On Tuesday May 31 a very fast talking young gal named MaryAnne Fair knocked on our door. My husband answered as I was in another room. After talking to her for several minutes he came and got me to talk to her. She told me that she was selling magazines to win a $1000 cash prize and a trip to (I think) the Caribbean and that there were 'others' selling in town and it was a contest between them to see who could sell the most. The longer I hesitated the faster she talked, going to the point of saying that it was hot standing in the sun and asking if she could use a corner of our table for a minute to cool off. She kept going on about how we could use any purchase as a tax deduction. Then, since I was still hesitate she acted like she was settling in and was ready to sit there all day! At the time it was noon and my husband's one son had an appt at 1 and I still had to get dressed, get our baby dressed, and get to the appt. Because this gal seemed to be ready to sit there all day I hastily bought a subscription and as soon as she had the check she was gone (didn't even see which way she went!). She left us a piece of paper we were supposed to tape to our front door that said 'Bug off, MaryAnne is the champ!' as that would keep the 'others' from knocking on the door and trying to sell to us.
Today I started getting that 'gut feeling' that something wasn't right so I started doing some searching. The phone number she left on the receipt says it's a concrete/headstone company in Texas according to the yellow pages and in the white pages it's supposed to be some person's number. I tried calling the number and got a 'message service'. The guy told me that it was 10 pm there and when I questioned where this place was at he gave me the Texas address and when I said 'I thought Texas was central time zone' he changed his times from eastern to central time zone.
I'm kicking myself now but since they haven't cashed my check yet I'm going to the bank tomorrow and putting a stop payment on it! It'll cost me a few bucks but will be a lot better than giving them $50! I've also sent messages to my friends on Facebook, warning them about the scam going through our small town and possibly even around the area as well. Don't fall for these fast talking young people! This gal was dressed nicely and looked quite honest and sincere.
I didn't tape the paper to the door so I'm curious to see if anyone else knocks on the door trying to sell any magazines. Our town is quite small and things are noticed but this gal seems to be able to hide quite well (if she's still in town).
0 comments