This isn’t much but it’s … strange. I
signed up for a VPN yesterday. If that’s new to you, it’s a “Virtual
Private Network,” a useful tool for keeping your internet travels
incognito. It tells the internet that you’re in one place, even though you’re actually in another place. I had a VPN a few years ago, and used it to watch Doctor Who on-line from Britain, though of course I’ve never been to Britain.
A trusted site said ExpressVPN is good, so without any
real research or price-comparison, I signed up, and put
the purchase on my plastic.
I installed it last night, and watched a streaming movie. Geolocation said I was watching in Mexico, where this particular movie was included with Amazon Prime. In America, the same movie would’ve cost me $4. The movie sucked but I was a happy customer until this morning.
Here’s an email that arrived overnight from ExpressVPN:
We’d like your help to verify your billing details so you can keep
using ExpressVPN. If we can’t verify your details within 48 hours, we
may cancel your ExpressVPN account and issue you a refund.Please reply to this email with the following information:
Your phone number (including your country code)
The best time for us to contact you (including your time zone)
Thank you for your help.
I checked my bank statement on-line, and the payment went
through, so ExpressVPN has received my payment. I paid for a year in
advance, so I’m not sure what “billing details” need to be verified.
They didn’t ask for my phone number when I signed up. Why do they want my phone number the next morning, after I’ve paid? And why
do they want to talk to me on the phone?I’ll never know the answer to that question. I replied,
I must have misunderstood what I was signing up for. I really just
need a VPN, not a new friend. If you require my phone number and want to
have a conversation with me, then I’ll cordially say ‘Nah.’ Please
cancel everything and refund my purchase, but have a terrific weekend.
Guess I got a free movie out of the deal.
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