Bait-And-Switch In Maine

When I told the deliverymen at my new apartment in Maine, "That isn't the recliner that I ordered." They bullied me. "Yes, it is." And they immediately left the defective cheap knockoff with me. Within months it cracked and subsided into a wooden box that I have to stuff with pillows to sit in. I was the victim of bait-and-switch in Maine.

When I told the deliverymen at my new apartment in Maine, "That doesn't look like the bed that I bought." They bullied me. "Yes, it is." And they immediately left the switcheroo with me. Within a year it sagged and morphed into a wire mesh hammock that I have to wedge pillows around to get to sleep. I was the victim of another bait-and-switch in Maine.

When the automobile repair shop owner sternly told me that the State of Maine motor vehicle inspection required that my twenty-year old car be "rust-free" before they would be able to certify it so that I could get my Maine driver's license, it never even occurred to me that that might be a lie. So I spent a lot of money getting my car painted, I even paid extra to have the undercarriage "sealed." It has been about eighteen months and the little bit of rust that I had around the bottom edge of my car has returned. I tend faint when I bend over so I do not know the condition of the paint underneath my car, but I doubt if it is still "sealed." I do not know what kind of fraud this was, but it was mean-spirited to rob an old woman in that way.

When I made these three somewhat expensive purchases, I went to the best shops in town because I was willing to pay extra to have a more comfortable recliner, a better bed, and a car that fully met state standards. I was exhausted by my solo move of over a thousand miles to Maine, mentally and physically drained, and I had no strength to do battle to effect returns or enforce warranties. My loss, but it is Maine's shame to cheat an old lady so.

Annmarie Throckmorton Touring The Maine Capitol Building, 2022

(Yes, I suppose that to a crook I would look cheatable.)