You know what feels terrible? Being made a fool. I am not an aggressive person, but I felt like lashing out today. I would have written such an angry email . . .
I MIGHT HAVE EVEN USED ALL CAPS.
I know--but I really was that mad. And next time, I'll press "send," I really will . . .
Having recently become disenchanted with our current landlord, who seems to drag his feet about things like cashing our rent check, getting our washing machine fixed, and / or sending us a lease renewal, I decided to see what was posted on craigslist.
I found what looked like a beautiful apartment in a great neighborhood, for less than what we're paying for our current apartment, in all its tiny, almost windowless, awkward, right-angle-lacking glory. My interest was piqued, so I sent the inquiry to the reply-address.
A lady responded, and gave me a pretty good story about how they thought it was going to be rented, but they haven't heard back from the couple, blah blah blah. If I am honest with myself, I will say that there was a lot that had me uneasy about the whole interaction--BUT, I ignored those feelings, because I *really* wanted that apartment to exist at that price. (And why is that smart voice inside of me so quiet, anyway?!) She said I just needed to do a credit report, and then we could set up a time to look over the place.
The link she gave me was to a credit-reporting site, which has apparently been running this scam for a while. As far as I know, they're not taking people for all they're worth, but they are taking out a $30 monthly fee and making it really hard to cancel. (Said company has an "F" rating at the Better Business Bureau.)
At least I figured it out quickly, and canceled my debit card. I eventually (after getting a busy signal [A BUSY SIGNAL. IN 2011]) got a hold of the company and "canceled" my subscription to the "service," fighting the urge to go Medieval on the poor guy on the phone who may not have even been aware he was working for a scam-operation.
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Well, at least I can feel better about knowing that even Mr. T has, at times, been made a fool.
I'm sorry Rachel. So they just take your $30 and there was no apartment!? Ugh! Like you said though, if Mr. T can be taken a fool, we all can.
ReplyDeleteYa, we almost got scammed into a "too good to be true" apt in SF. As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Ours was trying to sucker us into sending a Western Union for the Deposit. Luckily we figured it out before we sent anything. You are not alone!
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