Door to Door Scams
I know these exist, but for whatever reason in my brain I forget about them when it happens to me. We live in a new neighborhood so last summer we got person after person after person trying to sell us home alarm systems. Of course after they would leave, I would feel stupid because what if they were just checking out the house to break in at a later date? Considering how paranoid I can get, it’s a wonder I even talk to salesman.
But it happened again last night. He was a very slick guy, his pitch was perfectly polished. He claimed to be collecting points for a trip to the Virgin Islands and kept going on and on about how happy he was to get points from both my neighbor and I at the same time (she was over visiting). We mistakenly let him in the house ~ really a two part mistake, one it is so hard to get them out of the house without buying, and two two women home alone with children, when is that ever a good idea to let a strange guy in the houses?
After he left (and my neighbor left) I googled the company name I wrote my check to. Nothing came up. Nothing in a BBB search either. I figured I’d check more today so I went to bed. But after a very short google search this morning I found story after story about people who were scammed, not by this particular company, but by the door to door magazine salesmen in general. So more searching for the company led me to cancelling my check. Sure I paid a fee ($6.50) but that is just about nothing compared to the check I wrote. I am also going to send in the form to cancel (must be done within three days) as well as telling my neighbor to do the same.
Here’s where the huge lesson of the week comes in. Never, under any circumstances, give a door to door salesman cash. I did. That is my payment for a lesson learned.
And to add a little twist to the knife, all the magazines that we ordered can be found online for about half the price.
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