Like Mad Cow disease, you English also gave the world Fitness First...

And now we have Fitness First Australia, so do know that it has spread worldwide. I think there are 70 gyms in Australia.

The service, the cleanliness, the Kuta Beach style membership hawkers...it's shocking such a business survives. My complaints have all gone unanswered, so I won't bore you with them on herre.

It's very unfortunate that there is very little choice in Australia...but when the leader is this bad, the competition will smarten up eventually. Let's hope!

Great site by the way! I'll spread the world Down Under.

 

Hi everyone,

I go to Fitness First in Australia.

The cleanliness has slipped, the equipment is not put away, and they are never on time to open the gym of a morning.

The music also in the morning is shocking its like watching mini porn flicks.

The staff at gym do not make eye contact or acknoledge that we are standing there waiting (they are busy talking with friends)

I have written to fitness First multiple times and have not yet got a response.

So i agree i hope that the other gyms smarten up so i can go to another gym!!

 

Im a trainer at a fitness first in australia...

Funny how so many people complain when on an average our clubs have over 5000 members...

You dont like our service then simply terminate your membership...There are many other gyms in australia...Maybe a big corporate gym isnt for you...
Go to a little gym but they wont have service's we have.

The gym floor is untidy? Well maybe if after you've finished training or doing a set simply put your weights away...We work there...Were not baby sitters were not suppose to clean up after you. You pick something up..You put it away.

Fitness first is the most successful gym in the world you dont like it dont go, But there is no need to make a fitness first sucks website cause at the end of the day were still making money off you.

=)

 

The last sentence in your thread summed it up 'fitness first trainer' - you are making money out of us! To be honest that is why Fitness First sucks - it is all about the $$$$$ and NOT the customer.

I was a member of Fitness First for almost 6 years so easily one of the first Australian members. When I contacted Fitness First about membership they were all over me like the proverbial rash. They called me daily to see what I thought of the gym, gave me two weeks complimentry membership so I could assess etc. etc. Then I signed up and became the invisible woman! I kept going because I made some good friends at FF and also some of the instructors were great. As time went on I got more fed up with the lack of service and the standard of hygiene dropped. Often as not the gym opened late because the young idiots they employed had gone out the night before and slept in! This meant the class was cut short as people were generally going straight to work afterwards. The locker rooms were disgusting, and whilst I acknowledge the mess was made by some members, there was not enough checking to ensure they did not make a mess, nor was there regular cleaning.

Late last year I decided to cancel my membership because they had hiked up my membership fees - this did not perturb me too much as that is business,and most companies increase their prices as costs increase. What angered me was they sent a letter telling me my monthly membership would now be fortnightly and the price had gone up. I was cranky about the fortnightly deduction because when I joined initially I asked for fortnightly deductions and was told no, it had to be monthly. So when it suits FF it is ok to change the rules, but when the client asks for this arrangement that is a no no.

When I cancelled it was ridiculous - I was told I had to make an appointment to see a Customer Service Manager and she couldn't see me for a week. Then she couldn't see me at a time that was suitable for me. In the end I wrote a letter saying I was cancelling my membership and had to almost break the guy at the counters' arm, to take my written cancellation so to speak - he kept telling me I had to make an appointmnet

Lo and behold the next month they deducted my fees even though I had cancelled. When I contacted them about this I was told it was because I had only given 29 days notice and not one month! It would have been a month had they accepted my cancellation over the phone as they did my membership! When I challeged them about this and told them the delay was because the Customer Service Manager couldn't 'fit me in'. I was more or less told "talk to the hand".

I have since joined a small local gym that is fantastic. My membership is $20 a fortnight and for that I get classes, a regular 3 monthly fitness assessment, use of the swimming pool, and more importantly -friendly, courteous staff. I am a 'person' at this gym NOT a 'cash cow', and I am definitley NOT invisible!

 

As i said in my post maybe a corporate gym isnt for you, Were based on people that are on the go, They come to the gym to work out and leave not to make friendly with the receptionists.

Fair enough i see where your coming from but you arnt the only person that needs to see a sales consultant.

I think the people i work with are the most out going friendly people i've ever met, But see it from their point of view after being abused and harrassed by the roido's that train at the gym i think their fed up with always playing nice guy because usually it just gets thrown back in their face.

Us trainers dont work FOR the gym we work AT the gym for OURSELVES, So me personally am not making squat from you.

But the reason we charge what we charge for our memberships is because money simply doesnt grow on tree's, You want to train with crappy old equipment then go to another gym and pay $20 a fortnight, Or do you want to train on state of the art brand spanking new stuff? Atleast with fitness first there's never time to wait for equipment.

 

Tremendus you really have missed the point. Yes, the small local gym is cheaper but it certainly does have state of the art equipment and so far none of the eqipment has been 'out of order' as was consistent at FF. This small gym has 'virtual spin' classes so you can do a spin class any time you feel like it, and not have to wait for one that is scheduled.

