GymBox - Full of gimmick and no honesty by fd4698

fd4698 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:55:22 +0000

Review by fd4698

Rating: 1.00

Phone: 020 7400 1919

Website: http://www.gymbox.co.uk

Tags: massage therapy, bar / cafe, sauna

Pretentious and awful gym. I joined on an offer in the london paper. The sales staff were pushy and superficial, using what seemed like tempting limited offers such as waiving their extortionate joining fee of Â£175 if you sign the contract then and there. I was not happy with all the small print on the contract but was cajoled into joining for the least commitment membership of pay as you go but i later found in the terms and conditions that you still had hidden fees to pay with this. The atmosphere at the gym was disappointing and the staff were very aloof and generally unhelpful. There were always 3 or 4 of each type of machine which were out of order despite the fact that i never see many people using the gym. I read the terms and conditions of my contract and cancelled within the correct time limit (annoyingly even though they sell it as a pay as you go option you need to give a full month's notice and a further maintenance fee if you want to skip a month i.e. you end up paying for NOT going to the gym). Even giving my notice orally and in writing with the un-friendly reception staff and cancelling my direct debit well in advance, another month's payment was still taken from my account. The manager was un-believably rude when I called up about it and it took some talking just to be refunded for the extra month's fee they unlawfully took from me. All in all, it's just one big gimmick so that people can feel like they're getting a new experience but the classes are pretty contrived and either over-crowded or the instructor won't teach if there are 5 or less people. Definitely go elsewhere - this place has short term appeal only!Pretentious and awful gym. I joined on an offer in the london paper. The sales staff were pushy and superficial, using what seemed like tempting limited offers such as waiving their extortionate joining fee of Â£175 if you sign the contract then and there. I was not happy with all the small print on the contract but was cajoled into joining for the least commitment membership of pay as you go but i later found in the terms and conditions that you still had hidden fees to pay with this. The atmosphere at the gym was disappointing and the staff were very aloof and generally unhelpful. There were always 3 or 4 of each type of machine which were out of order despite the fact that i never see many people using the gym. I read the terms and conditions of my contract and cancelled within the correct time limit (annoyingly even though they sell it as a pay as you go option you need to give a full month's notice and a further maintenance fee if you want to skip a month i.e. you end up paying for NOT going to the gym). Even giving my notice orally and in writing with the un-friendly reception staff and cancelling my direct debit well in advance, another month's payment was still taken from my account. The manager was un-believably rude when I called up about it and it took some talking just to be refunded for the extra month's fee they unlawfully took from me. All in all, it's just one big gimmick so that people can feel like they're getting a new experience but the classes are pretty contrived and either over-crowded or the instructor won't teach if there are 5 or less people. Definitely go elsewhere - this place has short term appeal only!

LA Fitness - Holborn - Not much room to move by Frankie

Frankie — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:10:48 +0000

Review by Frankie

Rating: 2.00

Phone: 0845 355 4489

Website: http://www.lafitness.co.uk

Tags: gym, fitness, health

LA Fitness is fairly reliable across it's clubs but the ones on commuter routes are almost as bad as London Underground during the rush hour. In fact most of them are underground but the saving grace of this club is the ground floor location with windows and daylight!

Apart from that I was pretty disappointed. It's very cramped and manic in there with a damp sweaty atmosphere. Stretching mats are laid back-to-back, almost overlapping, the swimming pool is tiny and the showers are appalling. They dribble and you have to keep pushing a button to keep the water 'running'. The temperature goes hot and cold. yuch.

I'll finish with a couple of good points though: the spinning class has a separate room, the mats were new and the weights equipment worked well enough. Good selection of different aerobics machines such as sitting down cycling, running, normal cycling, cycling with your arms, stairs and more. Staff helpful.LA Fitness is fairly reliable across it's clubs but the ones on commuter routes are almost as bad as London Underground during the rush hour. In fact most of them are underground but the saving grace of this club is the ground floor location with windows and daylight!

Apart from that I was pretty disappointed. It's very cramped and manic in there with a damp sweaty atmosphere. Stretching mats are laid back-to-back, almost overlapping, the swimming pool is tiny and the showers are appalling. They dribble and you have to keep pushing a button to keep the water 'running'. The temperature goes hot and cold. yuch.

I'll finish with a couple of good points though: the spinning class has a separate room, the mats were new and the weights equipment worked well enough. Good selection of different aerobics machines such as sitting down cycling, running, normal cycling, cycling with your arms, stairs and more. Staff helpful.

Latest reviews for Health & Beauty in Holborn, London, United Kingdom

GymBox - Full of gimmick and no honesty by fd4698

LA Fitness - Holborn - Not much room to move by Frankie