Friday, August 12, 2016

Fired Before Hired and Bashed to My Husband

Oh boy, are you people in for a crazy story!  A few weeks ago I was walking a dog in in neighborhood and Terry came to pick me up. There are assigned parking spots and she was in someones spot, so she moved. The woman was apparently very chatty.  I walk by and get bombarded by this same woman because she wanted to pet the dog that I was walking. (Of course she did, he's adorable)  She starts chatting with me and it ends up being a 45 minute discussion where she told me her current medical status, her trials and tribulations with training her own dog, her daughters history, her recent relationship history... you get the idea.  Mind you, Terry is waiting in the car and the poor dog that I have is so hot!  The reason that I couldn't cut her off is because she informed me of a serious diagnosis and seemed scared.  I wanted to be an ear, because that's just what I do.  She then told me how she was looking for a personal trainer.  I recommended my husband, she seemed thrilled and called me an angel.  I thought she was a little nutty, but seemed sweet enough....

In the next few weeks she and my husband were in contact about training and spoke AT LENGTH about the best course of action for her.  There were many texts, phone calls, emails, etc. She told him that she wanted my contact info so that I could help her walk the dog post-op.  I was willing if I could fit it in my schedule.  Within the month, she never told me what she needed, she postponed her surgery, and I kept running into her when I would walk this other dog that lived across the street.  She would call me over and interrupt the walk and tell me about her broken car, her broken phone, etc.  She would call me and talk about everything except how many walks she needed from me when she was home from the hospital.  I learned of her broken couch, how her day went, her ex and his behavior, the dog and his pulling, but never what she needed.

This past week she was supposed to have an assessment with my husband in person for personal training. She was trying to get me to come that morning to learn how to walk the dog.  I kept telling her that I have walked every type of dog (people aggressive, dog aggressive, pullers, large dogs, etc)  She insisted hers was different and I had to watch how her daughter walked him. I told her that I wasn't going to have time that week, but she seemed like she ignored that statement.  A few days before her training assessment, she sent me a text that said, "My phone is up Debbie!"
Then the conversation went like this:

Me: "Ooh! Hooray! I still don't really have time to be able to come over this week.  If I can find a pocket I will definitely let you know, but my schedule is just super crazy.  As far as post surgery are you thinking you would need me once a day or more than that? Just not sure exactly what the expectations were and if I should potentially refer you to someone else that might have a little more time in their schedule."

Her:  "2x a day if not 3 depending on my daughter (and some personal info about her schedule that  I will keep private)   Ugh...   I saw nugget tonight with his owner. He is so darn adorable.

Me:  "I don't think there's any way that I would be able to do that, I have to be honest.  I would love to be able to, but I am already going to have 25-30 visits a day and there is no way that I can add 2-3 more dog walks onto that"

Her: "Xmas present for (daughter). For Sure"

Me: "Yes, he is the cutest (dog breed) ever :)"

Her: "I agree.  So sad. Ok.  Need to regroup. May not include your husband. Let him know. Nite guys."

Me: "Ok, I"m sorry."

Her: "Ok. So many resources in the city"

Me: "I can refer you to some other walkers if you want.  I was jut under the impression that you were going to need me maybe once a day to really get him out and other than that he can just go in out back."

Her:  "Tell (husband) Thurs may not happen.  I have calls tomorrow.  Good luck guys. No Thx you. "

Me: "Thank you, you too

Her: "Let (husband) know Thurs a NO go."

Me: "I will"

Her: "Thx again"



So I was a bit put off. She is not using him as a personal trainer because I can't walk her dog 3x a day? Ok... I now realize the crazy has appeared. We are 2 separate people with 2 separate businesses.  I called him to tell him and he was not surprised. To tell you the truth, we were both a bit relieved. My issue was that she would see me almost daily for a week and she never told me what she needed from me. But she had no problem telling me about her broken couch.   I chalked it all up to something that never should have happened in the first place and THEN she started texting my husband!
 This was how she started it:

Her: "(Husband), I cannot work with you. Your wife is non-flex. We need different scenarios. Best."

Him: "Hi (potential client name). I'm sorry to hear that.  Deb's schedule is very full and sometimes she can't fit in as many new requests as she'd like. If I may ask, why does this mean we can't train together? Our businesses are completely separate."

Her: "Frankly your wife acts like she can't be bothered. No thank you!!!!  Was going to add my daughter."

Him: She is the most accommodating person I've ever known.  Just because she can't fit your schedule doesn't mean she is blowing you off.  She always offers referrals if she can't do it."

Her: "I cannot have a serious trainer for either of us.  Her response, terrible. My phone off."

Him: "I'm just wondering why Deb's unavailability has turned this into you and I not being able to train?"

No response

Him again: "Well, from your response, I'd say we wouldn't work out anyway.  Deb is in high demand for a reason. Just because she's booked, there's no need for tantrums. Good luck."

After I read this, we both immediately blocked her from our phones. Seems our empathy got the best of us, but somehow the universe made it all work out for the best.  I don't wish her harm and I hope that her health improves, but I also hope that I never have to speak to her again. This was a huge waste of time for both me and my husband and next time I will make it a point to confirm needs off the bat.  For all I know she could have had a pretend conversation with me where she already told me and that's why she got upset when I said know.  Oddly enough, when I met her she had a friend of mine booked to walk her dog and just blew her off for 3 weeks.

Since this turn of events I have learned a few things about her from neighbors and I consider us extremely lucky to have narrowly avoided working for her.  It's a new one, double firing before we were actually hired.  I still shake my head in disbelief.






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