According to the infomercial the Tobi™ Steamer is designed to wipe out wrinkles just like the professional machines in the dry cleaning and fashion industry.
It removes unpleasant odours leaving your clothes fresh and ready to wear.
It gets the job done up to five times faster than ironing.
Does it really?
Our Test
We assembled the Tobi without much difficulty. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to set it up. We noticed however that the telescopic pole attached to the unit base is quite fragile. When we move it around we have the feeling it might break. We have to handle it with care.
After filling the water tank we switched it on. It takes less than one minute to start steaming. Immediately we started to move the steam nozzle from the top to bottom touching the hanging shirt.
What we found is that the shirt would keep moving as the nozzle touched it and it became difficult to steam all the area. Unless the steam nozzle is very close to the material the wrinkles takes more time to disappear. Consequently to prevent the shirt to dangle we had to hold it down at the bottom. This is then pretty inconvenient, with one hand steaming the shirt and the other holding it straight. The shirt did become less wrinkled and although it did not look like ironed it appeared acceptable.
The same for the pant. Although the fabric is thicker and heavier it moved around during the steaming process. It needed to be pull down. Otherwise it takes much more time to get the wrinkles out.
Since we have to keep the hose in an upright position during steaming to allow condensation to flow back in the container it becomes difficult to steam near the floor level. Unless the clothes hang very high you would have to bend often times to get all areas done.
We tried to use the shoulder strap and found that it was not as simple as it looked on TV. What the TV does not show is that you require the equipment to be plugged for it to work properly. With the short length of electrical cord you can barely move. Even if an extension is used it is not as portable and flexible as it sounds like.
We tried to steam the curtains and it did a better job than for the shirt and pant since it hanged quite straight down. Still we have a problem when we reach the bottom part near the floor.
We also tried it on the bed sheets. Since they are lying horizontally we had to place the steamer nozzle horizontally too. This resulted in water spouting out of the nozzle onto the bedsheets. The steam also tended to go up vertically, so it did not get into contact with the sheet as it should. The removal of wrinkles is not that effective.
We also noticed that there was water on the floor. We are not sure if we failed to tighten the drain switch and thereby the leak.
Our Conclusion
We think the steamer does remove wrinkles and if it is possible to hang all the clothes in such a way they do not move and could be reached without having to bend down then the Tobi steamer might do the job. We believe the electrical cord should be much longer. It is certainly not portable even with longer electrical cord. Actually it would be unsafe since you might trip over the cord if it is too long and lying all over the place.
The Tobi steamer might be a bit faster to use compared to ironing but not five times faster. Beside the results are way much different.
We do not think the Tobi steamer is as effective as proclaimed in the infomercial.
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October 9th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
My Tobi Experience
———————-
July 26, 2008. Saw the TV-ad, called to order, and changed mind not to order.
Bruce called me back from Tobi HQ at 11:00am, offered me better deal. I accepted and ordered amount is US$127.63. Order Date: July 26, 2008. Order Confirmation #: 6543839
(1)Aug 12, 2008
Product didn’t arrive. Sent an e-mail enquiry at 8:07pm asking for the status. No reply received. I checked with my post office few times to see if they got anything in my name. No news.
(2)Aug 14, 2008 at 12:00pm
Called Customer Service. They said they sent the parcel on June 30, 2008 and confirmed me that parcel arrived at my local post office today, which I should get my tomorrow.
I checked with my post office few times to see if they got anything in my name. No news.
(3)Aug 19, 2008 at 12:35pm
Called Customer Service. They said they sent the parcel on June 30, 2008 by Purolator vide GNT200001540. We found that parcel was sent to Windsor, though my address was right. They said they’d reship and would refund me USD13.00 to make me happy. I should receive it within 7~10days.
(4)Aug 26, 2008 at 11:30am
Spoke with Austin, Representative.
His records were up to date. He started telling me that product was shipped on July 30, 2008. He didn’t know anything that parcel was returned to Windsor.
Finally I spoke with Allen, Supervisor. They’ll send me the PIC Form (Postal Insurance Claim Form) with 2 options – Refund or Reship.
(5)Sept 8, 2008 at 2:55pm
Spoke with Ron. They said they sent me the PICF on Aug 19, 2008. And asked me to wait few more days.
(6)Sept16, 2008 at 10:18am
Spoke with Peter, Senior staff. He said he would do the following 3 thing:
i.Would talk to Corporate Office.
ii.Would send me back PICF
iii.Would refund me money within 5~6days directly without PICF, as it’s too late.
(7)Oct 9, 2008 at 1:30pm
Spoke with a lady named Estelle.
She tried to offer me 2 options – (a) Reship or (b) Refund.
I had to start over from beginning by explaining the whole story.
I tried to speak with a Manager or a Supervisor. But she didn’t let me do so.
She took my e-mail (Yahoo). She said she would inform the concerning department so that they would send me the PICF.
GAME IS ON ….
October 10th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Spotshoppingguide does not recommend ordering from Infomercials. Often times it is quasi impossible to return an item even though there is a money back warranty if you are not satisfied.
In your case it seems the ordered item never arrived. Ask them to refund the money without the PICF.