A Lesson on Internet Purchases

When we knew we were moving to Virginia, I had to have a big backyard. The "shared" backyard in Jacksonville was fine for the time we had it but I needed room for the kids to run -fenced in. Luckily, I found it! 

Next on the list was to hunt around for a play set to give the kids some fun. Since October, I've been trolling craigslist for something affordable, something not too old (since we would have to move it) and something fun enough for the kids to use for about three years.

Finally, after a few months of searching, I found a deal! There was a listing on craigslist for a direct buy from ebay through a company. I contacted them, a few days went by and I received an email with a link. Sheepishly, I followed it. Right in to a trap! A fake ebay site listed a play set for $700. For the first time EVER John and I saved and planned to purchase something like this. The money was there; all I had to do was spend it. I wanted to make sure I got the biggest bang for my buck so I thought this deal was IT!

After we paid via a PayPal Green Dot Money Pack (something like that), we waited for a confirmation email...and never got it. All at once, the red flags finally hit me. The direct buy, the weird link that no longer worked and then, a conversation with my Dad (about how my Aunt was conned out of $3,000 for a car).

I wasted an entire day (this is about a month ago) calling ebay, paypal, our bank, filing with the police and something called IC3.gov. 

Basically, we had to eat it. Our bank is fantastic and was able to give us some money back for it, through our insurance. Thank God for tax money.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Nothing like this will EVER happen to this family again. I can promise myself that. 

Oddly enough, the amount of people that have had run-ins and either got conned or saw the red flags are much more than I thought. Almost everyone I've talked to said "Oh my gosh, you'd never guess what happened..." Or, " I know so-and-so and they followed a link, too!" 

Any way, we finally purchased another play set. John told me to go back to searching on craigslist! Not a chance! This time, I wanted to see the transaction and load the play set in the truck. I found just what I was looking for at Sam's Club and John and our friend, Dan, spent the better part of three days lovingly constructing it slat by slat.

Even Deacon helped!

Poor 3rd kid: eating out of a pouch! Unheard of!