Do you remember when I ordered a pretty top from a company that advertised on Facebook? The bill magically morphed from $20 to $50. Well, I’ve done it again and, it seems, with the same outfit using a different name.

I was impressed by a gadget that one can attach to a small kitchen appliance to coil up the power cable. “I need this!” I thought. “In fact I need five of these.” Right away, I put in an order to Muent for five little gizmos which would cost me $27.48 Canadian.

Then, immediately, I got a confirmation telling me that I had paid $26.54 in US dollars.

Wait, what? That is not the same thing at all. It translates to about $36.50 Canadian. So, I checked my credit card account and was shocked to see the company, now identified as dawncog had withdrawn $43.80 Canadian. I asked my bank to cancel the transaction, but they told me I had to go to the merchant first, so that is what I did.

Using their website chat feature I explained the discrepancy, asked them to cancel my order, and requested a refund. I did the same via email to their customer support address. They asked me which order I was referring to; the pretty top or the appliance cable gizmo. That’s when I realized I was dealing with the same company using a different name.

Today I received an online message telling me, illogically, that they are “sorry that the currency is optional on the web page, and the final settlement is in US dollars, but the actual payment amount is the same.” Um. No, it isn’t.

Then I received another online message. It claimed that my order had already been sent out and that the additional charge had been a system error. Subsequently, I received an email from customertocare.com telling me that muentastard.com would refund me $5.31 US. So, sometime in the next few days my credit card account might receive about $7.30 Canadian.

By my math, $43.80 minus $7.30 is $36.50 and still not the $27.48 I had thought I was paying in the first place. But, I should know better. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Buyer beware.