You can stand me up at the gates of hell but I won't back down.
Written: Mar 14 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: They're pros at guerilla marketing, high pressure sales, and intimidation
Cons: Yes, they are cons too. Some of them look like ex-cons.
The Bottom Line: Don't give them anything...your money, your contact info, and above all your precious time.
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| Y2Cake's Full Review: 24 Hour Fitness |
Nothing illustrates the old saying "there is no such thing as a free lunch" more than a visit to 24 Hour Fitness. At 24 Hour Fitness, nothing is free. I'm not just talking about memberships, I'm talking about basic human rights... like the right to choose. 24 Hour Fitness not only attacks your pocketbook, it attacks the very freedoms that we as Americans hold so dear.
I called 24 Hour Fitness one day because I'd been meaning to joing a gym for a while, and I saw their ad on TV. All I wanted to know was, of course, "how much?". But first I had to give my phone number (Big mistake, I should have given them a fake number.). Then they transferred me to a sales employee, who told me that he couldn't give me the rates over the phone, but he could invite me down to the club to go over it. After a little bit of pusning, I got him to give me a range, like $30-60 or something, I don't remember. I immediately said "OK Thanks!!" and hung up. I justw anted to compare prices and would probably call few more gyms.
Five minutes later I received a call from the same guy, who again invited me down to the club to have a look. I politely told him I'd have to think about it, and I would give him a call when I was ready.
I didn't hear from them for weeks, but then all of a sudden this salesman called me again. This time he said that my name had been selected to receive a free membership. Like I just, out of the blue, won a drawing or something. Yeah, I was skeptical about this, but since I still hadn't joined a gym I agreed to go down there and see what they had. I made an appointment and went down to the club (Sunnyvale, CA on Fremont Ave.)
Upon arrival, I filled out a little survey and wrote down my address and phone number. I was them led on a tour by a sales employee (a different one from the one who called). Actually, the facilities looked okay to me. I was there on a Sunday afternoon, and it was busy but not packed. I had no complaints about the facility, because honestly I don't know enough about this kind of stuff to complain about it. My issues with 24 Hour Fitness have little to do with their facilities, it's more about business ethics.
This salesman was a nice enough guy, but he was starting to put the pressure on right away. Everytime he'd show me something like the aerobics room, or a personal trainer, or a display of vitamins he would say "we need to get you in on that". He actually took a bottle of vitamins off the shelf and made me carry them around like I was going to buy them. (I didn't)
We finally headed back up to this little office, which I later called "the interrogation room". It was at this point that he showed me the available plans. The prices he showed me are as follows.
1. This plan includes 5 sessions with a personal trainer
$445 enrollment fee
$69 processing fee
$18 monthly fee
2. This is the same plan, without the trainer
$196 enrollment fee
$69 processing fee
$42 monthly fee
3. To add any extra family members on
$75 enrollment fee
no processing fee
$20 montly fee
Prices and plans might differ at your club, but it gives you a general idea...
I kind of expected high fees, but you understand that this is a big investment. Before you put down this kind of dough, wouldn't you want to think about it...at least overnight, if not over the course of several days?
I told him that I would have to talk this over with some members of my family, who are also interested in joining a gym. He said "Okay sure!" and then HANDS ME THE PHONE. They're forcing me to make a decision before I've really thought it through. To be polite, I pretended to dial home, but dialed my cell phone (which I had turned off) and then told the salesman that nobody was home, and really all I needed was a few days to think about it this and I'd call him back personally.
It was at this point where pushiness turned into INTIMIDATION. The salesman leaves and comes back with a big meatheaded "general manager" with a dead serious look on his face. Didn't smile once, just looked like he wanted to inflict pain on me. So now there's two of them in this little room with me, the guy who gave the tour next to me and the meathead across the desk glaring at me. He had me fill out a survey (actually he filled it out, and asked me the questions out loud...giving my rating of the sales staff, etc.), and then he offered me on a "trial membership". This deal was $69 enrollment and $31 a month, but you could only use the club on 4 days out of the week. According to the terms, this offer could only be offered by a general manager. And according to the big jock, the offer was only available to me today and I couldn't have it if I came back a few days later.
There were long uncomfortable silences as I pondered this new offer, and as I tried to think of something to say to extract myself from this situation. He had an answer for every excuse I could come up with. I told him I wanted to check out a few other clubs. He shot down every single one of them. He also said "You've been planning to start working out for months now, why do you want to put it off any more?" And "If your family doesn't join, does that mean you're not going to join because of that?"
You know, no one should have to explain their reasoning for not wanting to sign away $500 right off the bat. That is a very personal decision, and here 24 Hour Fitness is prying into things that really aren't any of their business. And the worst thing about it is, it started to make ME feel guilty about turning down a "one time only" offer.
So after much delibiration, I finally broke down and signed on the dotted line, right? WRONG. What do you think I am, an idiot? I tolf them I wasn't comfortable with making ANY decision at this time. The meathead shook my hand and left. The original salesman then gave me my "free membership" which was for 4 days, after which I'm expected to meet with a salesman again (and go through the same interrogation). Haha, after all that they actually think I'm going to set foot in that place.
My tips if you're going to visit 24 Hour Fitness...when you fill out the form during your tour/sales pitch, put down a fake phone number, a fake address, hell...even fake your name. If you decide to sign up later, you can just say you were using your maiden name, or ethnic name and your school address. Don't let these people get to you. Better yet, don't go there at all. If they're going to force you to make decisions under duress, these are not the kind of people you want to deal with on a daily/weekly basis. I know this is teh case at almost any 24 hour Fitness center. Even the ones in foreign countries. I know at the ones in Hong Kong, their salesman stand on the sidewalk and harass people walking by.
We have a lot of freedom and rights here in America. Excercise yours and find another gym.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Y2Cake
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Member: Eric Matsuda
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 13 members
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