Stupid. Stupid.

"Mistake is just another word for Experience."

A week ago I was surfing the web and an ad caught my eye. It looked interesting and exciting. Plus it was Risk-Free. So yeah, I was good. Right? So, inexperienced stupid teenager that I am, I signed up and got an account with this Risk Free Site. During the sign-up, however, they noted that they would be charging me a dollar ninety-five for activation. A dollar ninety-five. That's not a lot if you think about it. Well worth what I wanted. So I said okay and the screen changed. "Oh wait," The site said pulling up this separate page. "We're gonna charge you nine ninety-five along with the dollar ninety-five so your total cost is actually eleven ninety." They never told me what the second amount was for.

Immediately I started to panic. I looked and looked for a way out, but there was nothing. I tried backing out of the page, but it wouldn't work. I was stuck. Despair washed over me as I realized that I had just been sucked into a scam. Me. A scam. ...When you think it will never happen to you... and it does.

I was embarrassed. But what could I do? I told myself that it was only eleven dollars. Not a huge deal. It's just two packages of toilet paper, or a bit of gas. I wasn't out much. I could deal with it. I exited the page and hoped to just forget about the whole thing. It wasn't huge. I could last.

But you know what they say about mistakes. They have a way of showing up uninvited.

I got an email today. It said that I was going to be charged an additional forty-nine dollars and ninety-five cents within the next three days. I was beyond feeling embarrassed. I was furious! I'd looked on the site several times to see where I could take my name off of the account or to change my billing status or something -only the stupid site gave me access to nothing. Nothing!

So I did the only thing I could think to do. I called my mom.

The woman is brilliant. She knew exactly what to do. She told me how to address my demands -and stressed that I needed to be firm. I have trouble with that. Especially when I'm angry. The only anger I can deliver is a red face and a hard expression. Neither of which you can see over the phone. Not that that would matter. No one takes my angry mood seriously.

So I soaked in my mothers advice and at exactly eight o'clock this morning I called the account people and told them my demands. The guy on the other end, whether because of the firm quick demands I threw or just that that was his personality, he was nice and very willing to help. He took care of everything right there over the phone and erased my account. I was so happy! My thanks probably confused him. Here I was as unyielding as the grave and then I turn to mush with relief. Anyway. I called my mom back and told her the good news. Thank you so much Mom!

From this...experience, I've learned a few helpful rules.
1. If not ordering anything, never give out your card number over the internet. Duh.
2. If you fall into a scam, never give up.
3. If you have to give up, admit your wrong and never repeat it.
4. Never think that you'll be the one exception to the rule. I hear that everyone falls down and that's okay, just don't stay there.