# Weird, failed attempt at hurting me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2015, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914 "2015-11-29T08:57:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/1 "2015-11-29T08:57:16Z")
Ive been married to my wife for 23 years now. Due to middle aged spread, its been quite a few years since either of us could comfortably wear our wedding rings. My wife suggested that we buy new rings as a joint christmas present to one another. So yesterday, we went out and got measured up, spent an hour comparing different styles of ring, but in the end, both decided on a plain white gold bands, court fit. We ordered them and went home. About an hour later, the store called to confirm that we really wanted to cancel the order. Someone had called the store, claiming to be my wife, asking to cancel (she had been with me the whole time - and the new rings were her idea, so we can rule out the stupidly obvious) So someone that knows us by name, must have been in the store, close enough to see what we were buying. I didn’t know I had enemies like that. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/2 "2015-11-29T09:16:48Z")
Can you rule out clerical error/miscommunication? Like somebody called to cancel a different order and it got entered into the system wrong. That would be my first thought, rather than a purposeful attack. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/3 "2015-11-29T09:27:17Z")
I guess it could be that someone with a similar name called to cancel an order for a pair of rings, or yeah, i guess some kind of garbled communication within the store - maybe a trainee took a phone cancellation instruction without noting down enough details, but the person who called me to confirm did seem to be under the impression that someone explicitly claiming to be my wife, had called. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/4 "2015-11-29T12:23:40Z")
\*\*Mangetout \*\*–lemme tell you a story. I once made an Amazon Order for a 43 volume,hardcover set of books. $1400. But I got no tracking number, so I could tell when to be at home to wait for the books. I phoned the Amazon Help-desk, & got a guy with a terrible accent. I could understand about 1 word in 3 of what he said, & vice versa. But, I thought he understood. Next day, the Seller emailed me a tracking number. All well & good. The books arrived, with me waiting. Everything perfect. Then, I got an email from Amazon… **refunding my money**! The idiot had listed the Seller as non-compliant. The Seller was immediately on my case. I called Amazon _over & over_, begging them to pay the Seller. Nobody had the initiative to pay, until I finally got a supervisor & shouted at him. Took 8 hours. **Our Moral is :** _Retail “Stupid” Happens._ ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/5 "2015-11-29T13:17:59Z")
It might not have been aimed at you - does the employee you ordered them from get commission? Maybe one of his colleagues didn’t want him to get that sale… ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/6 "2015-11-29T14:48:06Z")
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” Could be: - Salesman has bad handwriting. - Salesman checked wrong box. - Sleepy clerk hit wrong button on computer. - Similar name to another customer. - Garbled message left on phone. - Language barrier. Etc. The fact they called to confirm means that they thought there was a screw up somewhere too. ---
**Author:** ![TheSpeculationElucidation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@TheSpeculationElucidation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSpeculationElucidation)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/7 "2015-11-29T21:19:16Z")
> [@2gigch1](#): > > The fact they called to confirm means that they thought there was a screw up somewhere too. Yeah I was going to say this. But if, hypothetically, you’ve upset someone enough they’d go that far out of their way to mess with you - I’m very curious what you did. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/8 "2015-11-29T21:40:02Z")
I used to work in the marketing department for several groups of jewelry stores. Based on my experience, I strongly believe that this was a clerical error, and quite likely from a new hire. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/9 "2015-11-29T21:43:28Z")
In the Star Trek universe, this would be a time travel story in which a future version of your wife tried to avert some sort of catastrophe caused by the purchase of these rings. Absent holodecks, this is just weird. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/10 "2015-11-29T21:48:12Z")
It could all have a perfectly innocent explanation. There was just something about the call that made me think otherwise though. We can think of one (and only one) person who might do something like this - a former neighbour, who, during hers and her family’s descent into drug abuse, petty crime and eventual eviction, blamed everyone else (and chiefly us) for her problems - for no reason we were ever able to discover. We haven’t seen her for years since her eviction - but last time we did happen to pass in town, she hurled abuse at us across the street. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/11 "2015-11-29T23:02:32Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It could all have a perfectly innocent explanation. > > (snip) > > We haven’t seen her for years since her eviction You are grasping at straws here to find a possible malicious cause for this. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/12 "2015-11-29T23:12:45Z")
