My experience with Wynn Fitness Clubs in Toronto

[black02ep3]

January, 2008: checked out Wynn Fitness Clubs (then called Fitness Clubs of Canada); spoke with sales girl "C" about various options at the gym; asked about cancellation policy in case I move, her response - "no problem". I signed up for the membership.

May, 2008: bought a new house; informed the gym that I would be moving and wanted to cancel my membership. Lady on the phone - "are you allowed to cancel your membeship?" Spent many days to try to catch the general manager in the gym because I worked on the other side of city and had to drive an hour to get to the gym. Yes, I had to talk with him in person to cancel my membership.

June, 2008: caught up with the GM, spoke with him about my situation. I also brought proof of my house purchase, with new address. He told me I could not cancel my membership. I had the option of transferring to a new location they had just opened, a location that would be closer to my new home. Considering he refused to let me cancel the membership, I took the offer.

June 30, 2008: finally went to the new gym location; turned out it's under construction still. It's in a "pre-open" condition, but in essence, under-construction. It'll "officially open in October or November this year." I went back to my gym to speak with the GM about the condition. The sales girl that sold me the membership was there and I pulled her in, to confirm our dialog about cancellation and moving. I renewed my intent to cancel the membership.

The GM refused to honour our agreement. While admitting that the sales girl gave me the wrong information about their cancellation policy when I signed up for the membership, he told me I had to take half of the responsibility of this situation. After 15 minutes of arguing back and forth, we reached a conclusion: he would charge me a two-month penalty for canceling the membership. Not wanting to drag this out further, I took his offer to at least recover some of the costs.

The GM's reasons for not allowing me to cancel my membership (and my corresponding response)
(a) it's possible that I didn't move far enough
- but I'm moving 40km away.

(b) there's another gym that's available for me to use within that 40km radius of my new place
- but it's still under construction, with the official opening scheduled for October/November 2008. It's also 20km away from my house, in the opposite direction from my work, and highly inconvenient.

(c) I should have asked more about cancellation policy
- but I specifically asked the sales girl about moving and cancellation and she told me no problem. She told me that on June 30th, 2008 too, and I asked her to explain that to the GM, except he was not willing to listen.

My views are as follows:
(a) whatever was said by the sales girl should be honoured by the manager. If the manager disagreed with her sales pitch, he could and should recover his cost from her, not from a customer who made an agreement with his representative.

(b) for the GM to suggest that I should take responsibility for a communication problem on their side (i.e. between the General Manager and the sales girl) is outrageous.

(c) there were no technical reasons he could not cancel my membership after hearing my case. He scheduled the cancellation for September, 2008, because he wanted to impose the two-month penalty charge. In essence, after a customer explained and demonstrated that a mistake had been made on their side, he decided to not win my good will.

In the big scheme of things, it's only a few dollars and it's not even that big a deal; it's the lack of courtesy and the good will in Wynn Fitness Clubs that really ended it for me. I don't know what he thought he could gain in this situation by having me pay the penalty (or refusing to cancel the membership altogether), especially since his rep specifically told me cancellation would not be a problem.

This is my experience with the club. You may have a better one. But because of this lack of attempt to create good will with a customer, I would not consider going back there anymore.

Edit: and yes, I specifically signed up to this forum to write this note, because I actually saw a couple of posts commenting about Wynn Fitness Clubs in the forum through a search on google. I don't believe I am bashing anyone or the fitness club; I'm merely recounting my experience and explaining why I think it was not positive. I also want to share it with the general public.

[flimbs]

Almost all fitness clubs operate in the same greasy manner. If there's one thing I learned.....before you put your pen to the paper and sign your life away (this applies to everything) - GET THE GUARANTEE IN WRITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't be bashful or let them make you feel bad about writing things down, and signing it on official company letterhead. Don't take a verbal agreement for what it's worth, because having it in writing is harder to prove.

Oh, the sales rep made a mistake with the agreement?!? TOO BAD. I have it in writing. She represents the company, so @%$@^% YOU!!!

