I’m a patient man when it comes to getting what I want. And what I wanted was a replica arcade machine, but the full retail price was a bit more than I could justify. So, I figured I’d wait until it went on sale, or better yet, clearance!

Clearance… I live for clearance! 70%, 80%, 90% off, basically when stores beg you to get those products off the floor and out of the warehouse. That’s where the best deals can be found.

And then a month after Christmas, I found it. Google alerts notified me that the arcade machine I wanted was on sale at 70% off. So, what if I had never heard of this web store before. There are literally millions of small stores and websites. This one certainly looked legitimate and professional.

Start With Asking the Right Questions

My first hint that something was amiss should have been the shipping fee. Only $4.95 to ship an 80 lb. package didn’t seem right. Instead I thought, “Score! When they added the product to their catalog, they just entered the standard shipping fee. That’s saving me even more!”

So, I added the machine to my shopping cart and entered all my personal and credit card information. Then I hit [Submit] and was immediately notified that my card was declined.

Obviously, I must have transposed some numbers or entered a wrong date. So, I went back and carefully re-entered all my information again. And once more, my card was declined. The site suggested I use another card.

Something didn’t seem right. I know my card is valid. I know I entered the information correctly. So, I did the research I should have done before hand.

Oh look, the Contact Us information is for Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China. Digging a little deeper I see that the domain and website were created two months ago.

I contacted the credit card company. They report no unauthorized charges on the card. However, they do report a failed request, but for a different address entirely. Because the address was different, the card was declined.

The good news, this attempt at credit card fraud was prevented. The bad news, my card and personal information are now compromised. Time to cancel the card and wait for the replacement. Then, change any logins that use the compromised email and password.

Performance and Value You Can Count On

Once again that adage is proven that “If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.” So, the next time you see a $400 part being offered for $50 or labor at $10 per hour ask yourself, “What’s the catch?” Is the part up to OEM standards? Will it last as long as it should, or will it need replacing after a week? The labor may be cheap, but will the repair take 10 times longer? Will the repair be done right, or will they jury-rig the fix?

With Abel Womack service and parts, you know you are receiving quality at a fair price. Every time.