Why does joining a gym so often feel like a slimy process?

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Years ago I joined Bally's. It was through work or I would never have gone into the place. It was an awesome deal ,,,$100 a year, but could only be used 10 AM - 4PM, and weekends.... which worked fine for me.

When I went in they seemed all excited that I was there... until I told them that I was there through my employer.... and then I was passed off 2x before I got signed up.... I even heard one employee say "Oh, he's just one of those guys who wants to join from XYZ company".... and immediately the whole process came to a crawl.... But for $100 a year, I figured that I was not important to them, anyway.

Then yesterday, I went to L.A. Fitness, and immediately was given the hard sell.... The guy told me he was the GM of the building, and hemmed and hawed when I asked for a monthly price. He tried to distract me from getting an answer. I asked for a price THREE TIMES before he asked me:

"So, what are you paying at your current gym?"

At this point I knew the slime was about to hit. I figured that he was going to price match whatever price I said.


So, I lied. I told him that I pay $29 a month because I had a locked in price forever at my current gym. I actually do.... but it is $39 a month, but not $29.

And then came the response I was expecting.... "Well, our prices have "skyrocketed" for 2011, but I have 8 vouchers left and you can have one of them IF YOU SIGN UP RIGHT NOW.... and the price is $29 a month!"

Imagine that! How lucky I felt!

Now knowing that this was sort of a scammy feeling process, I reaffirmed that he was the GM. He said he was indeed. Then I told him that if that is true, then he can make that happen 365 days a year, and not just yesterday, or until his 8 vouchers run out. He said that was not true... that I had to sign up yesterday, or before the 8 vouchers ran out.

Guess who called me today and said that I can keep that price until NEXT FRIDAY?

Snake oil salesmen... that's what they are....

 

[FireDancer]

That is basically how all of my gym experiences have gone. I belong to two, one is free through my insurance and the other I had already pre-paid for before I knew about our insurance. I went back and forth a long time when I signed up at the gym I pay for and eventually got a decent deal. The gym I get free from work I just walked in with my info and it took 10 minutes. What they did do was try to sell me on a bunch of personal trainer packages. I spent a half hour at least telling them I am not interested.

 

[Anjelica]

We ditched Golds a few years ago due to their Manager's "snakish" behavior. We joined back up at the YMCA (we were members years ago) and I couldn't be happier. The kids really enjoy going to the kids clubs and I feel like they are very interactive with the kids vs. Gold's where they let the kids sit in front of the tv for hours.

I've never notice the YMCA trying the dirty salesman tricks that the other gyms in the area have pulled.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Years ago I joined Bally's. It was through work or I would never have gone into the place. It was an awesome deal ,,,$100 a year, but could only be used 10 AM - 4PM, and weekends.... which worked fine for me.

When I went in they seemed all excited that I was there... until I told them that I was there through my employer.... and then I was passed off 2x before I got signed up.... I even heard one employee say "Oh, he's just one of those guys who wants to join from XYZ company".... and immediately the whole process came to a crawl.... But for $100 a year, I figured that I was not important to them, anyway.

Then yesterday, I went to L.A. Fitness, and immediately was given the hard sell.... The guy told me he was the GM of the building, and hemmed and hawed when I asked for a monthly price. He tried to distract me from getting an answer. I asked for a price THREE TIMES before he asked me:

"So, what are you paying at your current gym?"

At this point I knew the slime was about to hit. I figured that he was going to price match whatever price I said.


So, I lied. I told him that I pay $29 a month because I had a locked in price forever at my current gym. I actually do.... but it is $39 a month, but not $29.

And then came the response I was expecting.... "Well, our prices have "skyrocketed" for 2011, but I have 8 vouchers left and you can have one of them IF YOU SIGN UP RIGHT NOW.... and the price is $29 a month!"

Imagine that! How lucky I felt!

Now knowing that this was sort of a scammy feeling process, I reaffirmed that he was the GM. He said he was indeed. Then I told him that if that is true, then he can make that happen 365 days a year, and not just yesterday, or until his 8 vouchers run out. He said that was not true... that I had to sign up yesterday, or before the 8 vouchers ran out.

Guess who called me today and said that I can keep that price until NEXT FRIDAY?

Snake oil salesmen... that's what they are....

You are so right. The whole process of joining a gym is like buying a car. It's a shell game.

I have been to gyms that have told me this is the price today. If you leave, we can not offer you this price. And of course there is the tiered pricing, where you are given the high voltage, shock and awe of what you get and those prices will expire either in that visit or 3 days later.

