Shevy KO's the Gym

I took care of the gym on Friday after a few phone calls and some more frustration. First, I couldn't get anyone at their head office, just voice mail. So I looked up the gym in Richmond and called their number. Yes, they were in the same location as head office and there would be someone upstairs if I came during office hours. Then the girl started asking me questions, looking stuff up on her computer and eventually asked me why I hadn't just paid the one month fee at the Vancouver gym when I was in there. Well, I would have. I had the cash in my purse, specially taken out of the bank for that very purpose. But the girl in Vancouver told me that the money stuff had to be handled through head office!

That, of course, was wrong. The girl in Richmond said I could do whatever was easiest for me, go back to Vancouver or drive out to Richmond. I was still leaning towards going to the head office when the manager from Vancouver called me to apologize. In the end I went back there to see her, paid the money ($31 something with tax) and had her write that I'd paid the 30 day fee on my copy of the receipt. I probably saved an hour plus the gas and she assured me that she'd notify head office immediately.

Why did I pay in cash? Because there's no way I'm going to give them a credit card number that they could then run up with fees or chargebacks or whatever they might dream up. Now my only issue is whether I should try to actually go to the gym a bunch of times this month. It's not good timing. My work gala is at the end of the month so I'm crazy busy at work. My Biblical Hebrew course has 3 classes left. I don't have a lot of free time (especially when I don't have kidlets in tow and they've cut back the childcare there). On the other hand, I'd like to get some value for that $31 odd I had to give them! Plus, the doc wants me to get more exercise and I still want to lose 10 lbs. of flab (I'd even be willing to trade it for 5 lbs. of muscle). So, we'll see.