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This evening started out as per usual. I arrived at Goodlife to attend Body Attack, only to discover that I forgot my wallet with my membership card in it.
The man at the customer service desk explains to me that I will need to sign something prior to coming in. I find this odd, but don’t really say anything. I’ve forgotten my card a couple of times before and all they had to do was look me up in the system.
I started reading the waiver, which basically stated that I will be allowed to enter the club this time without my card, but should this occur again I will be forced to pay $20 for a new card.
I think this is absolute horseshit.
I called back tonight asking for clarification prior to writing this rant, and they advised that this is effective at all Goodlife Clubs.
Now, I’ve been trying to see the flip side of the situation. For example, you go to Costco and forget your membership card. In my opinion you’re SOL. That being said, there is a huge difference between Costco and Goodlife. At Costco you merely pay to shop there. However, at Goodlife you pay for the services the club offers. In my opinion this should include the Customer Service people ,who should be more then happy to look up your membership information.
For the amount that I pay Goodlife a month, and especially for the amount I frequent the club I expect them to take the 10 seconds it takes to look me up in the system on the very rare occasion that I forget my membership card.
Goodlife, I expect more from you!
Side note: I’d like to see what happens the next time I forget my card and they a) deny me or b) make me pay $20. I can’t see it being a positive experience for anyone! :)
EDIT: I should note that I did have photo ID... I had my work badge with my picture AND name printed on it.
24 comments:
What kind of horseshit is that? At my gym if you forget your card they ask for your license just to prove your you. I would have refused to sign it, demanded for a manager and put up a huge stink. You already PAY to go there already. WTF is that?
Horseshit indeed.
Amy, I just finished writing a comment on yesterdays post looking for answers, could you read it and get back to me please?
Sorry to hear that Goodlife are very bad at customer relations....they are there for the buck I guess!
Can't wait to read your answers.
Thanks,
MFO
Could not agree more! They have the worst customer service but the gym options are so limited...
Yeah...that's bullshit. I WOULD REFUSE to pay another cent to my gym if they tried to make me pay for forgetting my card.
I WANT to be there next time you forget your card....
That is ri-donk-ulous! I probably would've thrown a hissy fit right then and there...good for you for your restraint. =P
H =)
I applaud you for trying to see the reasoning behind their ignorance about customer service! My sister has nothing but complaints about her gym too (in Oshawa)... and it all comes down to customer service as well. They are idiots... you would think they could have your information on file and just look you up to confirm you are a member. Seems simple enough to me!
No way! What a rip off!
the Y here nstalled fingerprint scanner and all you gotta do is put your index finger on it and pops up your info, way cool definately since I dont even know where my card is ....oops! I hate stuff like this tho makes ppl in cust serv look bad, but some places just dont care!
That's retarded! I am a member of the Y and I forget my membership card ALL. THE. TIME! All they do is type in my last name, find me in the system and bing, bang, boom I'm in.
and now you (we?) need to be SURE THEY READ THIS POST!
That IS horseshit. I'd be interested if Nubody's adopts the same policy. They always just look me up if I don't have my card.
Stupid.
That is bizarre! Even at Costco you wouldn't be SOL - I've forgotten my card there, they just print a temporary one at the customer service desk.
Aim, its for the liability. They need to verify that you are you. No card and no ID means no entry. We see ppl trying to sneak into the club all the time believe it of not. And if we let someone in that wasn't a member and they hurt themselves GL gets sued.
And seeing things from the inside, I am usually very anti-GL in many other respects, but this policy isn't new, it's just not always not enforced as strongly as it should be.
-Jaimee
And note: we don't have your pic on file like at the Y (we should though, it'd make things easier!), so really unless they know you, they can't tell its you unless you have some type of ID.
~J
My gym takes your photo just in case you lose or forget your id. That way they just look you up, get your info and your photo and your in.
I get the legalities of why they make you sign the form. . . but really? YOU pay them and they need to have back-up measures (maybe even giving them the last 4 of you SNN# or something?)
