Making a good impression: How finding a gym is the first hurdle
Joining a gym can be an intimidating and uncertain process. A membership costs a lot of money, and it’s a big commitment to make on blind faith. Here are my experiences with a few gyms in Winnipeg and their treatment of prospective members.
Goodlife
Located on Kenaston, Goodlife currently offers three free visits to prospective members. I signed up online for this offer and soon got a call from an assistant manager, who agreed to meet with me. He was very friendly, and took the time to assess my needs. He took me for a tour, but mostly let the excellent equipment, large fitness class spaces and cleanliness speak for themselves.
He seemed a little disappointed that I wasn’t willing to sign up for a year’s membership at the student price of $22 bi-weekly, but he gladly gave me a card worth three free visits. What he neglected to tell me was that the card expired within a week of receiving it. Admittedly, it was my fault for not reading the card carefully, but when I went to the gym for the first time a week and a day later, I had a run-in with the woman working at the desk.
I handed her the card.
She mumbled something about the card being expired, but she was going to let me in that day anyway. I told her I didn’t know there was an expiry date, but she quickly told me that yes, there was.
The gym was great, but unfortunately, I couldn’t return for my two other free visits.
Of course, one free visit was more than I got from:
Shapes
Shapes ran commercials advertising a trial period of one week for the low price of $10. I went into the Pembina location to take advantage of this offer. However, I made the mistake of not mentioning the actual offer, but left it up to them to tell me about it.
I approached the front desk. The girl behind the desk looked at me. I said hello. She promptly walked away from me without a word. Fortunately, another woman was working behind the desk. I asked her if there was any sort of trial period available to me so that I could try out the gym. She told me she was on her break, but the girl who just walked away would answer my question. After waiting awkwardly for several minutes, the girl who ignored me came back.
I started with, “I’m looking at getting a membership. Do you have any sort of trial period?” She told me that for $15, I could do a drop-in to try out the gym. I asked if she was sure, and wondered if there was some kind of thing where I can try out the gym for a week. I was strongly hinting. The answer was no. Drop-in for $15.
I left. I tried phoning later when other people were working, deciding to refer specifically to the commercial this time. I talked to a woman on the phone who said that I could definitely take advantage of the offer if I made an appointment for a consultation and I got the name of the person I would be meeting.
I showed up for my appointment a couple days later. At the desk was the woman who “was on her break” and couldn’t answer my yes or no question. I told her I had an appointment and who it was with.
The person I was supposed to meet wasn’t there. By this point, I was starting to lose patience.
“Why did I make an appointment, then?” I asked, smugly. Semantically, I was trapped, because the woman told me that while the person I was supposed to meet wasn’t there, she would be there shortly.
A few minutes later a girl came out to the front desk.
“You’re back,” she said. Of course, it had to be the girl who had ignored me a couple days before and then told me I couldn’t try out the gym without paying $15.
She went over the pricing info, and asked me what I was looking for at the gym. I told her that I had seen the commercial and wanted to take advantage of the $10 for a one week trial offer. She informed me that I had to have a coupon to qualify for the offer. I inquired how it would be possible to obtain a coupon from a television commercial. Evidently, in my silliness, I neglected to notice that the commercial says that I have to get the coupon from The Winnipeg Sun.
In all fairness, she did pull out the staff’s copy of the Sun and looked for the coupon, but to no avail. Then she made a call to some anonymous person to ask if that deal was still in effect. It wasn’t.
Now it was time for the showdown. She asked what I was going to do. I told her that if I were to spend hundreds of dollars on a gym membership, I should have some guarantee that I like the place. She kept pushing the $15 drop-in. I said I wanted to try out some of the fitness classes to see if they’re what I’m looking for and that $15 was kind of a rip-off for one visit.
Her response, quite bluntly, was that in life, I couldn’t expect to get things for free. I suspected that she had never even heard of economic game theory, but I decided to try explaining it to her simply.
“Basically, I can give you $10 for a week, and I might get a membership, or I can walk out right now, and you get nothing.”
So I walked, cursing the woman on the phone who told me I could take advantage of the deal when it was clear that they were going to do everything in their power not to let me have it.
Bison Rec
Bison Recreation Services also does not offer a free trial period and the drop-in fee is $9, $7 less than the Shapes drop-in fee. What the U of M gym has going for it is that their yearly memberships are relatively inexpensive for students, offering a one-year membership for $168 and they can be renewed at that price indefinitely, whether you are still a student or not. What they also have going for them is that they didn’t make me a promise that they never intended to keep.
For people just starting a fitness regime, entering a gym for the first time can be intimidating and make them feel insecure. Perhaps gyms should be as welcoming as possible, especially when considering that they’re not the only game in town.
The issue isn’t that I expect things for free. The life advice that the girl from Shapes felt qualified to impart to me was apt. The issue is that I was given incorrect information on the phone in the hopes of getting me down there to buy a membership. Perhaps it’s unrealistic for me to expect a company to act like they want my business.
No, nothing in life is free. Except three visits at Goodlife — within a week.
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Discussion
Interesting article.
I have had a similar run in with Shapes and would never recommend someone to that gym. I have never seen such a lack of customer service.
