the price of taking care…

I have a thing about paying full price for anything. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter what the full price is — just on principle I will try to swindle it down. In return I am currently paying less than half the subscription rate for my paper, when Mom and I went shopping I would’t even look at the non-sale racks, and I got $25 dollars off my AT&T bill this month — that just the past few day. The thing is I don’t even think about it – I’m just aways in cheap mode…

My girl friend pointed something out to me today that is also an interesting shopping habit. While I am always looking for a deal, I am also big on customer service. I will drive way out of my way if a store owner takes good care of me. I love small town shopping where who I am and what I like is remembered and appreciated. Interestingly enough I often find the best sales and the best customer service in the same places – and when I do will become an incredibly loyal customer.

Today I went to re-join at the gym. I hated the customer service there two years ago and while I let Tim keep going there, I decided to make a statement and join the YMCA. With the start of the new year I decided that I ought to consider going back to the gym, because I hated taking Grace to the crowed and dirty YMCA day care and really needed to start exercising.  So I made an appointment and went there this morning…

When I arrived I was told to wait for the assistant manager. She was very tall and sort of hovered over me – already I was uncomfortable. She started telling me that she had all my paper work, but that I… just needed to understand that I would have to pay the full price for the membership and that Tim’s grandfathered reduced rate would not continue if we upgraded to a family membership. I would have been stupid if I had not asked her if that didn’t seem to be in a way punishing to their best customers. Immediatly this woman was on the offense and started insisting that the rate was what it was because I had left for awhile and because of that they did not owe me anything. I was suprised by the tone and responded by telling her that I was questioning Tim’s insistance that the customer service had improved and I should give the gym another chance. I then suggested that I would just call the owner of the gym and talk with her about it since I had always spoken with her in the past. Her answer was that the rate was not going to change and that I did not HAVE to come back – no one was making me.

I ended up going to and really liking the class I had signed up for and everything with Grace in day care went really well. Tim received a phone call from the gym owner saying she was sorry about the assistant manager. So tonight I am left wondering if it is worth it to put myself through this or not. I will for the life of me never understand why someone who runs or works for a business would want to make the customers feel so put off. On the other hand if I can dodge the wrath of the assistant manager I think I could really use the workouts.  

 Either way, I had to laugh when Anna Mae told me that taking care of yourself is not worth it if it is going to be such work – and that was just over getting her hair brushed…

just wait miss mae… just wait… you have no idea…