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Comments:
Hello
Please read below the problems faced by members of Kingsbury Fitness First. Many of us have spoken to the manager Simon, but he cannot be bothered with us and is simply not interested, and is lsing your company a lot of money.
The gym showers are filthy, and the showers either do not have a proper shower head, or have temperature problems. i.e. they run cold.
The mens showers have many glass panels missing for over 3 months now, so you are left to shower 'prison style' butt naked.
The washroom facilities are atroscious as the basins have no wastes in them and are always blocked with tissues because of this. There is always a flood of water on the floor due to leaking waste pipes. Upoon speaking to the manager Simon about the above issues - he said he cannot do anything about this, as there is a recession on and Fitness First has taken his company credit card away from him, so he cannot afford to maintain clean and safe washing facilities.
Can they afford to get sued when someone slips and breaks their neck? What he fails to realise is, members are leaving in droves due to this and joining other gyms in the area. I personally know 4 members who have left doue to the above reasons, and a few more who have expiring contracts that will not renew.
He continually mentions that he has over 2800 members and is well above his traget fro the club, suggesting that he is not concerned if members leave.
Quite pathetic.
The gym has definately gone downhill since he came in as manager.The classes have sufferred too as the quality and quantity of classes has declined.
Oh, and next on the list is the skipping of the coffee machine, with a new 'value for money' coffee machine to be installed soon - which means you will now have to pay for cheap coffee.
Sejal Shah.
if you call the customer service team they will look into any money that they owe you.
Daisy1967 - how long have you had your membership?.
you will be tied into a commitment with the gym. either 4 or 12! if you are still within this commitment period, then your membership cant be cancelled. so you will still owe for each month
until the end. where you can then give a months
notice.
its no different to having a phone contract. you signed it. you pay for it
I have to agree with all the negative comments about Fitness First. They are only interested in taking your money and couldn't care less about their members. I cancelled my membership as I found the gym intimidating, the staff rude and the classes rubbish. I am now receiving letters from debt collection agency chasing £35!!! they are threatening to take me to court and seize goods for a debt that isn't even due!! I have tried to contact the 'customer service' (and I use the term loosely) department but always end up listening to a recorded message telling me how busy they are (probably dealing with all their other dissatisfied customers) - after about 3 minutes of this I usually hang up. They don't reply to e-mails or if they do they completely ignore the content and answer a completely different question. I am so sick of them I am going to write directly to their Chief Executive (Colin Waggett) to let him know how badly his company treats the people that pay his wages. I suggest others do the same - if he suddenly receives hundreds of complaint letters he will have to do something about it. Although I am sure he will be too busy spending his annual bonus!!
Fitness first is the worst gym ever and provide worst customer service.
I am going to tell everyone how pathetic, arrogant and
non-customer focused this company is.
When I joined the gym, they never gave me contract in spite of asking several times,
After few days I cancelled my membership because i had visa issue. t was told by
gym manager Johnny that he would process my refund as soon as possible but he
didn't. After 7-B days I rang gym and asked for Johnny but he didn;t come on the
phone and asked to leave my name and no. which t OiO Out he never got back to
me. I rang nearly 10 times in 3 days but every single time he heard *-y nu*u he said
tell her I am in a lunch or meeting. Funny thing is they have another Marug., names
Sarah but she never came on the phone eithei They both go -andrefL$ed on a lunch tolether to come onthe phone. Finally I went the-re peEonally. Johnny iva, in
the reception area but as soon as he came to know about me he went in to oflice
and didn't come out. Sarah was also there but she was so rude and blunt rather than
helpful. I told the receptionist I am ill and can't sit here for long but both manager
still made me sit there for half an hour. Finally Sarah told me slre would process the
refund and i would get it in few days IF I AM LUCKy. After that I rang few more
times to find out if head office has processed my refund or not. Again neither of the
managers had a courtesy to come on the phone and explain anything. Then when I
finally got refund it was only f 29 instead of [59. Sarah had promised me I would get
all my money back, She also took a photocopy of my payment receipt to forward it
to HO but she gave me only half of the money back,
I would strongly advice .y.ry single person I know not to use Fitness First as they
are more like Shixxness than anything else.
