Gym haggling antics in London

mystra

Haggling is hard work!

I'm currently looking to join a gym to help with my roller derby training.

I'm not a natural gym bunny but i am ready for some serious change to help my performance on the track...

My most convenient gym is Fitness First as there is loads near work so i can always find a class to suit as well as the regular gym stuff.

Through work i get a measly £6 per month off (£43 per month, but only on a 12 month contract) or i have to pay the full £59.95 for the 4 month contract).

Best I've managed so far is to be offered £20 cashback and half price membership for the rest of the month, as i said I wanted to get the BodyFirst + induction (only an extra £10 and i get 2 personal trainer sessions, which i would find very useful)

I told them i would think about it,and had a free day (did a yoga class) was asked if i enjoyed it etc etc... said yes but i need to think about costs. Not had them ringing me back or anything.

Tried LA Fitness to see what the prices were like as the closest has a small pool. It was an ok gym but the staff were pushy and rude (inc the instructor at the class, made me feel a right idiot) and they cost more than i thought. The attitude put me off regardless. My friend had been sent an offer for a 6 month contract at £38.99 a month, but they wouldn't honour it for me, and then said i had made it up ( i had a print out of the email, i know it was passed on from a friend but if you don't ask you don't get ) but they were so narky about it i gave up lol.

Local council gyms near home are around £35-£45 per month, facilities are good etc but i really like the idea of lunchtime work outs, or straight after work... by the time i've cycled home i've usually changed my mind about doing anything other than chilling out on the sofa (this is why home work outs do not happen :rotfl:)

Any one got any tips on how to get a better deal... i would consider signing up for a year if they dropped the price more... is it true they are more hagglable come the end of the month?

mystra

LOL so far i've had a text off one branch of FF and a phone call from the other branch, and was offered another free pass which i used today to do a Body Balance class.

However when i finished no-one was around to talk me through the options so i left!

It is the third week of the month.... i wonder how far i can push them

zzzt

This is new to me. I didn't know we could haggle with gyms. I thought the prices they advertise are the prices they require for membership.

mystra

zzzt wrote: »

This is new to me. I didn't know we could haggle with gyms. I thought the prices they advertise are the prices they require for membership.

you can haggle for anything :money:

katejo

zzzt wrote: »

This is new to me. I didn't know we could haggle with gyms. I thought the prices they advertise are the prices they require for membership.

It got me nowhere at all. With my local authority gym I tried pointing out that I should not have to pay a registration fee as I was already on their records with my Pay and play card (occasional use). They insisted that I still had to pay the full amount.

mystra

katejo wrote: »

It got me nowhere at all. With my local authority gym I tried pointing out that I should not have to pay a registration fee as I was already on their records with my Pay and play card (occasional use). They insisted that I still had to pay the full amount.

that would be the point where I'd tell them no thanks... loads of gyms waive the joining fees with some coercing! Although i guess council run gyms may be a little different - although they are usually run by private companies. Our local one is nearly £40 a month... not much difference in price to a chain gym!

katejo

mystra wrote: »

that would be the point where I'd tell them no thanks... loads of gyms waive the joining fees with some coercing! Although i guess council run gyms may be a little different - although they are usually run by private companies. Our local one is nearly £40 a month... not much difference in price to a chain gym!

My local one is also part private . I did join as all the private ones are even more expensive . I am paying just for the gym and half price for other activities . The full price is only slightly under £50 . I can cancel with a month's notice .

mystra

So i got a text from the salesperson i had been in touch with (he is one of the few who is a PT as well, so i got on with him as he understood my needs)

"Afternoon!
I would like to let you know that if you join before 30th May you could get over £50 off your first payment and a complimentary PT session, please call today for more info <blah blah blah<"

So i popped in at lunchtime to see what it was all about. My contact was not there, so i was presented with a salesperson... oh dear.

None of it made any sense. I asked him to write the figures down clearly and it still made no sense. I didn't understand what the offer was at all at that point, so i made a hasty exit! The other guy was crystal clear and wrote everything out clearly, this one wrote on scrap papers and couldn't add up ( i offered him a calculator, i'm not expecting a mathematician by the way, but he said no LOL)

I gave up, i might just text the original guy back and see when he is in!