Learn how gyms are making money off you!
by dailymuscle on November 17, 2005
Found this good article at Leonard Fitness which exposes what Gyms (in general) do to squeeze the most they can out of you (squeeze my flab out means can lar.. don’t squeeze my money!). It talks on Unnecessary Down Payment, Personal Trainers, Membership Contracts, Rates, and more.
Here’s an excerpt from the article.
Personal Trainers or Car Salesmen?
Second to the customers themselves, personal trainers are a gym’s largest asset. Many gyms encourage their personal trainers to become what basically amounts to car salesmen who sell personal training services.
Read the full article HERE.
I think this is so real and relevant to us today in Malaysia are doing the exact same things right under our noses. If you frequent any of the established gym chains here in Malaysia (Fitness First, Celebrity Fitness, California Fitness, Clark Hatch, etc), then this one’s for you.
Read also:
- Review - Directory of Gold’s Gyms at GymTicket.com
- Personal Trainer Gifts Money Cannot Buy - Testimonies and Referrals
- Mun’s Fitness Blog - Your Best Online Resource for Reviews on Fitness Centres/Gyms in Malaysia
- Personal Training Sessions - Is It Worth My Money?
- EGO LIFTING at gyms today
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank goodness, the BF and I were smart enough. We joined celebrity fitness about 1/2 a year ago. So far so good. We joined without needing to pay the downpayment/one time payment nonsense and also the processing fee which would have cost us RM188 but the fact was that, both the payment was for 2 free pilate classes (which we didn’t need) and four free personal training sessions. We’re not paying RM149 monthly just to utilise the gym which I think is still quite high because another friend is paying at RM139. But what the heck, it was better than paying RM188 for a normal membership.
Then recently, we thought of changing our status to passport so we can utilise the new gym at Subang Parade as well as the one at 1U. We went to see the ’salesperson’ at Subang Parade and said that I had to fork out RM99 for processing fee (the one I escaped from paying) because I was under student membership (the reason why I only pay RM149..crap) and would have to pay RM20 monthly for a passport membership (which I thought was oklah). We asked them whether they can waive the processing fees for me because they’ve done it before and many people are paying lower but they’re not under the student membership. Then they tried to crap and said that their promotion varies and that it’s not possible to waive. We didn’t wanna give them a hard time so we went back to our old consultant and guess what, I just have to pay the monthly increased fee for my passport membership which would now be RM169.
Never act hard up/desperate. Say you’re from another gym and they’d be more than willing to abide to whatever you want (most of the timelah) to make you their member =)
Yes.. all those sales people at Fitness First CAN waive most of the fees. You just gotta be convincing enough. I’m quite happy with the RM165/mth I’m paying for my passport membership. :)
without PT>>>>i dont have any idea about who can help me to workout edi..coz those machinese are hard to understanable..lol
Hmmm I just joined Fitness First again under the Friends n Family plan. Paying RM105 for for a passport memberhsip. I think it’s one helluva good deal!
Which brings me to another question…by the way DM, which Fitness First do u usually train at?
The Sandman: Hey.. yeah that sounds like a good deal. I pay RM165/month for my passport membership. I usually train at Fitness First Menara Axis, Wisma Consplant, and Menara Manulife. And you?
Mostly on weekdays Ill be at Menara SPK and on weekends, Saturdays to be specific, Ill be at Menara Axis with the girlfriend.
Probably ill bump into you once of these days ;)
currently, im paying 1360.8 for a period of 24 mths at a rather popular gym here in Sg. usually it’s approx double for e same period of time.
dividing it out it wud be 56.7/mth. there are no ‘joining fees’, ‘admin fees’ or whatever not. flat rate.
but this was e promotion that they were having in Jan 2007 :) enticed by e great offer, i signed up, after days of contemplating.
one thing abt California Fitness here in Sg (not sure abt e ones in Msia) is this:
my fren, J, signed up for CaliFit at a so-called promo period.. 89/mth, with some joining fee, admin fee, etc all waived ‘because my boss is being nice today’ (e fitness consultant said).. all J had to do was to sign a 1-year deal, pay e 1st, 2nd and 12th mth upfront and e rest by auto-debit.
being very interested, i went to CaliFit after J’s recommendation and talked to the guys there, stating that i wud like to join e gym as well (together with my sister).. but then i said that i was not able to pay up a lump sum of 400 x2 (sis and i) at one go.
after e fitness consultant (J’s friend actually) had ‘discussed w his boss what can be done abt my situation’ he finally came back to me and said that he wud waive all e admin fees and waht not, and bring down e monthly fee to 79/mth. i insisted that i cud not pay that much, and he brought it down to 69/mth not only that, i wud not hav to pay e 12th month!
after summore negotiating, it then went down to 65/mth and i did not hav to sign a year deal and i cud quit after my first 2 mths.
finally at e last and final desperate attempt to make me sign e dotted line, it was down to 59/mth.