If I do not receive the full refund I will take great pleasure in sharing my experience
on Facebook, Twitter and every forum site availabie to show my treatment and
forwarding to every friend, family and people i know to ensure it is seen by as many
people as possible.
Regards,
Sejal Shah
Very poor customer service in this gym.Insufficient number of machines for the volume of members.Equipment not properly maintained,with missing items ie handles,ropes and other attachments for pully machines missing,making it impossible to use equipment.This is ungoing for months inspite of repeated complaints to the management.Cleaning is intrusive with members being asked by cleaners to move of benches in the changing room to facilitate cleaning,as well as being asked to move a away from equipment in the gym when they are training for the same reason.Cleaners are also blocking off showers during busy periods so they can clean them.Cleaners also interfer with the changing room TV,changing programs andturning the sound up so that they can hear it better.
Hot water is turned off early on Sat and Sun and members are forced to have cold showers after 5pm,even though there have been repeated complaints.
This Gym is simply not being managed,and has no notion of customer care.
As they should be rebranded Sh*tness First I have below the email I have just sent stating how pathetic, arrogant and non customer focused the worst company I have ever had dealing with is.
I will take great pleasure telling people what great experiences I have had with competitors - VIRGIN, ESPORTA, NUFFIELD HEALTH prior and post them.
Dear Mr/Mrs
I am absolutely appalled at what I will definitely state is the absolute worst customer service I have ever received in my life.
I was so enraged I typed into google FF and the FOURTH highest entry was fitness first complaints which led me to a website showing how many disgruntled ex customers you have or HAD which clearly highlights the lack of service, arrogance and unproffesional treatment they have received. On one website alone this consisted of 51 pages of user comments.
I will like an immediate response to the fact that tonight I was arrogantly hassled for payment and threatened with a £25 fine for late payment and as injured I cannot attend the gym for this month. I had also informed due to disgraceful treatment at my gym that I quit to which he acknowledged and stated I could freeze the membership which I said no and he was fine with no mention of a requirement to complete a form.
I am also glad (sarcastic!!) that your customer service team effectively read notes on your system or understand the consumers before calling. As this has occurred to me as below (if you look on the system I have previously sent an email that was effectively dismissed): As leads me for you to question the below regarding the above "fine"
- As a busy Account Manager of a top ten Branded Company I do not have the time to chase yourselves YET I have repeatedly rung and emailed (have proof if required) to get a refund on a membership transfer stemming to an issue with the previous gym (read notes or contact myself) ALTHOUGH this has now taken 10 MONTHS to Process yet you ring me to require immediate payment on a membership I had cancelled due to this situation.
For a corporation of your size and the fact I have spent my hard earned time and money chasing this on calls and personal time I could effictively be looking for compensation on top of this late payment. Using your T&C's as an example a 10 month delay I am entitled to £250 in monthly late payment fees!!
This whole situation stemmed from the fact I was effectively Tricked into signing a contract longer than I required and wanted and informed would be the same style gym in my home town. The person that sold me this package clearly got through your training system with absolute ease as you hired him with as he told me no intention to be a FF salesman but merely benefit from the gym access and assuming commission as he is a professional dancer. Therefore having no loyalty to yourself or me the customer.
The complaint above fell on deaf ears and as a company you are very efficient on playing off the issue between contacting head office to then be told you have to go through the club.
I would have happily quit the gym in February if I wasn't awaiting this refund thefore putting myself through another £405 of unhappiness and stress of using an inadequate gym to what FF one I was previously used to.
I would also like to state that I can confirm that I know the names of customers and personal trainers that your gym was willing to let use the fitness centre as a client base and without the relevant health and safety insurance on site I know this is not allowed.
