So I went in on Tuesday night to talk to someone about setting up a package. What I didn't do beforehand was think about what I wanted and how much I was willing to spend.
It's okay, you can say it: Stupid.
I met with a very gregarious woman who asked me a bunch of questions, had me stand on a scale that measured my percentage of body fat and blah, blah, blah. I did a squat test and a plank test. She told me what I knew - I'm pretty damn healthy. I may not be in the Excellent range, but I am in the Good range, which is above the Average range. She threw around the word "aesthetics" while she had me define my goals. She outlined a comprehensive plan of action that had me working out with a trainer twice a week for almost five months.
Then she gave me the number: $2800+
My eyes got wide and I sputtered something about that being a lot more than I was looking to spend. And she didn't miss a beat! She reorganized the program, shortening each phase and pricing out a level 1 trainer, and came back with another number: $1500+
I paused. She jumped on it and mentioned a monthly payment plan. She said we could spread it out over four months, which meant monthly payments of just under $400.
Suddenly that seemed reasonable. And exciting. So I signed on all the dotted lines, made the first payment and toddled on home to tell the DP about it.
He was, justifiably, surprised. Asked if I really felt I needed so much. I regurgitated what she had told me and felt confident that it was an investment in my health. He was supportive.
A little later I pulled out all the paperwork to have a look and noticed that the monthly payment plan involved an interest charge that she didn't tell me about. The DP argued that since I wasn't getting all the services up front, I shouldn't have to pay interest. Which is true. And then I began to think about my monthly budget and how I'm still not at my tax goal. How I haven't even started on my next big financial goal.
By the time I went to bed I just felt like an idiot. Who do I think I am that I require $1500+ of personal training!? Last time I checked I was not Halle Berry and there was no chance I was going to have to shoot any nude scenes to make a paycheck in the near future. I was just bamboozled by her great sales pitch and brainwashed by society to think that the Good range just isn't good enough!
Long story a little less long, I emailed her the next day and went in this evening to amend the plan. I wanted to get it down to half of what it was. Between my gift certificate and my fitness subsidy at work, I could handle the extra cost if the whole thing was around $750. Well, she still managed to upsell me to just over $850, but I'm breathing much easier tonight.
Oh, and I paid for it right away to avoid their interest fees. I just need to devote my next paycheck to it.
You'd think that I would be more careful with my money by now! But this is a good reminder to me that I need to do the research beforehand and go in knowing what I'm willing to spend.
Sigh!
Budget resets tomorrow...
2 comments:
I can really relate to that,I tend to get caught up by the sales pitch even though I know better and may even tell myself before hand not to let it happen, glad you were able to renegotiate the contract.
Thanks Mary! I wish I could learn to be tougher up front with these sales people. Live and learn I suppose. Oh, and the DP told me that gym contracts usually have 10 days "cooling off" periods attached to them, so renegotiating wasn't a problem!
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