Tuesday, August 21, 2007

I May Have Missed Out On A Great Deal

I'm not so great at math, so maybe someone out there who has more of a mind for numbers can tell me if I've made a bad decision.

Last week, I received in the mail a renewal notice for my gym membership, which is set to expire this month.

If I renew for one year, said the notice, the cost per month would be $13. (I know, it's dirt cheap -- my gym is totally no frills, but it's close and has all the basic equipment, which is all I want anyway.) I filled out the form and mailed it back in, set to sweat another year.

Yesterday, I got a phone call from one of the staff members.

"I have your renewal form here, but I wanted to let you know that if you want to renew for two years instead of one, you can save 50, 60 or 70 percent," she said.

When I went in for my workout last night, I inquired about it at the desk. After a scan of the pricing sheet, the girl behind the desk told me that if I renew for two years and put $50 down, my membership would only cost me $14 per month. I gave her a puzzled look.

"But with the notice I got in the mail, I'm only paying $13 per month with nothing down. Where's the incentive to renew for a longer period of time?"

She couldn't answer me. She seemed confused. She just kept asking if I wanted to put some money down. I told her never mind; I'd just go with the one year renewal for now.

I've never been great with numbers, but I'm pretty sure that was the right answer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remember when you were a little kid, and Pop Pop would give you money, and you always chose coins over paper money because it seemed like you were getting more (e.g., TWO dimes vs. only ONE dollar bill)? Maybe the girl at your gym never outgrew that phase.

Kari said...

"I have your renewal form here, but I wanted to let you know that if you want to renew for two years instead of one, you can save 50, 60 or 70 percent,"

I'll save 70 percent, then.