BEWARE: FUTON FRAUDS 要注意：布団屋詐欺

I… think… I’ve been scammed.  By 2 men who say they’re employees of Maruzen Futon Cleaners or some shit.  I didn’t even know futon cleaners existed!  I have lived here for over a year, and I didn’t experience this till now.  How unfortunate.  

Here’s what happened on Friday evening.  I had just come home from work and my doorbell rings.  My light is on so they know I’m in here.  I should’ve just kept quiet and ignored the ring, like I’ve done to non-mail-related solicitors, esp. since NHK came last year.  BUT for some reason, I answered the door.  BAD MISTAKE.  One guy dressed in a navy blue uniform with a name tag on the right chest asks if I’ve heard of their company before.  I told him no and he said it’s well-known.  He said that they’re doing their rounds going around the neighborhood serving customers with futon cleaning and purchasing, and that this is a busy season for them.  He asked me to show him my futons.  I honestly did not want to (who would, right?), cuz they’re crappy and my room was so messy, but he was being too friendly that I just did what he asked.  I showed my top most layer of the 3 futons I use stacked.  And he asked about it, about me, etc.  He was surprised that I came from the USA and that I’m only 23 years old (how young! he said).  He ALMOST asked me if I have a boyfriend, but I managed to sway that question away, to not be asked.  So this conversation continued.  He told me that this top-most futon can’t be cleaned because it’s made out of sponge-like material.  He eventually said he’ll bring his “senpai” (senior co-worker) over to explain how futons work.  

So, man number 2 came.  He’s older and has darker skin than man number 1, smelt of cigarettes (gross), and had some wrinkles below his eyes.  He also had a conversation with me… an even longer one.  He too asked a lot about me, and was surprised that I’m from the USA and 23.  He asked me to guess his age, and I said 30s?  He said that’s a big range, and told me he’s 38 years old.  I told him I thought he was around 35.  He asked me stuff like what I do.  He even told me how he’s been doing this job for years and that his foreigner customers don’t know much about futons either, because in their countries, they have different customs.  He said in Japan, people make it important that they have good, comfortable futons to sleep on after a long, hard day’s work.  So he mentioned how much some people pay for their futons.  He said expensive ones can go up to like 200man yen ($2000?)!!!  BULLSHIT!  And he said the ones sold at home center shops are like disposable ones because they’re so cheap.  He explained how those cheap ones are like recycled from really expensive futons.  I think he mentioned about a foreigner who spent 30man yen on their futon, which is still insane!!  He had me show my other 2 futons.  He saw my messy room and acted like he cared.  He even commented on my shower room sliding doors—how moldy it is!  Seeing my other futons that look dirtier, moldier, and older, he explained how this apartment building was built on top of a rice field, and through the cements, mold is easily built up on the first floor (where I live).  He seemed to really know this area because there really are rice fields outside and there really are molds in my apartment.  He even mentioned house dust (which I have a problem with), and how the moldy-ness of the futon turn into dust.  HE WAS SO DAMN KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT FUTONS THAT I BELIEVED WHAT HE SAID!!!

He told me his company not only does futon cleaning, but that they sell futons.  He said I could purchase them on month-to-month loan payments.  I thought that wouldn’t be good, esp. for me, who’s only living here temporarily, but he mentioned that that’s possible.  I don’t even wanna spend hella money on futons (who would?) and I really didn’t know how much I’m willing to pay, so I told them I’ll contact them after I speak to my supervisor.  He said they'll be moving around and they don't know when/if they can come back.  I asked for a business card, but he said they don't have one.  He said there's flyers/ads that go through the mail though.  I thought that was suspicious too.  He asked me how much I’m willing to pay for futons, and I had no idea (I still don’t know), so I said I don’t know.  I asked him if he means by how much I could pay right now, and he mentioned the ATM.  I still said I don’t know.

