsing

public feels they can judge looks, mate choices, etc

public feels they can opinionate on hair, makeup, cosmetic procedures

bottom line is the public access should be limited to the subject of what their celebrity is from. the rest is none of my business.

the reality craze has seeped into public mentality for everything

on this specific situation the celeb has made public pleas for privacy on this matter. that means zero discussion. i would respect that request completely.  its an old fashion thing called manners.

i have no issues with callers being cut off.  i have heard many i would have cut faster.   they make it very clear when they screen the call what it is about.   certainly the caller did not tell the screener they were going to go down the path of personal topic that has been deemed private.

HSN (and  QVC) are retailers.  They are in business to sell things.

The hosts and vendors are not our friends, family, or therapists.  I am sorry, but if callers wish to talk about their problems, they can dall Dr. Phil.  Calling a show selling handbags is neither the place nor the time.

Quite frankly, I think they should do away with the callers altogether. 

I was watching a jewelry presentation recently, and right after they said hello to the caller, the hostess started talking over the caller. The caller barely got to say anything at all.

What’s the point of taking a call, if you won’t let them talk? In this situation, I think the problem was the hostess, who was going over-board. I was thinking, “Talking too much won’t make me more likely to buy.”

It was actually a turn-off, I wanted to turn the channel.

I actually heard this too and was appalled. The caller was expressing her condolences and they cut her off.  I have to say this wouldn’t have happened at QVC. They treat viewers who call with tragic situations with sensitivity and compassion. People used to call and express condolences and personal stories of loss to Joan Rivers and Jeanne Bice all the time and were treated with kindness by both the host and the guest, Really HSN – to cut her off was cruel and appalling. To some people the homeshopping channels are all the family they have.

I was watching as this happened, but have a different opinion of what took place at the end. I don’t think the caller was cut off or hung up on. I think Iman was talking to the woman & the sound for (us) the viewers was muted. I could see Iman’s mouth moving, like she was talking to the woman briefly. And yes, when the sound came back on, the show went on like nothing had happened. What else should HSN have done?