Science or magic? Which would you rather have on an epic adventure?

I have seen woot! sell quite a few weird items over the years, but I have never seen them trying to rip people off until today. Power balance bands along with many other branded pieces of plastic and magnets are nothing more than fashion statements. Even claiming no knowledge of is they work or not is disingenuous to your customer base.

This is like the magic feather in the Disney movie "Dumbo".

Only Large and XL? No love for folks with skinny wrists.

Some people wear them for style/fashion purposes, not because they'll make them fly or anything.

These normally retail for $30/ea? That is insane.

jokers10 wrote:I have seen woot! sell quite a few weird items over the years, but I have never seen them trying to rip people off until today. Power balance bands along with many other branded pieces of plastic and magnets are nothing more than fashion statements. Even claiming no knowledge of is they work or not is disingenuous to your customer base.

How can anyone claim no knowledge of whether they work or not? I know. They DON'T work. But fools and their money are soon parted, no one ever went broke underestimating the American people, etc.

woot already got raked over the coals when these were sold during a woot off. This seriously undermines my faith in woot to continue selling this garbage.

imafungi wrote:These normally retail for $30/ea? That is insane.

They "used" to sell for $30 when people believed it. The bands have been debunked a number of times, which is why they're ending up on a site like woot for $8 for 2 of them.

A statement the company made 2 years ago: "In our advertising we stated that Power Balance wristbands improved your strength, balance and flexibility. We admit that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports our claims and therefore we engaged in misleading conduct in breach of s52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974. If you feel you have been misled by our promotions, we wish to unreservedly apologize and offer a full refund."

Oh come on Woot! How irresponsible to sell something known to be completely bunk.

These have been shown to be nothing but placebo by children even in elementary school science fairs.

Instead, read about how demonstrations of this product mislead consumers here: http://skepticbros.com/placebo-bands/

Why is this scam item still up for sale? And more importantly, why are there people dumb enough to buy them?

Not cool, Woot! Even at a discount, pushing woo is BS. You're better than this.

Personally, I don't blame Woot at all. I'm sure they got a good deal on a boatload of them, thus the reason for this sale. Sure, its a placebo effect or a fashion statement. At least these look cool. I might just buy a couple for the fun of it. 8 bucks? I could blow that on one meal at any fast food joint around. So thanks Woot, I won't be eating some unhealthy fast food today.

Yeah, these have been exposed as complete crap. In Australia, they were banned from advertising the fake medical value, forced to admit they were deceptive, and forced to give refunds. A piece of string around your wrist would give you about as much benefit. Actually, the string might be better - Because you'd be prepared for any string-related emergencies.

http://news.discovery.com/human/power-balance-maker-admits-bands-are-worthless.html

Garbage or not is there, and money is money, woot is a online store for make "money" and is your choice if you buy something like that,
"Do not blame them for try to make money thats they business"

So this is why Woot ran the poll about the "placebo effect" last week!

Nice that woot is finally selling pseudoscience. Now if they would just label it as such...pseudo-scientific feces for the masses, let woot take your money just like Ms. Cleo did!!!

Good job woot, what's next, snake oil? Magic fairy wands? Tooth brush sanitizing lights? "Gamer" glasses? Oh, wait...

I'm buying less and less stuff from woot lately and this kind of unreserved GARBAGE is why. If you buy these magnetic bracelets you're a fool and if you sell them you're a scammer.

That's right woot, you're scamming people. I can't wait to see you selling "Head On" headache relief (it's a wax stick by the way) or maybe Woot will be offering equity loans on cars in the near future. If people are dumb enough to buy these bracelets what WON'T they buy?

molex wrote:Good job woot, what's next, snake oil? Magic fairy wands? Tooth brush sanitizing lights? "Gamer" glasses? Oh, wait...

I'm buying less and less stuff from woot lately and this kind of unreserved GARBAGE is why. If you buy these magnetic bracelets you're a fool and if you sell them you're a scammer.

That's right woot, you're scamming people. I can't wait to see you selling "Head On" headache relief (it's a wax stick by the way) or maybe Woot will be offering equity loans on cars in the near future. If people are dumb enough to buy these bracelets what WON'T they buy?

:| I kinda like the "Gamer glasses" I use them for programming at work and feel less eye fatigue at the end of the day.

I thought I was visiting Woot, but apparently visited Ripoff.Woot.com by mistake.

This is embarrassing for woot, and an insult to the woot community that so fervently informs friends and family of the awesome deals available here.

If you want to sell wristbands, sell wristbands, but to even suggest that they "might" provide power or balance is simply insulting.

