Exercise Instructor Scam?

Jacka87

Im worried their might be a scam involved here so hoping that somebody can let me know if they have heard of it, if nit then it might be something for others to note.

My oh participates in a regular exercise class (not going to name the specific type as it relates to a specific company). I am to beleive that she is quite good at it. As a result she has been asked to actually take the class as the instructor one week as the instructor is off on hols or something. As a result she will be rewarded by a nice £30. All good so far!

However she has been told that if she undertakes an "instructor training session" she will be able to act as an instructor herself, rather than just filling in on this occassion. The thing is their is of course a fee to pay to do the training and its much more steep than what you pay to attend the class every week.

Basically tho she is being sold the idea that if she does the training then the instructor will share some of her classes at the venue they use at present. This is where I get concerned, why would teh instructor give away classes, after all thats where they make their money. If you just donated half your classes to somebody then you half your income! Now she says teh instructor has told her that the reason is that she also works as a personal trainer and cant always cover the classes so this would mean she doent need to canvel classes and as such keep her regular clients happy. In other words giving half your profit away is better than losing all your clients. Which is I suppose a good thing.

The problem is I cant help but think that after you do your "instructor course" you will then just get told the certificate is useless by most institutions like gyms etc and the existing instructor will not give you any "shifts". yet the instructor is up the cost of your training fee. As i said this fee is considerably more than how much you pay for attending the class. Maybe a years worth of classes for a couple of hours work for the instructor. You could of course try advertising and taking classes your self but thats a lot of effort as my oh is in full time employment, and I am concerned that she wont be able to anyway as the certificate could be worthless. This was just an oppertunity to save paying for classes and to make a bit of cash out of it instead. Win win... well if its not a scam of course!

Is anybody aware of scams like this running or if their is any way of independantly veryfying the training course. I have tried googling for info but the company seems to have dominated everything on the net so everything seems fairly positive!

DS4215

Check with local sports centres/gyms and see if they acknowledge it?

lincroft1710

I don't think it's a "scam", but it may not be worthwhile for your OH. If the instructor wasn't earning enough from her personal training at any time, then there would be little opportunity for OH to take classes. If your OH is just being taught how to take a class in the one particular discipline, then obviously her opportunities are limited. Also as she's in F/T employment she's further limited by the times she could take a class.

Bear in mind that good fitness professionals have studied and are trained in many aspects of health and fitness and have nationally recognised qualifications.

anamenottaken

Think about insurance. What happens if there is an accident and a participant is injured?

Jacka87

lincroft1710 wrote: »

I don't think it's a "scam", but it may not be worthwhile for your OH. If the instructor wasn't earning enough from her personal training at any time, then there would be little opportunity for OH to take classes. If your OH is just being taught how to take a class in the one particular discipline, then obviously her opportunities are limited. Also as she's in F/T employment she's further limited by the times she could take a class.

Bear in mind that good fitness professionals have studied and are trained in many aspects of health and fitness and have nationally recognised qualifications.

Its not personal training as such its a specific activity that you would take in groups. I dont want to name it as I think it would have legal implications as the activity uses its name as part of its "branding". I do agree that she would have limited options for taking classes as she is only trained in this discipline but she is only considering taking a class or 2 a week anyway as its just a bonus earner and exercise, two birds one stone type solution. The fact that she is in full time employment is teh reason why she isnt wanting to take "loads" of classes so not bothered about that restriction. Its also irrelevant in the sense she is already doing the class as a participant and is just thinking of doing it as an instructor. Mostly evenings straight after work.

I am aware she wont be a "fully qualified" fitness professional tho I am aware people teach this class on a similar basis already.

Jacka87

Check with local sports centres/gyms and see if they acknowledge it?

She has spoken to the manager of the gym where she takes the class, infact she stood in for the usual instructor last night at the said gym. The manager has suggested that he will let her take the class more regularly if she passes the training. I will get her to check other gyms as well tho.

Think about insurance. What happens if there is an accident and a participant is injured?

she would only be planning on doing the class at the gym she currently attends. At that gym she would be paid by the gym for doing the class and not the attendees. As such I would have assumed the gyms insurance covered her. If she was to think about taking teh course herself at any other venues then i would look into the insurance issue in advance.

Thanks for all points.

lisyloo

It's not necesasrily a scam, but the problem is that the risk is on her entierly as she has to pay up front.
She could suggest that she pays them pay as she does her classes e.g. they take 100% of her wages until it's paid off.
This reduces the risk entirely for her.
I suppose it increases it for them though as your OH could take the training and then not do any classes (or have an accident, get sick long term or even die).

What about a 50/50 split?
i.e. she pays 50% up front then they take the rest from her wages.

Does she not have any instinct whether she trusts these people or not?
If there is a lack of trust then I would say not to go ahead.

SportyGirl

I teach fitness classes and if she is employed by the gym they will cover the Public Liability insurance and possibly music licence. If not she will need one of those too (if the class involves music).
Also any instructor should have a first aid qualification and be registered on the register of exercise professional (REPS).
It's not cheap to train and to ensure you are following the professional rules.
If she works as self employed then there is also the whole area of paying NI and doing a tax return.
I am both employed and self employed and unless you work enough hours teaching and love it then you have to decide if the financial cost is worth it all.
Internal gym qualifications are rarely recognised outside of that gym or chain. I went down the costly route of obtaining nationally recognised qualifications.
This instructor may well intend to offer cover for classes but if the work is sporadic then the effort involved may not be worth it.
I hope that helps.

Jacka87

lisyloo wrote: »

It's not necesasrily a scam, but the problem is that the risk is on her entierly as she has to pay up front.
She could suggest that she pays them pay as she does her classes e.g. they take 100% of her wages until it's paid off.
This reduces the risk entirely for her.
I suppose it increases it for them though as your OH could take the training and then not do any classes (or have an accident, get sick long term or even die).

What about a 50/50 split?
i.e. she pays 50% up front then they take the rest from her wages.

Does she not have any instinct whether she trusts these people or not?
If there is a lack of trust then I would say not to go ahead.

Since the manager has suggested she could get some shifts, as opposed to just the instructor, I feel less worried about the issue.

With regards to the trust side of it, well my oh does trust these people. However she is one of thes epeople that see teh good in everything, where as I am more of a cynic and look for the catch. Unfortunatly my OH has almost fallen for a marketing job scam when she was out of work, you know the "you will manage a division soon but forst you need to do some door to door sales". She has also been a target of a "modelling agency" in the past as well so I I try to keep my cynical eye over any oppertunities she gets where money is involved, as a safety net.

My alarm was going off at the fat that it seemed to good to be true. rather than paying to attend a class you attend and get paid ten times what you would have paid out. Seriouslly, why did they pick her, who wouldnt want to do it and thus my alarm rang.

With regards to reducing the risk, the gym are willing to reduce the fee for her to attend the class as she is a member their alreday so doubt they would sway on the payment upfront as well.

As always thanks for the comment tho.