I don't play those games. Just give it to me straight. Or good bye.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

That is basically how all of my gym experiences have gone. I belong to two, one is free through my insurance and the other I had already pre-paid for before I knew about our insurance. I went back and forth a long time when I signed up at the gym I pay for and eventually got a decent deal. The gym I get free from work I just walked in with my info and it took 10 minutes. What they did do was try to sell me on a bunch of personal trainer packages. I spent a half hour at least telling them I am not interested.

Oh yeah, the GM passed me off to a guy to show me the facilities, amd that was what he kept trying to do... sell me on personal trainers. Also, I asked a lot of questions, and it seemed like he always had an answer that had nothing to do with what I asked him.

 

[princesspiglet]

That is exactly why I have a home gym. It is cheaper in the long run and I can exercise whenever I feel like it without anyone bothering me. All I have right now is a treadmill, a recumbnant bike and some free weights. I also have a Wii Fit. I find that is pretty much everything I need. I plan on purchasing a weight machine in the near future and then I will be complete.

No more sales pitches, annoying people sitting on the machines gossiping or waiting in line to take a shower with 20 other women!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Try to find a more local based gym or see if you have a PlanetFitness near you. Local gyms usually are more upfront and direct. PlanetFitness is very direct, they even post their prices online with all the terms and conditions spelled out (you can sign up right online).

I had Bally's and I will agree, at the time I was signed up with them it was a pretty painful process to join. I then joined a local gym (they have three locations locally, but they are not in other cities) and it was night and day. Everything was upfront, no real upsell just explaining the different services they offer and it came with a free personal trainer session to outline a beginning fitness schedule. We liked the gym a lot, but recently switched to work out closer to home (5 minute drive now, versus a 15 minute drive and at 5:00 AM, that's important) and went with PlanetFitness.

 

[JCJRSmith]

Two words: Planet Fitness. $10 per month, no hard sell because they don't get a commission on selling you a bunch of "services" you don't want or won't use.

 

[Imzadi]

OP, you must have been in MY former gyms.

Yes, they are slimy snake oil salesman. I'm surprised Bally's let you out so easily. Check the upcoming CC statements, as they may keep charging you. I believe there have been several class action lawsuits against them for overcharges, which end up ruining peoples credit when people don't pay.

Be careful about giving out all your info to this new company on the application. There is no reason why they should have your social security number and your date of birth AND your Driver's License number. ALL that info can be used against you to ruin your credit rating when you don't pay their extortion fees to continue there.

There was actually a long thread over on the FatWallet.com forum, where people described the exact same description you went through, and like you, HOW to foil the snake oil salesman, in THEIR favor, to get the best results and to avoid the ruined credit rating upon leaving.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Two words: Planet Fitness. $10 per month, no hard sell because they don't get a commission on selling you a bunch of "services" you don't want or won't use.

None near me.... closest is about 15 miles away.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

OP, you must have been in MY former gyms.

Yes, they are slimy snake oil salesman. I'm surprised Bally's let you out so easily. Check the upcoming CC statements, as they may keep charging you. I believe there have been several class action lawsuits against them for overcharges, which end up ruining peoples credit when people don't pay.

I've been out of Ballys' for years..... I belong to a small local club, but it looks like I am moving, so LA Fitness is just 1 mile from the new place if we move... so I just went in to investigate.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

I tried to join the gym around the corner from me a few days ago (because it's January and that's what I do every January...)

The guy sat down with me and was sooooooo nice and told me about these great deals they had right now. I just smiled and nodded but didn't commit to anything. He asked what I was paying at my current gym and I asked why that was important - he said they could take $10 off the monthly charge I was paying now. I told him I wasn't a member of a gym right now and he acted all disappointed and said it was such a shame I couldn't take advantage of that offer. I thanked him and said I'd think about it.

I was getting up to leave when he says "WAIT!" He leans forward in his chair, looks around (like something out of a movie!) and tells me that he can cheat - his wife is a member of another gym and he can pretend her card is my card and scan that to activate the discount rates! I asked why his wife was a member of another gym and he said it was an old card, she wasn't a member anymore, she'd changed to this gym - but he could still use her card. I still wanted to think about it and as I was leaving, this guy was FOLLOWING me out of the gym, telling me the rates were going to expire that night! I managed to shake him off at the door, as he was still calling after me! Must have been desperate for that commission!

 

[simba20]

That is why I am a member of the YMCA. No contract, although I did have to pay a membership/joiner's fee. It
s pretty pricey per month (being that we have the whole family on it) but I love the family atmosphere, the fact that there is daycare and programs for DD, and that I can canel at any time.

Just signed DD up for soccer today.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

That is why I am a member of the YMCA. No contract, although I did have to pay a membership/joiner's fee. It
s pretty pricey per month (being that we have the whole family on it) but I love the family atmosphere, the fact that there is daycare and programs for DD, and that I can canel at any time.

