Warning about Carlisle gym

cojack101

Ive been a member of Carlisle gym (one of Ben Dunnes Gyms) for the last 6 months, and the standard has dropped to appalling.

Every locker in the men's changing rooms was taken tonight, I managed to get one of the last few left, but people who arrived after me couldn't use the gym because their was no where to put their gear.

Worse than that: the steam room had at least 6 empty water bottles in it. The gym floor was peppered with empty bottles and general rubbish. Quite sickening was the fact that every shower cubicle had a selection of plastic bags, wrappers, and empty toiletry bottles.. someone had even left their underwear in one of them.

My membership is up 1st of Feb, I shall not be renewing.

Barry.Oglesby

Genuine question:

Did you complain to management in writing (ie. formally)?

cojack101

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Genuine question:

Did you complain to management in writing (ie. formally)?

I said it to the desk on the way out, they said they would look after it.

paddymc1

I was just going to check out this Gym to see what it like but maybe I'll look else where. Any good places people?

Gillo

In fairness to Carlisle (or any other gym for that matter) it doesn't really say much about the members who just throw their litter wherever they like. Yes they staff in the gym should be ensuring the place is clean at all times but it's the members (and I'm not saying all members) who are causing the problem.

As for the lockers, thats a different story and one of the reasons why I don't go to my gym at peak times if at all possible.

chillywilly

It's probably The Viper making all that mess, just ask him to clean up after himself next time you see him I'm sure he'll understand!

cojack101

Gillo wrote: »

In fairness to Carlisle (or any other gym for that matter) it doesn't really say much about the members who just throw their litter wherever they like. Yes they staff in the gym should be ensuring the place is clean at all times but it's the members (and I'm not saying all members) who are causing the problem.

As for the lockers, thats a different story and one of the reasons why I don't go to my gym at peak times if at all possible.

I'll agree 100% with that. Its a disgrace that people do it in the first place, and without being ageist (Im only in my 20's myself), I might attribute a large chunk of that to the number of under 18's at the gym. Its certainly where the majority of loud vulgarity in the locker room comes from.

I will say this for the staff at Carlisle, their was a gentleman who spent alot of time cleaning the showers and locker room. That guy did a fantastic job, and the place was spotless anytime he was working. However I have not seen him recently, and I have not seen a replacement for him either.

Degsy

Went to use the water fountain in the weights room in TF the other day.Some dirty bastard had hawked a huge looger right into it and the force of the water wasnt enough to wash it away.

Absolutely disgusting,and the same goes for whatever scumbag spat into the bin the other day,leaving the phlegm visible from 3 feet away.

Gillo

No offence to the genuine people who go there but by the sound if it the place is full of dirtbags, reading posts like that I'm glad I spend that bit extra in the gym I'm in!

alphabeat

monday nights in january are always the time to avoid the gym , its full of noobs until about mid febuary after which most of em either die or go back to tayto land.

saturdays are also bad as it seems most of dublins cab drivers go there to loudly talk bollox - either in the steam room
or the changing room , while blowdrying their shrivelled old balls in front of everyone.

and the amount of kids in carlisle is unfcuking real.

no problem with young lads training , but most of em havent a clue what they are doing and just taking up space and air.

im moving once my year is up as well - pity , as it aint a bad spot.

Dotcomdolly

As a female member of Calrisle I would say we have it good over our side
It does drive me mad the *loud* ****e talk & noisemaking that goes on in the steamroom/sauna. I just want to bloody relax. I did ask a loud mixed group to quiten down one time and was told to go back to where I came from :rolleyes: sure that won't take me long so, 10 minute walk!

cojack101

Well Im going again tonight so Ill let you know if the general filth was a one night slip up or is this what the bar is set at now.

Degsy

alphabeat wrote: »

saturdays are also bad as it seems most of dublins cab drivers go there to loudly talk bollox - either in the steam room
or the changing room , while blowdrying their shrivelled old balls in front of everyone.

.

True..the shrivlled balls brigade love to hang out on saturday evenings in the nip shiiting on about football as if they were ever fit enough to play it.

Garoid6

Yeah there are some obnoxious a-holes there, some have no common sense. Guys hogging all the free weights, yapping, hangin around machines when there's obviously others waiting to use them.

Whats with all the kids during the day, dont they have school?

Couldn't go this morning so will head tonight, I'll try and keep my cool.

