Scammed the scammers

by Greg
(Maricopa, AZ)

Ok, you guys are going to like this one. I just moved out of my house in Maricopa, Arizona, and this is how it went down. I had all my furniture and belongings already in storage, so all I had left was cleaning supplies and a few groceries in the fridge. I had previously scheduled a carpet cleaning company to clean the carpets for the house I was renting, per the rental agreement. The carpet cleaners were scheduled to arrive at noon.

At around 10 am I get a knock on the door, and this lady tells me that her husband is selling Kirby vacuum cleaners and would like to schedule a demo that day, I inform her that I was vacating the house that weekend. She then stated that the demo would include a free shampoo of two rooms, I said " ok, come on in". A few minutes later a nicely dressed young man cam in with a Kirby vacuum and started the demo, I could smell a scam in the works, after all I am a private investigator.

I then requested that he vacuum and shampoo my bedroom and my den, about a third of the home. I told him that there were going to be professional carpet cleaners coming to shampoo the carpet in a few hours and this was the perfect time and place to examine the results and work product of both services side by side. A unique opportunity for all.

After about half a hour he called his supervisor, who came over and tried to convince me to buy the vacuum at $2,800.00. I told them that first I wanted to see how well it cleaned compared to professional carpet cleaners. Both the supervisor and the vacuum guy mentioned that the vacuum guy was only one sale away from completing a sale and winning a trip to Barbados, and the he and his wife were already packed to go, and today was the last day of the contest. I then lead them to believe that I was interested in the Kirby vacuum only if it could perform as well as the professionals. They then vacuumed and cleaned my bedroom and den diligently, I left them alone , since there wasn't anything to steal other than a half bottle of shampoo in my shower in the master bathroom.

The carpet cleaners showed up, and I informed them about the situation and had them shampoo the rest of the carpets in the house. I told the Kirby guys that they were going to go " toe to toe" with the pros. They both did an excellent job.

Now here is the rub.

After they had cleaned the rugs, they then lowered the price of the Kirby to $2,300.00. I then advised them that I was going out of country for two months over the holidays and wouldn't need it until I got back and rented or purchased another house( this was true). I then told them that I would only able to buy one after the first of the year so that I could deduct it as a business expense for my home office.

They then tried to make me sign a contract, and again I declined due to not be able to tax deduct it until next year, and I had already maxed out my deductions for this year. They then asked me what I would be willing to pay today for the Kirby , since the salesman needed a sale, so that he could win the trip to Barbados, I then offered them a $100.00 in cash.

They both looked at me and walked out of the house.

Meanwhile, about 1/2 hour later, the professional cleaners were done, I asked them how much they would have charged me for the rooms the Kirby guys did, and they stated that they would have charged in an extra $90.

Yes!!!