First off.. I am a mug for falling for this. I questioned myself as I withdrew my money and pressed the cancel button twice before I finally withdrew the money.
Morrisons car park (Supermarket), Welwyn Garden City 2pm
Eating a sandwich in my van, a really well dressed guy pulls up alongside and starts speaking broken english, it appears he has a small problem.
So I get out and ask him what he needs, he says he is on his way to the airport and he has been given some samples by his employer John Lewis (Department Store) as a bonus and doesn't want to take them back to Milano as he will have to pay import duty on them.
He had me speaking spanish to him as it was a common 2nd language.
He enthusiastically showed off his goods and explicitly said that I would be doing him a favour taking them off his hands, he rattled off some outrageous prices that the items retailed for and it was all mine for nothing...
The catch, Mr Armani wallet, TAG watch, identical suit to the ones I was getting, needed some money to buy souvenirs at the airport.
So the deal was I get 1 leather jacket, 2 suede jackets and 2 suits for 300 (-$600)
Got him down to 200.
Was seeing profit and having a bad day.
He said it was alright to put the very elaborately packaged goods in my van before going to draw the money from the conveniently located ATM.
Suit bags and branded plastic bags, authentic looking to someone that knows almost nothing about fashion and is thinking about PROFIT.
In hindsight I should have walked back to work right then and collected my van later on when he gave up waiting... next time :)
Went to draw the money.. Hesitated twice, hit cancel.. Drew the money and decided to get some concrete data before handing over the cash.
Went back to the car where he was on the phone, I sat IN his car and waited for his conversation with an associate to end while trying to find any giveaway detail.
He had enough to satisfy my final push for answers, car rental agreement in the name of the company that was on the business card (Emporio Italian Fashion Wear), passport, e-ticket number...
He even wrote the SixT rental car agreement number on the back of the business card he gave me (7450008006).
I wrote down his license number as he left the carpark.. Guess deep down I knew i was getting robbed in broad daylight with a smile on my face.
I wished him luck (in spanish!!!) and off he went.
This guy is really a pro, looks Italian, talks Italian, 6'0", dark hair, large build, supremely confident. Business card with legit registered address (company exists) and a person who answers the phone number on the card.. (to assure potential victims that all is well i assume) 44 207700 4747
I feel strangely honoured to meet a master. I'd prefer the cash but guess the random selection of fake goods and the laughter of my partner and friends are worth it.
Won't happen again..
Woody
London
United Kingdom
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