Fitness Clubs: A Bane

I've been considering joining a gym for the past couple of months. There are several gyms within the city and the membership fee averages around $30/week not including a usually exorbitant joining fee. They more or less offer the same things: gym group classes, shower rooms, cardiovascular and weights equipment. Some cater to a niche market like the women only gyms; some have indoor heated swimming pools (small lap pools really); some provide nutritionist consultations, massage and physiotherapist services inhouse for an additional fee. Several of them seeking to expand their membership base have been giving away "free" one time gym passes on the streets.

I got one of these on my way to work and decided to check that gym out because it was just across from where I worked. The "fitness consultant" who was assigned to me tried to get me to sign up for membership right after the tour of the facilities. I could tell she didn't want me to try out the gym at all but wanted me to sign on the spot. However I was adamant about trying out the gym before signing up for anything. After several times of repeating myself and insisting that I try out the facilities first, she finally got the message that I was serious about it and I wanted what they promised in their advertising campaign. A real pain in the butt if you ask me. To top it off, she treated me like an idiot, which I didn't like at all. (I know you're trying to hard sell me, bitch, and you're not going to close the sale just because you're rude to me.) The facilities were new as this was a relatively new gym and they did have an array of equipment. I attended one pilates class which I was quite disappointed about. The instructor did not cater to the varying fitness levels of her class (which you can do by demonstrating similar but different stances for beginning, intermediate and advanced practitioners) nor did she go around correcting the poses of her students; both of which I felt were important for a fruitful pilates/yoga class. The Bitch called me up a couple of days later (I refused to provide my email address and gave as little detail as possible where I felt it didn't pertain to my health). I flat out lied that I'd joined another gym (which I am planning to anyway) rather than telling her I hated her attitude when she asked why I didn't want to take up the membership.

Mentioned to my friends from last night that I was planning to join FF and they told me that membership rates are actually negotiable and not everyone's paying the same rate even for a similar "scheme". There are various discounts and concessions they will give if you know the rates and how to negotiate them. That they also make it very hard to cancel your membership and like a lot of companies these days, have a lot of hidden traps and fees not mentioned in their advertising campaigns. Not that unlike the practices of various financial institutions, really. Perhaps companies are taking the idea of the "Blue Ocean Strategy" seriously and are borrowing ideas from across other industries. I was looking at the FF website and marvelling at their practices. I've gotten myself a "free" one week pass to FF by buying some cereal (which I didn't mind getting since it wasn't that much pricier than the other cereal brands) so I'm going to the gym every day for a week to fully utilise it!