A chubby young kid came to my door and introduced himself as Craig Trautman and said he was earning points for a trip to London where his class was going to visit the BBC. He said his family had just moved into the area and his Mom wanted him to get out and sell in order to get to know the neighbors. He said her name was Beth and even gave me a phone number. He said she walked their dogs Polly and Molly in this area. (This is a similar pitch to other reports I have read).
I had a funny feeling about all this, but he seemed sincere and I always like to help the kids outs. Anyway, I bought a child's English/Spanish dictionary from him for $34.00. However, when he added up the process and handling service change the total came to $49.00. I thought that was a bit high, but by that time I just wanted to get rid of him. He asked if he could wait in my foyer. It was extremely hot and his face was very red and flushed, and I felt sorry for him, so I let him in. That was stupid.
Anyway, just as he was leaving, my husband was turning in the driveway. Our neighbor across the street flagged him down and told him that a magazine salesman had gone in our house. My husband jumped out of his truck and confronted the kid as he was leaving. He gave my husband the same bogus story.
The next morning I was still feeling uneasy and figured I had been scammed, so I did some research online. I found that this company also does business as Integrity Sales. I followed the directions for cancelling the transaction and sent it certified mail. I also cancelled the check. The lady at the Bank of America said she had also been approached in the same manner recently. When she tuld them she was not interested, they got very rude.
I can't believe I was so stupid. But I learned a good lesson and was not out a lot of money. From now on I will follow my "gut feeling." I would love to be part of a class action lawsuit that would bring these criminals down. I feel sorry for the young kids they prey on, but they should be ashamed of themselves for lying to people.
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