On Collagevideo's staff favorites

[holisticbody]

Now let me just say that I love ordering from Collage Video and that they have great customer service. But is there anyone else who thinks their 'staff favorite' picks often make little sense?

I have bought/rented exercise videos that they've picked as staff favorites that are just plain bad or ineffective. They also seem partial to a lot of dance videos that don't offer much of a workout.

I noticed several of Cathe's videos aren't 'staff favorites' (including BM2) yet it is without a doubt one of the most fun and challenging workouts I've done.

Maybe they don't enjoy videos as much if they're too advanced???

And everyone is saying that B&G is the best buns workout ever yet that also isn't a 'staff favorite' nod.

So I ignore this little factor completely now when deciding which videos to buy.

I'm just wondering what criteria they base their preferences on. Any thoughts?

 

[kathryn]

I've heard that workouts get a "Staff favorite" designation if one person on the staff thinks it's really good. I have no idea if there is any criteria other than that, which makes it pretty subjective, and apt to change depending on which staffer is the one who likes it.

 

[JT]

I used to use that as a guideline for buying workouts from them, but I noticed too that Cathe is not a "staff favorite" on some of her workouts, if not all, that should have that designation. Since that discovery, I buy all my Cathe from here. BM2 should have that designation, no doubt.

 

[girlyfiedgirl]

If you search the Ask Collage forum, you'll find a reply where they basically state they use the "Staff Favorites" icon simply to help drive sales of certain videos. Cathe's last set was a staff favorite when it was first released then it was dropped. That is often the case with new videos at Collage.

 

[nancy324]

I've noticed how useless those designations are too.

 

[lainiefig]

I went through a phase of ordering a lot from Collage and thought they were great, good customer service, etc., but I agree that the staff favorites really didn't seem to necessarily be the best choices. I did love the customer reviews, though of course there's a wide range of customers with different tastes and abilities, so it's still hard to decide on things. Anyway, around the time i discovered Cathe, I also discovered Advanced Workouts, and Jen from AW would answer emails about specific workouts and help recommend stuff. Like she's the one who recommended Kick Max (my first Cathe workout) and then when I got Basic Step she advised me on what Cathe step workouts I could move to next. I found that more helpful than Collage's staff favorites, so I've ordered a lot from her, except lately when all I've ordered are presale Cathe, Amy, and Tracey direct from their websites.

[font face="comic sans ms" font color=teal font size=+1]***Lainie***

http://web.mac.com/lainiefig/iWeb/Site/Exercise/Exercise.html

"The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself." -- Mark Twain[/font]

 

[swayzepetsitting]

I have ordered from Advanced Workouts before, as well. I got a great 10% discount and the order arrived very quickly. I just love getting emails directly from the shipper, too!