Lesson Learned

About six months ago, I did something I never do.  You know those ad sponsors that pop up on the side of your Facebook account, like " Dr. Oz--Lose 30 lbs Monthly" or "Food Festivals--Save 50-70% on Food, Wine and Beer Festivals!"  You probably always ignore them, like I usually do too.  Except for once, when I was drawn in by a weakness of mine....shoes.

The ad, which was for a website called Shoedazzle.com, was showing off some great shoes all amazingly for only $39.95 each.  Well, I love a good deal, so naturally I was drawn in.  The website and concept is actually pretty cool.  You take a short "Style Quiz" to discover your "Style Profile," and then a stylist will handpick shoes, handbags, and jewelry just for you.  The only time you have to pay (or so I thought) was if/when you purchase a pair of shoes from your "Showroom."  So of course, I was intrigued and took the quiz.  And I bought a pair of shoes (which by the way are hideous, I've never worn them, and they still for some reason live in my closet).

Once the terrible shoes came, I thought I was done with Shoedazzle for good.  That is until I noticed a charge for $39.95 on my credit card bill a couple of days ago.  After a little investigation as to why I was being charged AGAIN for that awful pair of shoes I bought all the way back in February, I FINALLY read the fine print:

Your Monthly Style Showroom

Once you become an official member of ShoeDazzle, your billing information will be kept on file and you will be charged $39.95 on the sixth day of each month, which includes a credit for one item in your showroom or DazzleAvenue, our stylists, and the benefits of membership. If you don't find a resist-me-not item in your showroom, you can easily opt to skip the month at no cost to you.

Apparently, I had become an official member that fateful day in February when I purchased that now legendary pair of shoes, and I had been charged $39.95 each month since!

Luckily, this story has a good ending.  It turns out that you earn a credit each month that you are charged and don't make a purchase, so I had accumulated 5 points over the past months!  I decided I needed to end this once and for all by spending all my credits at once and then promptly and permanently cancelling my account.

Since my sister is vising this week, I decided to share my credits with her, so, yesterday, we went on a mini shopping spree.  Here's one thing I bought:

And here's one thing Sarah bought:

Here's to hoping our purchases rock, and that I learned my lesson: ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT!