Well hello there! It’s me, Sarah, again. I’m here to talk about diamonds. Specifically, FREE diamonds. But also perhaps frustratingly free diamonds. Ready? Here it goes.
Almost 6 months ago, I received a phone call from New York on April 1st. Yes, that would be April Fool’s Day. The caller introduced herself as Ashlee from KC Designs and asked if I remembered entering a Lucky magazine online sweepstakes to win some diamond bracelets. Well. Around that time I was entering a lot of online sweepstakes (they’re free, okay?) and I was *pretty* sure I remembered this one. After all, I had an uncontrollable supply of Lucky magazines that kept pouring forth from my mailbox ever since I received a free subscription from an Amazon order I had made last Christmas. They arrived with unstoppable fury faster than I could read them, and sometimes went straight from the mailbox to the recycle bin. However, I did find one really fantastic thing about that magazine — their online sweepstakes. I started entering the online Lucky magazine sweeps every month and was shocked to actually win some things! I had so far won a couple of hair products, organic shampoo and conditioner, and an organic lotion. Just when I was getting frustrated with the volumes and volumes of Lucky magazines stacking up next to my nightstand, another box would arrive with an unexpected and pleasant surprise prize. So when Ashlee from New York asked if I remembered entering, I was pretty sure and of course said yes.
Well.
I had struck it lucky with Lucky. I was picked as the grand prize winner and had won 3 diamond eternity bangle bracelets valued at about $8,000!! Here they are from the KC Designs website. They’re gold, silver and rose color with diamonds all along the edge. Aren’t they pretty? I was delighted.
I was emailed some prize-claiming sheets and tax forms to be filled out, stamped by a notoriety and faxed back in a tight time frame. Any prize over $500 is considered taxable income, so there was some serious paperwork. I of course dashed around and got it taken care of right away. I ran the forms past the two legal councils from my office to make sure they were legit and I wasn’t getting scammed. They gave me a word of caution to be careful and the thumb’s up to go forth.
Everyone who heard my shouts of glee told me they thought I was getting scammed. It really took the winds of excitement out of my sails. One of my managers was so skeptical he even vowed to take me to a jewelry store *if* I ever received my bracelets to get them appraised. That’s when I realized if they were supposedly worth $8,000, I would probably be taxed on 1/3 of that and have to pay about an extra $2,666 on my taxes. Yikes.
I rarely ever wear bracelets since they interfere with my constant computering, so I started to wonder if I should keep them and pay the extra chunk-olla on my taxes because they’re special, or if I should sell them to make enough money to cover the taxes and use the rest for a special trip. I leaned more towards the selling idea but decided to hold out to see how much I loved them when I finally got to wear them.
Well, I ended up having a lot of time to think it over, because KC Designs kept stalling with apologies and promises to send the bracelets once the current orders were filled. I didn’t want to be ungrateful, but entire months would go by without any word from my buddy Ashlee. I became embarrassed, suspicious and jaded. Then when we found out we were moving, I sent them our new address and never received a response. I finally called New York after we moved and got Ashlee on the phone. She said they had more orders to fill from a recent trade show and mine would be taken care of when they were finished with the paying orders. I told her I was frustrated by their strange behavior and asked if there was a cash prize option instead. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option but she promised again to get on it and send them soon. I received an email a few days later to watch the mail in about 10 days. Could it be true? I counted it out on my calendar and put that 10th day at Friday the 26th. 4 days short of the 6 month anniversary of my prize-winning phone call. I mentally blocked that day out to make sure I was home to sign for the package to avoid another episode in this already drawn-out prize-winning saga.
Our nomadic adventuring friends Becca and Rory Groves came to visit on Wednesday the 24th, a few days before the diamonds would arrive. Michael already posted these cell phone pictures we took with them at Falls Park, but since they’re the ONLY pictures we took with them when they were here, I’ve posted them again for good measure. Notice my "smiling while concentrating" eyes.
When the four of us arrived back home after taking these pictures at the falls, we noticed a small box sitting casually by our back door in the darkness. It was very small and felt light enough to actually be empty. Could it be? I checked the return address label. Sure enough, KC Designs. Goodness sakes! There were supposedly $8,000 worth of diamond bracelets simply left next to my backdoor. We normally don’t walk past our back door and would probably not have seen the box until some time the next day after we received a heavy overnight thunderstorm. Shouldn’t this package have required at least a signature? My impression of Ashlee and KC Designs sank another couple of notches.
I quickly filled Becca and Rory in on the story thus far as we brought the package into the dryness and safety of our home. The moment we had waited 6 months for was finally here. Michael pulled out the camera to document this important moment.
Inside the small postal box was a smaller box. So far so good.
And inside the smaller box were three tiny tissue paper packages.
Bracelet #1 emerged from the tissue paper like a newborn child. Take that, nay sayers!
All three bracelets, safe and sound.
There’s just one problem.
They don’t fit.
THEY DON’T FIT!!!
Two other women with normal-sized hands have also tried unsuccessfully to put them on. I’m not sure who these bracelets are designed for. Children?
What a bummer. But at least it makes my decision easier. I certainly can’t keep them if I can’t wear them, so I’ll just need to sell them and hope to make some sort of profit.
A new South Dakotan friend suggested I take them to The Diamond Room to be appraised and sold. The people there were very kind and helpful. However, they appraised the bracelets a good thousand dollars lower than the KC Designs paperwork stated and said since they were clearly too small for a normal human being they wouldn’t buy them from me. They suggested I try eBay yet warned me of eBay internet scammers (which seems to be a theme here) and sent me on my way with a wish of good luck. Double bummer.
One more bummer note — South Dakota is famous for not having personal state income tax. Hooray! However, the tax forms I filled out were long before we knew we would be moving and include our old address, so I’m sure they will need to be claimed on our Minnesota taxes. We’re looking into this since we won in one state but received them in another. Let us know if you have any idea how this works.
So now here I am with the thrill of having finally received my special prize of beautiful "free" diamond bracelets but the crushing sadness of a massive tax price tag, a tough sell and unwearable beauty. Bittersweet irony. What’s a girl to do?