I am writing this in an absolute rage in the treatment I have received and the lack of time and effort you put into returning and understanding your customers. I HOPE but do not expect this to come to anything but I would like this to go as senior up the chain as possible and to receive an immediate response similar to what you require of me!
If I do not receive the compensation/ apology/ refund/ removal of this payment request and late payment I will take great pleasure in copying all my letters and responses to every forum site available to show my treatment and forwarding this onto my contact within the media and social media to ensure it is seen by as many people as possible.
After paying a joining fee using my debit card using their chip and pin machine and then 5 months later cancelling the membership because of the bullying by the trainers to try and get you to spend money for their services.
They used the details from my debit card which they somehow were able to access, which must be illegal?? And took money from my bank account. If wasn’t even me using the gym but my partner and therefore they didn’t have the right to take money from my account anyway.
They refuse to answer me and just ignore me.
Do not use this company, do not use your card at their premises.
Please contact me with your bad experiences of dealing with this company as I am going to do everything I can to get this company investigated and the ideal solution closed down so no more people have to be ripped off
Keep well away, do not give them your card details.
We cancelled our membership and paid what we owed, they have now use my card details which they did not have permission to keep on file to take money from our account, this is fraud
It has just come to my attention that in certain gyms owned by fitness first the Personal Trainers are not registered and therefore the customer is at great risk. In one gym in the east midlands it has become apparent that only the manager is registered and although the company has charged the Personal Trainer for the registration, and overcharged at that, they have not processed the applications.
Not the conduct of a reputable company.
Did anyone read about Fitness First Australia taking an old lady to court to get $200 out of her all because she tried to get out of her contact due to ill health? They hired expensive lawyers and spent tens of thousands just to drag her through the courts. They are horrible. No wonder they try to rip people off and keep stealing money from people's credit cards...they need the money to pay their fancy lawyers. They are an absolute disgrace. Fancy putting an old lady through all that. Fitness First are greedy bullies. I hope they go broke. They have a stinking name. NASTY!!!!
I agree with all the blogs posted on this page, I have just tried to cancel my membership. They take my dd on the 1st each month yet I sent them a recorded letter to give them 30 days notice.
Than last week I received a letter asking me to pay what I owe so I rang them to be told that my contract was still active and if I didn’t pay a debt agency would be chasseing me. I had another letter today my contract was only 1 year and it finished in May last year so I was in my rights to cancel. When I rang my gym in Gloucestershire today I was told they ring back, no they never did so I rang them yet again as they didn’t ring. I was told they wanted one month money despite they take the dd on the first each month and my recorded letter was dated 3rd of the month.
All I can suggest to any one reading this blog is that we tell all that want to join a gym advise not to join Fitness first as any other firm treating their customers this way would go bust.
the main customer service is disgusting they do not return calls.
i have asked for an email confirming that my membership has been cancelled and was promised it straight away.i am still waiting
i am just glad that i work in customer services
and my out going calls to them are recorded.
i was a member for 7 years never missed a payment yet they cant return a call thats how much they look after their members.
miss a debit though i bet they will soon be in touch.very very poor service.
Hi all!
I have also been affected, I've just sent a complaint to FF, awaiting reply.
In the meantime I have opened a facebook group where we can all join forces. Please join: Fitness First: Fight the unfair price increase!
I have been a member for FF for 6 years - joined on a great friends and family rate which is now a monthly charge for £21.75 per month (Manchester city centre gym).
This morning I received a letter advising me of a price increase which in that past has been £1 etc per year. To my disgust there is a £8 per month price increase 36%, based on the 'excuse' of the VAT price increase - which may I reminder FF is only 2.5%!!
I have written a very strOng letter denouncing this, advising them to justify this and that I will raise it as unfair with the consumer watch dog, and offer to cancel my membership.
