buyer beware

So I was working in Jacksonville and needed to make a hotel reservation.  Two nights in Palatka, FL.

I Googled the Holiday Inn in Palatka.  That turned out to be a mistake.  I thought I was on the Holiday Inn website but I was not.  I was on a third party web site that looked just like the Holiday Inn website.  My mistake, and I was fooled.

Later, my boss told me that I only needed to be there for one night so when I got to the hotel, I tried to cancel the second night.  Oops sorry, you did not reserve through us so you must deal with the third party web site.  I called them.  I talked to someone who lives in another country.  Sorry sir, no refunds.

And to make it worse, they have a $50 per day fee tacked onto the hotel cost.  

Buyer beware.  When making hotel reservations, make sure you are on the correct web site.  Or call the hotel directly.

I don't like feeling dumb, but it does happen from time to time.

A few weeks ago I got a call from an Amazon rep.  Seems that someone had charged a $1200 iphone on my account.  They had flagged the transaction as suspicious.  They wanted to know if I had made the purchase.  NO!  I did not.  We talked for a bit longer, the fellow had a number of questions for me.  I was probably on the phone for 5 minutes when I realized that this was not Amazon, this was someone trying to get my personal information.  I hung up.

But for sure, in this day of electronic transactions, do not open any links in texts or emails that you don't recognize.  Do not send gift cards to friends who are stuck somewhere.  And do not book anything over a site unless you are certain that you are on the app or web page of the actual vendor.

It's still a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.