I So Hope They Fit

I've had two zippers blow out in the past two weeks. It's annoying. First, my show boots decided my calves needed some fresh air, or more likely, more space. A few days later, my schooling boots joined the zipper blow out party. I took both boots to a local custom boot maker, but I am not happy with how they turned out.

I wrote about the brass/gold zippers last week. On the schooling boots, I could care less, but on my show boots, I am not a fan. I am also frustrated by the zippers, particularly on my schooling boots. They are HARD to zip up and down. I would be inclined to blame my thickening calves, but these boots have a really nice stretchy panel, and they don't feel tight at all. If they were any looser they'd feel sloppy. Even though I really like my show boots, the zipper thing - both the color and the stiffness, really bugs me.

I love the boots, I hate the zippers.

As soon as my show boot's zipper failed, I called Dressage Extensions and asked about their Petrie boots. I've never tried the Petries, but I know they're a nice boot, and their lower end boots are in my price range (sort of). They didn't have anything in stock at that moment that would fit, but they agreed to put my name on a list. To my surprise, I got a phone call on Saturday asking if I were still interested in new boots.

Now that, a personal phone call, is how you sell me something. I am not an impulse shopper, especially when it comes to purchases of three or more digits. I like to think about things for a while. I look at whether I need the thing. I look at my budget. I look at the thing again to see if I really like it. If the thing is more than a hundred dollars, and if I don't need the thing, I won't usually buy it. I drive every online tack shop crazy with the amount of items I leave discarded in my virtual carts.

If I like the thing, and If I need the thing, I usually need someone to sell it to me. I'll admit it, I like a soft sell. Nothing turns me off faster than a pushy sales guy. They start that, and I can't walk away fast enough. What gets me every time is a salesperson who can see that I am interested, but deliberately takes off the pressure. That's what Natalie did at Dressage Extensions. 
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I don't know if Natalie was bored or if it was simply her job to make call backs, but that she took the time to call me back and check to see whether I was still interested in the boots got me thinking that yes, yes I was still interested. She asked if she could look at their inventory to see what they might have in my size and price range and call me back later in the day. I told her that would be fine. That of course gave me time to go back and look at which boots they carried which piqued my interest all over again.

Not long after, Natalie left me a message saying that she did have something that she thought would fit me perfectly. If I was still interested, I could call back at my convenience. See, soft sell, nothing pushy. After I was done riding, I called Natalie back, She had a pair of Petrie Olympic Dressage Boots that she thought would be the perfect fit.
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We chat for a minute about whether I could come in and try them on - I'll be in Moorpark this weekend for a show, but I decided it would be a lot easier if she shipped them to me. If they don't fit, I can always leave them with a friend who can drop by the store and return them for me, or I can ship them back for free. Natalie was just so accommodating that as we were chatting, I found myself pulling out my credit card. I now have a pair of Petrie boots on their way to my house.

If they fit - oh, please fit!, they'll be the most expensive boots I've ever bought. I hope I LOVE them!