My thoughts are that they want to take my membership up to £29.75 per month to align it with other memberships as they do not want me on this tariff which I took out in good faith. To be fair the gym is now in poor nick with the sound system being broken for the last four weeks. As per someone else comment who works at FF, there is a general feedback amongst the staff that they are not investing in the gyms, so I am going to take my business else where and my partners etc. BUT I wanted to ask is a 36% price increase justified in a climate of 4% average annual inflation increase RPI and 2.5% VAT increase from Jan 11??
I left Fitness First over 7 years ago - 2003. Amazingly on 1st October 2010 (yes in 2010) they reinstated the direct debit and £93 was taken from my account with further monthly amounts to follow.
They have admitted the 'mistake' and now i'm claiming the money back from the bank (who are not playing ball at the moment but that's another rant - its Barclays by the way). The point is that surely this must be illegal and wrong on so many levels. How can they store bank details for such a long time and then 'mistakenly' go through the process of setting it up again? Surely this is fraud?
Even we I left Fitness First all those years ago I had the problem of them contuinuing to take money out of my account. Seems like to me this is a common problem with them that needs publicising.
I joined fitnessfirst on their promise that branches would have similar facilities and that any fees paid in advance would be refunded if I canceled within the first week.
I canceled the next day because the alternative branch was nothing like promised but was told that the $70 admin fee would not be refunded.
Obviously I complained but was sanctimoniously told that it is policy not to refund and that I should have read the fine print no matter what I was promised.
I checked the net and found that fitness first actually offer a complimentary 3 day pass to check facilities but wasn’t told of that either.
FitnessFirst is about profit first and customer service last; their promises are just a ploy to get your money.
On June 15th i had a free pass to the Fitness First gym in Charring Cross, thought it would be a good idea to get out and do a bit more tham just taking dance class....I was subjected to racial profieling by the manager there and have still not recived an aplogy by her or the assitant manger, the company have now ignored two letters of colmlaint sent to them by CAB and now I am looking to take them to court.
I work at this company. It has been run for the sole reason of making as much money for the venture capitalists that own it. It is the policy that all expenditure to re-furb existing gyms is reduced drastically with any available monies being spent on their new gyms in a bid to promote themselves to new members. Sound sytems are cut price, equipment costs were renegotiated with resultant product being inferior. All this is being done to maximise margins and inflate the profits in preparation for the company to be sold off. That is apparently now happening with the inevitable result that the senior directors are now in line for some extremely large payoffs. All at the expense of the customers and made on the back of property that has intentionally been run down. Don't join this gym, join another one as it will inevitably be better.
Decent facilities but poor financial management, months of threatening letters, they use debt collector thugs, ignore membership cancellation they need to be investigated by the office of fair trading, recommend everyone write to the office of fair trading.
Avoid like the plague if you want to avoid poor customer service and lots of hidden small print in their contracts. There are better clubs out there I urge you to look around.
I joined Fitness first on a 10 day trial. I went to cancel on the 9th day and the person that did the cancellations was not there. They got me to complete a cancellation form and said it would be cancelled the following day. I called the next day and apparently the person in charge of cancellations is not there for 2 weeks and noone else can do cancellations. They asked me to contact Head Office to cancel, I did and they said they would do it but I still havent been refunded my money back .. . gggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. the customer service was terrible, they were not that bothered and are only nice and helpful to you when they want you to join and sign away your money. Will never join a fitness first again !!
Extremely unhelpful customer services and a woeful sense of customer care. Steer clear of directs debits and expect to be contacted relentlessly when you want to cancel, followed by demands and threats regarding payments. Plenty more out there to choose from. I ended up cancelling online(now not available)and paying three months subscriptions thereafter because they questioned their own website evidence and my lack of proof despite correspondence and phone calls.No recommendation whatsoever!
I am not a member of FF. Never have been. A couple of years ago, one of my neighbours joined using his name with my address.
I returned mail telling them to adjust their records.
I sent emails on their site telling them to delete my address from their database. No replies were received.
