Shaq 24 Hour Fitness is run by morons
I was ready to join the Shaq 24 Fitness gym today. After many years of running to Golds Gym in Coral Gables, I figured I should stay in my own neighborhood.Only they wouldn't let me. They actually told me at the front desk that I needed to go through a 35 to 40 minute tour and that they could not walk me through in 5 or 10 minutes to refresh my memory of the facility, because I had been there other times.
They refused. So since I didn't want to get a parking ticket (I only had about 10 minutes left on the meter) and I was late for a lunch date, I left. They lost me as a customer, they lost two friends who were considering joining and also two of my neighbors. And maybe countless others because of their stupidity.
There I am in with credit card in hand, but it had to be done their way. Guess they wanted me to have the whole experience, where they push things on you like training sessions and other things you don't need. I won't go back. I suggest you don't either, there is something fishy there.
posted by Tom Falco at 12:11 AM
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27 Comments:
Every gym that I have been a member does the same thing, it is not a bid deal and should have been expected.
I have been a member of the gym since it opened, it is clean, well run and the employees have always been very nice. The only problem I see is that you are impatient and should have gone when you had more then 10 minutes�..
You are wrong to slam them. Period.
Anon, I think it's fine that they offer the tour, but that shouldn't be required in order to join. It's pretty ridiculous to turn a person with a credit card, ready to go, away because they won't take the tour.
We joined LA Fitness out in Kendall during the 4 hideous months we lived out there, and they didn't force a tour. We started using the one in Sunset Place when we moved back to the Gables, and all was well until the day the heinous water aerobics instructor told me she was going to have me kicked out of the gym because I wanted to use a corner of the pool all by myself while her class was going on. I was about 24 weeks pregnant at the time.
So I complained at the front, and while they were appropriately apologetic about it and told me there was no rule against using the pool while a class was going on, I was pretty much done with them.
Basically, I hate gyms. I don't plan to go to one ever again.
I had the same experience - I had limited time and wanted to join. I had one requirement: I wanted to give it a quick look-see first. They told me I HAD to do a tour - but that the person giving the tours was out, so I HAD to wait until he got back. Whenever that might be; they couldn't tell me.
I said "Thanks, but if that's the case I'm leaving and never coming back. Sure you don't want me to just take a quick look around and then join?"
The bloggers point is spot-on: The place is run by dropouts from Sister Mary Alice's Home for the Retarded.
Yes - that is the most important thing I left out -- the person who would give me the tour wasn't around and they wanted me to wait until he showed up. I don't think he was even in the building.
I asked the girl how many customers did they lose by doing this, she just shrugged.
Honestly patients is a lost art in this world. The people working there were just doing their job. I belong there and I have had a wonderful experience since i joined over a year ago. I have lost 40 lbs for gods sake. I just walk over there when I feel like working out. Im on a month to month so I am not bound to some contract I cannot get out of. I find it clean and its never so crowded that i have to stand around waiting for stuff.
I find it sad grapevine that merely because you have some so called horrible experience in that they wont let you join without doing a tour your somehow in a position to slam the entire gym and tell everyone not to join.
thats lame and very ungrove like
The Shaq Gym is very "UnGrove-like", they need to be more user friendly and cater to the residents. All that corporate crap is just that... crap.
I have had the same rude experiences there by the muscle heads in charge. They are very arrogant and rude.
I went to see them and had the same experience. The girl in the front desk said I could not have a "look see", that I HAD to take a tour and, lo and behold, the guy who was supposed to give me the tour wasn't in, so I HAD to come back when he was available. And, no, of course, they had no idea when he would be.
I joined Equinox.
More expensive, but well worth it. Lots of equipment, parking, nice people.
The ONLY things I don't like about Equinox are (1) small towels (2) small showers and (3) music too loud. Which are no big deals.
I can't imagine that a business like Shaq's will endure.
"Honestly patients [sic] is a lost art in this world."
WTF does that have to do with joining a gym? I have a busy life, so does Tere, so do a lot of people. I know what gyms look like, I know how they work. So why do I need some muscle head showing me a bench press? or where the bathrooms are? IT IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF MY VERY VALUABLE TIME AND I FIND IT OFFENSIVE!
I was recently shopping for a gym- I called Shaq's and LA Fitness. The only question I had was "How much does it cost?" Again, I know what gyms offer, I know how they work, all I wanted to know was how much it costs. The answer: "No", they flat out refused to give me the information over the phone and insisted that I come in for an in-person interview so they can get to know me, assess my needs, goals, get my contact info, etc... Our conversation was short and heated and in the end they lost a potential customer.