Oisinjm

cojack101 wrote: »

I'll agree 100% with that. Its a disgrace that people do it in the first place, and without being ageist (Im only in my 20's myself), I might attribute a large chunk of that to the number of under 18's at the gym. Its certainly where the majority of loud vulgarity in the locker room comes from.

I will say this for the staff at Carlisle, their was a gentleman who spent alot of time cleaning the showers and locker room. That guy did a fantastic job, and the place was spotless anytime he was working. However I have not seen him recently, and I have not seen a replacement for him either.

I think its completely unfair to attribute all the mess to the u18s in the gym. Im 18 and have been in Carlisle for the last 2 years as my school doesn't have weights facilities. I've seen the roided up "I'm superior" arseholes throwing weights around not cleaning up after themselves and leaving their bottles lying around. In fact when it comes to the shower room it would most definitely an older crowd that would be causing the problems. Lets be honest about it, younger people are much less open about having their mickeys out on display and will get changed/shower much quicker.

I find the whole, drying their bollocks and arsehair with the hair driers of the older men completely disturbing and horrible, much more so than a few bottles on the gym floor.

I know I'm ranting at this stage (sorry mods), but please don't tar all of us with the same brush. Yes, the younger members may cause a mess, but so do the older lads and women. In fact, I'm sure if you confronted someone younger about it, they wouldn't do it again.

ilovelamp2000

This is one of those occasions where you seem to get what you pay for.

richierichballs

I agree with the TS.

The Carlisle is a disgrace, I have been a member for the last three years and I have slowly watched it get worse and worse.

My main issue is the new benches the put in mid last year,
All to keep the place a little tidier and make less work for the staff,
Not caring about the actually people who use the gym itself.

When I heard they where replacing the free weights I was delighted,
but then when I seen what they had brought in I was disgusted.
The gym in itself is a disgrace,
And to be honest I blame Ben Dunne, he is a tight arsed twat.

As the TS was saying about the lockers, why couldn't that have been done through the night?
Why not pay the few extra quid to get the lads to work through the night, Ben? Your not exactly stuck for money,
Can't even get a bench in your gym passed 4 o' clock in the evening I'm sure you could stretch as far as doing maintenance work during closing times...

I noticed the same last year when they where putting in the new benches,
They done it at about 5 o' clock in the evening when the gym was at its busiest,
One side of the whole gym was closed off. Causing the other side to be packed like Sardines,
This also happened, when they where putting in new floors again they did this at the gyms busiest time.

It's little things like this that piss me off about the Carlisle,
When it was snowing they made hardly any effort to clear the car park,
I drove in seen the state of the place and went upto West Park with a friend who had a free pass and no hassle with parking whatsoever.
And I also want to add that I made a new years resolution to get to the gym everyday BEFORE work in the morning,
It says they open at six o' clock, I went four times the first week and not once was the person opening the place there at six.
One morning I was waiting til 6.25am,
Again if your in a rush to get to work this is not ideal, I could go on and on about this dive but I won't.....

I've had enough, My membership is up in February and I won't be going back, The place is a kip.

faceman

Jaysus that sounds awful! I guess as a poster said above you do get what you pay for. :-/

cojack101

No change on last night Im afraid.

richierichballs - is west park any good?

SanoVitae

In my experience (13 years of working in gyms), the cheapest gyms tend to get their instructors to do all the cleaning. They are able to offer very low prices because they save so much money by not hiring full-time cleaners.

The downside of this is not just poor hygiene levels. Instructors, who are usually paid a poor hourly rate, hate having to do the cleaning (I know I always did).

As a result, they leave and the turnover of the gym staff is huge. A member comes back for their re-assessment 6 weeks after their first one and is told that the instructor who was looking after them has now left. This has a big effect on retention because many members leave, disatisfied with the constant change in staff personel. So the turnover of members is huge too but the gym continues to attract new members because of their rock-bottom prices.

As has been said already, you do get what you pay for.

MarkY91

im in carlisle and some of the stuff you said is true but its mainly down to dirty scruffbags who dont clean up after themselves, is it really that hard to take your fcuking plastic bag outa the shower with you ya dirty dirty man!!

richierichballs

cojack101 wrote: »

No change on last night Im afraid.

richierichballs - is west park any good?

Yeah west park is good it's never as busy in the evenings either,
I'm going up again tomorrow evening with my friend I think I will open a membership this weekend.