Just signed DD up for soccer today.

Yeah, the YMCA is pretty pricey for a family... $1100 a year near me, but has 4 or 5 pools, including outdoor pools... so not awful.

 

[Donnainnj]

I am also at a low cost gym, Retro Fitness. Went in when there was a coupon for no registration fee. There is a small other fee, ($24?) and an annual equipment fee of $16, other then that, $19.99 plus tax per month. They never tried to sell me on anything. They do give you one free training session to see if you want a trainer and there are a lot of drinks/smoothies energy shots and such to buy, but I have never felt any push for any of it. They do not have a pool or classes, but I never used them when I was at a gym that did, so it works for me.
Donna

 

[simba20]

Yeah, the YMCA is pretty pricey for a family... $1100 a year near me, but has 4 or 5 pools, including outdoor pools... so not awful.

Yup. I totaled it up last night and found that we are paying over $800/year for the Y. But I do feel more comfy there than a gym. We have several branches around town. I joined the "main Y" which allows me to visit any of the other branches around town/the area that are part of the local "system." The Y also does allow you to go to out of town Y's when you travel, but I've never looked into that. I've seen the one in Orlando from I-4 that is MASSIVE.

Our main Y, has two indoor pools and an outside pool/water park area. They are supposed to be building a branch near my house (like around the corner) in a year that will also have a pool/water park area. Hopefully, this will get built.

But as I said before, I love the Y for the family atmosphere and all of it's options.

 

[RangerPooh]

Years ago when I joind 24 hour fitness they tried to get me to upsale and purchase a one year membership (claiming it would be less) as well as personal trainer and classes. I just wanted a month to month membership as I didn't want to make a long term commitment as I would be moving in a few months. In the end I got my desired contract, but canceling was tricky, although not as painful as the next gym.

I then joined the local gym in my area which was having a deal of 2 people for $50/month, which was what I had previously paid at 24 hour in the enxt town over. So DH and I joined. ur year contract was up and they decided to automatically renew my membership charging a higher fee. It took 2 months for them to stop charging us after our firstattempt at canceling the membership. They claimed that our paperwork start date was not what was on our contract, etc. Good thing I kept it and faxed it to them. Stating that we would be calling an attorny if they didn't stop charging us and return our money made them come to realize that we were serious.

So yes, I agree that they are snake oil salesmen.

 

[LynnTH]

I just joined Gold's Gym last month. They had a pretty good deal going on. My DS12 has been wanting a gym membership so he could play basketball mostly and do some machines ( he does not do the weights as they advised him he is too young and could prevent growth or something like that and he's little enough so he stay's away from those machines).

Anyway - I was not sure they would let DS join as he will be 12 next month - but they did. So, his membership is $15 a month, mine is $25 a month because I have the classes added to my membership and then DD9 can go to the kids room for $10 a month. So, $50 for the 3 of us is a pretty good deal. The YMCA is probably at least double that around here and the other gyms are more than that just for a single membership. My neighbor joined too with her son and the kids love going to shoot hoops (they are both on Basketball Teams) while we take a class or do machines.

They also have a Cinema room with a different movie showing every 2 days or so that has treadmills and elipticals and stuff in there. I also like the Womens only area where they have all the different machines just in a separate area for women.

So, far we are loving the gym and think it is a great deal for the 3 of us. There is also no contract and we go month to month.

 

[kirstenb1]

Yup. I totaled it up last night and found that we are paying over $800/year for the Y. But I do feel more comfy there than a gym. We have several branches around town. I joined the "main Y" which allows me to visit any of the other branches around town/the area that are part of the local "system." The Y also does allow you to go to out of town Y's when you travel, but I've never looked into that. I've seen the one in Orlando from I-4 that is MASSIVE.

Our main Y, has two indoor pools and an outside pool/water park area. They are supposed to be building a branch near my house (like around the corner) in a year that will also have a pool/water park area. Hopefully, this will get built.

But as I said before, I love the Y for the family atmosphere and all of it's options.

It is expensive but if you have kids it works out great. Free childwatch, lots of classes for kids, including swim lessons, etc. Our membership is worth every penny!

I've also heard good things about American Family Fitness. 20 yrs ago, I belonged to Gold's Gym---loved them, no pressure, no ripoff.

 

[duketennisgal]

I just recently joined a gym and it was a fantastic experience. I get a really good deal through my employer, the gym is one of the most expensive in town at $49/month, but I only have to pay $13. When I told them they were very welcoming and said what a great benefit it is to our employees. They didn't try to sell me any packages, but I asked them about a couple of sessions with a personal trainer so I can make sure I'm doing everything I needed to do. They gave me a couple of coupons but haven't harassed me into signing up yet. So far it's been great, I hope it stays that way!