By the way, I recently came upon a bunch of beans that may or may not be magic. Hit me up and we can discuss hawking them here at Woot, leveraging this ambiguity. We won't assert that they are magic (that would be wrong), but we'll allow that others have, and that we are in no position to discredit such claims. Maybe a beanstalk to the heavens will grow, maybe it won't...only way to find out is to hand over your cash.

Passenger57 wrote:Only Large and XL? No love for folks with skinny wrists.

Some people wear them for style/fashion purposes, not because they'll make them fly or anything.

I suppose if by "style" you mean looking like a gullible wishbone.

inkycatz wrote:Science or magic? Which would you rather have on an epic adventure?

Is this an etsy listing?

Lol, I think Woot is trolling us.

I think Invicta might make these based on all the comments.

John Galt wears these.

A bunch of these in a sack would truly be a 'Bagg Uv Crappe'. And not in the good way.

Zippy The Pinhead wrote:A bunch of these in a sack would truly be a 'Bagg Uv Crappe'. And not in the good way.

Is that a request, there? Because we could talk about that to people...

Woot...I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

Do these have any special powers? No. But a simple bracelet may give one confidence. And whether it's work, sports, or daily activities. Confidence may be the most important thing of all. So 4 bucks on a little bracelet that may lift somebody up just a little bit doesn't seem so bad. The rest of you sound like you paid 30 bucks for this new powerband last year, went to the gym, and still couldn't bench press your own weight. Ha Ha!

To be fair, Woot isn't making any claims for these bands -- and neither is the Powerband website, at least not since they got busted.

So buy them because you like the way they look, or not.

slchockeyman wrote:Do these have any special powers? No. But a simple bracelet may give one confidence.

Uhm... no. What's giving confidence in this case is good old fashioned ignorance coupled with a nearly fatal case of wishful thinking and too much disposable income.

Placebo effect when applied on purpose by a professional is effective and meaningful. Willful ignorance leading to blowing your money on garbage is shameful.

And no, I've never owned one of these pocket-lighteners either. In fact when I first heard about them years ago I thought "That sounds like complete horse-S"... surprise surprise a few minutes of research confirmed that it's complete horse-S.

FenStar wrote:I suppose if by "style" you mean looking like a gullible wishbone.

Bitter much? At this price, they're not any more expensive than any other rubber wristbands people wear.

Passenger57 wrote:Bitter much? At this price, they're not any more expensive than any other rubber wristbands people wear.

Yeah, but the other wrist bands people wear don't make them look like gullible wishbones

Plus if you want to wear a stylish rubber wristband (how many wooters are really in the 12 to 15 age range, anyway?) how about buying one where the money goes to a charity? At least then something positive is happening, instead of the money going into the pockets of a bunch of acknowledged hustlers and scam artists with the result of you walking down the street looking like a gullible wishbone.

blue_94_trooper wrote:John Galt wears these.

Hahah +1

molex wrote:Uhm... no. What's giving confidence in this case is good old fashioned ignorance coupled with a nearly fatal case of wishful thinking and too much disposable income.

Placebo effect when applied on purpose by a professional is effective and meaningful. Willful ignorance leading to blowing your money on garbage is shameful.

And no, I've never owned one of these pocket-lighteners either. In fact when I first heard about them years ago I thought "That sounds like complete horse-S"... surprise surprise a few minutes of research confirmed that it's complete horse-S.

You seem upset! I think you could use a calming potion or one of those wrist bands with the magnets in them. They do work you know,so let me know and I can hook you up with a few for $28 each.

manfrin wrote:Hahah +1

Oh who is John Galt.

Buy these today! It's never been easier to advertise your gullibility and low intelligence.

This is an absolute disgrace and embarrassment to see Woot sell quack medicine crap like this. Please pull this garbage down and don't disappoint us again!

Passenger57 wrote:Bitter much? At this price, they're not any more expensive than any other rubber wristbands people wear.

A. Some of the money goes to charity.
B. I have never found rubber bands to be fashionable.
C. Everything I wear has a feasttion.
D. I dislike people taking advantage of others.

mizuh wrote:I thought I was visiting Woot, but apparently visited Ripoff.Woot.com by mistake.

This is embarrassing for woot, and an insult to the woot community that so fervently informs friends and family of the awesome deals available here.

If you want to sell wristbands, sell wristbands, but to even suggest that they "might" provide power or balance is simply insulting.

By the way, I recently came upon a bunch of beans that may or may not be magic. Hit me up and we can discuss hawking them here at Woot, leveraging this ambiguity. We won't assert that they are magic (that would be wrong), but we'll allow that others have, and that we are in no position to discredit such claims. Maybe a beanstalk to the heavens will grow, maybe it won't...only way to find out is to hand over your cash.

All beans are magical, silly!

Anybody know if these will enhance the effectiveness of my anti-mind-control foil hat?