I am actually a member of Goodlife and would highly recommend it to anybody looking to get started at a gym, especially if they do not have a lot of experience. The staff are always very friendly and knowledgable.
Interestingly enough before I joined I also had a 3 visit pass and spoke to the Assistant Manager there and he was definitely very helpful and extremely friendly and was genuinely interested in my goals and helping me figure out the best way to acheive my goals the fastest way possible.
I had really no experience in the gym setting before this and now with the help of Goodlife and the gentleman that helped me I have made fitness part of my lifestyle and love it! I have lost 20 pounds in my first two months with the help of my trainer and couldnt be happier!
I have been a "happy member" at Shapes since it opened and I love going to workout there. My husband is also a member and feels the same! The staff are super friendly and add to the fun of going to Shapes! I recently brought my brother inlaw and his wife in on a free pass and they had never been to a gym before, they joined for a year and have been going faithfully for 4 months. Last year a friend of mine came to try some of the classes and she also ended up joining for a year and loves it there as much as I do! Shapes is a great facility with awesome, experienced instructors and a huge variety of classes! What more can I say!!!!!
I've been a member at Shapes for almost 10 years. I enjoy going there because the people are friendly and welcoming. I participate in the classes, which are numerous - more than any other gym in Winnipeg. I find the instructors are very friendly and helpful. I suppose anyone can have a bad experience anywhere, I can say that I certainly haven't had any negative experiences with any staff at Shapes.
I am a memeber of Shapes, and have been a for over a year. The hours are great, staff super nice and accommodating, equipment in great repair and they offer awesome classes. Highly recommend it!
Shapes Fantastic workout and variety of classes for all! If you like aerobic classes and want a fabulous workout, Shapes is the place for you. I only do aerobic classes, so instructors and routines are very important to making me stay motivated. I take 10 - 12 classes every week and having been to other gyms in Winnipeg and in Toronto, I can honestly say that Shapes has the best instructors. These instructors are the most qualified, enthusiatic, motivating, friendly, helpful and always provide challenging routines for all. I have been a member for over 10 years and Shapes has always been a very positive experience for me.
Shapes Nairn location,I was reading your comments on Shapes the other day and I can only write on the excellent reception one gets at the Nairn facility.The front staff is always friendly to everyone that comes in and the best part they know us by our name.
In the past years I have asked for guest passes for a number of people and like always never refused and when the new people arrived at Shapes the staff were always friendy and polite.
When the staff is approached with a question about the gym it was always answered in a very professional way. Never have I seen a staff member be rude too a member. Not saying this doesn't happen from time to time. Let us members be fair to the staff as well, sometimes we ask to much or are we in such a hurry and no time to wait till someone is free.
In the last three years Shapes as generously donated their gym facility to raise money and food for the Winnipeg Humane Society every boxing day.The staff and trainers volunteer their time and expertise in making this fundraiser a success.
I personally have no complaints about the gym and have recommended to a lot of my friends to join, it has great hours of operation, plenty of equipment for all, a wide variety of aerobics classes, weights and other programs that meet other individual needs.
Walter "Porky" Kachur
I have been a member at Shapes for many years, I find the staff friendly and welcoming. The front desk staff greet you with a smile and are very helpful. On top of all the equipment, there are numerous daily classes to choose from, so you never get bored and can change your workout to keep it interesting. The instructor's are fantastic, they motivate you and make the classes a lot of fun.
I have asked for, and received guest passes many times. My guests are treated very professionally, all their questions are answered and they are able to use the gym without any hassles or pressure to join.
I would highly recommend Shapes to anyone who asked. I think it a great place to workout.
My Favorite Shapes Story: I am a disgruntled member of shapes. I hate that I give them money but their location and "Power" classes are what keeps me there.
One of the worst mechanisms they have is that you must call 90 minutes in advance of any class (not 91 minutes and not 88 or you will be too late) in order to participate. So I called my 90 minutes in advance. Sometimes I have to get coworkers to do it for me because I'm in a meeting at that time.
So I made my reservation for a spot in the class. Great. Then, life happened, and I had to stay later at work and then got caught in a traffic jam. So because I knew there was a waiting list for this popular class, out of courtesy, I called Shapes to say I wouldn't be able to make the class.
The girl that answered the phone, in response to me letting her know that I wasn't able to make the class replied in the common condescending tone Shapes employees must be trained in using, "uh - I'm pretty sure I need 24 hours notice for your to cancel".
My mind stammered for a second and then I laughed out loud. " I signed up for the class 90 minutes ago, as you can see, that wouldn't be possible". She replied, "Oh ya - that's what I meant - 90 minutes in advance".
I then began to wonder whether the conversation was even worth continuing. I said "Hey, I'm trying to be polite, I'm just letting you know that class I signed up 90 minutes ago has an extra spot in it now!" The girl answered, "Oh ya, that's fine". and hung up.
She never took my name.
I've been a member at Shapes for several years and have always found their staff to be very friendly and welcoming! After working all day long, sometimes the last thing I feel like doing is hauling into the gym for a great workout and the enthusiastic girls at the front always cheer me up and get me going. I wouldnt give up my gym for anything! The classes are great and theyre great at staying on top of fitness trends like Zumba, spin and soon hot yoga!