Pruhealth gym loophole Article Discussion

Fido

healthcare_guru wrote: »

Well I don't know what I can say to convince you that I'm not the Interjector - I guess if you don't believe me then fine, no skin off my nose, but I would think it's fairly pointless posting under 2 names rather just use the one.

Anyway, how have Pruhealth "made a misake on every single piece of correspondence... the only piece that wasn't a mistake was the bit about the ceiling".

Now there's a contradiction if ever I've seen one! I think some people are exaggerating a little

As I say, on every piece of correspondence I've had from Pruhealth they have made a mistake. This normally involves a phone call back about incorrect premium calculations or incorrect date of policy renewal. So, even on the letter telling us about the changes there was mistake saying my policy was ending in April when it was November. And then following letter received last week had a premium of £19 per month but an anuual premium of £72. Yet another balls-up on behalf of your sponsors.

So keep your little smilies to yourself and suggesting that people's memberships going up by £50 or so is still a good thing. You either seem to miss the point of this site, I'd suggest, or you have rather strange loyalties. And I hope your little Pruhealth commission covers adequately your gym price hike.

healthcare_guru

Fido wrote: »

So keep your little smilies to yourself and suggesting that people's memberships going up by £50 or so is still a good thing.

Please can you point out where I've ever stated that??

Unless you can cite evidence I would say you're clearly looking to discredit me which is a cheap shot, illuding to the truths that deep down, you know much of what I have been speaking about is right!

And for the record, I do not work for Pruhealth, I am an independant adviser with 15 years + of experience in the industry and know so much about it as I have my own policy and I'm good at my job!

Quentin

healthcare_guru wrote: »

And for the record, I do not work for Pruhealth, I am an independant adviser with 15 years + of experience in the industry and know so much about it as I have my own policy and I'm good at my job!

You try to deflect all the deserved criticism (that you have a vested interest) you are getting by constantly posting in this gym loophole thread how marvellous pru are by going "on the record" to say you don't work for pru.

Don't insult us - you do have an interest - presumably they do pay you commission (as a s/e salesman for them)!

But in any case you don't get it do you?

You keep telling us how marvellous they are and defend this change in ts + cs, but we aren't interested in them as an insurance company - this thread is (was) all about exploiting them for their marketing loophole!

Fido

healthcare_guru wrote: »

Please can you point out where I've ever stated that??

Unless you can cite evidence I would say you're clearly looking to discredit me which is a cheap shot, illuding to the truths that deep down, you know much of what I have been speaking about is right!

And for the record, I do not work for Pruhealth, I am an independant adviser with 15 years + of experience in the industry and know so much about it as I have my own policy and I'm good at my job!

"hang on... the gym hasn't 'gone', the Ts & Cs are now just different. Yes its not as cheap as it was if you're on Gold or Platinum, but it's still there and 25% cheaper than you can get if you just walk in off the high street... that's 25% less than if you're with another insurer too!

Why splash out over £100 on a wii fit when a Fitbug is £30? I'm an avid Pru fan and get most of my points using the fitbug, yes running and cycling outdoors like you're intending to do. And it's paid for itself through cash back I got last year for not claiming.

So yes the gym is changing (not being removed!) but there's still the incentive and it's still not hard to get your status up :T"


The above seems to paint quite a rosy picture about huge price rises, does it not? It rings a bit like "Hey, kids, the membership might have gone up 400% but it's still 25% less than if you buy it anyway of the street!" 25% off our gym is still very expensive for a jog on a machine in front of a telly a couple of times a week or whatever you do.

The joy of message boards is that you can be whatever you want, an independent adviser of 15+ years, for example, just like I'm an astronaut who has just popped back home from Mars in my space shuttle to reply to your latest offering. If you want to throw little spikes though about posters being hypocritical (even though they're telling the truth about a company's poor administration) or cheeky jabs like "the lady doth protest too much" with accompanying stick-out tongue smiley when complaining about its massive price hikes then you can expect some comeback.

Anyway, this is my last post on the subject. I'm very unhappy this is coming to an end and assume you are quite bored of polishing a turd as well. Have a good weekend.

nplima

Quentin wrote: »

Reporting them to the media/authorities just because they have made a business decision you don't like is pointless.

yes, unless there is a case for challenging if the contract is legal.

Just as you weren't committed to paying your premiums for life, they were equally entitled to change their conditions (as long as they do so in line with the contract, which they do seem to be doing)

that's exactly what I find wrong about this: the policy is for 12 months, the rewards programme is for 12 months but the reward items were changed 1 month in advance.

Now, would this have changed my perception of the offering when I joined in 1/1/09? not sure. I have been a member of the health club since 2001 so I would always have a membership, even without the discounts.
What happened in my case was that I persuaded a family member to sign up for Virgin Active after I reached Gold status: Pru Health (correctly) pro-rated the Vitality score to represent our duties and entitlements as a family membership and started charging both members £20something and then £15/month for the health club when we reached platinum.