He suggested I get my futons cleaned by them.  Maybe because I was still sick with a cold and maybe because I really wanted to do something about my old/dirty futons, I ended up going along with it.  What a huge mistake.  He asked me if he could go show the “ojisan” my futons to see what they could do.  I said sure.  I later asked him where he brought them to, but I don’t recall hearing a clear answer.  I just don’t remember what exactly he said.  I’m not even sure if this “ojisan” is  their boss or an actual futon cleaner dude!  I don’t even know if he’s for real!  Boy that was suspicious!  He came back and told me that the “ojisan” was nice enough to say that because I’m foreigner temporarily in Japan, they won’t push anything (big, at least).  He told me it’ll cost 5000yen per futon to be cleaned.  He said that my top-most layer futon can’t be air-dried cleaned because it’s made out of material that can melt through the “machine.”  Again, his knowledge made me believe in him.  Luckily, he didn’t ask to get that one cleaned too.  He told me it’ll take 10 minutes to get it air-dried/cleaned.  They already had my futons on hold so I kinda felt like I should accept it.  In that time, I somehow let myself bike to a conbini to withdraw 10,000 yen out of the ATM.  I had no idea where my futons were.  I came back, and after a little while, man number 1, the younger one, came back with my futons.  It looked like they got a little poofier, and he said this should be ok for the next 2-3 months.  I gave him the money.  He told me to call whenever I need to, and that people around here know his face.  WHAT A FUCKING LIAR!  He and his buddy seemed soooo freakin’ legit but I later thought some of the whole thing was strange.  I don’t see much change after what they so-called did to them.  I talked with my supervisor and said he’s never heard of a Maruzen futon cleaning company.

To this day and time, I’m not even 100% sure if this was a scam, but after thinking over the suspicious points, I started to think it was.  I posted about this on fb and got comments back from a Japanese friend who said it really sounds like it was a fraud.  And that I was at least lucky enough to not pay more than I did.  I’m also glad, but still feel very vexed and regretful.  10,000yen gone is still money.  And that going to strangers for nothing makes me feel even more depressed.  I spoke with my supervisor again last night and he told me to take it was a lesson learned and to be more careful.  I really should’ve just stayed my own self throughout it all, by refusing or ignoring these solicitors.  I also received a lot of comments on fb and such.  I searched the company online, but there’s none in my city that’s called Maruzen.  I eventually found websites and blogs about people being scammed by fake futon cleaners and sellers.  This time, I learned the reality.  I am so glad I did not sign a loan agreement for 30man yen futons.  Good thing I’m a foreigner temporarily living here, not needing a hella good quality futon to las me for a lifetime!  Good thing I’m not stupid to sign such a thing.  Good thing this was lighter than what some other victims have lost.  BUT THEY WERE STILL TRYING TO GET SOME MONEY OUT OF ME, AND I AM PISSED!!  But if I said no, they may’ve gotten violent on me, since I’m a girl living on my own, and they spent such a long time telling me about futons!  How stupid!

I am not 100% sure if they are really swindlers cuz they know so much about futons and were so freakin’ friendly/nice, but I cannot trust them.  Who knows?  Maybe they have advanced acting skills or rehearsed this whole shit.  I am never ever gonna open the door to solicitors no matter what!!!  If I don’t get a call in advance that a package is coming, I ain’t gonna answer!  I knew all along that I should ignore solicitors, but that night I happened to open the door, and I so regret it.  What a silly yet nasty way to get money from me!!!  Whoever you are, I hope you get arrested!  I want my money back!!!

I found out online that there’s a “consumer living center” (消費生活センター) that can allow me to do cooling-off (a new term I learned this time), so I called today and a lady listened to me.  But because I don’t have any proof, receipt (which I should’ve asked for!!!), contact info, no nothing of them, it’s almost impossible to get my money back.  This whole experience makes me dislike money and the bad stuff that comes with it (even though having money is of course good and necessary), and living here.  I’m more scared now.  If you think all Japanese people are nice, you are wrong.  You never know what’ll happen, so taking absolute precautions are necessary.  My fellow ALT living here was not home when this happened, so she doesn’t know anything about them.  Good thing they didn’t get money out of her too.  This afternoon/early evening, I went door to door to my neighbors living in the same apt.  I knew I wouldn’t get much out of them cuz I don’t even want strangers coming to my place, but I went anyway.  Most of them were not home, and out of the few that I knew were home (with the lights), only one man was kind enough to answer the door.  I told him what happened, and he said he saw someone come too, but for a short while.  He had refused, and he/they told him that they’ll come back.  He/they didn’t tell him that they’re from Maruzen; instead, he/they said that they’re part of or in relation to the apartment company!!  This makes them even more suspicious!!!  And just as I thought, he didn’t have their contact info of course.  *SIGH* It might just be safe to move on, even though I don’t wanna let it go.