The Davestator

SanoVitae wrote: »

In my experience (13 years of working in gyms), the cheapest gyms tend to get their instructors to do all the cleaning. They are able to offer very low prices because they save so much money by not hiring full-time cleaners.

The downside of this is not just poor hygiene levels. Instructors, who are usually paid a poor hourly rate, hate having to do the cleaning (I know I always did).

As a result, they leave and the turnover of the gym staff is huge. A member comes back for their re-assessment 6 weeks after their first one and is told that the instructor who was looking after them has now left. This has a big effect on retention because many members leave, disatisfied with the constant change in staff personel. So the turnover of members is huge too but the gym continues to attract new members because of their rock-bottom prices.

As has been said already, you do get what you pay for.

Totally agree.

Ben Dunne has the same old 'stack em high and sell them cheap' method he used in retailing. M & S or suPerquinn are a different model as are TF and WW. people cannot expect 4 star service for 2 star prices. It's up to people to decide what's important to them- cheap price or clean club with good service. Ryanair v aer lingus etc etc.

Gillo

Don't know how comfortable you'd be doing it but I go to crunch and a few times have picked up an empry bottle I've seen someone leave behind and very helpfully and with a big smiley face handed it to them saying "Sorry mate, you forget you bottle", I mean I'd hate them to get hone a realise they didn't have their bottle with them.

I'd been thinking of saving some money and going to the new BD gym in Jervis St but after reading this I'll happily spend the bit extra and stick with Crunch.

yosser hughes

I was a member of Carlisle for 3 years and gave it up. I'd had enough and to be honest don't need it.I run alot and that does me.I do any weights training I need at home.
The Carlisle used to put me in a bad mood.I don't blame the staff for this,I blame the patrons.People's standards are disgusting and this can happen anywhere.People leaving empty bottles and plastic bags in the showers! Someone even took my towel while I was in the shower! This happened twice!There was a guy that cleaned the showers and it was spotless.The customers in Carlisle were the ones to blame.As has been said the middle aged men using hair dryers to dry themselves while whistling inanely. The steam room etc, where the noise would put you off.never mind that they used to pipe 98FM in to it.
Too many people go to the gym to hang around and have a shower.Look at all the wasters sitting in the jacuzzi thing.
I think gym's are unhygenic to be honest and that is down to the standards of some people attending them.I think this happens in the more expensive gyms as well from what I have been told.I'm not sure price has much to do with it.

KilOit

Was there today on a free pass to check it out, although much busier than my own gym, i found it alright, a lot of ordinary irish folk, they're loads of kids there doing weights which i found a little odd, but all were well mannered and just getting on with it. but overall i prefer a more quieter gym that isn't so noisy and echoey, even if it's almost double the price :eek:

cltt97

Hm, I was thinking of joining this gym as it's very convenient location wise, but it sounds a bit scary. Are there any ladies around that can share their experiences? Is it really really busy? I would mostly do some machines and swimming really.

petroltimer

cltt97 wrote: »

Hm, I was thinking of joining this gym as it's very convenient location wise, but it sounds a bit scary. Are there any ladies around that can share their experiences? Is it really really busy? I would mostly do some machines and swimming really.

I don't know if you've seen the gym, but the one redeeming thing for ladies is the way the gym is split in two by the pool with mainly women and men on different sides as the changing rooms are on different sides, so you should not get to much hassle form the guys. There is some guys over that side when its gets busy and few more probably trying to checkout the girls.
That said i can't comment on the hygiene of the ladies in the dressing rooms, unless i go undercover:)

PMAC08

I've been a member there for 3 years. I have to say I don't recognise the gym from the descriptions here. (apart from the guys drying themselves with the hairdryers). Yuck!
I go normally before work in the morning between 7:00 and 8:30. I have heard it gets busy later but if you can go before work you'll find a nice place to put in a hours' work. The showers and locker rooms are generally clean and tidy. I'm not quite OCD but I am fussy about cleanliness and feel as comfortable there as I have done in much more expensive gyms.

faoile@n

I've been a member for nearly 2 years now and I will be renewing my membership when its up next month. I tend to avoid peak times but in general I have found the hygiene levels fine.

I hate when I read people complaining about Ryanair and this is quiet similar. If you don't like it pay more (a lot more as it happens) and go elsewhere. I think we paid €650 for a 3 person membership and this is unheard of anywhere else.

Hanley

faoile@n wrote: »

I've been a member for nearly 2 years now and I will be renewing my membership when its up next month. I tend to avoid peak times but in general I have found the hygiene levels fine.

