Recently, I just finished taking advantage of 30-days free at a local gym. I received a coupon and found out that another friend of mine, who lived nearby, had the same coupon, so we signed up at the same time to be Workout Buddies. Surprisingly, there was no catch…’cept that the gym wasn’t a good one!
So here are some things to consider if&when you are planning to select a gym in the future. You know your gym sucks when…
- The staff, especially at the reception desk, isn’t friendly. Remember, just because you’re using a free pass, you are still a potential client!
- 2 out of the 8 sinks in the washroom work. This doesn’t change during subsequent visits.
- Similar to the sinks, a washroom stall that doesn’t have toilet paper, still doesn’t have t.p. upon your next visit. Even though you’ve pointed it out to the Eastern European Cleaning Lady.
- Not all showers work.
- There are multiple signs like, “Please do not shave/exfoliate in the steam room”, “Please do not leave bandages around”, etc. What kinda clients do they have anyway?
- Not only is the equipment old, but they aren’t maintained, are “Out Of Order” – sometimes with a sign, other times without, you cannot adjust the seat ’cause it’s broken, the thingy to adjust the weight on a machine is missing, etc.
- The lights in the steam room are burnt out. (And it’s completely pitch black in there, I’m talking Gay-bathhouse-dark!) There are no switches to adjust the amount of steam, it just comes out of a pipe that juts out of the wall. Furthermore, the steam room smells extremely mouldy; instantly transforming it from a health benefit to a health hazard!
- You see the Cleaning Lady eating KFC in the lounge area. I realise that her job is to clean, but doesn’t that send the wrong message to its members?
- You appear to be fitter than the Personal Trainers.
- You feel like you’re in Bikram Yoga…while you’re on the cardio machines, i.e. there is no circulation in the room!
- Warm water comes out of the water fountain. Mmm…
- Same Cleaning Lady smokes in the alleyway adjacent to your Zumba class and the smoke wafts right in. *cough, cough*
I think that *most* restaurants who offer a Groupon-type deal, especially if the establishment isn’t a new one is because the restaurant is probably bad. So if a gym is offering a deal, the same theory applies, no?
