News

**MSE Andrea** · 30-12-2008, 11:31 AM

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the

Gym Membership Cost Cutting Article

To discuss or ask a question about this article: click reply

BeenieCat · 30-12-2008, 11:38 AM

I was sucked into joining a gym through a gold membership worth £60 a month (apparently) which i'd "won" but still had to pay £16.53 a month for and be tied in for 2 years

Needless to say, i only managed to go twice in 3 months and i've since cancelled the direct debit (which i'm reminded to now sort out).

So don't do as I did and fall for it, unless you genuinely wanted to join anyway!!

Quote:

# Workout outside the gym. Examine your fitness requirements; you can run, cycle, do light weights, yoga and a lot more without gym facilities. Why not arrange to pound the pavement or buy light weights or workout DVDs with friends?

Unless you specifically want to weight train, then I would say the above would be a better idea!

lcharm · 30-12-2008, 11:38 AM

The Pru Health offer is back but it works differently now where you pay more initially but as time goes on it get's cheaper when you earn Vitality points through health checks and gym visits. Anyone on this yet? I don't like the idea of paying more at the beginning!

http://www.pruhealth.co.uk/insurance...rs/gym_pricing

Organic12 · 30-12-2008, 10:09 PM

GLL who run a number of London local authority pools have introduced a membership tariff for pool use only in my local area. Previously the only way to cut the cost of going regularly to the pool was to take up their normal full gym membership. Cost saving of around £8 per month in my case.

jon200 · 09-01-2009, 12:40 PM

Hi guys,

Me and my partner are both pretty overweight and decided that now is the time to really knuckle down.
I excercise on and off. Enough to maintain my weight, but not enough to lose any.

Phoned around the local gyms (Wickford, Essex). Wanted a decent gym with lots of choice in excercise.
Best price i got was £37.95 each at Fitness First. They said they no longer do joint memberships because of a court case a couple of years ago.

We quite simply do not have that amount of money each spare per month to join and was wondering if anyone had any ideas or suggestions?

I joined the local leisure centre, but the gym is small and is always extremely busy to the point where you have to wait up to an hour for any of the cardio equipment.

Silaqui · 09-01-2009, 10:04 PM

Hi Jon,

I'm nowhere near Essex but have lived in both Leicester and Nottingham and used council run gyms so it might be worth ringing your local council and seeing if they have an fitness facilities? I pay £24 a month and get use of any of 5 different gyms around the county (obviously I use the local one) free swimming, and free classes. They also do a joint membership for £42.
Obviously that's not relevant to you but worth a try.

ALSO just thought of this - try your GP they can sometimes put you on a program to lose weight and you get free gym access for a certain time, see if they can suggest anything?

Hope this helps,
x

cath777 · 09-01-2009, 10:52 PM

hi jon silaqui is right i go to a weight clinic at my local doctors and have recently been referred for an exercise scheme its 26.60 for 20 sessions (2 sessions a week) at the local sports centre it depends how much weight you need to lose really but maybe worth investigating

cath777 · 09-01-2009, 10:55 PM

sorry didnt say im in east yorkshire by the way!

lolly5648 · 10-01-2009, 11:35 AM

I don't know if Impulse Leisure is near you. They run the council gyms in the Thurrock area and are quite reasonable

matboo · 10-01-2009, 11:17 PM

fitness first are very cheap so is virgin active through pru health, you can even get your membership to £0 a month

Savvy_Sue · 11-01-2009, 12:27 AM

I'll merge this into the Gym Cost-Cutting thread.

simbalou · 11-01-2009, 4:38 PM

Would appreciate anyones advice on this one please.

I wanted to join a gym and chose LA fitness because they are close to me, have a swimming pool (which I can take my kids to at set times) and is open till 11pm which means I can go when OH is watching tv and kids are in bed!

They gave me a corporate rate for £29.75 a month but wanted a £35 joining fee. This basically equals a normal membership rate which doesn't charge a joining fee at the moment.

Sales bloke rang me today and I said I would sign up today if they dropped the joining fee. He reckons they can't do this but I think they can. Does anyone think they'll come back to me with an offer or am I just best cutting my losses and joining at the rate they originally said and paying the joining fee?

Thanks for reading

Savvy_Sue · 12-01-2009, 1:44 AM

Suggest you look at the gym cost cutting thread and article, which I shall merge this into.

geojay · 13-01-2009, 9:35 PM

I'm a member of Fitness First and pay £45 for membership. I want to reduce this, I'd be happy if I could get it down to £30 and ecstatic for £25!

I'm currently on a three month contract but am now in a position to move to a 12 month contract so that's an instant way to reduce the monthly amount. I use the gym in the evenings so an off-peak membership isn't appropriate. It's a 'platinum' level gym within Fitness First so I think that attracts a premium.

