FYI: Trick-e-ration

It’s NOT a check; it’s TRICK-E-RATION

When is depositing a check a BAD thing?

And….the correct answer is: When it is Trick-e-ration.

I got a check in the mail

You know how it is this time of year, money is tight and utility bills are high and you are looking for an answer to your finances in any shape, form or fashion. I am right there with you. This morning when I took the trash out I checked the mail, which I had not done the day before (I had enough bills already, thank you very much). To my surprise there was an unexpected check there, from a company I recognized, with my correct name and address and everything.

Trick-e-ration begins

It really looked like a check. The edges were all perforated for you to be able to easily tear it open. It clearly stated on the outside “check enclosed”. There really WAS a check inside. Payable to me or the bearer. Payable at (or drawn on) JPMorgan Chase Bank. I admit it, I went and got a deposit slip and placed the check with my purse so that when I went out later in the day I could deposit it. It did cross my mind to wonder why the Fun Club was sending me a check but hey, money is money. I needed the little check for $9.25. I even said “Thank you Lord”.

Bad things could happen . . .

I sat down to write my blog for today on something else totally different and laid the check beside me on the desk. That is when I noticed that there was a small box underneath the amount for the check and just above the signature line which said:

“By cashing or depositing this check you are purchasing a membership in AutoVantage Enhanced. Void if amount over $9.25.”

Almost got me

Many folks who know me think of me as a ‘smart person’. And the truth is that I probably am fairly bright. I know my subject matter and I am a college graduate and I make a decent living traveling around the country and speaking on the issues of foreclosure, mortgage fraud and the like. However, the truth is that ‘smart people’ make mistakes just like anyone else because being smart in a particular area does not mean you know any more that anybody else in some other subject matter and ALL of us make mistakes. If I was not in the habit of STUDYING contracts and looking for some kind of ‘trick’ in things related to banking and business, I would have gotten got. I stopped, studied my ‘gift check’ and decided they were trying to trick me into signing up for a subscription to something I had never even heard of before.

Marketing is Marketing

At first I was not mad with them for using this unique way of marketing. It is a brilliant plan. It almost worked on me. But then I start to think about the many folks, especially seniors, who would fall for this and get themselves into trouble because if you deposit this little pitsy check, bad stuff starts to happen.

Bad things you didn’t expect

On the back of my ’gift check’ where you endorse it.

“READ CAREFULLY BEFORE SIGNING”.

By cashing this check I agree to a thirty day trial offer in AutoVantage Enhanced. I understand that the $15.99 monthly fee will be automatically charged to my credit card with Great Fun unless I cancel my membership by calling 1-877-397-4430 before the end of the trial period. I understand that after my first year I will be charged $16.99 per month for the next twelve months and I will also be charged every month thereafter at the then-current monthly fee, unless I call to cancel and owe nothing thereafter.

CHECK VOID IF ALTERED OR UNSIGNED

X_________________________________________________

Signature of Payee required for processing T71479105

Warning

Please read again (or for the first time if you never read it before) the blog entry for April 16, 2009 on your signature. Now I am mad. I am very, very mad. I am mad not because they A LMOST got me but I am mad because I can see how they got my mom and your mom and hundreds of thousands of others who either cannot read well or did not read and signed themselves into a long term mess for some magazine subscription that they never would have signed up for had some slick marketing guru not come up with the novel idea of sending out a real check—with TRICK-E-RATION strings attached. Just a comment: when legitimate people need to send a check in the mail—for legitimate reasons—NEVER do they write on the outside, CHECK ENCLOSED. They try to avoid advertising to your mail carrier or anyone else that you have received a check. Clearly, the reason it was written on the outside of my ‘gift check’ was to ensure that I would open it and hoping I would cash it without closely examining exactly the nasty strings attached. Clearly, TRICK-E-RATION. I am going to forward my ‘gift check’ to the Attorney General’s office for every state in the union and hope that they will help these folk with their next advertising campaign.

BE forewarned…

If you read the introduction of why I write this blog I readily admit that I have done almost all the wrong stuff you can do related to housing and it is only through God’s grace that I have survived to report the outcome and point you in a better direction. I am awfully glad the check came so I would have yet another ‘personal educational experience’ to share with you. I don’t always enjoy the lessons of life; frequently they are harsh and not nearly as gentle as this near miss. However, I appreciate all of them. All of them have led to the place where I am and will take me on to where I am destined to be. The same is true for you.

Embrace today! Be grateful that things are as good as they are and watch out for Trick-e-ration!

Know that you are blessed!

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(Please E-mail Heather at homeownershipmatters@gmail.com with any questions, comments or concerns you might have! We appreciate all comments and feedback, so please don't be shy.)