Fishy Experience
I found a light for my bathroom a few months back that I liked, but I decided foolishly to wait before purchasing it until we were ready to install it. No need for it to just lay around. You would guess they discontinued it in December.
Considering that December was only a handful of months ago, I decided to see if I could find one online in an off-beat location, or warehouse sitting on shelf. There has to be one, but can I find it?
I am hopeful.
Read moreI spent an hour yesterday calling around, and visiting websites. I called numerous places, but everyone was sold out. I didn’t give up. I know there are some sitting in warehouses somewhere!
Then I found a website that I had run across before using a different search string, and they said they had it in stock! They said on their website they keep all items in stock, and the item would ship in 24-48 hours. But before I got excited, I decided to call them.
They just didn’t have a number listed anywhere where I could reach them at so I emailed them and waited for a response.
It’s not good that they don’t have a phone number. It’s a red flag, but I reasoned in my desire and longing for this light that maybe this is a home run business, and they don’t want calls at all hours of the day. Maybe this business buys discontinued items–that’s why they had them in stock. At least that is what I told myself.
Damn emotions!
So today thinking about the light again and not hearing back from them, I went to the website, and I decided oh-what-the-heck, I’ll just order it and see. If they don’t have it, they won’t charge me. It won’t be the first time this has happened without a hitch.
So I put the light in the online cart, and it asked me to create a new customer account. So I did. That’s when I saw on the registration page my second red flag.
It wanted a shipping address. It read as follows:
Street Address:
Suburb:
Post Code:
City:
State/Province:
Country:
What?
We don’t enter our address in this format in the U.S. Clearly, this is now hinting to be a company overseas acting as if they are an American company. Yet, when you pulled down country option, there was only one selection for the United States, and they had an American fax number.
Hmmm…
It was fishy.
Then below that, it showed shipping charges of $69.00 labeled as “Best Way”. There was no other explanation for shipping provided. I was looking at small vanity light. Clearly, the shipping charge was insane.
I knew I was being had, and now they already had my real name and e-mail address. I am a bit unnerved. I went back in to see if I could modify my account, and I could so I added in all bogus information deleting anything personal I could find. How scary!
I then went to check out who owns the IP address, and while they give a Wilmington, Delaware address, and have an American contact whose name is foreign, they write their phone number like this:
+1 1232342123
That’s how they do it overseas. Bah!
Clearly, my emotions and desires were leading me astray. I wanted that damn light, and I was overruling important messages. I wasn’t listening to the signals I was getting when clearly I should have! I am so happy I never gave any credit card information.
Emotions are our biggest derailment to seeing the truth for what it is.
And now, two hours later, I found the light in-stock in a store 30 miles from me. How about that? I did it. Safely. Whew!
Keep those emotions for desires and wants in check, or you are bound to have regrets sooner or later. I think I came close to having my own regrets today!
