Talk about loss leader ads!

[IrishAyes]

On Monday I called a company because of their ad for a 'free' string of cultured pearls if I only paid $19.95 shipping and handling. (Must be awfully heavy pearls or terribly well-paid employees.) Now if you happen to live in an urban area or luck into an online deal, $19.95 cultured pearl strands are not that remarkable. So I figured fair price, why not?

Of course when I got customer 'service' on the phone, I found out the true purpose of their loss leader: to twist my arm into joining a buyers club at 'only' $99 a year. It came off like dealing with that infamous Comcast character. Every time I said 'NO!' to something, she'd come back with 'Why?' After a little too much of that I literally told her to shut the hell up, take my card info, and send me the damn jewelry. Didn't phase her at all. She just launched into another spiel. After 10 minutes I started threatening to sic the FTC on her if she didn't take me to the finish line. It was so surreal that I wasn't really suffering, just wanted to see what it would take to make her finish and shut up.

Eventually of course I did push her to completion, at which time she flat out beat me to slamming down the phone. Sore loser!

Since I never received an email confirmation, I called up my credit card company this morning to see if they'd even really done that much or whether they'd cancelled my order out of pure spite. Actually, they had hit my card - FOUR TIMES!

So later on today I'll call to see whether the package has yet shipped. Only after that happens will I let them know I know about the quadruple charges, which the credit card company has already said they'll reverse. If I don't like that cheap strand of cultured pearls when it does arrive, the 'jewelry' company won't even get their $19.95 out of me and I won't pay to return defective merchandise either. They'll say it's their policy not to send out free return shipping labels, and I'll say it's not MY policy to pay the freight for crooks. You can guess who the credit card company will side with. If the rotten jewelry company so much as looks sideways at my credit score, I'll thrash them with the full weight of the law. As football teaches us, the best defense is a good offense. At 68 I probably have more experience brawling than my younger opponents.

If I like the junk they send, though, I will pay for it ONCE.

Moral being, always keep a close watch on your credit. Even companies technically following the law will sometimes try to pull rotten stunts. Plus, remember to enjoy the battle.

[LynneSin]

1. Just keep a watch out for extra charges

all of those 'Just pay for shipping costs' deals usually has very minor tiny small print where they'll use that card for a host of other unwanted purchases.

[IrishAyes]

2. Thanks for the timely warning and reminder, truly.

I have no doubt they'll try, but they won't get away with it dealing with me. I read the print ad slowly twice with a magnifier, and no such thing was declared up front, so I've got 'em where I want 'em. That may be the purpose behind the quadruple charges already on the card. It just won't do them any good, and I've got the time as a retiree to tweet and yelp them to kingdom come. The way to do it safely is to stick to just the facts, no editorializing. When I've been threatened with legal action in the past, I just post a copy of that too, and it shuts them up.