I am now a member at the Fitness Company in the Grove. Why? because when I contacted them they didn't play any silly little information games. They answered my questions, I signed up, that's it. That's all it needs to be. No tour, no "get to know you" crap.
Ohhhhh, Tere you really struck a nerve with me on this one.......
Disregard the last line of my post above (anon@5:34) I thought I was posting this on Tere's blog.
sometimes I get me so riled up I can't think straight...
2 points;
#1: "I suggest you don't either, there is something fishy there."
I've gotten that vibe as well. Its probably just some kind of tax shelter.
#2: The more I hear these kind of stories, the more I appreciate my gym (Porky's). No juice bars, no pools, no basketball courts, and also no b.s. You just pay and off you go. I love it.
This kind of thing annoys me, too. But as it doesn't seem to make business sense I suspect that there is a legal/insurance issue behind it. Perhaps their insurer is concerned that they could get sued if a customer is injured on equipment that wasn't explained to them. Dunno. Just a guess.
I suspect it's a bogus insurance issue, also. They are WAY over-focused on insurance issues. I asked if they had a punching bag - you know, the stationary "heavy bag" - and they said "No, we can't have that - it's an insurance issue". And I'm thinking, here you have people lifting free weights that they could drop and crush themselves with, you have people running on mechanized treadmills that they could easily fall off of, but you can't have a simple punching bag because of "insurance issues"?? Were they afraid the bag was going to punch me back?
Idiots. Complete idiots. I agree with every other poster here - Shaq's 24-hour fitness is either a tax-shelter/money-laundering scheme, or it's destined for chapter 11. Because it sure isn't designed to attract new members!!
Thats funny, the gym at FIU has no problem keeping a heavy bag in its gym.
And if thats an insurance issue, I cant imagine the pool at LA fitness with no lifeguard is much better.
I hate the Shaq gym. I did a free week there, and went once. I was forced to take the same tour, even if I didnt want to. I wasnt even that impressed, the gym is tiny compared to some of the other gyms I've been a member of. Their main selling point is that they are open 24 hours, but like I told the guy on the phone when he called me a week later, how many times am i gonna work out at 3am.
My friends once took a friend with them to work out. 2 of them were members at 24, the other was not. They just wanted him to get a guest pass to work out with them one time. they told the lady about a 1000 times he had no intention of joining, therefore he would not require the 50 hour long tour and lesson in payment plans. When the lady told them they couldnt do that, they left, and both dropped their memberships within a week. I have no problem getting guest passes with no hassle at LA Fitness or when I used to work out at Golds Gym.
I like the fact that when i first walked into LA Fitness, I was working out within 10 minutes as a full member. No bullshit.
i had the same experience w the la fitness tour. then again, crunch did the same tour in sobe, as did another gym i checked in sobe. i didnt join any. im using my building's gym in sobe for now.
obv the tour is a sales tool, though self defeating.
i thnk the grove gym will give you a parking voucher if you take the tour, though im not positive. they sd they have free parking in a bldg nearby which, to me, is more important than being open at 3am.
LMAO @ anon - my comment was so inane, I was wondering what I said to rile you up!
I just think many gyms are a total scam, or the people who work there are just so damn dense. I've yet to have a positive experience anywhere.
Most gym workers seems to think they have something going on, a sort of superiority complex. They behave as if you are coming to a hospital for treatment for a disease and your opinions don't matter at all. For Shaq, I think its just a matter of time before Chapter 11 or they are not profit driven 'cause its a shelter for some "things".
Listen, I work for 24 Hour Fitness in CA and I know exactly what this is. Bottom line, these guys were just following things by the book and are just doing their job. Gyms need to make money, and they've found that the best way to get members is by giving a proper tour, going over goals, etc. in order to build the value of a gym. I'm in the sales department, so I do this myself. The reason we don't quote over the phone is because prices and specials fluctuate and we've found that if we tell you over the phone, you'll decide it's too expensive and never sign up. And no, we aren't going out of business smart guy (ojo). We're actually the fastest growing fitness chain the US and will go from 400 gyms to 1000 gyms in the next 4-5 years. We even just signed a deal with the Yankees...
Sales Manager without a name. We have seen it all,sales pitch,unreal figures and outlandish expansion geared to raising "funds" from the public or venture capitalists.
Let me tell you, for one customer that complains about your service, you have four that are quiet about it and have chosen to go somewhere else.I will like someone in your marketing team to comment not sales. The difference between sales and marketing is that the former is so concerned about one off sales plus quick returns while the latter is concerned with repeat sales and its long term focused.
In summary you are neglecting and pushing out some of your target market.
