I often stare out the window as my two girls – ages three and six – play on their new swing set in our backyard. The smile that crosses my face has only part to do with how much I love to see them having fun. The other part is a smug little grin that happens when I think of how I escaped having to put the darn thing together myself. It was a close call.
My wife is a penny pincher to the max degree and we argued for hours about the money we’d save by borrowing a pickup truck, picking up the unassembled pieces and bringing the monstrosity home ourselves. And, of course, how “fun” it would be to assemble it once we got it there. Really? Not my idea of fun.
What happened next is something I will never forget. In what seemed like dramatic, action movie slow motion, our sales person turned to us and said:
“We can deliver it and assemble it for $99. Is that something you’d like us to do?”
I remember passing out and waking up in the back of our mini van, my girls dabbing my forehead with wet fast food napkins they found on the floor. I think the moisture may have been a spilled soft drink rather than water, but I was too happy to care.
It was almost too good to be true. $99 was about $150 cheaper than I thought it would be, not to mention the aggravation of bringing the dang thing home. And the cursed assembly – you know what I’m talking about – bolts missing, connecting holes that don’t line up, the danger of missing Sports Center….you get the picture.
Apparently before I fainted, I told the sales person to wrap it up and we soon had our new swing set.
Here’s the thing: You won’t get that lucky when you’re relocating and it’s time to disassemble and pack up the jungle gym. Moving costs are based mainly on weight and distance. So, the heavier your items are, the more a move will cost you. And trust me, a jungle gym is heavy. Plus, it’ll cost you to have it disassembled and reassembled. By the time you move it, you’d be better off buying a new one when you get to your new home.
The moral of this story? At Wheaton World Wide Moving, in most cases, we tell our customers to leave the swing set for the next family and start over again at your new destination. Sure, you may end up paying the delivery and assembly charge, but it’s worth it. And only you will know the secret to that little grin you get every time you watch your kids playing in the backyard.