Last week I received a demand for payment. I passed this on to our Neighbourhood Watch people and they said they would call FF to let them know. This obviously had no effect because we now have received a warning that our case will be turned over to some credit collecting agency.
Having receive no reply from FF to date, I am reluctant to contact them. I have the names of the CEO and CFO and their head office. I am thinking, after reading all your pretty bad comments on this company, if this is the way to get my address off their records.
The Fraud people said this was identity theft???
The NHW people said it was a mistake. I dont think so. I have had other problems with this particular neighbour. I think it has been done deliberately
Anything you can offer as to what I should do would be helpful and I thank you in advance.
I am very disgusted with the Fitness First. Their customer service is unbelievably poor, when you speak to someone on phone-arrogant and rude. They have no values, tact, honesty and any kind of work ethic. I have joined back in November 2009 in Bristol Aspects. I thought I go on a monthly pay basis and no contract. I was never told I have to sign a contract and when I have signed a direct debit in belief they need it as a way of payment. I agreed and thought I can cancel it anytime if I am not happy. Plus I knew I will move soon house so I was not interested for a contract gym. I only went a couple of times. Many things happened in my personal life and have to work long hours. In a belief I have no contract (I never got a copy of a signed direct debit or contract) I have cancelled the direct debit. Moved address and it started. SMS texts, letters I have to pay the fee. For what I never use the services, I was mislead by a staff member in many facts. In February I have agreed with a manager of the gym he will cancel everything what is behind and can have a fresh start. I am not goin into deep here but they have caused me fees on my bank account they took payments from my account even if I have already paid them in cash on branch. And the most annoing thing is I have never agreed to another direct debit. I have only made a payment online and was advised I have to go to visit the gym as they need my details for direct debit. Guess what happened, I have received a letter as a thank you for reinstating my membership and the direct debit was there without my approval. Of course I have cancelled it as this is a breach from their part and fraud. I have sent emails, no reply, was making phone calls, i was advised they are leaving comments on the system and a manager will contact me. Never happened. I am sending my last attempt via sign for post and demanding a request in a written letter. I as treated unfairly and was misleaded. They stating I can not cancel the contract (what i believe do not have) as in my belief I have never signed and would not sign ever. Just reading through all these customer reviews and I am so utterly disgusted. Wish I would never cross their doorstep.
I am certainly not willing to pay for something I am not using, was not inteded to use and will not tolerate lies. I got to a stage if I have to go to court I am more than happy but I will prove my point. How can someone be so arrogant and incompetent to ignore their customer. Do they realise what they are facing with this? Of course I am very loud about this as much as I can be and I will go as far as I can go if they will not cancel this FRUADULESCENT membership.
I have called head office today last time to try to resolve this. A man on the other end of the line said one thing, you need to pay 32.50. I said to him hang on, what is on your system. Is there anything on your system regarding your management should contact me? I have called at least five times and have spoken to different people always passing to another one. Promises and lies. Result. Nothing on a system. I have requested the man to type into a system now that I am writing an official complaint what they will receive shortly via sign for post. I am requesting an answer and also wish not to be contacted anymore by text or phone call. I am also not willing to invest more finances in my phone bill due to them.
Will give an update here everytime now what is happening.
I have asked them nicely to cancel this membership, I am hapy to send back the unused backpack, towel welcome pack. I have never wanted a year contract and in my will I have never signed. I am not tolerating any fraud from their staff and will fight my truth.
Add a comment about this blagger
Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
Please read below the problems faced by members of Kingsbury Fitness First. Many of us have spoken to the manager Simon, but he cannot be bothered with us and is simply not interested, and is lsing your company a lot of money.
The gym showers are filthy, and the showers either do not have a proper shower head, or have temperature problems. i.e. they run cold.
The mens showers have many glass panels missing for over 3 months now, so you are left to shower 'prison style' butt naked.
The washroom facilities are atroscious as the basins have no wastes in them and are always blocked with tissues because of this. There is always a flood of water on the floor due to leaking waste pipes. Upoon speaking to the manager Simon about the above issues - he said he cannot do anything about this, as there is a recession on and Fitness First has taken his company credit card away from him, so he cannot afford to maintain clean and safe washing facilities.
