QVC Misrepresents Chinese Product as American Made

I’m an artist who is dedicated to buying American goods whenever possible. In my endeavor to find an American made toaster oven for baking polymer clay, I spent over 3 hours on the internet. I wasn’t looking for the lowest price. I was willing to spend up to $200 as long as it was USA made. I typed in every permutation of American Made which took me to numerous websites featuring hundreds of toaster ovens. I had to scroll through pages of verbiage and in some cases even download user manuals to find that none of them were made in the USA -- and that most of them were made in China. The closest I could find was one assembled in the USA of Chinese materials. I posted an ad on Craig’s List and on the local freecycle message board to no avail. I went to Salvation Army – no luck there either. On my trip to the kitchen and bath store I found one that was made in India and the rest were all made in China.

My partner had better luck when he put in a search for “hobby oven.” It took him to the QVC website which advertised a stainless steel craft oven, “MADE IN USA.” Several days later my oven arrived and when I turned the box over to check the country of origin, sure enough, there it was, “MADE IN CHINA.” Hoping perhaps that maybe only the box was made in China, I removed the oven and looked on the underside to see that it was also stamped “MADE IN CHINA.”

Having been a former vendor for QVC, who sold a product of my own invention, which, I manufactured in the USA, I was familiar with QVC’s meticulous quality control. Indeed their call letters stand for Quality Value and Convenience. Their shipping and receiving standards were so scrupulous that a vendor could incur a $500 chargeback for just placing the label on the wrong side of the box – and that was just the box! As a first time customer I looked forward to receiving the benefit of their diligence, thinking that if the product had the QVC imprimatur, I needed to look no further – but it was not to be. After working my way up the ladder of customer service representatives, I was told that it was likely a problem with the vendor not giving them the right information -- also that the product was shipped directly from the manufacturer and not from QVC. The manufacturer later called me to say that he sold it to one of his distributors who sold it to QVC and there must have been some mix-up as the oven was made in China, shipped to the USA, where some "stuff was then done to it", and then sent on.

I pointed out to the QVC service representative that it was QVC’s responsibility to get the correct information before they posted it on their website. Not only did I want to return the oven but I wanted them to replace it with one that was made in the USA. They registered my complaint, issued me a UPS call tag, and promised to check into the problem, and get back to me in a few days. Among the many agents with whom I spoke, one observed that if I wasn’t able to find a USA made toaster oven what made me think that QVC would have any better luck?

And therein lies the rub! Why would I have the audacity to put my faith in the ability of a retailer that does over $1.6 billion a year and has the buying power of several small countries to actually offer the domestically made product they advertised on their website? Let me pose the question in reverse. If QVC wasn’t able to find a USA made toaster oven, what made them think that I would have any better luck? This is disturbing on many levels, the most obvious being the misrepresentation of the country of origin. Less obvious is the manipulation of the customer into feeling good about buying American goods while cynically manufacturing them in a country known for exploiting its workers, making unsafe toys and dog food, and polluting the environment.

As an aside, QVC has removed the oven from their website and I’ve not yet heard back from them. Call me an optimist, but I haven’t given up hope that we, as a nation, are still capable of producing quality goods for a decent profit without exploiting others in the process -- but only if we demand it!

And, by the way, does anyone know where I can find an American made toaster oven?