Things Have a Way of Working Out for Me

Things in life seem to have a way of working out just right for me. If I encounter unexpected expenses an equally unexpected check arrives in the mail. When I drain my PayPal account to buy something I often receive payments for blog advertising on the very same day.

Even big ticket items seem to work out just right for me. My pink slip from work coincided with the birth of my son. (He was born a week before my very last day.) Many of my coworkers were re-badged to the company that took over without any severance, but I was blessed to receive six months of severance pay.

A few days ago I wrote about how my lack of planning and patience caused me to overpay for a new mattress. After running price comparisons on the Internet I found we paid at least $250 more than other stores. I wanted to retract my purchase, but according to the paperwork our contract could not be cancelled.

I received some helpful comments on my blog and had come to terms with my overpayment by the time the bed arrived two days later. But when the delivery men attempted to carry my box spring into the house they discovered that it was too big to fit up the stairs. When I asked the driver what could be done he said I should cancel the order. I was shocked that this was an option!

I called our local store to receive clarification. I was worried the bed would be placed back on the truck, but my money would not be refunded. Sure enough I was told that the order could be cancelled without any additional fees. I called the 1-800 number to confirm and was told yet again that a cancellation would be permitted. The customer service representative told me that the local store provides the cancellation instructions and told me to follow up to make certain my order was cancelled in a few days.

Well I didn’t want to wait a few days, so I drove down to the store the following morning. As soon as I walked into the store the original salesman walked over to see what I needed. When I told him I wanted to confirm the cancellation of my order he seemed very upset. (I have a feeling they work on commission.) He kept trying to convince me to retain my order. He told me that a split box spring could be ordered that would fit up my stairs and that he wouldn’t charge me any extra money for it’s delivery.

I explained that I had spoken to someone the day before about cancelling my order and was simply coming into the store to confirm that the cancellation had been issued. This seemed to make him even more upset. He said I should not have been told that by any employee of his store.

He stepped away from his desk and called the coworker whom I had spoken with the day before. I’m not exactly sure what was said but when he returned he increased his sales tactics even more.

I was worried that he would sway my decision to cancel. I told him firmly that I did not want the bed and that I wanted to talk with my husband about other options before making any decisions. The truth is I knew I had overpaid for the bed and this was my one chance to get out of the contract.

I think he knew I was willing to cancel the order and walk out of the store, so he offered me a $500 discount on the box spring and mattress. It’s interesting how quickly he offered to knock down the price. When I asked him about discounts on the day we purchased he said the price could not be changed.

Since I could see he really wanted the sale I asked him to lower the price by another $100. I told him I would be willing to buy the same mattress with a split box spring for $600 less than I paid just five days prior.

Surprisingly he agreed. Interestingly enough split box springs typically cost about $100 more than standard ones, so I actually knocked about $700 off of my total.

It’s clear that I should have negotiated the purchase in the first place. $700 is quite a bit of wiggle room. But I’m glad that it all worked out in the end. Who knew that a stairwell with low ceilings would save me so much money?

8 thoughts on “Things Have a Way of Working Out for Me”

    • Interesting perspective. Realizing that there is an opportunity awaiting me, rather than feeling lucky for the sake of luck. I think you are on to something!

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  1. I agree, I feel like I’m really lucky! Found $50 on the ground the other day.

    Like mochimac said, I think it is a mix of perspective and recognising/taking advantage of opportunities when they arise. A friend of mine seems to have only bad luck. I wonder sometimes if she just focuses on the bad stuff more than the good.

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    • I totally agree on the ‘bad luck’ front. A lot of people that tell me they have bad luck are kind of ‘downers’ who always look at the dark side of things, but you wonder if it’s a chicken and egg scenario. Do they feel down because bad things happen or in good situations would they still see the bad over the good?

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  2. Wow, that’s a great deal you negotiated–good for you! I had to return a mattress/boxspring once for the same reason–it wouldn’t fit up the stairs so I had to cancel my order. I was bummed because I really liked the bed and got it at a very good price (30% discount and bought on tax-free day). I didn’t know there were other options though like the split box spring. Oh well, live and learn…

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    • I didn’t know about the split box spring option either. It’s strange because our old box spring was a queen and it went up and down the stairs so I never thought twice about it when we ordered. It worked out in the end though and our bed is super comfy!

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  3. I often feel the same way about the way things just seem to work out. Congrats on getting such an excellent deal on your new bed. The sales people do have a lot of wiggle room. The mark up on mattresses is huge. Glad you got things sorted out in your favor.

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    • Lowering the price by $600 right there on the spot definitely shows how big the markup can be! I actually had no idea until I came home and started Googling for prices! Thanks for the comment.

      Reply

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