I hate when I read people complaining about Ryanair and this is quiet similar. If you don't like it pay more (a lot more as it happens) and go elsewhere. I think we paid €650 for a 3 person membership and this is unheard of anywhere else.

I hate when people bump 7 month old threads...

pedro7raven

I had the "pleasure" of working in Carlisle on the maintenance/cleaning staff part time for 3 years and I will reiterate what you have all said about the blatant disregard for the gym facilities - it would seem some (and obviously not all - there are a huge number of fantastic members) who would literally just drop rubbish on the ground as they walk past a bin - you've just made a big grunting show about how much you can bench press, surely a little black bin lid should be no match for your aaaamazing guns... That being said when the gym first opened I was on a full time cleaning roster but after 4 months the roster was cut from 40 hours to 10, which obviously had an effect.

Can anyone recommend a gym in Dublin city centre - ideally around grafton/Dawson street area?

Shayok

Thank god your not coming back, u little gay lord

Brian?

Shayok wrote: »

Thank god your not coming back, u little gay lord

banned for a week.

superbad50

I disagree with the poor standards comment. I have been in most gyms around the area. I have seldom seen dirty bottles , showers etc in the carlise . I am sure it happens but not that often. This is by far the best gym I have been in , in terms of facilities. . granted it does get busy , but a gym is a gym , ie for training - . So what if a bottle or two is lying around. get over it . it's a big gym catering for a lot of people - the staff cannot be on their game 24/7. you more than get what you pay ( it's the cheapest gym I know of , and has i would say double the amount of equipment and services that most other gyms provide. Ben Dunne all the way

CrazySka

superbad50 wrote: »

I disagree with the poor standards comment. I have been in most gyms around the area. I have seldom seen dirty bottles , showers etc in the carlise . I am sure it happens but not that often. This is by far the best gym I have been in , in terms of facilities. . granted it does get busy , but a gym is a gym , ie for training - . So what if a bottle or two is lying around. get over it . it's a big gym catering for a lot of people - the staff cannot be on their game 24/7. you more than get what you pay ( it's the cheapest gym I know of , and has i would say double the amount of equipment and services that most other gyms provide. Ben Dunne all the way

Maybe they cleaned it up in the six months since people were actually posting on this thread?

case_sensitive

I've just come in from my first visit down to Carlisle, and have noticed a few things. To avoid a trolling exercise, first the positives.
There are almost endless cardio machines, 50-60 treadmills alone, the whole place is about 8 times the size of my current gym.
There are duplicates of most weights (6x 30Kg dumbells for instance), so I was able to get a hold of the right weight for each set.

Not so good:
The boys side V girls side apartheid thing is very strange. You can train over at the girls' side, and its much tidier.
The pool has as many people sitting by the edge having a chat as actually swimming.
And the worst, by quite a margin; does anyone put weights back on the rack after them?
I went between 18.30 and 20.30 and the whole place was littered with every conceivable plate, dumbell and bar combination. Honestly, fewer than 20% of the weights were actually on racks. I'm not a health and safety freak, but
it's dangerous as well as a pain in the ar$e.

You shouldn't have to tell people how to behave, but I didn't notice the usual number of signs indicating that they should be replaced after use. The few people I asked where weights came from or should be put back to actually pointed vaguely around the benches. Astonishing.
Been a member of 5 or 6 gyms and it was far and away the worst I've seen. There weren't many staff around enforcing/encouraging good behavior, but they shouldn't have to, should they?

All that said, I'll probably join, it's close, it's huge and it's cheap, and maybe try to improve things from within.

Gummy Panda

Ben Dunne pricing lowers the barrier to entry so more knob heads I'm afraid.

nice_guy80

my local gym has those people too.
and some of them are long term gym attendees.

as part of the membership signing up process, every new member should be shown/told that
1 you must replace the equipment you use,
2 not hog equipment you ain't using,
3 use a frickin' towel on machines and benches,
4 respect the equipment. if stuff is damaged then membership fees have to increase to replace them!
4 tidy up your own rubbish.

thegreengoblin

Apparently, the Big Fella is removing hairdryers from the male changing rooms in all his gyms because of all the dirtbirds blowdrying their pubes.....:pac::pac:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/private-parts-left-out-in-the-cold-after-ben-dunne-removes-hair-dryers-from-gyms-3079211.html

hollypink

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Apparently, the Big Fella is removing hairdryers from the male changing rooms in all his gyms because of all the dirtbirds blowdrying their pubes.....:pac::pac:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/private-parts-left-out-in-the-cold-after-ben-dunne-removes-hair-dryers-from-gyms-3079211.html

I see he is leaving the plugs there so that you can bring your own hairdryer - I wonder if the culprits will bring their own hair dryers to dry their "bits"?

