More Life Lessons...

So, me and Dan seem to have a knack for attracting scammers and horrible magazine companies! Not sure how we do it...but we do it very well :)

Here is the latest scam: "Easy Saver"

If you have ever bought flowers from Pro-Flowers BEWARE! I was reviewing our credit card bill yesterday.

(LONG SIDE NOTE: It was the first time I had looked at it in a long time. So long, I didn't even know the online login info. I now know it is advantageous to review it more often then I have...so, in the future I will look at it MUCH more often. Also, Dan is in charge of paying the credit card bill every month so I didn't ever worry about it. I'm not really into looking at this kinda stuff....BUT, my life lesson is...Even though I don't like doing something doesn't mean its okay to not do it!!!)

I found a charge on the bill from "Easy Saver 800#######" on 2/18 for a charge of $14.95. I was not familer with "easy saver" and I figured it was something dan had bought. I asked him and he had not heard of it before. So, he called the number and we found out it was some kinda subscription. As he is talking to "Easy Saver" aka "Easy Scammer" I started to google the name and number. The first thing that came up was a forum about people talking about getting scammed from this company. I thought..."OH LORD, how long has this been going on???" (Like I said, its be a LONG time since I have looked at our credit card statement.) I could not find a website for "Easy Saver" either....I was starting to get very worried! I am looking through all of our past statements and I get to 2/13/2008....yes, more then a year ago....and I found when the charges started! Dan called me after talking to the company. He had canceled the subscription and got a refund for two months. I was like TWO MONTHS....They have been charging us for a YEAR! So, it was time for me to swoop in for the kill. I called "Easy Saver" and they would only give us a refund for 8 months. I settled and accepted defeat....at least we got that much back. I also asked "Easy Saver" what they did...they say they give discounts on travel and restaurants, etc. I started reading on the internet more about "Easy Saver" and found out it is associated with Proflowers. If you buy flowers and sign up for a $15 discount coupon, you automatically get enrolled in a subscription to easy saver. Dan is the flower buyer in our house and he doesn't remember doing this...again, it was a year ago and alot has happened since then! Anyways, it really makes me mad that Proflowers gave our credit card info to this company...We did not authorize this AT ALL! It was some trick and fine print. We supposedly got login info in an email...which we could not find! Again, everything seems VERY fishy. As I continue to read about this scam on the internet I found a lady in my similar situation that got a full refund. I was like...okay, I'll try this too! I called Proflowers and told them about what happened. I also informed Proflowers that we would never use Proflowers again! Proflowers called "Easy Saver" and got me a full refund! YEAH!!! In the end, it all worked out and we will be getting our $200 back. But there is one more fishy piece to the refund..."Easy Saver" will be paying us back over two credit card statements...interesting. Well, its not over because we have not gotten any money back...I'll keep you updated!

In the end, I learned its important to keep track of your finances more closely. I'm still not going to balance my check book BUT I am going to start using Quicken Online. So far its pretty cool...and it free! Well, this kinda takes me full circle because isn't the "free" stuff what got me into trouble in the first place....But, at least I can find the Quicken website and thats more then I can say for "Easy Saver"!

Also, if you have ever bought flowers from Proflowers...you might want to check your statement for "Easy Saver".

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Scam #2...They just keep coming!

Dan has a subscription to Men's Health...the reason I had signed up for Women's Health...Because they have some great info! Well, Dan got some workout books in the mail. He did not remember buying them or signing up to receive them. The info said that they were associated with Men's Health and if you did not want the books to send them back by X date and you will not be charged.

Well, not to big of a deal...just a hassle to take them to the post office. Dan took them back and mailed both books in the same package back to the company. We ended up getting a bill for one of the books. Very confused as to why we got charged Dan attempted to call the company. This is where things got interesting. The company that sent us the books has a feature that if there are no customer reps available, the call will just end. You can't wait on hold and you just have to keep trying back. I have never heard of this before. Anyways, after a couple of days of trying to call, Dan FINALLY got through. He explained that he had sent back both books in the same package and did not understand why we were charged for one. They claim they didn't get it. Well, the customer rep decided to take the charges for the other book off and we ended up not paying anything. So, again, in the end we are not out any money but WHAT A HASSLE!

Dan found out that when he renewed his subscription, there is a little box you have to check to be unsubscribed from this book service. WHAT???? I'm sorry, but that is a horrible business model! You should have to opt in...not opt out! Horrible! Anyways, we are canceling our subscription to Men's Health too. I would like to caution everyone out there...Men's Health and Women's Health have scammers working there and they are just trying to get your money!

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Will we ever get a break? I don't understand what we are doing to attract all of the scammers! I hope one day we will figure it out.

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Life lessons learned:
-ALWAYS read the fine print
-Look at your credit card statements more then once a year
-Always get a tracking number when returning things to a company

Clean Teeth

Taggie has clean teeth! On Tuesday he had his yearly teeth cleaning. He has to take some antibiotics because of his inflamed gums but besides that its all good news. Last time he had to get two teeth pulled...He got to keep all his teeth this time! Go Taggie! ....I wonder what would happen if I only cleaned my teeth once a year!....just kidding :)

I would post a pic of the pearly whites...but he is upstairs asleep on our bed! Must of had a long day ;)

Life has been pretty uneventful lately. I'm still decluttering. The other day I ended up recycling about 50 magazines. I had them because I thought I would look at them again some day....Well, i finally decided it was time to let go and it felt really good! I keep telling myself...A little at a time and it will soon be all gone :)

Also, pottery has started back and I have some great pieces. I just have to glaze them and I will post some pics. I love pottery...I wish I could do that full time and pay the bills....I'm just not that good! Maybe one day.

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful valentines day! Dan and I sure did. We celebrated at Dan's grandma's house...It was her 85th birthday :) We had a blast!

Tales of The Chewy

Taggie got two chewys today...He's just a sweet little boy! But I do believe he was a bit confused as to if he really could eat the second chewy.

Dan and I were cooking (Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, Asparagus and rolls). Tag was in the dining room eating his two chewys under the table...like always...then, all the sudden we look over at Taggie carrying one of the chewys in his mouth. (I didn't have my camera at this point) After we looked at him, he went back to the dining room. It was cute but we really didn't think much of it. A few minutes later, Taggie showed up again...chewy in his mouth....we looked at him and he we back to the dining room. Very funny. He came back one more time and I decided it was time to go get my camera.

Tag decided he wanted to just stay on the stairs and watch us cook...One eye on us...One eye on his chewy!
He put the chewy down for just a couple seconds....
He was getting a little suspicious of all the pictures, so he ran to our bedroom....I followed. (You can't tell, but this is our bedroom!)
He ended up following me down stairs. It was time for dinner so we really didn't pay attention to him. He wasn't in the kitchen...which isn't abnormal...so, we figured he was eating his chewy somewhere.

Dinner was over so we headed to the living room to continue watching the Super Bowl. This is where he had decided to "hide" his chewy and we foiled his plans!

As of right now, he is laying next to me on the couch asleep and his chewy is just below him on the floor! Who knows when he will eat it.

Here are some more cute pics of the Tag today. He was just a super happy puppy today!


He was really asking for that chewy after this picture ;)