bad experiences with fitness first?

[Charmander]

im having problems with the fitness first. sobrang makulit. iv had enough of them so i think its appropriate to post my bad experience.

i started to go to fitness first greenhills because i was invited by my friend. i paid 2550 and they said it is good for 3months. i started jan 20+,2004. at first i thought it was nice. ID scanner. big locker room. lots of equipment. however, when i tried to enter after february started, they did not allow me to. they were asking for my payment for february. i told them i just started 2 weeks ago but they wouldnt listen. they just kept on asking for my payment. i was so pissed. i asked if i could talk to the one who received my payment, cher. after cher talked to the receptionist, i was allowed to enter. she told me they will try to fix my account so i wont be stopped in the entrace next time i visit(note: i didnt hear anyone saying sorry for the inconvience they put me through). on my next visit, it was still the same. i was still blocked. again i called cher. i was allowed to enter and was promised again to have my account fixed for my next visit. sadly, i was blocked again for the third time but this time i didnt have to ask them to call cher because they already recognized me. for my whole stay(until march 22, i was not able to enter the gym without talking to the receptionist, sometimes i had to call cher since not all the receptionists recognize me. sobrang hassle. parang walang kwenta yung id scanner kung kailangan ko pa magpakilala.)

during my stay, i constantly get calls from them. i hate it because they just kept on asking if i can bring some friends to join the gym (and i always said no). sometimes they even call during my class hours. i hate getting spammed in emails. tapos sila tatawag pa sa cell.

my last visit, march 22, i was with my friend. when we arrived the gym was full. all the 20+ threadmills were in use. we werent also able to use any machine because all of them were being used. that dealt the final blow so it became my final visit.it was ok since my membership was supposed to end march 30 anyway. i thought it wud end april 20 since it was supposedly 3months but they said my january counted as a month(daya talaga).

during summer, i was receiving txt messages from them. they texted me every month asking me for my payment for that month. i never replied because it will just waste my txt and my time. lately i started to get those texts more often. twice a week. kapal talaga.

this morning someone from fitness first called me. she was asking for my payment for the month. i told her i dont go to the gym anymore. she asked why and i told her sobrang puno yung gym(kapal talaga sobrang puno na nga kinukulit pa ko). she said sayang naman because computerized daw(she was kinda vague, i think she was referring to their database that sends letters to their members to collect payments, which i received yesterday). she even said hindi daw nacredit sa credit card ko. hello? i paid them in cash when i started. i dont have a credit card.

im not the only one who experienced these problems, i have 2 other friends who also suffered the same thing. im not sure if the ones they referred to the gym also experienced the same.

right now im a new gym(my 2nd, my first gym was fitness 1st) . i can definitely say that their services are not worth my money. in my current gym, there are more friendly trainers and you will rarely experience waiting before you can use a machine.

i just want everyone to know this. i hate it when i see fitness first advertisements. it doesnt say anything about their service. and after the members get traumatized by their bad service, they continue to plague them by doing stuff that only make them look very desperate for more memberships.

anyone who wants to share any experiences? good or bad is fine

[yahoogirl1976]

wow i thought i was the only one. i went on a trial workout there and this salesguy from fitness first the fort calls my phone like at least 20 times a day. i did not pick up the first 2 calls because i could not recognize the number. when i finally picked it up, it was him. ang kulit talaga! i tried to be patient kasi i kept on telling to myself that he is only doing his job. but it really got annoying because he just kept on calling and calling and calling. and when i texted him that i cant make it to the fort, he would literally beg in the text to "stop by" even for just 10 minutes. grrr kulit talaga!!! i wish makuha siya sa simpleng no. good thing lang ay lately he hasnt called. i hope hindi na maulit.

[GilmoreGal]

Bakit kaya mkukulit mga sales people nila. My dad has been getting fone calls from fitness first. Binabara ko na lang sila whenever i answered the fone. Here's one

..after a few convesrsation..this is how it ended

fitnessfirst: We open at 6am, but slimmers world (i told him my dad's a member) opens during mall hours
me: Not true, other slimmers world branch opens as early as 5:30am!
fitnessfirst: ah ganun ba? Thank you nalang

[car728]

d alam ang competitors!

[Charmander]

nyek. so i ges mangungulit pa rin pala sila sa kin for the next few months? mukhang walang mangyayari kahit i-reject mo ng i-reject yung offer nila. they keep a list of cel#s lang ata tapos even if you said yes or no to them, they will still try to call agen after a couple of weeks.

[pattybee]

I heard recently that the Fitness First branch in Alabang was held up by a group of armed men. One of the members was my friend's sister who came home crying because she had lost everything to the holduppers. And she complained that the staff of Fitness First didn't even bother to make sure their customers were ok after what happened.

[Charmander]

ya, in my experience, after u use your free one time personal training, you are pretty much on ur own. parang wala nang pakialam except for some occasional help from few friendly trainers.

[skuidward]

may flaws din pala itong FiFi... tsk tsk...

