Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I saw this product on TV and just had to have it even though I rarely (twice in my life, including this purchase) order anything that I see on TV. I have spent an obscene amount of money on lint rollers as I am a neat freak as well as a mother of 2 small children, a dog and cat that shed relentlessly, a husband (come on, that was funny!), as well as hardwood floors that hide nothing. Needless to say, I thought this product would be the answer to my dreams, but it came with it's own set of issues. 1. The Sticky Factor The infomercial is beyond misleading as to the unit's "schticky-ness." It shows Vince sticking it to a wall, and, at the risk of sounding like a moron, I tried it and it didn't work. Not only did it fall to the ground, but the pieces came apart and I had to try to figure out how to put it back together. The design is a whole other issue though, so I'll stick to the stickiness factor for now. All I'm going to say about that though is that I'm nearly positive that there had to be super glue on the wall he used because there is not way that this would do that under normal conditions. When I pulled the protective plastic off, I was amazed at just how sticky it was. I went to work immediately and realized that, even though I was rinsing thouroughly, it wasn't as sticky as when I first pulled it out of the package. I figured it was user error and re-read the directions. That's where I found that it's suggested that you use dishsoap along with rinsing it off. Yeah, not seen in the infomercial either, but it worked and the unit became sticky again. Don't be fooled though, it by no means is as sticky as a paper lint roller. While you probably save in the long run on refills, it doesn't work quite as fast or as well as a regular lint roller. 2. The Pain in the Butt to Clean Factor The infomercial also shows Vince simply running the unit under water, drying it on his lint-free towel, and (again) sticking it to a super glued inforced wall. NOT that easy. Most of the time you have to rub the stick-um stuff with your fingers to get everything off, then, as I mentioned, use a bit of dishsoap to remove the remaining film on it from whatever you picked up with it (huge issue with pet hair for some reason, by the way), then find the oldest terry cloth dishtowel you own because, let's face it, barely anything is lint-free, and press hard enough to "ring" the water out of the stick-um, but not so hard that the unit falls apart. Again, a different issue, but the directions are sure to point out that Vince also sells the Sham-wow which works amazing with this supposedly, but moving on. I could handle 100 trips to the sink to wash it off after cleaning my L-shaped couch, but with all the other stuff you have to do to make it sticky again, I would honestly say that ripping the used sheet off of a regular lint roller to get a brand new sheet is MUCH easier and quicker, just not quite as "green". I did find, however, that it works quite well to carry a bucket of water around with you that has a bit of dishsoap already in it as well as your towel to avoid all the trips and extra work. 3. The Cheaply Made Factor As I mentioned, it falls apart...a lot. If you press too hard, it falls apart. If you shake the water off too hard, it falls apart. If you try to stick it to the wall and it hits the floor, it falls apart. I'm sure you catch my drift. They are a pain to put back together as well since you have to make sure it's done right or the nubs that hold the roller on would more than likely break if not done correctly. It's extremely flimsy as the plastic used, in my opinion, isn't hard enough and probably used to save them money. As far as the big Schticky that you get with it, the handle is far to bendable and really not long enough to use it for anything significant. They do *OF COURSE* sell a different version of that handle in aluminum that's more durable and longer for an extra charge. That's the only thing that I didn't buy into when purchasing! Another problem that I have in this category is that the Big Schticky doesn't even come with a cover to store it. The mini version has one built in, the medium version comes with one, but the one that probably needs it the most, the biggest one that you have to either hang up or leave sit on the floor, doesn't. I don't quite understand that. 4. The Rip You Off Factor I ordered mine off of the official website, but when I came here to write my review so that no one else that read my review would buy it, I found that it was much cheaper to order it from Amazon. I didn't think about comparison shopping as I didn't think they would be available anywhere else. That's my mistake though, and would encourage everyone to purchase here as Amazon sellers don't charge as much for shipping. I happened to keep my receipt just in case, and I'll break it down for you. Keep in mind that I fell for thier online offer to get a complete second set for 50% off and with it they'll give you an online coupon that will save you an additional $5.00 off of your purchase price. Here you go: 1 SCHTY - MN -- SCHTICKY 3 PIECE SET - MAIN OFFER $19.95 1 SCHTY - ADL -- ADDITIONAL SCHTICKY 3 PIECE SET $ 9.95 1 STS5 -- $5.00 ORDER DISCOUNT -$ 5.00 That's a subtotal of $24.90, right? Well wait until you read this then! Shipping for all of these less-than-fabulous pieces was a whooping $27.80!!! I paid more in shipping then I did for the product itself, and that, my friends, is where they make up their money for "giving" you the Big Schticky "free" as long as you pay separate shipping for it! The "separate" shipping is a completely ridiculous concept since the Big Schticky takes up maybe an additional inch in the box as it only has 2 pieces, and the roller itself is NOT as big as they make you think it is on the infomercial. Just because they make it sound like a wonderful deal by throwing a bunch of different numbers at you, adding and subtracting, the fact of the matter is that they wait until you process your order before they give you the total. Extremely shadey operation, but I guess that's what you get when you order from a telemarketing based company. After some research I also found out that Vince stole this idea from a woman that came to him to help market it. She is a single mother with animals, and he stole it right from under her, copyrighted it, and slapped his trademark name on it. Sickening! Her product is called "The Shove-It" which was surely named to tell the all-wonderful Vince where he could shove it. Needless to say, I would not recommend this product. Do yourself a favor and save yourself the hassle and frustation of dealing with their less-than credible customer service that transfers you to 5 different departments before you get to actually speak to someone, and then you have to nearly threaten physical harm to return the product with your original shipping costs. I was hung up on twice for trying to do so before I finally gave up and decided to take it for what it was...a lesson learned about ordering things that you only see on TV but aren't able to try before you buy. There's nothing saying I won't try to return it again when i have a cooler head about the situation though.