About 1 1/2 years ago, my then-18-year-old son received a telemarketing-type call from wheelchair vets asking him to buy trash bags. He said no, and we thought that was the end of it. Being a teenage boy, he is quite familiar with the household take-out-the-trash routines and knows we don't use trashbags, plus he's a college student, and doesn't have any money anyway.
A couple of months later (I guess they hoped he would forget he had told them no?), he received a box from them in the mail. He put it under his bed, unopened. We assume it contains trashbags, but we don't know because we haven't opened it. A few weeks afterwards, he received another phone call from Wheelchair vets, asking for money. (He still had none.) He offered to return the bags, but they wouldn't send return postage, and they suggested he donate the bags to someone. Being a teenage boy, he never got around to it, and the package they sent is still under his bed.
A few days ago, (1 1/2 years after receiving the package), I got a harassing call from Wheelchair Veterans demanding their money. They claimed my son ordered the bags, and had even spoken to a supervisor. I know this is baloney because I overheard the original call. Also, and again, we don't USE trashbags in our home! (b.T.W., the bags are STILL under my son's bed.)
I can tell their M.O. Is to wait a long time after sending their package, then call and hope that their presumably elderly victim is so embarrassed by dementia-caused memory loss that they agree to send these people money.
1. The package they sent is still sitting under my son's bed, 1 1/2 years after they started trying to scam him. If wheelchair veterans is reading this, send us return postage and we will send you your useless bags back. But I'm pretty sure you won't, because it's probably worth less than the postage to mail it.
2. Is there any way to prevent them from making these nasty, harassing phone calls? Is small claims court an option? Who do we file complaints with? Can I sue them for storage costs in small claims court? It would be worth the hassle to get them to stop calling, because they are so nasty on the phone that it ruins your day.
3. Their website has been "under construction" for a least a year that I know of. Funny how the email address is blank, no?
4. We will NEVER, EVER give these scum a dime, and I hope no one else ever does, so maybe they will finally give up and find an honest way to make a living. We were smart enough that we didn't lose any money to these bozos - spread the word so no one else does either!
5. After paying these people to make multiple phone calls to our and others' houses to no effect, how much money could possibly be left over to give to vets? I'm betting not much, but who could know because their website doesn't say anything about it.
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