[blue_jay_el]

Originally posted by Charmander
ya, in my experience, after u use your free one time personal training, you are pretty much on ur own. parang wala nang pakialam except for some occasional help from few friendly trainers.

yeah.... mejo gulat ako kasi when I was having the tour, i asked if the trainers assit the clients, oo naman daw. Pero nung naging member ako, I realized that the trainers will only consistenly assist you if you hire them as personal trainer.

Unlike in my previous gym, (w/c is only 1k per month for student members) wherein you could just thre trainers to assist/spot you

[Charmander]

yup, in my current gym, no need to pay extra. the trainers will always assist you. once you have tried other gyms, only then you will realize that fitness first is not worth your money.

[broccoli]

no bad experiences so far.

[GilmoreGal]

blue_jay_el ganun naman usually. So that u'll avail of their personal trainer program. Kung hindi, edi wala nang mag p-personal trainer diba?

But *** iba naman siguro i-assist ka once u ask for help.

Charmander *** iba naman lagi nag-aassist sayo..baka type ka

[Charmander]

GilmoreGal hehe but wouldnt it be better if lahat sila pwede ka i-assist(especially pag nakatayo lang yung trainer)? lately ko na lang talaga na perfect yung proper forms ng exercises because in my new gym sinasabi agad sa kin ng trainers pag mali yung form ko. nakakapanghinayang tuloy yung 3month stay ko sa fitness first because i could have gained more lean muscles kung nasabihan lang ako na yung ibang exercises ko mali yung form.

blue_jay_el i have a friend pala who hired a personal trainer. parang hindi nga personal kasi bumabalik lang sa client pag tapos mo na yung sets. parang sinasabi lang kung ano ang next exercise. im not sure nga lang pag totally babantayan ka pag nag free weights ka na since yung friend ko puro machines lang ginagamit. in my current gym naman baliktad, nandun sila while you are doing the set. aalis lang sila sets mo habang nagpapahinga ka which is a lot better. plus im not paying extra for personal training.

[bluejeanbaby]

Sorry to hear about you bad experience at Fitness First. I'm a member of Slimmers World Trafalgar. It's in De la Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati. I paid P4000 for 6 months pero exclusive lang ako dun sa branch na yun. I'd say it's worth it. I wouldn;t pay P2000+ a month to go to a gym. No matter how fancy it looked pero pangit naman yung customer service. People in SLimmers World are nice and ok. They make an effort to know their customers para kahit maiwan yung ID mo di ka i-hahassle. Charmander, I suggest you shar your experience to everyone who plans to enroll in a gym.

[Charmander]

ya, thats one lesson i learned. when looking for a gym, you should prioritize the quality of the service. 2nd lang yung equipments/facilities. kahit maraming facilities pero wala naman mag aassist sayo walang kwenta din (especially if you are a first timer). and kahit sobrang daming equipments but pagpunta mo di ka naman makasingit, you just wasted money and time for that visit. para san pa yung binayad mong premium if palagi ka naman naghihintay. its much better if tuloy tuloy yung work out mo, not only mas effective yung work out, mas mabilis ka pa matatapos.

[moonshine]

hindi lang ako ang may bad experience... my sister, my brother, pati na dad ko. 4 kasi kaming nagenroll dun...ang mali namin, we gave out our credit card details. NEVER AGAIN. never mauulit kahit saang gym pa ako sumali na bibigay ko credit card details ko.
ang nangyari, december pa ako nagbigay ng letter of termination sa kanila pero they billed me up to june the following year. bandang march i complained to them about the billings: di biro yun, kasi almost 2thou a month ang bill sa akin... sabi nila i never submitted any termination letter daw. siyempre galit na galit ako, eh kasabay kong mag-submit ng termination letter ang kapatid ko at dad ko. yung sa kanila nag take effect ng february (they have this policy pala na pag mag terminate ka, you have to pay one more month's worth of membership before they terminate your membership... tsk tsk tsk!).
anyway, yung kausap ko dun sabi gumawa raw ako ulit ng letter of termination at ibigay sa kanila. so sige, gawa ako. aba...april i was still billed. i complained again, nagresign na yung dati kong kausap iba na naman kausap ko...sabi "ah baka di pa nareflect sa computer namin kaya na-bill ka uli". double check daw niya, ek ek... so sige. May---na-"bill" na naman ako. grabe na yun. pinuntahan ko na naman sila, inaway ko na kasi napaka inefficient nila. june lang napa-reverse ang charges (worth 3 months ang nireverse nila kahit na dapat eh 4 months worth yon.) di na ako nakipagtalo kasi sawa na din ako at pagod na pero i learned my lesson.
prior to my family's terminating our accounts with them, ang di ko nagustuhan ay: lahat ng holiday, either closed din sila or late sila magbukas at maaga magsara (example: open at 10am, close at 2pm). samantalang iyong slimmers world (where im also a member up to now), mahal na araw at pasko lang sarado, ultimo black saturday may normal aerobics sked na...kahit na dec 24 normal working hours sila, but closed lang ng 2 hours earlier. tama ba naman yun na i pay almost 2thou a month tapos parang mas "masipag magbukas" yung mas "chipipay" na gym.
tapos may issues din sa staff nila...pinagpapasa-pasahan ka, di masyadong marunong ang mga trainers saka either understaffed sila or puro "motivators" ang andun. i was thinking: aba, eh pareho lang ang level or service dito saka sa slimmers...bakit ako nagbabayad ng premium price para dito.

my sister had the same experience as me when she terminated her account a few months after we did. ganun din, nagrequest siya, gawa ng letter...they still continued to bill her for another 2. similar yung hassle na inabot niya sa pagpapa-reverse ng charges.

