The Client Scams the Tarot Reader

Tarot readers continue to get a bad rap these days. While the stigma still exists, although better in recent years, we are still accused of being tricksters out to scam people. While I believe most readers are honest individuals, there are some out there who give us all a bad name.

But this article isn’t about the ethics or lack thereof of Tarot readers.

I’m going to talk about the clients who try and scam readers.

This is something that happened to me, recently. I want to share my experience so that no other reader goes through this.

I got a request for a love reading, one of my higher priced offerings, at the end of the year. Now I typically would create a PDF for the client to have, but in this case, I did an unlisted YouTube video, so that they could download it and have it in that format.

The client was a connection on Instagram, but I didn’t really know her.

Here is where I made my first mistake.

I sent her the invoice, and instead of waiting for payment, I did the reading and uploaded it. She went on to tell me “It was the best reading she had in a long time” and sang my praises while sending me pics and odd voice notes of unrelated things. I politely sent her a reminder the following day when I realized she hadn’t paid. She said she received the invoice and reminder and would do it. She even emails me asking frantically where the video is, I sent her the link again, and told her to download it.

Three days later, and a total of 5 invoices/reminders through PayPal, no payment.

I changed the video setting to private, realizing she had probably already downloaded it, but I felt awful.

I ended up blocking her.

A few days later she paid me.

A week after that she put in a dispute with PayPal saying I that took the reading down, took her money and blocked her. To say I was livid, was an understatement.

I had screen shots of everything, including her admitting to having the video and not paying for the reading, saying she wasn’t great with technology. In the meantime, she followed me again with another account, I guess it was only some technology she wasn’t good with.

Fed up, I almost gave in and issued a refund, but I stopped. I disputed it instead and less than a week later, I provided several screenshots, including the YouTube link which showed the video was viewed 17 times, (something she admitted to as well).

PayPal sided with me.

I told her I think she has probably done this before; she went quiet after that. I blocked her from her second account.

I am telling you this, because there are people out there who actively try and take advantage of others. She assumed because I was kind, she could get away with stealing from me. I am certain she has done this before, but I am glad I didn’t let her get away with it. Don’t make the mistake I did, don’t let anyone take advantage of your hard work.

Here is what I learned:

Never deliver anything until you are paid.

Keep screenshots/emails of all correspondence.

Be clear about expectations and boundaries.

Be clear about your services and refund policy.

Always fight back.