OMG--I Nearly Had A Heart Attack!
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
January 21, 2009 4:18pm CST
No...calm down, I didn't have a real one, but it was related to a piece of mail I got today.
When I went downstairs today to get my mail, there was this rather "very" official looking letter...it had "Business Mail-Penalty For Tampering" marked on it, and warnings written all over that there was a "$2,000.00 fine or 5 years imprisonment or both for any person obstructing with the delivery of this letter" So I thought, oh crap NOW what? I mean it looked so official and dire. My life has been pretty "quiet" considering what I've gone through in the past, so I though, Oh NO!! Now What?.
So with my hands shaking a bit, and sweat starting to form on my forehead, I very slowly opened the envelope, expecting bad news..maybe from SSA, IRS or something else....then when I finally opened I was laughing so loud, I scared my two cats.
Know what it was??? One of those promotional "checks" to be used toward the purchase of a car from a nearby car dealer..
I mean here I was getting myself all worked up for nothing.
Okay, have any of you gotten something in the mail that looked so "Official" that looking at the envelope made you break out in a sweat, then when you finally got the courage to open it, it was nothing at all..maybe one of these promotional thing a ma jigs?
I mean here I was getting myself all worked up for nothing.
Okay, have any of you gotten something in the mail that looked so "Official" that looking at the envelope made you break out in a sweat, then when you finally got the courage to open it, it was nothing at all..maybe one of these promotional thing a ma jigs?18 people like this
38 responses
@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
21 Jan 09
Yes, and I have thrown so many away that if any real ones come in, lol they will probably be on their way to a landfill. lol II wish they wouldnt do that so you could easily tell when one is real and important. I no longer get excited when I see them lol so at least its not so disappointing but then if I ever get a real one , ill probaly faint lol@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I wish they wouldn't do that either by making the "warnings" so official looking. Oh, yes, wouldn't it be nice though if the "check" was real!
4 people like this
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I knew what it was the minute I read your first two sentences. I get those all the time. As soon as my car hit five years old, they started coming. Just wish the damn checks were official enough to cash and pocket. lol
4 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Jan 09
Can't agree more that I sure wish those checks were real and I could deposit them into my account..if they were all real I probably be a near millionaire by now..LOL
3 people like this
@sunshinelady (7609)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I get them regularly. The first couple of times I didn't know if I wanted to open it or not only to find out as you did that it was just some promotion of a item. I quit getting nervous about that kind of mail coming in. Now I just open it and since it is always junk I just pitch it.
4 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I actually keep those "checks"...okay I know I can't use them for anything but for those promotionals, but sort of as a "wishful" thinking that they are real
3 people like this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
22 Jan 09
I remember getting stuff like this and getting just as upset. Now I am used to them. If they have an envelope to send stuff back that is pre-stamped, I stuff everything back in there and send it back.
If it does not have a pre-stamped one. I put their address as the return address and send it back. Then they have to pay postage to get it.
After a while, some of them stop sending the garbage.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Jan 09
LOL--I couldn't be bothered sending the stuff like that back, I just tear it up and in the trash it goes.
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
22 Jan 09
Hi pye,
Gosh! that must have frighten you, but we don't get anything like that as we have stopped all those sort of mail coming to us. We usd to get mail like you have won such a such, we just got fedup with them so my hubby put stop to it.
Bright Blessings.
Tamara
xxxxx
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
24 Jan 09
How were you able to stop that kind of mail coming to you anyway?
1 person likes this
@CRIVAS (1815)
• Canada
22 Jan 09
Hahaha, well thanks for makign it clear in the begining that you didn't really have a heart attack. I was a little worried for a minute there. I can't say that I have ever recieved anything like this though. I usually get stuck with the usual boring bills,LOL.
3 people like this
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
21 Jan 09
I've never recieved such letters but when I was in high school, I had a pen pal that kept sending me bible tracts. LOL. Imagine being a teenager and your excitement that you have recieved a package, only to find out when you open it, it's bible tracks and magazines. I never responded back to this person and they did keep on sending me those publications for quite some time.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
24 Jan 09
Was that person trying to convert you or something? Almost sounds like it
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
28 Jan 09
Oh my gosh-- I can see how you were upset and "sweating it" before opening this. I've never had this sort of thing happen to me. I'll be on the lookout for it now though. Sounds really shady for a car dealership to do this. I would call them and tell them that you almost had a heart attack and ask them what kind of special deals they have for you...(big grin). Then tell them that you aren't in the market for a new vehicle at this time anyway. Let them sweat a bit ;)
2 people like this
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
21 Jan 09
OMG! I would have probably needed the EMTs to help me back up from the shock of the whole thing. LOL! I've gotten a few of those too..but they didn't have as dire a writing as yours did. Sheesh! Someone in those companies has got a lousy sense of humor. Hahaha
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
24 Jan 09
I'm having a good laugh about it now, but that envelope sure did look official and yes like it was going to be some kind of dire news.
1 person likes this
@Sissygrl (10909)
• Canada
22 Jan 09
hah i dont get much mail here yet.. i just moved here a few motnhs ago.. but i used to get some funky stuff in the mail like that.. telling me i had a 5k loan waiting at the bank.. hah. my own bank wont loan me that much money why would a bank i've never used loan it to me.. weirdo's.