[Charmander]

oh.. grabe din pala experience mo. buti di ako gumamit ng credit card. palagi kasi may nagtetxt sa kin, di daw nababawas sa credit card ko yung bill for the month. di ko pinapansin because i dont even have a credit card. this month may letter silang pinadala, may nakalagay pang credit card number, i dont know where they got that. iinform ka lang pala pag di ka pa nagbabayad. as long as they can get your money, wala na silang pakialam.

actually lagi din nila palusot yung hindi nagrereflect sa computer. nung 2nd and 3rd month ko palagi ako di makapasok kasi di raw ako bayad sabi sa computer. pero yung tumawag sila sa kin a few days ago, naging ok yung database nila bigla. alam nila pati yung date kung kelan ako huling nagpunta. parang gumagana lang yung computer nila kapag sila ang magbebenefit, hindi sa customers.

dapat nga di ka nahirapan sa pag terminate mo ng account. sabihin nating hindi nila nareceive yung termination letter mo, they should still be considerate enough to save you all the hassles since they have a record of all your visits including your very last.

[babyguilder]

Buti na lang guys pumasok ako sa thread na to.Magkakaroon ata ng bagong branch jan sa robinson's metroeast,namimigay sila ng brochures sa may entrance ng mall.Were planning pa naman ng mga friends ko to enroll there kasi malapit lang sa amin at nsa mall sya.Good thing!At least alam ko na.No way na magpa enroll ako jan.

[qtqt]

hi moonshine,
fortunately, i had no problems like that when i terminated my fitness first membership at JG Summit Makati. i really made sure when it would be terminated AND i made them sign a received copy - MAY i suggest to everyone to do this. so at least may "laban" kayo.

nway, i was fed up with that branch. it was relatively new, about 3 months old when i joined in but after several months, nagkasira-sira ang locker rooms, puno ang shower, NWALAN ng tubig while i was showering, di ako makapag treadmill and so i decided THIS IS NOT WORTH IT!

and so i switched gyms. i went to THE Spa RCBC. after several months malaman-laman ko magiging fitness first plus na sila, i talked talaga to the sales/receptionist, and they said naman na they wouldn't change their marketing strategy... kasi fitness first parang mass marketing talaga. ang The Spa they keep their rates higher para di masyadong marami people.

about the trainers there (the ones you pay for) they really assist the client and NEVER leave them till the session is over. i never like personal trainers but once in awhile someone comes over and spots me or teaches me how to do it right. friendly staff too.

i'm really glad i switched... grabe para talagang palengke ang fitness first makati!

Originally posted by moonshine
hindi lang ako ang may bad experience... my sister, my brother, pati na dad ko. 4 kasi kaming nagenroll dun...ang mali namin, we gave out our credit card details. NEVER AGAIN. never mauulit kahit saang gym pa ako sumali na bibigay ko credit card details ko.

[NAKEDandSACRED]

grabe naman pala experiences nyo. one time i overheard one of their sales staff talk to a middle-aged woman who has just enrolled, kung ano daw ang schedule ng ballroom dancing class nila. the guy said that they don't have that class but she can attend body jam, jazz, or hi-lo kasi "pareho lang yun". of course not, magkaiba yun. although the 3 exercises mentioned e puro sayaw nga, they are nothing like a ballroom dancing class. those are high-intensity aerobic dancing classes. this type of scenario could be a problem later on because the sales staff made the client to believe na para ngang ballroom dancing yun.

anyways, i've been a member of fitness first makati for a year already and since i'm a passport member, i can go to the other branches as well. and in that one year, it was only once that i encountered a problem, when i was charged double for a massage treatment i availed. but i immediately reported it to them and was given a discount in my next month's bill. so yun, i guess the key there was i was also prompt in reporting it to them, and di ko rin sila tinigilan until they gave me a definite solution dun sa reklamo ko.

no fitness gym is perfect, as i've heard not so good stories about other gyms. but i still believe that fitness first is still better than the others. i have friends whom i've influenced to switch to FF and so far they're satisfied. if you had a bad experience with one trainer, it doesn't mean that all the trainers are the same. i can mention names like jerry, rommel, ronald, anthony, manel and kristine, all FF-RST trainers who are friendly and helpful. just approach them, they won't bite. i guess i was also lucky to have a membership consultant who was honest and explained everything i needed to know when i enrolled.

i've also seen improvements, at least in the makati branch. they didn't have security guards before, now they have. and new security measures will be implemented this july, because of the alabang incident. there is also a manager's night monthly where you can vent all your complaints, and food is also served.

so yun, i suggest to people like babyguilder, try nyo parin. find it out for yourself. request for a free trial, ask everything. at para di magalit mga kakilala nyo, don't fill-out the referral forms.