Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Wait til you here what I did! I was working late one night last week and decided to apply for my passport renewal on line because my work computer has the right version of Adobe for the forms. I Googled the site-National Passport Processing Center. When I opened the link, it said "Express Passport." Said it was authorized by the US government to expedite passports but if you did not need extra time, could also apply on line. I thought the company was a subcontractor to the US government for this function. It said if you need an expedited passport, there is a $99 fee. I didn't need an expedited passport, so I figured I would be paying the regular fee.

I clicked to the next page, which was the payment page. I paid by credit card $139.00 and then completed the on-line form from the US government. That page had a fee schedule that said the renewal was $135.00. It also said that you must pay the exact amount. I was not sure why they would want me to pay the extra $4.00, so I brought it all home and showed to Greg. He just shook his head and said, that is a scam. I said I had paid by credit card, so I would just cancel. He said he thought it unlikely I would get my money back.

Sure enough, I called them, I emailed. They said it was clear on the web page the fee was non-refundable. The said they would credit me $50 but the balance would go toward paying for the mailing labels they were emailing to me. I said I did not want their product or their service and I wanted a full refund. The credit card company said they would challenge it but I am not hopeful. Like I told the guy, I believe him when he says what they are doing is legal, maybe not moral, but probably legal.

Then I went on-line and read a lot of stuff about such companies. I sent my passport renewal by mail to National Passport Processing Center. It should not take long. I am always telling Greg, don't click on a link. Find the site, enter in the browser and go to site directly. Taking my own advice would have come in handy last week. Also a good reason not to work too late/brain drain.