“Flattery will
get you everywhere.” Well that almost
worked with me, I humbly confess. It is amazing how your ego can trip you up.
It all started
with an email saying I had been selected as a “woman of outstanding
leadership.” I was then invited to take
my “place among other remarkable women: you have earned it and you deserve it.” OK – I’ve worked hard – why not. So I click on and sign up for their free registration.
But… and here’s
the catch, a few weeks later I get THE call. I’d frankly totally forgotten about
signing up but the woman on the phone mentioned it, wanted to hear my story…( more
stroking of my ego)… offering opportunities to highlight me in their magazine.
Then comes the
crunch… $700 plus to join. I thought it was free? With great persistence the sales gal carried on to
say since I was so special (read reluctant to shell out $700+) she’d do me a
favour and offer payments by two installments.
Still I resisted and then the price went down. But
like a broken record, she continues to try and close. What level of membership did I want x or y? She’d ask over and over again.
I am embarrassed to report I caved in, and signed
up. She was wearing me down and I didn’t
know, short of hanging up, how to extricate myself. But just a few seconds
later, I totally regretted it and started to question myself … Why did I let
myself get suckered into this? I don’t have money to burn. What was I thinking?.
I spent quite some time berating myself.
When I looked into their website I could see a
group of women who likely had also been coerced into this purchase. Well not me. Quoting the Ontario law
whereby you have ten days to legally cancel contracts, I got out of it.
Then two days later, I receive the same email
that started it all. It is in my junk
mail – where it rightly belongs. I guess I am still considered a woman of
outstanding leadership J
So if something like this arrives in your inbox –
my advice – delete.. Don’t get caught in
a scam that plays to your ego. Leave
your ego at the door and say no.
As for me, I’ve been there, done that and embarrassingly
getting rid of the T-shirt.