Now they change the discount when there's still 10 months to go on VA contract for my family member, leaving her with a commitment with VA for a higher price than was advertised by Pru Health. Also, the expectation we had (set by Pru Health) is that what I achieve in 2009 has a positive impact on my contract with them in 2010.

I am seeking legal advice about this, my complaint being that the Vitality offer is inseparable from the insurance policy and not a "reward". A change of vitality services has an effect over 12 months, and should be presented to clients 1 year in advance of the change, not 1 month.

Under this guise of renewal bonuses, Pru Health always wins, either by baiting consumers to sign up and then changing the rules of the game, or by having clients give up cash back if they decide not to keep the policy. The unfairness of it all is leading me to cancel the whole thing, to hell with cashback and future discounts. It's not like they could not write another letter on the 29th December saying the cash back is capped at £0.23 off and the discount for 2010 will be 0.00003%.

On an unrelated note, this week I received a letter from Citibank informing that the Mastercard/Easyjet airmiles deal is off. How did they solve this? The points I have are kept until I use them in 2010 but from Jan2010 I won't accumulate any more points - a similar story, handled in a better way.

slewis1972

Posted by Fido: "hang on... the gym hasn't 'gone', the Ts & Cs are now just different. Yes its not as cheap as it was if you're on Gold or Platinum, but it's still there and 25% cheaper than you can get if you just walk in off the high street... that's 25% less than if you're with another insurer too! "


Oh and I'd like to point out, based on experience the gym I am at is not cheaper than what you can get by walking off the streets. Pru have advised me my gym std rate is £73 = £54.75 with a 25% discount. By me walking in off the street, I can get a 12month contract for £53 - and I have it in writing this is the norm for my gym.

Scott

The_silver_surfer

healthcare_guru wrote: »

Please can you point out where I've ever stated that??

Unless you can cite evidence I would say you're clearly looking to discredit me which is a cheap shot, illuding to the truths that deep down, you know much of what I have been speaking about is right!

And for the record, I do not work for Pruhealth, I am an independant adviser with 15 years + of experience in the industry and know so much about it as I have my own policy and I'm good at my job!

I know some very good advisers with different points of view on Pruhealth and other insurers.

I've nothing really against you you may be very good at your job for all i know. I don't know either way but i'm not disputing that.

However there are many very annoyed gold and platinum members here. If you are/were one yourself you must surely understand that?

They are not Pru employees so do not have to watch what they say and fall for/go along with the positive spin that Pruhealth are coming out with.

Coming on this site with the Interjector where there are alot of annoyed, disappointed and angry Pru members and trying to put a positive spin on things really has just added alot more fuel on the fire. People on here aren't stupid, far from it you might be very surprised at the huge range of different people who post on here and can see straight through this positive spin attempt which has backfired.

If you came on with more balanced views it may have gone down better in my opinion. Just a thought.

healthcare_guru

slewis1972 wrote: »

Oh and I'd like to point out, based on experience the gym I am at is not cheaper than what you can get by walking off the streets. Pru have advised me my gym std rate is £73 = £54.75 with a 25% discount. By me walking in off the street, I can get a 12month contract for £53 - and I have it in writing this is the norm for my gym.

...locked into a 12 month contract (Pru's is monthly), plus a £100+ 'joining fee' i'm sure (Pru's is £25).

Look, contrary to what most of you say I'm not just here to stick up for Pru, sure not everything they are doing is rosey but I'm just trying to present a balanced arguement against much of the rubbish which is written by posters on here. All I'm saying is look at the facts, look at the pluses as well as the minuses (and yes there are pluses, I'm trying to present them), and you can decide whether the new Pru way of doing things is right for you or not.

Quentin

Yet again, your only reason for posting again is to defend (and promote) pru. (And insult us with your comment that others apart from you are posting "rubbish")

They do pay you to sell their policies, (or by now you would have denied it), so don't insult us any more with your posts trying to spin this massive change in ts + cs as something to the benefit of those who have only joined up for the loophole!

healthcare_guru

Quentin wrote: »

Yet again, your only reason for posting again is to defend (and promote) pru. (And insult us with your comment that others apart from you are posting "rubbish")

They do pay you to sell their policies, (or by now you would have denied it), so don't insult us any more with your posts trying to spin this massive change in ts + cs as something to the benefit of those who have only joined up for the loophole!

I'm not saying they don't pay me to sell their policies - they do! Every insurer pays commission to intermediaries to sell their policies, Pru are not special in any way there.

And I'm not saying every comment on here is rubbish, far from it it's a stimulating debate, but there are a lot of rubbish comments on here - and by rubbish i mean factually incorrect. The opinion may be valid but the fact is wrong, and all I'm trying to do is present the positive side of the arguement, so you can see BOTH sides and have a BALANCED and ACCURATE view.