I am an x employee and I can tell you they(Corp) really could care less about the consumer. They built this company on the hope you would join cancel and re-join each time having to pay the start up costs. Guess what it worked! They are the largest growing fitness centers. Look to the future it is going to change but not for the better. They have made some really major errors this past year they are cutting pay checks by the thousands of dollers not only managers but bottom level employess (yes the meat heads as you call them) They are trying to drive out older employees and anyone that has been with the company for more then a few years. Why? bottom line they cost to much corp would rather have young kids who will jump when they say jump and work themselves to death without asking questions. Filth seems to be a major complaint not just from memebrs but the employees. 24 let go of the cleaning companies and has the staff cleaning the gym. This should scare everybody because does a employess who has just had a pay decrease really want to insure the gym is clean.NO! They used to be a great company to work with/for when they actually cared about members and employees. Now they say alot but never back it up. Someone answer this should a company who is the largest in its field need to spend so much money on advertising? You can't go anywhere with seeing the brand 24 it on backgrounds of shows they even have a show.(just another gimmick) borderline false advertising. Hope this answers why you have had a bad experience at 24. The employees are unhappy, mad, and could at this time really care less. They(employees) have the same complaints members do and thus far the voices of the masses have fallen on def ears.
Shaq'a Gym is retarded. Who the hell needs all those treadmills? They are never filled up. Come on Shaq, for someone of your stature I would of though this would of been a pimp gym. Oh and if you sign up MAKE SURE to confirm the starting fee like million times they screwed me on that
So sad I had to leave Grove Fitness for that place. I feel like I'm in a McDonalds version of a gym and the staff is kind of scary, like Ronald McDonald. They either have too many cups of Starbucks coffee and are so wired they are no longer recognizably human or they are actually aliens.
I use to be a personal trainer at 24 hour fitness Shaq in the Grove and it is a corporate gym. It is not individually owned, so every employee has rules and regulations, plus intensive training for all the procedures that need to be followed. I flew to Dallas for a week long training for all of the training regulations. I am sure they are not trying to weed away customers, it's a policy to show every employee a tour of the gym and what is offered. The sales guys are a great help and it is their job to sell personal training and memberships. How do you think we make money? They are not meat heads that try and show you how a bench press is pushed. They are just doing their job! If you want to join a gym in 10min. and not bother with personal training or a membership, then join a non-corporate gym! Or workout outside on your own.
Hey Ojo Adebere and some of you,
Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, depression, stress, ring a bell? These are diseases that are caused from lack of exercise, so most people that join gyms are there for disease treatment. I am here reading all of this about this gym and I find that probably more than half of you, just plain don't workout and try to come up with excuses to not go to the gym. Who cares about how many tredmills there are or if shaq's face is on the wall. Just workout! If I can't make it to a gym, I will go home and do push-ups, sit-ups, plyometrics, stairs, etc. And when I go to the gym I get my workout in and I'm out! If the place has a set of dumbbells and a piece of cardio equipment I am good! You all sound so fruity and high maintenance.
Try Porky's Gym, it has 4 locations and it is open 24 hours a day. It has less frills (no basketball courts, suana, swimming pool), but it is very reasonably priced ($225 a year), and there is no bullshit, no hassle, no contracts, no corporate attitude.
24 Hour Fitness in Town and Country is a SHAM. My girlfriend and I signed up about 6 months ago and got the year membership. At the time we signed up, we were told that we'd get a $25 credit to the pro shop for every person we got to sign up. I got 4 of my friends to sign up, and my gf got 6. We have yet to see a DIME of that credit.
On top of that, my girl and I were working out together the other day and she asked me to spot her and show her how to do an exercise, so of course I helped her. Minutes later I was approached by 2 trainers and a manager who wanted a word with me. They told me I wasn't allowed to train costumers of the gym unless I was employed. I told them it was my GIRLFRIEND and I was SPOTTING her. They then proceeded to tell me I'm not allowed to SPOT her because it's bad for their business and I appear to be a private trainer. I asked to speak to the supervisor of the gym and of course he wasn't there. Some kind of costumer service. What a SHAM. Porky's is ten times better anyway. It's a legit gym for someone who really wants to get in shape and nobody bothers you.
The manager is NEVER at the SHAQ at Town & Country, and if you ever have a complaint about the lack of service or any questions about your membership, their attitude there is that you should blow it out your @ss.
Shaq 24 hour fitness. A JOKE!!! I worked for the company, been in the industry for 10 years, new exactly how it all worked. The idiot touring me tried to high pressure sell me. Would not let me walk without signing up. Well thanks for making my decision for me. Went straight to Equinox paid 4 times as much but gladly. As far as I am concerned that company can go to hell!!
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