WESTWOOD GANGSTERS - paying not to use the gym

LegacyUser

I've been a member of westwood in clontarf for over 4 years.

i decided to give the gym a month break in december, festive season, and my shoulder needed the rest.

i knew you could freeze your membership, so when i did this, they demanded €23! WTF!

they said it was free if it was a medical condition, so i told em i wanted to give my shoulder a rest, they said they'd need a doctor's note, which would cost €50, i ended up having to pay gangsters €23.

i just think this is bang out of order, and i've decided to join another gym.

why should you pay not to use somthing? especially if you've given them thousands worth of business.

jman0

What happens if you just don't turn up for a month? Do they cancel your membership or something?
I don't understand why you spoke to them in the first place.
You should ask to speak to the manager, this sounds like a bad business practise.

LegacyUser

if you dont' turn up, your €70 still comes out of the bank via DD

i did speak to the manager, no joy.

i'd say they've enough members so don't give a 5hit.

jman0 wrote:

What happens if you just don't turn up for a month? Do they cancel your membership or something?
I don't understand why you spoke to them in the first place.
You should ask to speak to the manager, this sounds like a bad business practise.

NewFrockTuesday

i dont think they are renouned for thimnking of the customer down there....and your right...they dont need to cos demand is high so they dont really need to be nice...very celtic tiger!

LegacyUser

too true, they wouldn't let a friend of mine into their bar because she was wearing runners, it's a fúcking gym bar you numb nuts!

anyway, the bouncers were some of the worst i've come accross in dublin, and i'm a member, who use's the gym regularly.

long story short, they kicked us out, we got the name of the alpha monkey bouncer and got him fired, aparently they had alot of complaints.

i mean, where would you get it!

purdee wrote:

i dont think they are renouned for thimnking of the customer down there....and your right...they dont need to cos demand is high so they dont really need to be nice...very celtic tiger!

NewFrockTuesday

[alpha monkey] haha!!

hardCopy

I'm a regular there (bar, not gym). The head bouncer has been there a long time and no sign of him going anywhere, mustn't have been the main guy that you got fired.

The bouncers are probably the most intolerant bunch you'll ever find, even on a quiet nightbut if you a regular (VERY) and recognised they ain't too bad.

Do agree with you that members should get better treatment at the bar, I cancelled my membership after they refused to let me in the bar because i lost my membership card (I was gonna do it anyway but told the manager it was cause of the incident at the bar, never got refused since)

Transform

This is quite normal in gyms and yes they do not care and it is written into the contract you signed when joining the gym.
There are an increasing number of people who are now deciding to drop going to over priced gyms and exercise outdoors or at home.
I personally enjoy Westwood in Leopardstown but if i couldn't go for any extended period of time i would just cancel and hope i could get back again without paying for the joining fee again.

Best of luck in the new gym and i hope these guys would realise they would get more business if they gave the customer what they wanted rather than focusing on the bottom line.

idontknowmyname

i'd a really bad experience with westwood and i hate them now.

I was in the clontarf gym, i joined cause i moved into the city centre and am a student. My dad paid the joining fee (special offer of €100) and then its €50 per month after that. That was fine, used the gym a lot, loved it. Then I had to move home due to not being able to find a job and having not a lot of money to pay my really high rent with. So I didnt visit the gym much, maybe once every 2 weeks or something. One day I was going through the turnstile and it wouldn't let me through. They said that they needed to see my student card which was the 02/03 card so it was still valid at the time. All was fine.

Then a few weeks later when I actually had very little money i seen that €75 had gone out of my account instead of €50, I was in a panic cause the extra €25 is my food money for the week. I rang them and they said that they didnt never saw my student card so therefore I couldn;t prove I was a student so they charged my an adult fee. I was really distressed as I had very little money anyway. It was a misunderstanding on my part and I said that I'd bring my new 03/04 card in to prove I was. I said would they give me back my the extra money they took off me and they said they wouldn't. I actually began crying cause I was so broke and had no way to pay for food that week. I told them that they dont appreciate their customers.....with which the woman on the phone replied "well we have 10,000 customers, we cant give them everything that they want". I was so so angry about it.....they took my money. You'd think outta good will they'd give me my money back.

So I cancelled my direct debit and that was that. I really liked the gym but they were bastards to me so I wouldn't tell anyone to join them

idontknowmyname

and if you want to join them again, you have to repay the joining fee- think its 200 now

DeVore

Please dont call anyone "crooks" on this site unless you can prove it in a court of law because thats where you and I will both end up. Have you tried complaining directly to the management rather then the staff who are paid to swat away such complaints on the front line?

DeV.

NewFrockTuesday

there is no re-joiin fees for (i think) 2 years after you leave. im just after joining again...due to a mixture of gluttony and laziness and weight increase (surprise surprise!!) of over 2st. i concur with the opinion that they are not the most helpful when it comes to the customers but with 10,000 members...hey!...who needs to be?

mad m

paperclip wrote:

if you dont' turn up, your €70 still comes out of the bank via DD

i did speak to the manager, no joy.

i'd say they've enough members so don't give a 5hit.

