Nuffield Health
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Impossible and sheer ignorance
Having never joined a gym before, it took me a few months to make up my mind. I knew I wanted a 'premium' club in the hope that I could pick up my swimming again, use the sauna for relaxation and strengthen my muscles after menopause. I was happily prepared to pay more for the facilities and experience. Actually, I was seriously excited taking that big step. Bought my gear and could not wait. Extremely disappointingly, Nuffield Wolverhampton proved nothing on those lines. The changing rooms are dated and not what an expensive Health Club with ever yearly increasing membership fees should be providing. In the first survey they sent me, I pointed out that the curtain on the very few individual partitioned dressing spaces, was covered in horrible stains. Shortly after, it was replaced with a cheap alternative, a shower curtain! The female changing rooms/showers are turned into a noisy nursery or school playground, with kids screaming and running around, instead of advising families to use the family one. Having signed up to make use of the facilities any time, unless I was to come late at night or as soon as it opens, any time in between, it is almost impossible to use all of the desired equipment in the gym or classes due to overcrowding, awarding heavily discounted memberships to certain groups as was confirmed to me by their manager. Various gym members hogging machines by scrolling through their phones. Ignorant to the fact that there are others around them. I was told that members are encouraged to speak with other members to get to the equipment. Basically saying, Nuffield puts the responsibility onto members as long as their staff do absolutely nothing, apart from looking after their personal trainer clients. The swimming pool is most of the time, especially when people want to use the gym after work, crowded with screaming children. Being a mum myself, I have no issues with kids getting swimming lessons and I actually believe, this is incredibly important for them. Yet, there is a time and a place, and when working members pay a small fortune for using the facility, after 5pm it is not! Same with the sauna, on the few occasions I have used it, and especially by the end of November, it felt more like a 'men's' only sauna than a mixed one. It made me feel completely uncomfortable as a woman, and I am not easily intimidated by anyone. To cut a long story short, having given all my constructive feedback why the increase in membership and even before that, was completely unjustified, that and rightly so, I would like to revoke my membership. The manager of W'hampton as well as the senior Customer Service Manager, blatantly refused as well as ignored all the concerns raised, (email evidence in place) doing their best painting over the cracks. Look at their responses here on Trustpilot, just generic apologies. This included witnessing children no older than 10/11 using the gym, young teenagers straining on weight equipment completely unsupervised! I was told, "we encourage families to join". This is completely unacceptable if not to say negligent. As members, and looking at the reviews here online, we are held hostage by Nuffield, in order to keep their sales figures in tact. Everything that I have witnessed and the way my concerns have been brushed under the carpet, suggests nothing else! It is no more than a public leisure facility these days, which might have started on the right ethos, but certainly slipped wayside, losing its way a long time ago. There is no focus on 'health', it is a commercial enterprise that ties members up in knots once they have signed on the dotted line. It focuses on spreadsheets and keeping up financial appearances. It refuses to acknowledge its failings, does not accept feedback as well as lacks in supportive as well as fair Customer Service. It clearly does not understand that customer service acknowledges when a member has the right to leave due to the failings on their part, and the Service Level Agreement both sides have signed for! That SLA is breached every time I am unable and stopped using the facilities as I should be entitled to, paying a high membership fee. Otherwise, this is no more than a basic gym where anyone's expectations are limited from day one, with the membership fee reflecting this. All I can say is, do not sign up! They won't allow you to leave and hold you hostage, citing their "terms and condition in section 11". It is high time that gyms are being held accountable for not providing the service we sign up to. I am onto that now and won't give up. We should all have the right to terminate if we feel it's not working out regardless. No more excuses! Time for getting this changed. If we want to entice people to become fitter and healthier, this will have the opposite effect and I fear for good!