Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Rant – All Star Fitness
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
January 27, 2009 at 11:55 pm #589604
hollyplaceParticipantI just wanted to rant about the guy who does membership and canceling of memberships at All Star Fitness. He was a jerk when I signed up and even more rude when I cancelled my membership and spoke down to me like I was a waste of his time. He went so far as to lie about how I couldn’t change my form of payment when I was filling out my paperwork. Thank goodness (RAVE) there was a nice woman working at the front desk who interrupted him and set the situation straight. I have worked in the customer service industry for years and I am just not sure how someone that talks to people the way he does still has a job, especially in friendly West Seattle. Whew, I feel better already.
January 28, 2009 at 3:00 am #656377
dawn211MemberThat’s why I joined the Y.
January 28, 2009 at 6:28 am #656378
WSBKeymasterAnd note as per the ad immediately off to the right (the YMCA is a longtime WSB sponsor), joining fees are 50% off till the end of the month (which is mere days away) :) – TR
January 28, 2009 at 8:34 am #656379
mom2sorenMemberWhy did you cancel your membership? Was it a bad experience all around? Just wondering, thought about joining…
January 28, 2009 at 1:42 pm #656380
cjboffoliParticipantI too have heard some similar things about their smarmy, high-pressure, “what can we do to put you in this membership today?” techniques. I joined Snap Fitness (which I first read about in the West Seattle Blog, of course) and it has been great so far.
January 28, 2009 at 2:04 pm #656381
TraciMemberI personally joined AllStar because they didn’t use pushy ways to get me to join. I walked in, asked for a tour and some info, and that’s just what I got. They never called to “check up” on me which was a first.
I understand the rant, though…There are some employees that are MUCH friendlier than others. Sorry to hear about them hassling you about the contract!
As a gym, mom2soren, I like it a lot. There’s a lot of space to stretch, whatever. It’s big enough to be somewhat anonymous, which is what I like but also has tons of active classes. Hope you find the right gym for you!
January 28, 2009 at 6:38 pm #656382
squareeyesParticipantI joined All Star and paid for a year up front. That entitled me to an additional three months of membership for free. Each time I went in I asked if my membership card was ready. Each time the receptionist would check the box and say “no, it hasn’t come in yet” so naturally I infer from this that the card is coming from an external source. After six weeks of this, I asked to speak to the manager. He said they make the cards upstairs and would have one ready the next time I came in. Why, in the previous six weeks, did the receptionist not once offer to investigate? Why did I have to ask for the manager?!? It was really indicative of the level of customer service on many levels. Right about the three month time I got a phone call to say that my membership was expiring and would I like to renew? I advised that my membership was good for another 12 months and perhaps they should correct their records. A couple of days later I got another call asking if I would like to renew my expiring membership. I think I got really abrupt with that caller. That was the last renew request I received at that time.
Then I started using the pool. No slow/medium/fast lanes; it’s a free-for-all. I did request that they label lanes but it fell on deaf ears. I hadn’t swum in years so am very slow, but I’m not all over the lane. My last time in the pool I selected the only lane with a single swimmer who turned out to be superfast. At one point he hit my head, didn’t stop to see if I was okay, continued to swim several laps before he paused, asked if I was okay, and then suggested I find another lane to swim in. Times like that I wish I could be a more confrontational person, but I’m in a pool for pete’s sake. As for the “lifeguard”, the person who sits in a plastic chair doing nothing…?
So finally, my year was nearly up. I had quit going to the gym months before. I drafted a letter advising that I was not renewing my membership, enclosed my membership card, and sent it. You know what happens next…the phone rings.
I’m with Snap Fitness now and am very happy with both the facilities and the management.
January 28, 2009 at 7:28 pm #656383
goodgracesParticipantDitto to what Cjboffoli wrote — I’ve heard the same.
