I never thought in a million years I could get conned.  But this young girl (college age) came to my door saying she worked for GE, and they are the ones who manufacture and install the burglar alarm hardware for ADT (ADT being my security company).  And she was offering a free upgrade of my system to the industry standard that ADT now requires.  All of which was one hundred percent true.

But she did not work for ADT.  She worked for a competing alarm company, and before I could blink I had agreed to change alarm companies, pay a $100 activation fee, and pay a higher monthly monitoring fee.

She never lied to me.  She didn't do anything illegal.  It's just the way she said things made them sound so sensible.  By the time I realized what was happening, the tech had already arrived and was ripping out my old equipment.

Ah, well, live and learn.  I keep looking back and thinking, How did I let that happen?  You see how people get conned on TV and you think, "I would never be that dumb."  But I was a complete idiot today.

In other, happier news, I watched the wood ducks (on the webcam) fledge today.  Very cute.  My blog on Harlequin American Authors Blog, which runs on Monday, talks about the ducks in more detail.  I also went to the hardware store and bought more birdfeeder stuff and a large pot and some potted herbs for my first effort at container gardening.  I'll take pictures when I'm done!

Thanks for stopping by,
Kara

Kara,
I think at some point we all get conned by someone. No matter how careful we try to be, there are times when someone catches us off gaurd. Try not to feel bad about it. Have a nice day.

Angela H.

Hi Kara. I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you. We had something like this happen to us a few years ago; a guy was trying to get contracts for a competing gas company, and before he knew it, my husband had signed the contract, committing us to three years. This wouldn't be good for us, of course, and I spent more than a week trying to get us out of it. In the end, the company was hauled up before the regulations board (can't recall the name off-hand, right now) and shut down for illegal practices. We were very fortunate that that had happened, but still, it could have been way worse.

Might I suggest that you contact the company this girl works for, and discuss annulling the contract? Legally, you should have a certain amount of time to cancel (I think it's something like 10 days...); you can also say something to them about dishonest practices (maybe even contact your local news station; they love stuff like this).

To protect yourself from a possible repeat of this situation, always ask the person outright if they're working for the company you purchase from, or if they're working for someone else before you allow them to go any further with their pitch. You can also ask them for identification, and then, if you really want to get them on the hook, tell them to wait while you contact your company and ask them if they're sending salespeople door to door.

I really hope you can get this mess sorted out, Kara. It's no fun when you get "taken" by companies who have to teach their salespeople how to con others...

Thanks, Angela and Holly.
I probably could get out of it. But then I would have to pay for my old company to come reinstall their equipment. And truthfully, this is a nicer, safer system, so I'm just letting it go. I did call the company and complain about the sales tactics. The alarm monitoring company hires a marketing company to sell its services. They probably already know about the shady sales tactics!

Kara, That could have been us last year. The same thing happened and the guy told us he had been sent by ADT to give us a free upgrade. My hubby was ready to sign and the guy had the contract on the table when I came out with my ADT bill. I started asking him questions and finally got him to admit that our monthly charges would be higher and I sent him packing. Then I called ADT and told them what was happening. He never once said he was with anyone but ADT, and they hadn't sent people out to solicit. Not sure what might have happened if we signed.

At least you have a better system. :)

Carol Ann--
I'm sure this con works so well that they use it over and over.