I received an unsolicited email—spam—about rubber stamps. I just happened to need a couple for return addresses on envelopes. (Yes, I still write letters and send checks.)

So I emailed the firm, gave them examples of what was needed (size, ink color, etc.) and told them that I’d send a credit card to wherever they told me to cover all the costs.

The owner, instead, asked me to go to their site, where I could “custom design” what I needed. When I went there I found it entirely cumbersome and non-intuitive. I couldn’t change lines or sizes on their templates.

I wrote the owner again and suggested she simply take what I originally sent, but she told me for “quality purposes” they will only honor orders on their site.

I told her, and this is the honest truth, that I configured my Rolls Royces and my Bentleys on configurators which were far easier to use than her templates for a rubber stamp. I purchased a million dollars of cars that way, yet I couldn’t purchase her $24 stamp. I told her I’d go elsewhere and I have.

So: Her spam actually paid off, she had an assured customer with virtually zero cost of acquisition, but then she used her time to drive me away. Great business sense, huh?

You cannot fix stupid.