Could you of not cancelled the direct debit for a month then go back after shoulder was fine then reinstate the direct debit,just thinking of top of head.

FX Meister

Similar thing happened to me as happened to idontknowmyname, I had my new student card copied by a member of staff but it was lost by them. I didnt know anything about this until I checked my DD in Feb and they had charged me the extra 20 for full membership twice. I was told by phone my money would be reimbursed once I brough tmy card down again. Then I was told by membership it wouldn't be refunded. After speaking to a manager (Barry, the bald headed sleazy one) I was told I was lying as the staff there do not make mistakes and I couldn't have given them my current one as they did not have it. I asked if they do not make mistakes why was I told I would be refunded. He said that was a mistake, I said it wasn't good enough and walked out. This was two years ago, I made sure I got my money back from them another way and it worked out well for me. But as has been said, they don't care if they lose you business as they have so many members already. If you are complaining to a manager, avoid Barry and talk to Helen, she seems a much nicer person.

FX Meister

mad m wrote:

Could you of not cancelled the direct debit for a month then go back after shoulder was fine then reinstate the direct debit,just thinking of top of head.

No, they would make you pay for the month you had the DD cancelled. They also have the power to change it whenever they like.

mad m

FX Meister wrote:

No, they would make you pay for the month you had the DD cancelled. They also have the power to change it whenever they like.

Beeestards!!

jonny68

Jaysus remind me never ever to join that gym..its a rip off anyway paying all that money..as for the bar..forget about it,i dont need to be nice to some steroid meat head bouncer to gain entry into some overhyped bar..fcuk that............

dudara

This was two years ago, I made sure I got my money back from them another way and it worked out well for me.

care to explain this

LegacyUser

it was management i was complaining to, i've worked with the general public before, so i know not to complain to general staff.

and as for me calling em gangsters, well as far as i'm concerned that's how they are acting.

DeVore wrote:

Please dont call anyone "crooks" on this site unless you can prove it in a court of law because thats where you and I will both end up. Have you tried complaining directly to the management rather then the staff who are paid to swat away such complaints on the front line?

DeV.

LegacyUser

this was a little over a year ago.

i think if you're paying the kind of membership they charge, you should be entitled to a nice bar/club rather than cheap, alcopop, teenyboper hell, with some of the worst door staff i've ever seen.

hardCopy wrote:

I'm a regular there (bar, not gym). The head bouncer has been there a long time and no sign of him going anywhere, mustn't have been the main guy that you got fired.

The bouncers are probably the most intolerant bunch you'll ever find, even on a quiet nightbut if you a regular (VERY) and recognised they ain't too bad.

Do agree with you that members should get better treatment at the bar, I cancelled my membership after they refused to let me in the bar because i lost my membership card (I was gonna do it anyway but told the manager it was cause of the incident at the bar, never got refused since)

NewFrockTuesday

i NEVER go into the bar due to the doorstaff mostly. the dress code is confused and differs depending on whatever mood the bouncers are in. i have seen people with black runners under bootlegged trousers not being allowed in after having their footwear closly examined to the point of hilarity. ie. lift your leg up there till i see if they are acceptable. ah go on in so.

inside there are girls with skirts that are in no way suitable for the bar of a health club...in fact i think Angels would take issue with the lenght of some of them!! im all for showing a bit of leg, but when it comes down to the underwear being lower than the skirt...i dont particularly want to see it.

i think its a case of "beggar on horseback" when it comes to the bouncers down there and i just can be arsed justifying to some bald bitter little man why inshould be allowed entry to a bar. especially when harry byrnes is just up the road.

idontknowmyname

i got let into the bar when i was a member dressed in my tracksuit bottoms, runners and a shirt i had been wearing, it was a member nite only party and i was with the tennis club who were celebrating so we all met at the bar

Trojan

I've been a member of WW Clontarf for about 3.5 years now.

For the last 6 months I haven't been going as regularly as I used to as I've been cycling and playing rugby a lot rather than treadmill running and weights sessions like I used to.

I'm quite sick and tired of their money grabbing and customer unfriendly attitudes in all areas of their business, including bar code.

• I will not pay an extra 6 euros (2 per person) for 2 friends and I to go for a meal in Barcode on Friday evening after a session in the gym. The bouncer said that we must all leave our coats in the cloak room, at the outrageous price of 2e each. Upon asking, I was informed that we could not enter without doing so, regardless of my membership.
• I will not pay extra for a new swipe keyring if I lose the one they gave me 3 years ago (I'm paying 70 euros a month for this place already!)
• I will not buy a new combination lock whenever I forget to bring my own (loan locks are available to guests, but not to paying members)

I've complained (via their official comment card) about all of the issues above, but taken on their own they're not big complaints. The real problem is the arrogance of management due to the popularity and membership size.

I think it's about time I voted with my wallet and relinquished my "Gold" membership swipe and "Platinum" benefits vouchers

How about you guys?

logic1

I'm quite happy there but I hope the rest of you quit.

.logic.