Dotcomdolly

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Apparently, the Big Fella is removing hairdryers from the male changing rooms in all his gyms because of all the dirtbirds blowdrying their pubes.....:pac::pac:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/private-parts-left-out-in-the-cold-after-ben-dunne-removes-hair-dryers-from-gyms-3079211.html

Yeah about 2 weeks ago the signs went up, I had to laugh.
Bit stupid someone suggesting he was trying to save on the electricity, after all I'm sure the ladies use the hairdryers 10+times more.

On a positive note, the new classes in Carlisle are brilliant, I'm saving a fortune.

Zamboni

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Apparently, the Big Fella is removing hairdryers from the male changing rooms in all his gyms because of all the dirtbirds blowdrying their pubes.....:pac::pac:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/private-parts-left-out-in-the-cold-after-ben-dunne-removes-hair-dryers-from-gyms-3079211.html

Dead right. I've seen dirty buggers doing that in Westpoint in the past.

The Davestator

I dont see anything wrong with it - the air is blowing out, not in! Its not as if the hairdryer is sucking pubes into itself!

AnneFrank

worst thing about this place is the obvious lack of staff on the gym floor,
the weights are just strewn around the place with no one enforcing the rule to put the weights back,
everything else is pretty good especially for the price but i cant see myself renewing, you shouldnt have to wait 10 minutes while you search for weights

deiseindublin

I've been a member since it opened and can't see any problems with it, apart from their obsession with Sky News.

Dotcomdolly

deiseindublin wrote: »

I've been a member since it opened and can't see any problems with it, apart from their obsession with Sky News.

It's not too bad when I'm there usually but hate the spin bikes move. Trying to train with all the shouting , loud music AND the radio is hellish.

alphabeat

place aint bad for the price , its one of the better ones .

few things to be aware of

1/ the place is allegedly full of local criminals and scum , so be careful of who you give a dissapproving look at - the tats are the main giveaway .

2/ There is always a norn ireland loud mouth dumb fcuk in the steam room every morning talking absolute b0ll0x as loud as he can in the small tiled room ( usually around 9.30 am )

3/ the weights and plates are strewn about like confetti at a wedding from 7 pm on
and its pretty jammed in the weights area from 6 to 8.30 pm.

Rower2

alphabeat wrote: »

place aint bad for the price , its one of the better ones .

few things to be aware of

1/ the place is allegedly full of local criminals and scum , so be careful of who you give a dissapproving look at - the tats are the main giveaway .

2/ There is always a norn ireland loud mouth dumb fcuk in the steam room every morning talking absolute b0ll0x as loud as he can in the small tiled room ( usually around 9.30 am )

3/ the weights and plates are strewn about like confetti at a wedding from 7 pm on
and its pretty jammed in the weights area from 6 to 8.30 pm.

Watched a personal trainer teaching a Guy how to use an erg. Awful. I showed him when the pt left. The majority of the ergs don't work, the chain/ drag is off.

Guys checking their abs in the mirror. General poser vibe.

Girls now wearing shorts with their asses out. There has to be some gymwear etiquette?

Other than that sure its grand

Oisinjm

Rower2 wrote: »

Watched a personal trainer teaching a Guy how to use an erg. Awful. I showed him when the pt left. The majority of the ergs don't work, the chain/ drag is off.

Guys checking their abs in the mirror. General poser vibe.

Girls now wearing shorts with their asses out. There has to be some gymwear etiquette?

Other than that sure its grand

Are you talking about the fitness team or the actual personal trainers? There's a difference between the two. Orange polo = fitness team. I know a lot of the personal trainers there and they're of a good standard.

Oisín

Dotcomdolly

Oisinjm wrote: »

Are you talking about the fitness team or the actual personal trainers? There's a difference between the two. Orange polo = fitness team. I know a lot of the personal trainers there and they're of a good standard.

Oisín

I'd agree with you there, esp the ones who there before the "standardisation" or whatever you'd call it.
But now that Jack is gone I wouldn't credit the rest of the fitness team with much expertise.