Yesterday, Saturday 28 Mar 98, I saw an ad in a newspaper classified under the computer section. The ad was for a high end 300 Megahertz, Pentium II computer. What caught my eye was the tag line, "Must sell. Maker offer."

I called the number to make an offer. I did not reach anyone but was told to leave a message in his voice mail.

This afternoon, Sunday at 1:51 p.m., I got a call asking me to make an offer. The system sounded like what I have been seeing for sale at $2000 or $3000, so I made an offer of $1000. I was told to come over and he gave me the directions to his address. I first asked him if the computer was set up and ready to use. I was assured it was.

When I got there, there was no computer for sale like in the ad. Instead I entered a living room filled with boxes labeled as computer parts. The person who met me told me that the computer in the paper cost more than a thousand dollars. I must say, he did not even make a smooth transition. He tried to sell me a lesser computer for a thousand dollars or the one in the paper for 2 thousand dollars. I never did see the one advertised in the paper. That is probably because it had not been put together yet.

I was given a proposal for a computer like the one in the paper for 2 thousand dollars. I will keep it on file for a while.

The term for that is "Bait and Switch." Some places this is against the law; might be against the law here in Tidewater. In every place it is telling your prospective customer that you are a liar and that if the customer is not stupid, it is time for the customer to leave and never come back.

Well, I told him goodbye and came home.

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