Have you ever noticed also that when you have a job people wont loan you money, but when you are unemployed they're like here.. take a credit card.. its only got a 40% interest rate on it!! WOWWWWWWWIE! hehe.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Jan 09
That's weird reasoning...like why do they offer loans when you're not working...like duh? How do they expect you to pay it back then?
1 person likes this
@Sissygrl (10909)
• Canada
27 Jan 09
I think cause they know you wont be able to pay it back, so they can get more money when they take it to creditors, the creditors pay them, and then the person either has to pay the creditor.. or get bad credit.. i think that's the way it works anyways
1 person likes this
@moondancer (7431)
• United States
21 Jan 09
Oh my pye I get those too don't you just hate it when they make it look and sound so official and then to find out it's actually nothing but a promotion to drag you out to actually spend money instead of really getting any...like you think they didn't add to the price somehow in fees to get that back if someone actually used that ticket....come on they think we are stupid or something.
Hey we might be a little nieve but not stupid you know...lol
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I wonder why something like this isn't illegal??? It would be one thing to have all those official warnings if it really was say from the IRS or any other government agency...but for a promo for a car???
1 person likes this
@moondancer (7431)
• United States
22 Jan 09
I do know what you mean pue and I do agree with you. But I guess they are paying the extra postage and it's their money.
1 person likes this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
22 Jan 09
They got you huh? 
I received the same thing a few months ago and it looked so real.
I received the same thing a few months ago and it looked so real. 3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
24 Jan 09
Don't you wish those checks were real ...I've actually gotten a number of them (the other envelopes weren't so dire)---the sum total of the so-called checks would have made me a millionaire
1 person likes this
@blackbriar (9075)
• United States
24 Feb 09
LOL I get those on occasion as well and usually just toss em without opening. For me, if it's something that important, it would come registered mail where I would have to sign for it.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
25 Feb 09
Not necessarily. Sometimes I do get legitimate "important" mail without it being certified/registered
@chulce (1537)
• United States
21 Jan 09
Yes, I have, it was actually from some credit card company. I just about fell over, here they were offering me a credit card, but like you, it looked very official in appearance.
I actually tore it up, put it back into the envelope that was sent to me for returning the paperwork, you know, I haven't received anything from this company again. :)
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Jan 09
Thank goodness I haven't gotten any promotional type ones from credit cards...besides have no interest in getting them anyway
1 person likes this
@chulce (1537)
• United States
21 Jan 09
You are lucky. The funny thing about it, there was a credit card by this company that many years before, I had paid off. So when I first opened the envelope, I thought that I hadn't paid it off and they were after me. My heart pounded so hard that day.
2 people like this
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
22 Jan 09
I often get stuff like that in the mail and have to do a double take b/c it looks so important. That's how they get you!! I've learned to weed those out easily now, but I still open everything just in case.
My problem is the opposite. I have often times almost destroyed something I wanted because it didn't look official enough! For example, ticketmaster mails tickets in an unmarked envelope to prevent people from stealing your tickets.... so once I actually thought it was junk mail and ripped the whole thing in half! Luckily the place accepted our taped together tickets :-D Now everytime I get a blank envelope, I still have the urge to just rip it and toss it, but I've learned to be patient and open it.
The best feeling ever is when I open something that looks like junk mail, and it turns out to be a rewards check from my credit card points, or from Mypoints, or anything like that :)
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Jan 09
Yes I could see how a major mistake could be made and one thinks it's junk mail cause it doesn't look official enough--glad they accepted your taped up tickets.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Jan 09
I typed in the phone number they give that is on the letter attacked to the "fake" check and know what? It doesn't even exist!!
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
22 Jan 09
Oh yeah, pyewacket, I have received those also in the past!
The solicitors are getting more crafty in their approaches to get us to buy things - even things we clearly have no need for. I receive a steady stream of promotions for auto insurance(I've never owned a car in my life), home security systems(I live in a high-rise building), and the ever-popular home-owner's insurance.This all goes to show that these people don't even bother to do their homework.
The solicitors are getting more crafty in their approaches to get us to buy things - even things we clearly have no need for. I receive a steady stream of promotions for auto insurance(I've never owned a car in my life), home security systems(I live in a high-rise building), and the ever-popular home-owner's insurance.This all goes to show that these people don't even bother to do their homework.@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Jan 09
I've gotten those too...for car insurance (no car) mortgages (no house)---they really should do their homework
1 person likes this
@zhuuraan (961)
• United States
22 Jan 09
ROFLMAO! I haven't quite gotten anything that bad, but I did get a piece of mail marked confidential and some warning about tampering but nothing that extreme. It was from Geico offering me auto insurance when I don't even have a car. I can't even drive! I'm legally blind for gosh sake!
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Jan 09
I get mail from car insurance companies as well...and like you I don't have a car or drive..LOL
@jessi0887 (2788)
• United States
22 Jan 09
I have gotten a few of those lately. You think you got something important and its nothing. Quite annoying.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Jan 09
Yes it is very annoying to get those things
1 person likes this
@yezzyk (180)
• Netherlands
27 Jan 09
Yes, I did receive one ones.
Scarred the s**t out of me by looking at the envelope.
Turned out to be a lotery that wanted me to join them. Pfft!
I've learned to check all inches of an envelope like that, before I start to panic.
And NOT to join those kind of bad people...
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
28 Jan 09
So you know exactly what I'm talking about and how these kind of envelopes can "scare" a person
1 person likes this
