WowWee Cinemin Swivel

Pros: I cannot say because they never delivered a working product.

Cons: Please see bottom-line summary below.

Summary: Due to my unbelievably poor experience with this product, I feel compelled to warn others about purchasing it.

First, the biggest problem with this product is that WowWee offers no customer service. Even though the website lists a phone number, they only answer it 1 out of every 25 or so calls. The rest if the time, you get a recorded message saying they are not available, to leave a message, and they will call you back. But they never call you back. And on the rare occasion someone does answer the phone, they are quick to inform you that they are not really customer service, and that you have to send an email to customer service for help. But, of course, customer service rarely responds to your emails either. So, if you have a problem, you are pretty much screwed.

Second, you cannot trust anything the company says about when and if certain products are going to be available. I purchased the Swivel to use with my laptop. In order to connect the Swivel to a laptop, you need to purchase an accessory connector called the Swap (because who would bother to design a projector that can connect to a laptop?). So when I purchased the Swivel in October, I also purchased the Swap. The website and the company told me that both the Swivel and the Swap would be available in November. I did receive the Swivel in November, but never received the Swap (and, therefore, could not use the Swivel with my laptop). When I finally got tired of waiting and inquired, I received an email informing me that due to production problems, the Swap would not be available until sometime in 2010. All well and good, but I purchased this product to use in a series of presentations in November and December. So, at that point I decided to return the Swivel and get a refund. That is where it gets really ridiculous.

Third, you cannot get a refund. I returned the Swivel via Fedex (so they could not claim they never received it), and the product was received and signed for on Dec. 1. Although the company told me that I would receive a refund within 3-5 business days of receiving the returned product, I never received a refund. I called about 50 times (no answer - see above), and left several voicemails (no response). I also sent multiple emails, with no response. So now I have to call my credit card company and file a fraud complaint, so hopefully they can get my money back.

Bottom line - even if this product works (which I will never know because they sent the converter), it is not worth it.