Did you leave a deposit? Could this have been an (hairbrained) attempt by someone who overheard you placing the order to cancel the order and steal the refunded deposit? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/13 "2015-11-29T23:16:11Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > You are grasping at straws here to find a possible malicious cause for this. I may be, but you are further separated from the evidence than me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/14 "2015-11-29T23:18:29Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Did you leave a deposit? Could this have been an (hairbrained) attempt by someone who overheard you placing the order to cancel the order and steal the refunded deposit? I paid the full amount (necessary because my ring needs to be made to order to fit my sausagey finger) - but I paid by card, so it would not be refundable to anyone else - although that might not stop somebody trying. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/15 "2015-11-29T23:26:29Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I paid the full amount (necessary because my ring needs to be made to order to fit my sausagey finger) - but I paid by card, so it would not be refundable to anyone else - although that might not stop somebody trying. A dumbass attempt by a stranger to steal your money makes more sense to me than a malicious lurking unseen nemesis trying to pull off the lamest gotcha ever. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/16 "2015-11-29T23:30:30Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > A dumbass attempt by a stranger to steal your money makes more sense to me than a malicious lurking unseen nemesis trying to pull off the lamest gotcha ever. Yeah, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/17 "2015-11-29T23:44:24Z")
Years ago, I got a call from a jewelry store. When I answered the phone, they addressed me by my last name. They told me that my ring was ready to be picked up. At the time, I just assumed it was something my GF’s, as I knew I didn’t have anything at the jewelry store to be serviced. Anyway, I thought I’d do my GF a solid and went to the jewelry store and picked up the item. When I picked it up, the first thing I thought was: “Wow, that looks expensive! I wonder why I haven’t seen this before?” Despite this, I just shrugged it off and took it home. Later that night when my GF got home, I showed her the ring. She was like: “That ain’t mine! That’s like a $2000 ring dude!” Suddenly feeling queasy, like the cops were about to bust down my door any minute for fraud, I rushed it back up to the store. When I told the lady what happened, her face turned white as a ghost, she knew she had fucked up, and lucky for her, I brought the thing back. I’m still not sure what the hell happened there. My best guess is that they dialed the wrong number and I just happened to have the same last name as the people they were trying to call. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/18 "2015-11-30T01:44:55Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Later that night when my GF got home, I showed her the ring. She was like: “That ain’t mine! That’s like a $2000 ring dude!” Suddenly feeling queasy, like the cops were about to bust down my door any minute for fraud, I rushed it back up to the store. When I told the lady what happened, her face turned white as a ghost, she knew she had fucked up, and lucky for her, I brought the thing back. That reminds me of a story told by a co-worker once: he worked at a jewelry store and for some reason (maybe he got called away for an emergency phone call, I don’t know - it’s been a long time so my recollection of the details is hazy) he slipped an expensive ring that he’d been showing into his suit jacket pocket. He forgot about it and took the suit to the dry cleaner. Luckily the dry cleaner was honest and called him to let him know that there was a very valuable piece of jewelry in the jacket. As you can imagine, my co-worker was immediately both horrified and relieved. Thank goodness there are honest people in the world. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/19 "2015-11-30T04:01:30Z")
Years ago, I worked with a divorce attorney. Every case - **every one** - had at least one example of one person going to bizarre lengths to screw with one of the parties for minimal benefit, to anyone. (Getting a car towed was so popular I can mention it without any risk of breaking confidentiality.) So, **Mangetout** , I have no trouble believing someone maliciously tried to cancel your order, and can reassure you, it’s not you, it’s them. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914/20 "2015-11-30T04:12:17Z")
From the description this sounds like there is 9a 9% chance this a store procedural or clerical screw up where wires got crossed about another customer cancelling an order they thought was yours or something similar. The amount of personal info about your movements and intentions the mystery saboteur would need to do what you are concerned about is beyond the realm of possibility unless they are monitoring your every move. Unless there’s something more in the scenario you’re not sharing with us it’s kind of weird that “mystery saboteur” would be the first place you would go for an explanation vs a the much more likely clerical screwup explanation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-failed-attempt-at-hurting-me/738914.md?page=2)