David lloyd gym membership.....prices??

anotheroutrage

Lloydyd,

quote:
"...club that's full of scum":

It costs next to nothing if you are on benefits, migrant, "re-integrating into society after a stay at hm's pleasure", etc. You would get fed up of overhearing the conversations...

Terywall

Hi folks

I'm an existing member of David Lloyds in Cambridge and think it's great. The staff are all friendly and the facilities are fantastic. There's always pro's and cons with most places so I'll try and list them out including our membership fee.

We took out a family membership (anytime use, incl. racquet sports) at a cost of £293.85 / month - which is on top of the £140 joining fee. This covers me, my wife, my two boys (aged 10) and my little girl (aged 8). It is worth finding out what others are paying because I'm pretty certain that the DL sales staff are convinced that their members are too stuck up to talk about fees of any sort. On that note, it seems that there are different rates for different people so definitely ask around to get the cheapest quote.

It soon becomes apparent after joining however, that a lot of what is promised, isn't part of the parcel... well, not without extra costs involved! My only other bug is that they have shown no interest in encouraging a renewal.

Another word of warning - the Personal trainers seem to know what they are talking about... and have the kind of physique that we all want... however, be careful with the training. The chap who trained me, ended up putting me in hospital because I overworked all muscle groups after a long 8 year gap of avoiding the gym - all of which was explained to the trainer prior to training. Muscle memory my derriere....

FBaby

I quite a bit dismay to read that there are clearly large differences in prices amongst clubs that seem to offer very much the same things...another instance of 'let's charge those South-Easters, they can afford it'

rk66

In the Reading DL the normal quoted price is £78, with 12 months subscription, and even higher for 3 months contract.
This is about 2.5 more than anyone else in the area, and they mostly (ab)use the fact that local business area has IT folk who are not too picky about prices.

Their sales and the entire gym have their quarterly quotas, and it's not unheard of to negotiate down with them - down to £50; I'm sure it applies to other clubs as well.

They are also not above interesting tricks: in my case, the sales guy promised 12 months for 10 contract only to omit to specify it to their head department. So, I went for the contract expecting to pay around £700 a year, and ended up with £840, which I would not have accepted in the first place. There's some of my own oversight, as I should have insisted on a signed confirmation there and then, but my example should be a warning to others - do not trust them, and get every single condition in writing signed.

The only bright spot is their equipment which is above average, though obviously not justifying the double price. The service itself is ok, but I had the same if not better for 30 quid a month.

So, I'd suggest going for DL in one of these cases:

1) You have a massive discount from your workplace
2) You negotiated them down to a reasonable sum
3) You have a disposable income of £400-500 that you would like to give them on top of exactly the same service elsewhere (this one is pretty much out for people on this forum)
4) You are a semi-professional gym goer visiting every day or so and requiring top level equipment (and willing to pay top premium for that)

howardman

I wonder if prices up north are cheaper than down south where the rich people live..

Idiophreak

rk66 wrote: »

3) You have a disposable income of £400-500 that you would like to give them on top of exactly the same service elsewhere (this one is pretty much out for people on this forum)

That's making the assumption that you can get the same service elsewhere. Our local DL is (sadly) miles ahead of any of the local competition, so they've somewhat a captive market.

RichandHannah

Just signed up at Cheshire Oaks. Family membership with rackets £155 per month (£140 without). Had a deal with 2 months free and 20 days free in September, so 2 months and 20 days free in year one. trick is to visit mid month and them take a decision on last day of the month. Joining fee was £94.
Have been a member twice before at the same club and no problem cancelling as long as you follow the the procedures. Although the 3 month term did nark us off, but it was in T&Cs. Staff have always been really good. Not sure what the point is of people going on about selling extras, that's the point of a business - to sell goods and services. We have to pay extra for things like swiming lessons at Total Fitness. If you don't want them then just say so.
We have just cancelled at Total Fitness in Chester which was £100 per month. Good pool, good staff but terrible equipment and gym almost unusable in summer as aircon not working properly.
Reason for leaving DL previously was that we had to pay for kids, but they couldn't use the kids clubs as 3 and 4. Family membership is now about £50 cheaper than we were paying 2 years ago.
So it is comparatively expensive to some other options, but it is a nice place with good, well maintained equipment and quite a lot of inclusive stuff particularly if you have kids. It just depends what you want really. As mentioned above, staff at Chesire Oaks have always been great with us and the kids.

Ruby2013

hiya

My husband and I are thinking of joining DL but are a bit reluctant at the extortionate membership fee's - theyre saying its £68 per month each with a £35 set up fee and a 12 month membership.

Just wondered if anyone else had got this cheaper/managed to not pay the set up fee? Apparently it's non-negotiable and everyone pays it but thought i'd check! never know if its just a sales pitch!!

Thanks

guruandy

I was a member of dl in leeds for 11 years until 5 months ago. I was paying £75 a month Off peak! 8 months ago i found out that 15 people that i knew (including my brother) had just joined for 50 a month for full membership... Of course i complained and mentioned that i had been a member for 11 years.. got nowhere.. so cancelled my membership... have not been to the gym for 5 months now.. I may have gained a little weight but my blood pressure has dropped 10%:T

basilmalaise

The best way to get your money back from David Lloyd is to max out on the membership benefits. As a gym member you can get discounts on AA membership, MOT's from Halfords, holidays, all kinds of stuff IIRC. Saw a blog post about it earlier. Sorry, can't remember where.