Can they afford to get sued when someone slips and breaks their neck? What he fails to realise is, members are leaving in droves due to this and joining other gyms in the area. I personally know 4 members who have left doue to the above reasons, and a few more who have expiring contracts that will not renew.
He continually mentions that he has over 2800 members and is well above his traget fro the club, suggesting that he is not concerned if members leave.
Quite pathetic.
The gym has definately gone downhill since he came in as manager.The classes have sufferred too as the quality and quantity of classes has declined.
Oh, and next on the list is the skipping of the coffee machine, with a new 'value for money' coffee machine to be installed soon - which means you will now have to pay for cheap coffee.
Please respond to this email.
Thank You
if you call the customer service team they will look into any money that they owe you.
Daisy1967 - how long have you had your membership?.
you will be tied into a commitment with the gym. either 4 or 12! if you are still within this commitment period, then your membership cant be cancelled. so you will still owe for each month
until the end. where you can then give a months
notice.
its no different to having a phone contract. you signed it. you pay for it
tomwright at 29th Feb 2012, 11:52PM
I am going to tell everyone how pathetic, arrogant and
non-customer focused this company is.
When I joined the gym, they never gave me contract in spite of asking several times,
After few days I cancelled my membership because i had visa issue. t was told by
gym manager Johnny that he would process my refund as soon as possible but he
didn't. After 7-B days I rang gym and asked for Johnny but he didn;t come on the
phone and asked to leave my name and no. which t OiO Out he never got back to
me. I rang nearly 10 times in 3 days but every single time he heard *-y nu*u he said
tell her I am in a lunch or meeting. Funny thing is they have another Marug., names
Sarah but she never came on the phone eithei They both go -andrefL$ed on a lunch tolether to come onthe phone. Finally I went the-re peEonally. Johnny iva, in
the reception area but as soon as he came to know about me he went in to oflice
and didn't come out. Sarah was also there but she was so rude and blunt rather than
helpful. I told the receptionist I am ill and can't sit here for long but both manager
still made me sit there for half an hour. Finally Sarah told me slre would process the
refund and i would get it in few days IF I AM LUCKy. After that I rang few more
times to find out if head office has processed my refund or not. Again neither of the
managers had a courtesy to come on the phone and explain anything. Then when I
finally got refund it was only f 29 instead of [59. Sarah had promised me I would get
all my money back, She also took a photocopy of my payment receipt to forward it
to HO but she gave me only half of the money back,
I would strongly advice .y.ry single person I know not to use Fitness First as they
are more like Shixxness than anything else.
If I do not receive the full refund I will take great pleasure in sharing my experience
on Facebook, Twitter and every forum site availabie to show my treatment and
forwarding to every friend, family and people i know to ensure it is seen by as many
people as possible.
Regards,
Sejal Shah
Hot water is turned off early on Sat and Sun and members are forced to have cold showers after 5pm,even though there have been repeated complaints.
This Gym is simply not being managed,and has no notion of customer care.
I will take great pleasure telling people what great experiences I have had with competitors - VIRGIN, ESPORTA, NUFFIELD HEALTH prior and post them.
Dear Mr/Mrs
I am absolutely appalled at what I will definitely state is the absolute worst customer service I have ever received in my life.
I was so enraged I typed into google FF and the FOURTH highest entry was fitness first complaints which led me to a website showing how many disgruntled ex customers you have or HAD which clearly highlights the lack of service, arrogance and unproffesional treatment they have received. On one website alone this consisted of 51 pages of user comments.
I will like an immediate response to the fact that tonight I was arrogantly hassled for payment and threatened with a £25 fine for late payment and as injured I cannot attend the gym for this month. I had also informed due to disgraceful treatment at my gym that I quit to which he acknowledged and stated I could freeze the membership which I said no and he was fine with no mention of a requirement to complete a form.
