More FREE stuff!

It's happening again.

We're getting stuff from Amazon. Stuff we didn't order. Stuff we (mostly) can't use.

Last time we tried to send it back. Amazon said: Just. Keep. It.

This time we're ... Just. Keeping. It. So far at least.

If you've been reading my essays a while, you may remember this happened before, 11 months ago.

We freaked out. I contacted Amazon. Amazon yawned. I contacted Amazon again. 'Oh OK we'll look into it,' they groaned. 'Just keep the stuff though, OK? Give it to friends, give it to charity, whatever. Just don't send it back.'

Last time we received blenders (2), a cordless beard trimmer, other stuff. All told it was worth $600-$700.

This time (so far) we've received:

-- An LED pool light. (We don't have a pool.)

Pool light. Useless.

-- Spy-cam detectors (2).

-- A keychain sound recorder compatible with PC and Mac. (My iPhone does that just fine.)

-- A wireless CarPlay adaptor, useful only in cars with wired CarPlay adaptors. Neither of our cars has that.

CarPlay adaptor. Useless.

-- A black shoulder bag.

-- A cheap pair of hearing aids.

It's all made in China. None of it is of any earthly use except, maybe, the shoulder bag and the hearing aids. I have an upcoming hearing test. I doubt I'll need hearing aids but if I do, well ... now I got 'em.

Hearing aids. Useful?

I dug a bit and found this is a common scam. It's called brushing. Here's how the Better Business Bureau website explains it:

"Why would such merchandise be sent to you if you didn’t request it? The companies, usually foreign, third-party sellers that are sending the items, are simply using your address that they discovered online. They intend to make it appear that you wrote a glowing online review of their merchandise and that you are a verified buyer of that merchandise. They then post a fake, positive review to improve their products’ ratings, which means more sales. The payoff is highly profitable from their perspective."

The BBB goes on to say why this is dangerous for me (identity theft, other scammers doing darker things), but I'm not really convinced. My identity already has been thefted 18 ways from Sunday. And there's all that stuff. While most of it is worthless, I gave one of the blenders to our daughter, toys to the kids next door, that shoulder bag, those hearing aids. The beard trimmer is finding uses too.

And Amazon doesn't really care. If Amazon doesn't care, why should I?

Finally, it's kind of fun. Something new arrives almost every day. Who doesn't like a grab bag?

Frank S Joseph Author

P.S. Have you seen the TO DO JUSTICE video yet? You gotta! Check this out (59 seconds).

P.P.S. If you have more time, watch my interview with thriller novelist Jeffrey James Higgins. Jeffrey asks great questions -- how the novel came about, why it's message is important, how my personal life plays in, etc.

P.P.P.S. Finally there's that WVON interview I wrote about last time. Former webmaster and old pal Brian Lieberman kindly edited out the news, traffic and commercials. It's down to 19 minutes.