The telemarketer preys on rural farmers to entice them to buy extra parts for a major shop power tool that they have been selected to receive free.
In other words the consumer is told they have just won a free cut off saw valued at blah blah blah.
After he asked them if he can send out this free saw and gets a response of yes from the costumer then he plans his attack.
The salesman goes on to tell them about an exceptional deal for the blades that go with the saw. Telling them it only cost 26.50 per blade an throws in a free calendar and goggles to boot, with a 25 pack of the blades.
The farmer, feeling that he is getting a good deal says yes to his answer of "can I send this out to you along with your free saw?"
In a short time the parts arrive along with the free saw. The company sends an invoice telling the buyer that he owes $672.50 for only the package of the 25 blades sent to go with the new tool. No shipping or handling charges required, everything else on the invoice is zero amount due.
The company states you only have 30 days from the time UPS drops the boxes off to receive an authorization number to return the merchandise. The invoice comes in the mail two weeks after the boxes are delivered, leaving you with less time than 30 days for the number. The person on the other end of the phone line is from a call center making deals for you keep product.
This has happened to us two times now.
Once with a Milwaukee saw just before Dec. 25th 2003 and just this year with a chop saw to my husbands widowed mother living on her farm just before Dec. 25th.
The salesman is very rude if you say no and is persistent calling over and over again. Each time he hears the word "no" he gets madder and rudder.
He had called in Dec. 2007 to tell us we had just won a cordless power drill free. The catch was the drill bits were a great deal. (Right.)
We declined the drill bits but said send out the free drill ok. We haven't seen the drill of course. Before we could warn my husbands' mother about this case, she had already been sucked in for the $672.50 blades with free chop off saw.
Expensive lesson to learn for people who are trying to make it through rough times of their own health and/or money issues. Oh, by the way the blades were already put on her credit card the day she said yes to him on the phone. They got their money before she got her merchandise. We hope others will learn from our experience.
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