Have been shopping around to find a gym that suits. Spare cash is limited to want to make sure I find the right one.

Had a series of unpleasant meetings and exchanges with the staff at Fit City Gym on Hemlock.

I'm from out of town and don't have a Canadian accent. I told my 'rep' I was looking to pay month to month as I'm a contractor and can't guarintee my finances. She told me

"We don't do that here, and here in Canada you won't find a gym that offers you that"

(Every other gym I've approached has offered me a month to month rate, yes they're more expensive, but they are totally available)

and

"Realistically you're going to have to pay your rent somehow so you may as well assume you're going to have to find work somehow."

(Yep, thanks for the brilliant careers advice)

The impression I got was that she assumed as I'm not Canadian, that I am stupid. She told me lies and was rude and patronising. When I went back to ask about a promotion they are running she rolled her eyes, looked really pissed off and was thoroughly unpleasant. I was told that the promotion was only available for 1st time visitors, and that even though I have never used their facilities, my name was in their system so I didn't qualify.

So fair enough. I get the message. If it became obvious in the course of our first meeting that this was not the gym for me due to the non-availability of month to month membership, why didn't she just say so and leave it at that? There's just no need for rudeness and lies. I hate the feeling that someone is so obviously trying to decieve me, and then is very rude. There's just no need for it.

* Just for Ladies by the Burrard St Bridge were all really friendly and helpfull and didn't do the hard sell.

Lets go burn the place down

Just for the record, I belong to FitCity in Maple Ridge, and the staff are awesome...as well, they do offer a month to month, so I'm not sure why they wouldn't at another franchise.
But good luck with your search and happy elipticalling!

Oh, and welcome to Canada! Hopefully you meet some nice folk eh?
lol.

I successfully sued them for negligence and won.  They screwed me around bigtime and caused me headaches I would not want to see someone else go through.  You are better off somewhere else.  They don't care about anything but your money.

very similar experience at the hemlock location. i was very concerned about being locked in long-term (my income too is unpredictable,) and was told basically the same thing. worse, i felt so pressured that i DID sign up, walk home, think "what the hell am i doing?", walk back and cancel the membership. at which point i was made to feel so guilty that i was near tears.

to make matters worse?

the refund cheque they gave me was just rejected by my bank because apparently they forgot to sign it. i'm about to get on the phone with them, and let me tell you - i am not very happy.

I've been a member of FitCity (Lougheed Hwy) for several years.  Fitness class instructors are great...knowledgeable and experienced.  Members friendly, staff friendly.  It's got a nice homey feeling.  I'm happy.

I liked it until they let a crack whore in who robbed me.  They did not care that their staff's negligence lead to this.  It cost me well over a thousand dollars with my insurance deductable, locks rekeying, vehicle getting rekeyed, and notorizing form after form to prevent further identity theft.  This time exactly last year I was dealing with a huge headache because of that gym.  I had nearly $20 grand racked up in my name.  The owner offered me six months free.  I had been a member for eight years. I was paying $20 a month.
I took him to court due to the owner's and manager's unwillingness to help me.  I got  my money back and never looked back.  I have spoken to many disgruntled members and ex-members. Employess and ex-employees. 
Do yourself a favour and avoid this place like the black plauge!

When a person is disgruntled, they seek out other disgruntled people and tend to ignore people who aren't disgruntled.  The many people I speak to at FitCity are, for the most part, pretty happy with the place.  Every gym will have some issues, but overall, people I speak to are happy.

It is also nice when the staff and management listen to members concerns and care how the place is run.  I have not found this to be the case with Fit City.  I will not be renewing when it runs out in January.  I found them to care less once they had my money.  They don't get paid well enough to take concerns seriously and it shows.  I have heard most of the staff don't like the owner.  Probably why there is lots of turnover.

You are right!!!Fitcity only care for your $$$$$$$......
of course the staff wouldn't take the members seriously because their boss NEVER treat them good!!!!How can Jeff F. runs his gyms without a good team of employersss????It WOULDN'T take long for them to sink!!!!BUT he NEVER understood this......hahaha.....I AM waiting for that to happen.....I KNOW it is happenning really really soooon...

The Hemlock location of Fit City has an absolutely terrible manager and that is why the customer service is so horrendous. Some of the other women who work there are nice, but the manager is arrogant, condescending, and treats people like sh*t. I think the way she trys to sign people up is also unethical. She flat out lied to me as well when I went in there. I have no idea how someone like that made it to management. The Shopping Bags did a "mystery shopper" segment on gyms and they were in Fit City (Hemlock) with this same manager (I recognized her annoying voice). She gave the mystery shopper the same crap she gave me and the Shopping Bags said never join and gym when they try to use those tactics on you. They should be happy to have you try out their gym for a trial period for free and compare to other gyms.

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