I am also glad (sarcastic!!) that your customer service team effectively read notes on your system or understand the consumers before calling. As this has occurred to me as below (if you look on the system I have previously sent an email that was effectively dismissed): As leads me for you to question the below regarding the above "fine"
- As a busy Account Manager of a top ten Branded Company I do not have the time to chase yourselves YET I have repeatedly rung and emailed (have proof if required) to get a refund on a membership transfer stemming to an issue with the previous gym (read notes or contact myself) ALTHOUGH this has now taken 10 MONTHS to Process yet you ring me to require immediate payment on a membership I had cancelled due to this situation.
For a corporation of your size and the fact I have spent my hard earned time and money chasing this on calls and personal time I could effictively be looking for compensation on top of this late payment. Using your T&C's as an example a 10 month delay I am entitled to £250 in monthly late payment fees!!
This whole situation stemmed from the fact I was effectively Tricked into signing a contract longer than I required and wanted and informed would be the same style gym in my home town. The person that sold me this package clearly got through your training system with absolute ease as you hired him with as he told me no intention to be a FF salesman but merely benefit from the gym access and assuming commission as he is a professional dancer. Therefore having no loyalty to yourself or me the customer.
The complaint above fell on deaf ears and as a company you are very efficient on playing off the issue between contacting head office to then be told you have to go through the club.
I would have happily quit the gym in February if I wasn't awaiting this refund thefore putting myself through another £405 of unhappiness and stress of using an inadequate gym to what FF one I was previously used to.
I would also like to state that I can confirm that I know the names of customers and personal trainers that your gym was willing to let use the fitness centre as a client base and without the relevant health and safety insurance on site I know this is not allowed.
I am writing this in an absolute rage in the treatment I have received and the lack of time and effort you put into returning and understanding your customers. I HOPE but do not expect this to come to anything but I would like this to go as senior up the chain as possible and to receive an immediate response similar to what you require of me!
If I do not receive the compensation/ apology/ refund/ removal of this payment request and late payment I will take great pleasure in copying all my letters and responses to every forum site available to show my treatment and forwarding this onto my contact within the media and social media to ensure it is seen by as many people as possible.
Disgruntled Customer
Simon
After paying a joining fee using my debit card using their chip and pin machine and then 5 months later cancelling the membership because of the bullying by the trainers to try and get you to spend money for their services.
They used the details from my debit card which they somehow were able to access, which must be illegal?? And took money from my bank account. If wasn’t even me using the gym but my partner and therefore they didn’t have the right to take money from my account anyway.
They refuse to answer me and just ignore me.
Do not use this company, do not use your card at their premises.
Please contact me with your bad experiences of dealing with this company as I am going to do everything I can to get this company investigated and the ideal solution closed down so no more people have to be ripped off
We cancelled our membership and paid what we owed, they have now use my card details which they did not have permission to keep on file to take money from our account, this is fraud
Its about time this company was shut down
Not the conduct of a reputable company.
cd1 at 7th Sep 2011, 02:13PM
Than last week I received a letter asking me to pay what I owe so I rang them to be told that my contract was still active and if I didn’t pay a debt agency would be chasseing me. I had another letter today my contract was only 1 year and it finished in May last year so I was in my rights to cancel. When I rang my gym in Gloucestershire today I was told they ring back, no they never did so I rang them yet again as they didn’t ring. I was told they wanted one month money despite they take the dd on the first each month and my recorded letter was dated 3rd of the month.
All I can suggest to any one reading this blog is that we tell all that want to join a gym advise not to join Fitness first as any other firm treating their customers this way would go bust.
i have asked for an email confirming that my membership has been cancelled and was promised it straight away.i am still waiting
i am just glad that i work in customer services
and my out going calls to them are recorded.
i was a member for 7 years never missed a payment yet they cant return a call thats how much they look after their members.
miss a debit though i bet they will soon be in touch.very very poor service.
