In Which Steven and Darwin Spend Serious Money
My treadmill is dying. It's a low-price (read "cheap") model I bought nearly nine years ago, and the math says I've put more than 5,000 miles on it. The machine is showing its age. When I turn it on, it works for a few seconds, then the belt stops. When I step off, it starts up again. This goes on for several minutes. Eventually, the belt runs properly, but this isn't tenable. The treadmill also isn't well-cushioned, which means Darwin can hear my feet thudding throughout my hour-long run, which drives him crazy.
The time had come to replace it.
The first problem, however, arose from what to do with the thing. You can't just toss a dying treadmill in a dumpster. When you buy a new refrigerator, stove, or sofa, the store usually hauls the old one away, but a treadmill? Unlikely. I wondered if I should call a junk removal service and see if one of them would take it.
The other problem came from finding an actual place that sells--and delivers--treadmills. I won't order a treadmill online, sight unseen, thanks, so Internet vendors were out. We live not far from a Dunham's store, but when I called them to ask if they would deliver a treadmill, the worker said, "You have to order it online, and they'll deliver it." I figured I could go into the store and test the floor models, then order the one I wanted online, but when I checked the company's web site, there was no option for delivery; the site forced you to choose a store where you would pick it up. So no-go there. I tried to look up places to buy a treadmill in my area, but nothing showed up. I was at a loss, and my old treadmill was getting worse.
I mentioned this problem to my friend David, who said I should try American Fitness. I checked and found a store in Lake Orion, only a few minutes away. Darwin called to see if they did indeed deliver treadmills, and the lady said they did, would we like to make an appointment to come look at one? Huh.
At the appointed time, we drove over. Darwin came along partly because I had threatened to buy the most expensive one in the store if he didn't, and partly because he wanted to look at some of the equipment.
A very nice lady named Annie met us at the store, which was bright, airy, and filled with exercise equipment of all sorts. She cheerily showed me different treadmill models and I tried them out while Darwin mostly listened to see how loud they were. I had narrowed it down to two of them and wanted time to think when Darwin announced that he was interested in buying an elliptical.
This startled me quite a bit. Darwin owned an elliptical when I first met him, as it happens, and I only saw him use it twice, both times at my urging. We--and by "we," I mean "I"--sold it the last time we moved because it was too much trouble to haul around something that was more often used as a clothes rack than for exercise.
However, Darwin =has= been trying to do more movement lately in order to keep his blood sugar under control, and he wants to lose a little more weight. I made him swear he would use it regularly before letting him do any shopping. We'll see if it takes.
Darwin did, in the end, decide to get an elliptical, and I chose a treadmill, a nice, cushioned, quiet model. Annie, the enthusiastic sales person, did the enthusiastic, "Since you're buying this all at once, I'll see if I can rustle up a discount." It was very much like dealing with a car dealer.
Well, it turns out Annie did. American Fitness would gladly haul away my old treadmill for a small charge. Additionally, the delivery and setup fees would be cut because we had two pieces coming to a single address. And--here, Annie lowered her voice confidentially--she was sure she could get us on the schedule for delivery on Saturday. Goodness!
Her sales pitch enthusiasm was so wide-eyed and blatant, I had to hold in laughter. For thousands of dollars worth of exercise machines, we had become her new best friends!
However, Annie was also knowledgeable and service-oriented, unlike Dunham's, which barely acknowledged my existence, or Amazon, which blithely expected me to buy a treadmill from them without trying it.
So I put an breathtaking amount of money on my debit card, and we drove home. Now we wait until Saturday for it all to arrive. Don't tell anyone that Annie sneaked us in!
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The time had come to replace it.
The first problem, however, arose from what to do with the thing. You can't just toss a dying treadmill in a dumpster. When you buy a new refrigerator, stove, or sofa, the store usually hauls the old one away, but a treadmill? Unlikely. I wondered if I should call a junk removal service and see if one of them would take it.
The other problem came from finding an actual place that sells--and delivers--treadmills. I won't order a treadmill online, sight unseen, thanks, so Internet vendors were out. We live not far from a Dunham's store, but when I called them to ask if they would deliver a treadmill, the worker said, "You have to order it online, and they'll deliver it." I figured I could go into the store and test the floor models, then order the one I wanted online, but when I checked the company's web site, there was no option for delivery; the site forced you to choose a store where you would pick it up. So no-go there. I tried to look up places to buy a treadmill in my area, but nothing showed up. I was at a loss, and my old treadmill was getting worse.
I mentioned this problem to my friend David, who said I should try American Fitness. I checked and found a store in Lake Orion, only a few minutes away. Darwin called to see if they did indeed deliver treadmills, and the lady said they did, would we like to make an appointment to come look at one? Huh.
At the appointed time, we drove over. Darwin came along partly because I had threatened to buy the most expensive one in the store if he didn't, and partly because he wanted to look at some of the equipment.
A very nice lady named Annie met us at the store, which was bright, airy, and filled with exercise equipment of all sorts. She cheerily showed me different treadmill models and I tried them out while Darwin mostly listened to see how loud they were. I had narrowed it down to two of them and wanted time to think when Darwin announced that he was interested in buying an elliptical.
This startled me quite a bit. Darwin owned an elliptical when I first met him, as it happens, and I only saw him use it twice, both times at my urging. We--and by "we," I mean "I"--sold it the last time we moved because it was too much trouble to haul around something that was more often used as a clothes rack than for exercise.
However, Darwin =has= been trying to do more movement lately in order to keep his blood sugar under control, and he wants to lose a little more weight. I made him swear he would use it regularly before letting him do any shopping. We'll see if it takes.
Darwin did, in the end, decide to get an elliptical, and I chose a treadmill, a nice, cushioned, quiet model. Annie, the enthusiastic sales person, did the enthusiastic, "Since you're buying this all at once, I'll see if I can rustle up a discount." It was very much like dealing with a car dealer.
At one point, she said, "Do you have other questions?" And I said I did.
"I need to get rid of my original treadmill," I told her. "Do you know anyone who would come and get it?"Well, it turns out Annie did. American Fitness would gladly haul away my old treadmill for a small charge. Additionally, the delivery and setup fees would be cut because we had two pieces coming to a single address. And--here, Annie lowered her voice confidentially--she was sure she could get us on the schedule for delivery on Saturday. Goodness!
Her sales pitch enthusiasm was so wide-eyed and blatant, I had to hold in laughter. For thousands of dollars worth of exercise machines, we had become her new best friends!
However, Annie was also knowledgeable and service-oriented, unlike Dunham's, which barely acknowledged my existence, or Amazon, which blithely expected me to buy a treadmill from them without trying it.
So I put an breathtaking amount of money on my debit card, and we drove home. Now we wait until Saturday for it all to arrive. Don't tell anyone that Annie sneaked us in!
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