Free . . . but

This is the time of the year when we our mailboxes are stuffed with gift catalogs, special sales, buy-one-get-one offers, and buy-now-pay-later deals. And how about those telemarketing calls, regardless of whether you are on the do-not-call list, or not? They all look good on the surface, but when you check closer, you find many are really sticking it to you.

Yesterday, I picked up a call from a telemarketer. Because we do get a couple of Skype and MagicJack calls that we don't want to miss, we are not able to screen all calls with caller ID. I wasn't near a computer, so I could not check the caller's website while I was on the phone. The caller was offering a free month of Internet priority advertising in hope of securing our business on a fee paid basis after that. When I Googled the company, later, I found a host of complaints about their business tactics and ethics. It was a "freebut" offer." You know the kind, free now but,"We're going to stick it to you," on your next telephone bill.

I called the company to cancel the "freebut" service, as I was well within my 72-hour cancellation window. I got some names and promises, but overall minimal satisfaction.

I called the phone company and humbly explained the great "freebut" offer and asked how could I stop the billing. She graciously said, "easy," and immediately put a block on any third party billing to our account. It's something new that phone companies are now allowed to do because of so many "freebut" entrepreneurs that are popping up, especially at this time of the year. (I tried to block AT&T's bill, but she politely refused.)

We always told our kids, "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is." Where were they when I needed them to repeat it back to me?