You constantly go on about FF being 'corporate' this is simply codswallop because I used the facilities in the city, and gave up trying to attend classes because I had to book a locker, and then get a token to join a class because they were busy. I appreciate, and understand why a token system was in place because overcrowded class are a safety issue, however I am a corporate manager, and work for a large Australian corporate organisation where my time management is crucial so getting to the gym was either early in the morning, during a lunch break, or straight after work. because of the 'token system at lunchtimes and after work, I opted for early morning classes and workouts. The early morning classes (as I stated previously) were often cut short, or cancelled, because the person who had the keys, and was supposed to open the gym did not turn up on time. A few times I gave up and left.

Often as not, when you did go in to the gym and had a question for the receptionist they could barely spend the effort raising their heads to acknowledge you, or stop their personal chit chat to ask what you wanted to know. One example was I purchased a water bottle as I had forgotten to bring mine. It was $6.95, not expensive, but it was broken. I filled it and during the class it constantly leaked, pouring the water all over my face instead of in my mouth! I took it back to the receptionist and waited until she finished chatting. I gave her the water bottle and asked for either an exchange or a refund. She told me I couldn't have either because I "had used the bottle". Of course I had used the bottle, this is how I discovered it was faulty! I told her that legally I was entitled to a refund as the bottle was faulty, if it was simply me changing my mind then I am not entitled to a refund, however this was not the case. I offered to show her why the bottle was faulty and the snotty little madam turned her back on me and walked away with a dismissive comment "it isn't hygienic to change bottles". I called her back and she picked up the telephone and made a call. I waited. She was on the phone for a while and was swiping membership cards at the same time. I still waited. I then asked her if she could interrupt her personal call for a few moments and get someone else to help me. She told me there was no one and there was "no exchange".

I contacted the Office of Fair Trading and explained the situation. They verified I was correct. If I purchase something it should work, and if it doesn't then a refund or exchange must be provided. I contacted FF again, via email and outlined the situation, and informed them that I was within my rights to have the faulty bottle replaced or a full refund. Someone called me and she was quite pleasant however appeared to doubt that the bottle was faulty. I described the problem so she asked me to hold while then she got a bottle out of stock and filled it with water. She turned the bottle upside down and lo and behold it spurted out the sides like the one I had bought, and exactly as I described. She figured that it must be a faulty batch and offered to replace my bottle. I accepted, as this was all I had wanted in the first place. She said she would leave it at reception for me to exchange next time I was in. Next time I went to the gym Miss Sourpuss was on reception. I said there should be a bottle there for me and here was the faulty one in return. She did not acknowledge me, did not smile, just plonked the bottle on the counter and grabbed the faulty one which she literally threw behind her!

Now, this was only $6.95 but it is an example of how FF staff react towards customers. Miss Sourpuss had no idea of the legalities involved in exchanging faulty goods, she certainly knew it wouldn't be hygienic to give a bottle that had been already used to someone else - but that wasn't the purpose of me returning it, I was returning it because it was faulty!

Now, with the cancellation - your comments about people being busy are valid, however when I joined FF, I sent a request online for some more information. I did this after work, in the evening. By 10am the following morning I was contacted by someone with an offer to book me in for a complimentary class/ session and asked when was it convenient for me to come in. However when I tried to cancel my membership I was told it couldn't be done online, and I would have to make an appointment, not when it was convenient for me but when it was convenient for them! Hmmmm, no need to be an Einstein to work that one out! They are VERY available when they want to be, and also when they want to take your money, NOT so available when you want to stop giving them money!

I admire your loyalty Tremendus however ask that you take off the rose coloured spectacles and see FF for what it is. Yes, they are a business, and yes business is about making money and profits. I am in business and understand this completely, however what about some good old fashioned customer service and a little bit of respect for the paying member? Wouldn't it be nice if FF gave a complimentary voucher for a service when they make a mistake? Wouldn't it be nice to get an email with an apology that you missed your class that particular morning because someone was late (again). Wouldn't it be nice if they trained their staff to know the basic legalities in a return policy. Wouldn't it be nice if they took my cancellation over the phone, or by email and follow it up with a "what can we do to keep you as a member" instead of "you can't cancel unless you make an appointment to see a Customer Service Manager", and wouldn't it be nice if they said "when is it convenient for you?" ALL the time instead of when they are trying to sink their hooks in to you?

The small local gym has contacted me twice since joining, once to welcome me as a new member, and the second time was because I hadn't been if for over a week and they were concerned. Now, that's customer service! My feesa are paid by direct debit so even though I hadn't been to the gym they still got my money, so I really appreciated the call to check all was ok and that there was nothing wrong with either me or the gym. In the 6 years I was a member at FF I never once received a phone call to check if everything was ok if I hadn't been for a while. As I said before, I feel like a valued member at this gym and not a cash cow or the invisible woman, and I don't want to be best buddies with the receptionist or the gym staff, all I want is an efficient, friendly, well run organisation that treats customers as a priority, not a nuisance, nor $$$$$ sign.