Good luck to GL the next time this happens with you! ;)
Even Costco will look you up in the system if you have any other sort of ID and let you shop...
Wow. That guy must just be bitter! I have more than once forgotten my membership card at my Goodlife gym and they just look me up - I don't even show id (forget about photo id).
I think that guy had a bad day!!
You said it RIGHT THERE at the end - you HAVE ID with your name and photo on it, that should be all you need should you forget your card.
That is RIDICULOUS!! Absolutely RIDICULOUS!!!!
And I am sorry but I read the Anonymous/Jaime comment and I STILL think it's horseshit.
I would like to see how much revenue GL is actually losing due to people sneaking in/abusing the system (if you have no photo on file and the person SOMEWHAT resembles the photo on the card, who is to say they are ACTUALLY that person).
There is unfortunately no way around it, but I think it's bull.
I would love to see the numbers that justify charging a PAYING client that $20 because they lost that freaking card. And BESIDES, they will sign you UP with photo ID assuming that's you, so they should ACCEPT photo ID saying its you...
Oh lord...this got me all fired up too...and I don't know if I am making sense.
However, I DO believe that Goodlife is wrong is this. I'd like to see them TRY that again.
I completely agree with you, however when I signed my contract with goodlife, they made it blatantly clear that it was a cost of $20 to replace it... so I mean, I knew about this upfront.
I'm sorry that it's happening to you. That sucks.
♥
LAME!
Ahh, i didn't see that you did have photo ID. See, in that case we always let it go at least a few times. Only for the ladies that are always turning up with no card do we ask that they buy a new one.
I doubt if you went in again the person would give you a hard time.
We had an incident at our club a while back where a lady quit because i asked her for ID. I was just hanging around the desk waiting for a client and the CSR went to grab something. Well, this lady just walks right by, doesn't stop with a card, doesn't say anything about forgetting her card, just pretty much tries to walk in (we don't have a gate at our club so there's really nothing to stop someone from just walking in). So, i say, 'oh excuse me, do you have your card? (i don't recognize her)'. She looks at me all flustered and says 'no'. so i ask for ID and again she looks all flustered. so she's rooting around in her bag and is making all these huffy puffy noises like how dare i ask her if she is a member (and again, she's not one of my clients and not someone i've ever seen around so i have no idea).
In the end she tell me she doesn't have her wallet so i tell her about how she should have her card or ID, again she looks angry. So i ask for her name and look her up, she's in the system, but i remind her that she's got to bring her card next time. Well, 5 mins later she goes back to the desk, cancels her membership and writes on her cancellation form for reason: "because of Jaimee". The CSR was in stitches. Apparently she never shows her card, just walks right in and everyone was too afraid to ask her for it because she makes a fuss every time. I had no idea.
We all had a good laugh. Apparently she used to train with another lady and was a nightmare. All kinds of crazy. We haven't seen her since. =)
~Jaimee
Thanks for all the great comments ladies!
Thing is Abbey, I didn't LOSE it... I just forgot it on the day.
I would TOTALLY be willing to pay the $20 to replace me card if it was lost!
It really does suck and I don't agree with this policy in the least. Even at Costco you get a day pass if you forget.
I did ask today about this policy, I knew you had to pay $20 to replace your card but I didn't know right away. I was told its not a new policy, just policing it more. At our club they said they let it go a few times, but she said some other clubs might be sticklers.
There are other reasons as well for having a card (Jaime mentioned one) but to forget it once in a while is totally not a BIG deal to get you all frustrated.
My friend had many complaints and once the manager refused to respond to her she fired off some emails to regional managers. Might help?? Could be a waste of time too.
I have many complaints from the inside but I have to remain quiet.
Sorry this happened to you :(
Ahh, i can tell you firsthand, the regional managers are idiots and won't really care. They are not really into 'customer service' (didn't i warn you that i'm a little anti-GL? haha, it took 2.5 years to make me this spiteful).
I was nearly fired a few months ago because i questioned one of them. it was ridonculous. they don't take kindly to thinkers...
~Jaimee
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