I've called them and explained that I'm considering leaving them and moving to the £160/year deal that my workplace has with the council gym. This is actually an empty threat (unbeknown to them) as the council gym is on the other side of town as opposed to FF being virtually next door! £160/year isn't a bargain if I don't actually go... All FF offered in response to my threat to leave is a reduction to £39/month if I increase my contract to 12 months. I don't think this represents any discount as I'm pretty sure that's about the rate for a 12 month contract anyway! She 'gave' me two days to get back to her in order to get it processed in time for the next direct debit. I assume that's just to get me to rush the decision...

Can anyone suggest how I can achieve my £30/month target with them? I'm tempted to call and actually ask her to initiate my cancellation but am worried she'll call my bluff. I don't actually want to be without a gym membership!

A friend did suggest it's a bad time of year to get a gym discount as January is when they have an influx of new customers on New Year's resolutions. I'm not sure how true this is in the current climate?

Thanks in advance!

top_drawer · 13-01-2009, 11:30 PM

hi,

I'm with Total Fitness and managed to get a £249 deal as I told them I was a student, which I am .... but they never checked this ....

Jen

Savvy_Sue · 14-01-2009, 1:22 AM

I'll merge you into our existing discussion on gym memberships, which is also linked to an article about it.

Miles16v · 14-01-2009, 10:30 PM

The article talks about using friends memberships to get 'guest passes', whilst this is a good idea, its not the only one.

If you can add yourself onto their membership to make it a joint membership, or even find a friend to join with you at the same time as a joint member, then you can save loads.

You can have a joint membership with anyone, you shouldn't have to be a couple or live at the same address.

My local council gym was £29 for a single member, or £45 for a joint membership - saving £156 a year.

Miles16v · 14-01-2009, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geojay

I'm a member of Fitness First and pay £45 for membership. I want to reduce this, I'd be happy if I could get it down to £30 and ecstatic for £25!

I'm currently on a three month contract but am now in a position to move to a 12 month contract so that's an instant way to reduce the monthly amount. I use the gym in the evenings so an off-peak membership isn't appropriate. It's a 'platinum' level gym within Fitness First so I think that attracts a premium.

I've called them and explained that I'm considering leaving them and moving to the £160/year deal that my workplace has with the council gym. This is actually an empty threat (unbeknown to them) as the council gym is on the other side of town as opposed to FF being virtually next door! £160/year isn't a bargain if I don't actually go... All FF offered in response to my threat to leave is a reduction to £39/month if I increase my contract to 12 months. I don't think this represents any discount as I'm pretty sure that's about the rate for a 12 month contract anyway! She 'gave' me two days to get back to her in order to get it processed in time for the next direct debit. I assume that's just to get me to rush the decision...

Can anyone suggest how I can achieve my £30/month target with them? I'm tempted to call and actually ask her to initiate my cancellation but am worried she'll call my bluff. I don't actually want to be without a gym membership!

A friend did suggest it's a bad time of year to get a gym discount as January is when they have an influx of new customers on New Year's resolutions. I'm not sure how true this is in the current climate?

Thanks in advance!

Never worry about them taking your cancellation. You can always phone back and say you changed your mind.

Your friend is probably right because new applications will be at their highest this month and they know your at your most vulnerable. However it is competitive out there, and if we believe this recession talk then maybe applications might be down.

Maybe try telling them that you can only afford £30 and see if they'll do you a deal? Or recruit someone else to join you with a joint membership.

simbalou · 16-01-2009, 2:08 PM

Just wanted to let everyone know that it is best to haggle over your gym price. I was offered £29.75 a month with £35 joining fee. I didn't want to pay the joining fee and told them that. At the time I was told this was non-negotiable. I've now just had a phonecall from them to say that this weekend only (yeah,right) they aren't charging a joining fee. So for under £30 a month I am getting full membership of a very nice gym, with pool and fitness classes included.

I wouldn't have haggled before joining this site but I'm very grateful I have now.

matmatmat · 18-01-2009, 2:34 PM

Whatever you do, DO NOT join DAVID LLYOD leisure centres. We were duped into signing up for gold account and later found out the woman signing us up had told us all sorts of lies to get us to sign. We were promised personal trainers, I saw one on the 1st visit during our introduction and never saw one again. tried to cancel, sent recorded delivery, they never got it but would not accept the royal mail recorded delivery ticket showing I had posted it, although they tell you do send it via this method. I then injured myself, took 2 doctors notes before they accepted but still charged me for the next month and my partner for the next 3, even though we had been told as it would be a joint membership if one of us injured ourselves and had to cancel without notice (like what had heppened) this would be applied to both accounts. This turned out to be a complete lie. bottom line, it cost over £350 for 4 trips to the gym and has been passed between 2 debt collection companies, both trying to take installments adding to £700, work that one out! Stay well clear. Also the staff do not want to know you unless you pull up in a car worth over £40000! The place, service and lies they tell to get you to sign up are a joke! stay well clear!