I have two ongoing scenarios of situations where people want my money and I want their service. It’s important to know what you want as the end result when you get into negotiating. The current companies I’m dealing with are City Fitness of Philly and Comcast. I need a gym membership so I can work out during the winter and Comcast is offering me a better rate on our business lines, internet, and TV. I want to go into a little more detail into both to give you an idea of what goes through my mind in these cases.

cityfitness

City Fitness has me in a stalemate. The first thing I did to prepare for a gym membership was to get rates of 3 different companies. LA Fitness offered me $29.99 a month to come back with no initial cost. Sweat Fitness offered 16 months for the price of 12 at 45.99 a month and an upfront cost of $40 bucks. This came to somewhere in the neighborhood of $36 dollars a month and it’s location is closer to my work instead of my home which is a con. City offered me 39.99 a month with 39 initial fee and is the gym I want to join based on location. Armed with this info I called City and wanted to get a lower rate because it was the most expensive of the 3. I talked with one sales person who wasn’t budging whatsoever and let me walk out the door literally. The next guy I spoke to I explained the situation and asked if he could get me access to the 2nd location and if there was any discount for paying in full up front. He never called me back. So here I am with no gym membership and starting from square 1 with City Fitness. What I had working for me before was time. Meaning that I didn’t need a gym because the weather was nice outside and now that it’s colder, I have to act. It’s not about the money at this point. Of course I can go in there pay their rates and use their gym but the idea that I’m paying more than I should be doesn’t sit well. Ideally they waive the initial fee and charge me 34.99 with access to both gyms. If I could get that, I’d be happy. It becomes a game.

comcast
Comcast was more unusual. Two people who say they work with Comcast (they actually work with a 3rd party called Marketing Plus or something) knocked on our door today and said they could lower the phone, TV, and internet bill. I’m currently with Verizon and Direct TV with these services. The two people come up with a quote for the service that is about 60 dollars a month less than what I’m currently paying and the internet speed would be faster. They had my attention but it was almost comical how easily they thought it would be to open up a new account. Multiple times throughout their sales pitch I made it clear as day that I had no intention of signing anything. As we get to the end they have a quote made up that is looking to be docusigned. I almost lost it but continued to tell them that I don’t sign anything the same day someone walks into my door. It was awkward because in their sick and twisted sales minds they feel like they should be opening accounts on the spot. I’m incredibly leery of companies like these because they say they work WITH Comcast and not FOR Comcast. Essentially they are 3rd party companies who act as a Comcast sales force. They will do any and everything to close accounts and signing anything was out of the question. Could their deal be better than my current offering? Yes, it could but I’m at the very least calling Verizon and Direct TV and seeing if I have any termination fees and what they have to offer. I just share this because people will walk in your door, spend your time with no regard for more important things in your work day, and then expect you to close. Not today.