January 28, 2009 at 7:45 pm #656384
swimcatMemberOh my- I quit AllStar over a year ago and couldn’t be happier. The employees strike me as pretty incompetent- ESPECIALLY the pool staff. They’ve created very dangerous conditions. Hopefully it has improved since I left, but it was that way for three years so I doubt it.
Squareeyes- sorry you got run over in the pool by a fast swimmer, but that’s the way it’s done. I qualified for Olympic Trials back in the day and I’ve been kicked/hit many times in the pool because I got in someone’s way (and I’ve hitted/kicked people in my way too). It’s not done on purpose, it just happens because someone wasn’t where they should be. It’s more avoidable if people go in a lane with someone their speed. I fought with All-Star forever to get some lane assignments, but NO! If they had, you probably wouldn’t have gotten hit.
January 28, 2009 at 7:47 pm #656385
swimcatMemberI mean I hit people- not hitted. oops!
January 29, 2009 at 12:00 am #656386
OliverMemberAll-Star is not family friendly and were totally insensitive when I wanted to post-pone my membership because I was pregnant and on bed rest. The guy at the desk said I could excercise while I was pregnant if I really wanted to and that they would insist that I keep paying because of my coontract. Since I didn’t have the energy the fight it, I kept paying until my contract was up (a few months) and then immediately cancelled my membership. I will never go back to a company that is that short-sighted and insensitive. I saw it as a big lost opportunity for All-Star, had they simply given me a post-ponement they would have had a loyal customer for life.
The YMCA, on the otherhand, has a loyal customer for life and is great to the whole family!
January 29, 2009 at 12:25 am #656387
hollyplaceParticipantI hear good things about the Y too. I might give them a try next time. I picked All Star before because they seemed to have a nicer/larger facility. I didn’t have a bad experience there, just the one guy who was a JERK.
January 29, 2009 at 12:55 am #656388
grrltraveler2007MemberI haven’t had any of those issues at All Star.. i’ve been there 3 years. I took time off while I was pregnant (actually the last month and the first two after I had her) and they were okay as long as you paid the $10/mo to keep it active.
They aren’t family friendly and their pool never seems to be open and/or warm but I don’t swim for my exercise so that’s okay. I wouldn’t consider them for mom and tots class because of the water temps.
I tried out the Ymca once I had the kid but I found the West Seattle facility to be too small for the hours I work out – 5-5:30am.. I don’t want to have to wait for a machine and for the week I tried it out, I always had to do something else first. Not such a big deal for some but I prefer to have it the other way. :) Just my two cents~
January 29, 2009 at 1:49 am #656389
cruiserMemberWow you go to the gym at 5am!!!! I must pass you when I’m on my home from the bar:)
January 29, 2009 at 2:40 am #656390
grrltraveler2007MemberIf you’re at the bar and I’m at the gym, who’s watching our kid? :)
January 29, 2009 at 3:29 am #656391
kcMemberWe’ve been members of both All Star and West Seattle Y. We stayed with All Star because we wanted a lot of pool time for us and our young children. Their open family swim is very broad and the lanes, at least when I tend to go, are usually available. It’s large and I never have to wait for machines. There are tons of classes.
The Y is a nice place and my friends who go there enjoy the community and seeing friends every time they go to workout. For me, it’s just too small and the pool is restricted as far as family swim time.
Having said all that, the staff at All Star needs a huge lesson in customer service. I’ve never encountered one that seemed to care about helping, answering questions, or doing more than just taking a membership card. They could learn a lot about building a community from the Y.
January 29, 2009 at 6:49 pm #656392
grrltraveler2007MemberHear, hear, KC.
January 29, 2009 at 7:54 pm #656393
RSMemberThis is not the first rant about All Star and their customer service. Maybe a gym member should bring these threads to the attention of management. If it was my business, I’d want to know that I had a bunch of pissed off customers/former customers so that I could make some changes or get rid of my less popular staff. I’m sure there are tons of nice people looking for jobs right now!
