The 11 most annoying things about gym memberships

It would be nice to think that gyms thought of their most unhappy customers as their greatest source of learning, but this is simply not the case.

Overall, 61% of Australian gym members are satisfied with their memberships with 74% of them expecting to stay for at least 18 months. In actuality 60% leave within 12months. **

However there is also a staggering statistic of 60% of members have been with their club for less than 12 months and 40% for more than 12 months. This brings the actual retention of gym members to just 40%.

Most people join a gym in January which traditionally is one of the busiest times for people who want to follow through on their New Year’s resolutions of losing weight or better overall health. If you are still there by April it is a miracle as most people trip up within the first 90 days once a few annoying things and human nature take over.

The top 11 things that annoy gym members the most.

1. Poor customer service
2. Broken Gym equipment
3. Facilities that don’t work. (Eg. Spas, saunas/steam room, pools, weight scales etc)
4. Non flexible contact agreements/cancellation too difficult/pushy sales people. Debit payment s continue to come out after the contact has expired (even if it is just a 3 month agreement)
5. Basic hygiene policies not adhered to/ unclean showers and toilets/ members not using towels or wiping equipment
6. Too crowded/not enough equipment at peak times/More people than machines/towel shortages/not enough lockers
7. Little room to work with free weights at peak times.
8. Staff members disinterested/ignoring members
9. Teenage after school hang-out
10. Personal Trainers who are late for appointments
11. Unavailability of trainers or staff to assist/give tips/correct technique with exercise equipment.

My Top tips:

1. If you have a ligitament complaint about your gym then the first piece of advice is to be nice to whom you address your compliant to. Most times you will be just dealing with the receptionist who will be recording down and passing the complaint to the necessary people. Follow up your complaint with an email outlying the points taken so you have evidence of your meeting.
2. Be sure to read the fine print on your contract because the devil is in the detail. When signing a contract it is not to be taken lightly. You need to make an informed decision before signing on the dotted line. Most gym contracts are non-refundable unless you move a long distance away or have a sound medical advice.
3. When selecting a gym, visit it during the time/s you are more likely to attend. If you attend the gym more than 1 per week then it is value for money.
4. Understand that you are taking your health into your own hands when attending a gym. Remember you signed a waiver when you joined up.
5. Find a gym that fits your goals and level of ability. It is no use joining a gym for rehabilitation if there is no facility or staff to provide what you need.

In conclusion:

Some of the bigger chains of gyms get the most complaints simply because they have a bigger chunk of the industry pie. These are also the same chains that saved the industry when it was heading for a disastrous downfall because of heavy discounting.
There are some very real complaints where the fault lies with the gym and there are some grievances where it is with the customer. Use some of the tips above to assist your decision when negotiating your next contract/renewal.

Written by Chris Bakens from Healthy Executives.

** 2009 Australian Fitness Industry survey of 7000 Gym members performed by EZI-PAY