[help_questions]

my buddy had a big dispute a gym. In the end he lost his money, filed a better business bureau complaint, to this day does his best to deter any and everyone from that gym, and popped the manager's tires b/c he was lied to about the terms of the membership. He was going to key the car, but figured it would be drivable, so decided to pop the tires instead.

[gizmo8]

my buddy had a big dispute a gym. In the end he lost his money, filed a better business bureau complaint, to this day does his best to deter any and everyone from that gym, and popped the manager's tires b/c he was lied to about the terms of the membership. He was going to key the car, but figured it would be drivable, so decided to pop the tires instead.

Haha immature but I guess deserved.....The best option for those unsure about keeping a membership is pay by month and with cash,its more expensive but at least you do not have to provide CC information.

[flimbs]

my buddy had a big dispute a gym. In the end he lost his money, filed a better business bureau complaint, to this day does his best to deter any and everyone from that gym.

And which gym is this?

[ptownplayer]

Ya ..all gyms are like this. Tried to cancel once at Extreme and it ended up taking like 3 months after I cancelled before they stopped taking money out of my bank...mysteriously they can sign you up and start charging you money instantaneously but when you need to cancel they have to send it in to there head office for processing which took like 60 days.

[scholar]

wow i never knew such thing. but now i know. thanks alot TS.

i am also going thru a really hard time with BADBOY FURNITURE, i will write something like this once everything is finalized and the things i was promised deliver to me. i hope that i can write a constructive paragraph as the TS but my grammar is no where near as a grade 6 level...lol, i know i know, i guess during those high school days using slangs isnt cut it nowadays. for the time being, be very cautious with BAD BOY pls, u dont want the headache that i am in with them at the moment.

[flimbs]

Nooooooooobody! knows how much of a headache it is. Do tell your BADBOY story.

[cre8tunes]

i know this thread is old but jus in case someone does descide to read this you should know what you are getting into. Be CAREFUL of over charging on your credit card so far i have been getting charged 200 to 300 dollars more per month everytime i complain ooo head offices mistake i will fix it look at the next statement same crap and no credit back to me. I am honestly disgusted with the customer service and if i could go back in time that would not be worth looking into. I have never had a problem with any other gym besides this one. then i ask for my signed contract and im told i'm bothering the guy.

DONT GO TO THIS SH** GYM F*** WYNN FITNESS

[redpattison]

They used to be Premier Fitness(YUCK)are they still the same with just a name change?
Sounds like them,same scam.
I.e, same staff etc.

[cre8tunes]

i know one guy is the same Joe not sure about the rest of the crew. i wish i knew what i was getting into.

[BongoBong]

i know this thread is old but jus in case someone does descide to read this you should know what you are getting into. Be CAREFUL of over charging on your credit card so far i have been getting charged 200 to 300 dollars more per month everytime i complain ooo head offices mistake i will fix it look at the next statement same crap and no credit back to me. I am honestly disgusted with the customer service and if i could go back in time that would not be worth looking into. I have never had a problem with any other gym besides this one. then i ask for my signed contract and im told i'm bothering the guy.

DONT GO TO THIS SH** GYM F*** WYNN FITNESS

200-300 more per month?? Damn thats not even subtle

[cre8tunes]

tell me about. anyway this feels like its going to be an ongoing battle with this place

[redpattison]

tell me about. anyway this feels like its going to be an ongoing battle with this place

At this stage charging you $200-$300 a month(That`s $2400-$3600 a year) sounds like fraud/theft to me.
I would get the police involved.
Being nice/tolerant to these people is playing into their hands.
I wish you luck.

[ottawasportsfan2010]

At this stage charging you $200-$300 a month(That`s $2400-$3600 a year) sounds like fraud/theft to me.
I would get the police involved.
Being nice/tolerant to these people is playing into their hands.
I wish you luck.

Can you explain how is it theft or fraud.I am not supporting the gym but from what i have seen more and more its seems people don't read all of the contract or don't understand it.