Honest Joe's Part II

If you've been following my posts since December, you know I got ripped off when shopping online at Honest Joe's Auctions for my son's big Christmas present.

While I'm happy to report that my local police, after some arm twisting, were finally able to recover the $131.oo that "honest" Joe kept for four months, I'm still fuming that he can get away with it...and that he will probably scam other people who aren't as persistent as I am. If you get caught shoplifting, you have to return the goods AND face prosecution. Why should this be any different?

What I'm even angrier about is that I didn't trust my instincts. I knew sending a check was a bad idea, but I was so hell bent on getting my son what he wanted that desire overrode intuition. I won't let that happen again. What can you do? Learn from my mistakes. Always purchase from reputable sites that allow you to pay by credit card or Paypal, so you can recover funds if the transaction goes awry. And trust your first impression. If something doesn't look right or feel right, find another merchant. Online shopping is the way to go, but you have to be smart about it or you could end up getting burned, and, as I found out, you don't have many options once that happens.