“Buyer beware.” Claresholm resident Paula Berard reinforced that well-known warning after multiple people showed up on her doorstep this week hoping to pick up purchases made on Facebook Marketplace.
It started Monday afternoon when two separate people came to her house within two hours looking for the same gazebo.
“That’s when I realized something was a little off here,” said Berard
Rikki Smathers was one of those people.
She thought she’d found the perfect gazebo and contacted the seller over Facebook messenger asking if she could see it the next day.
“She actually asked for a deposit, and I said I’m not really into doing a deposit if I haven’t seen the product or anything like that, and she said, ‘Well, I have a lot of interest in it, and I just want to make sure I can hold it for you.’”
Smathers said the person seemed trustworthy, so she sent the deposit.
The next day, she received a message that the etransfer had been cancelled by mistake.
“When I resent the etransfer, I was like, well, I’m just going to send the full amount,” said Smathers. “I said, ‘I sent you the full $160 and I’m on my way right now. I’ll be there at two o’clock.’”