January 29, 2009 at 10:28 pm #656394
alki_2008ParticipantRS – I had the same thought after reading this thread. It’s entirely possible that the higher-level managers don’t know about these issues. There’s contact info at their website where a link to this thread could be sent.
EDIT: FWIW, I’ve submitted a note through their website with a link to this thread.
January 29, 2009 at 10:53 pm #656395
BonnieParticipantVery interesting reading. I belong to the Y and love it but have a hard time getting to the classes due to the time I need to get my kids to school. I’ve thought about checking out All Star once both my kids start elementary school but I think I’ll just stay with the Y. My daughter loves the Kids Gym.
January 30, 2009 at 12:22 am #656396
saneyMemberi actually like that all-star is relatively kid-free. i have tried the Y and i hated trying to swim laps during family hour, when noodles kept flying over into the lanes. the locker room at the Y is full of loud kids everywhere. all-star’s locker room is pretty quiet.
i like that allstar has so many machines..plus the ladies only gym is nice…i never have to wait. the class schedule has many different options for the different times.
January 30, 2009 at 1:18 am #656397
megMemberI go to Allstar and, while I have some complaints, I am overall happy.
The things I like:
*the new spin bikes (brand spankin’ new & lots of them!),
*the variety of classes/times offered, (95% of the instructors are really good & definately better than other gyms I have gone to),
*(the day care is great (the Kids Club staff are really nice and my daughter seems very happy there)
* the pool. I have been a swimmer my whole life and I have to say that this is the first place I have been satisfied with the pool. Many times I have a lane to myself. If not, then we split lanes with 1 other person so assigning speeds to lanes is unnecessary. In the year I have been going I only had to ‘circle swim’ because there were 3 in a line once for part of my workout. This, to me, is nothing short of a miracle. At most of the city pools you will share your lane with 5 other people who are ignoring the lane designations (and the lifeguards will not enforce) so you’ll be in a fast lane with someone who can barely swim.
*it is a big gym, but never feels crowded or overwhelming.
* it is convenient.
The things I don’t like:
*the front desk staff (nearly all of them are completely incompetent regardless of the basic question I have for them),
* the membership guys (they seem to be all be men and all just hang out and talk to each other).
* the showers could be cleaner….but it is still cleaner than other gyms I have belonged to (mainly the ever-disgusting and foul 24 hr fitness)
*I have heard the management is kind of crap and I know they don’t listen to input from members very often from what I hear.
I would gladly stay at All Star for the pool and spin classes alone, but am glad there are so many other options.
January 30, 2009 at 1:36 am #656398
jschuMemberTry Bally’s- friendly staff- no pushy workers. The ones cleaning the lockerooms don’t say anything. They are happy to be here. no complaints and everything is clean.
January 30, 2009 at 1:47 am #656399
charlabobParticipantWe stopped at AllStar on the way home to cancel our membership. After reading this, I was loaded for bear :-) The membership guy listened to our story, and gave us the name of the GM so we could suspend payment rather than cancel — thus not losing our sign-up fee. We’ll see if he’s right — but if it does, in fact, happen — it seems reasonable. I’ll report back after I talk to the GM (and I’ll also let him know about this thread — in case he’s interested.)
Stay tuned …
c
January 30, 2009 at 4:23 am #656400
herongrrrlParticipantAnother dissatisfied customer! I was a member for years, loved the variety of facilities and classes, but eventually got tired of freezing in the pool (not remedied despite multiple complaints from people in addition to me), wading through big hairballs in the showers (and other sanitation issues throughout) and the fact that the working conditions there were so poor that my excellent personal trainer decided to go elsewhere (unfortunately to the east side, where I’m not willing to commute just to work out).
For a variety of reasons the Y isn’t for me. Now my workouts consist of walking, yoga at home, or swimming at SW/Colman pools. Does the job, and lots cheaper than joining a club!
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.