*all prices quoted are in SGD.
i did NOT join california fitness btw. forgot to add that :D
i didnt know that you could actually BARGAIN prices with these gyms. from what i understand, the rates are usually fixed, until they come up with a promotion period.
59/month, SGD or not, is still one helluva bargain! :D
The Sandman: that was exactly e reason why i did not want to join California Fitness.
My friend, J, was so disgusted by their tactics. she has already taken advantage of e promotion that i took up and is joining me May onwards! e one that i’m joining is only 56.7/mth (GST included) woohoo! :P
btw, when CaliFit offered me e 59/mth deal, e fitness consultant told me in confidence: please don’t tell J i’m giving u this deal.
The Sandman: Perhaps you already have.. I wouldnt know. Reminds me of one incident some time ago when someone asked me at the gym - “have you checkout out the site dailymuscle.com before?”. It was so hard to stop myself from smiling.
fitchick: Hmm.. thats a good detailed review. Can I use it as a writeup? ;)
hmm.. maybe it needs more details, shall i think abt it first n furnish u w as much details as possible? i did write it at 201am… :S i may need to read thru it n see what ive missd out, but essentially everythg’s there. :)
fitchick: Sure. More details would be good. Then mail it to me? Thanks. ;)
u betcha. ;)
The Sandman: Wow, you’re only paying $105 for the equivalent of $175 that I’m paying for the same Passport membership benefits? Extra $70 is a whole lot of difference man, I’m beginning to feel abit ripped off by FF already. Apparently I heard most of their MCs are pulling in anyone they can find under the same F&F offer for the sake of meeting their sales target. Sigh, wished I was eligible for that kinda dirt cheap offer now.
DM: email.
Hi J,
I totally understand how u feel. My gf feels exactly as u do since she is paying RM175 for her passport membership too. She was tempted to kick me in the nuts when I told her I could get this rate lol! I do agree that the price difference is really a big deal. U could certainly do a lot with RM70, especially for those who park at these gyms.
Since I was an ex-staff there, one of my ex colleagues rang me up and went like “Dude, I’ve got an extra FnF voucher and heard u’ve been looking for this promo? Well here u go…” so I quickly ran to Manulife to get signed up!
Although they don’t get commission for FnF membership, it does count into their sales target. Tried pulling some strings to get the gf to change her membership to FnF but its impossible. You will have to be an ex-member for at least 6 months to be eligible for it.
On a separate note, I heard that the club might likely raise their Home membership rates. I find this rather shocking since the introduction of new competitors in the market (califit, celebrity etc..) they should make their prices more competitive too. Raising the fees will logically drive their customers away! Quite an unusual strategy…hmmmm
DM: I havent the slightest idea on how u look like. Probably u could us a hint or 2? :P
You could have walked right past me many times for all I know lol!
The Sandman: ha mayb u shud jz walk up to any guy at random, strike up a conversation n then say: have u heard of dailymuscle.com? or have you checkout out the site dailymuscle.com before? perhaps u might notice smth.. like sudden lips-spasm, or uncontrollable-mouth-twitching.. muahahaha.. :)
oops sorry.. random talking. yo DM! :D
Hmm speaking about that, I did notice a guy training at Axis last Friday. He looked pretty serious while training, what I would typically imagine DM be like :))
All the talk is abt Fitness First and California Fitness. What abt True Fitness??? Any gossip??? They’re very much sales based too!
My friend check out the gym after 3 months I signed up and his offer for a 2 year membership was RM70/mth and I signed up for RM89/mth.
The Sandman: Actually.. I think I’ve unintentionally left enough clues in this site to allow someone to know who I am. But then, you’d need to be a dailymuscle.com stalker to be able to put the bits and pieces together. And btw, it was not me you saw on Friday. I was at FF Manulife.
J’ Girl: I don’t have any gossip - perhaps you should enlighten all of us more, like what fitchick has done! :)
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