Retail is for schmucks - Step Three

 My wife and I just got back from a two night stay at a top rated resort today. We paid $100 for everything. Part of avoiding retail is paying nothing at all. I won the trip through my company. The prize included a two night stay, a hundred dollar spa credit, and a hundred dollar dining credit. Since the dining credit could be used at restaurants near our home, we just pocketed that for later and the only thing we spent money on at the resort was drinks at the pool and dinner one night.
 I've won a number of contests in the past couple of years that have taken us to various places, including a golf resort and Las Vegas where our expenses have been minimal. These things are out there. One of my family members won a 60 inch t.v. for entering a contest while looking for a car. One of my friends wins concert tickets once a month from radio and web contests. Sometimes they take a little time to enter but they are all over the place. My situation isn't the most common, because my company puts on a contest every year (I've won trip prizes two years in a row), but the point of this post is you can always find free stuff, good free stuff for minimal effort.

Another example is there was a contest on the radio where I had to write into the station's website with a short poem about the "love of my life" for a Valentine's Day contest. Once I did that, I spent a little time getting all my friends and family to vote for my entry in the competition and sure enough I won a one night stay and free round of golf at a golf resort. While we were there, we checked in and went to the room. No sooner had we put our bags down, the front desk called and said they were very sorry but forgot to get our credit card info and asked if I could come down again. When we had checked in, they were giving out complimentary mimosas. I jokingly noted that I would come down for another round of drinks. When I brought them my card I chatted with desk clerk for a couple minutes and asked them how their day was, yada yada yada and when they got my card info they actually gave me a whole bottle of champagne. While I was checking out the next day, my wife was at the spa getting a massage and I asked to have her billed added to the tab to pay all at once. They told me their systems were down and couldn't do that and asked if it would be too much trouble to go to the spa myself and pay there. I had all of our bags on me and it was obviously not what I wanted to do, but I smiled and said no problem. With that, the desk clerk graciously credited our room for our top notch dinner the previous night saving us over $100.

"Killing them with kindness" is the best way to find free stuff. Making someone's day with a positive attitude is hands down the easiest way to find comps or favors. My father in law was trying to change a flight due to a death in the family a week ago. The agent on the phone told him it was going to cost almost a thousand dollars to change each of two tickets. He huffed and puffed and when they did nothing for him, he hung up. I called them back an hour later, spent forty-five minutes saying only nice things and talking out all of our options. At the end of the phone call, they not only found a better rate, but provided a ton of information on how we could be refunded $250 in change fees per ticket for providing documentation of the death in the family. A forty-five minute phone call saved my father-in-law $1300 in fees. Not a bad days work.

If you can't win contests, see what other free stuff is ready available. I work for a restaurant company right now and get 50% off most of my meals at fine dining establishments. If my wife and I aren't using a www.restaurant.com or www.groupon.com coupon, then we are going there and saving $30/meal. Costco recently had a "free" promotion to sign up for their executive membership. They charged $20 to sign up and gave you 2% back on most purchases. If you didn't reach the $20 savings, they would pay you the difference. We signed up and we are on course to make an extra $20-$30 bucks. I signed up in the check out line, took us two minutes and we make money. Its all around you, you just have to look and then "be nice".

I met my wife in an Southwest airlines terminal and proposed to her two years later to the day. We told our flight attendants a wonderful story and how much we love Southwest and they returned the favor with a free bottle of champagne. I haven't paid for a drink on Southwest in a year and a half since I first told that story. Everyone wants to feel good and for making them feel good, they will try their best to return the favor. That's human nature.

A couple of months ago I was standing in line to talk with a movie theatre manager about getting tickets to the wrong show and missing the start of the movie I wanted to see (their fault). The guy in front of me had the same thing happen and was irate and yelling. The manager comped his ticket. When i spoke to the manager I was as friendly as can be, told him mistakes happen, we just wanted to see the next flick available. He comped my tickets and then gave me two more passes with a smile on his face.

"Kill them with kindness". I'm not always a happy camper. Often low on patience and quick tempered I'm not trying to paint a picture of me being a cheery saint. But I can be pleasant, engage someone in a conversation, and put a smile on their face. That's how I got my wife to marry me and how I take part in step three of avoiding retail.

Sincerely,

Coco