I have also been affected, I've just sent a complaint to FF, awaiting reply.
In the meantime I have opened a facebook group where we can all join forces. Please join: Fitness First: Fight the unfair price increase!
I have been a member for FF for 6 years - joined on a great friends and family rate which is now a monthly charge for £21.75 per month (Manchester city centre gym).
This morning I received a letter advising me of a price increase which in that past has been £1 etc per year. To my disgust there is a £8 per month price increase 36%, based on the 'excuse' of the VAT price increase - which may I reminder FF is only 2.5%!!
I have written a very strOng letter denouncing this, advising them to justify this and that I will raise it as unfair with the consumer watch dog, and offer to cancel my membership.
My thoughts are that they want to take my membership up to £29.75 per month to align it with other memberships as they do not want me on this tariff which I took out in good faith. To be fair the gym is now in poor nick with the sound system being broken for the last four weeks. As per someone else comment who works at FF, there is a general feedback amongst the staff that they are not investing in the gyms, so I am going to take my business else where and my partners etc. BUT I wanted to ask is a 36% price increase justified in a climate of 4% average annual inflation increase RPI and 2.5% VAT increase from Jan 11??
WELCOME YOUR THOUGHTS –
They have admitted the 'mistake' and now i'm claiming the money back from the bank (who are not playing ball at the moment but that's another rant - its Barclays by the way). The point is that surely this must be illegal and wrong on so many levels. How can they store bank details for such a long time and then 'mistakenly' go through the process of setting it up again? Surely this is fraud?
Even we I left Fitness First all those years ago I had the problem of them contuinuing to take money out of my account. Seems like to me this is a common problem with them that needs publicising.
I canceled the next day because the alternative branch was nothing like promised but was told that the $70 admin fee would not be refunded.
Obviously I complained but was sanctimoniously told that it is policy not to refund and that I should have read the fine print no matter what I was promised.
I checked the net and found that fitness first actually offer a complimentary 3 day pass to check facilities but wasn’t told of that either.
FitnessFirst is about profit first and customer service last; their promises are just a ploy to get your money.
I returned mail telling them to adjust their records.
I sent emails on their site telling them to delete my address from their database. No replies were received.
Last week I received a demand for payment. I passed this on to our Neighbourhood Watch people and they said they would call FF to let them know. This obviously had no effect because we now have received a warning that our case will be turned over to some credit collecting agency.
Having receive no reply from FF to date, I am reluctant to contact them. I have the names of the CEO and CFO and their head office. I am thinking, after reading all your pretty bad comments on this company, if this is the way to get my address off their records.
The Fraud people said this was identity theft???
The NHW people said it was a mistake. I dont think so. I have had other problems with this particular neighbour. I think it has been done deliberately
Anything you can offer as to what I should do would be helpful and I thank you in advance.
I am certainly not willing to pay for something I am not using, was not inteded to use and will not tolerate lies. I got to a stage if I have to go to court I am more than happy but I will prove my point. How can someone be so arrogant and incompetent to ignore their customer. Do they realise what they are facing with this? Of course I am very loud about this as much as I can be and I will go as far as I can go if they will not cancel this FRUADULESCENT membership.
I have called head office today last time to try to resolve this. A man on the other end of the line said one thing, you need to pay 32.50. I said to him hang on, what is on your system. Is there anything on your system regarding your management should contact me? I have called at least five times and have spoken to different people always passing to another one. Promises and lies. Result. Nothing on a system. I have requested the man to type into a system now that I am writing an official complaint what they will receive shortly via sign for post. I am requesting an answer and also wish not to be contacted anymore by text or phone call. I am also not willing to invest more finances in my phone bill due to them.
Will give an update here everytime now what is happening.
I have asked them nicely to cancel this membership, I am hapy to send back the unused backpack, towel welcome pack. I have never wanted a year contract and in my will I have never signed. I am not tolerating any fraud from their staff and will fight my truth.
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