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Started 1 year ago by cc
Latest reply from Walker

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cc

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A friend of mine is considering joining the as yet to be completed Urban Active gym in the Grandview Yard.

She is looking for some opinions from people who have had memberships there. They have a pre-sale office on 5th and are offering deals but also have the usual high pressure sales tactics. I did some searching and am a bit concerned as a bunch of online reviews mention shady practices with billing and trouble getting out or contracts when they are set to renew or after notice is given*. Since the gym has not been built yet she is reticent about joining, but they almost have her hooked. So if anyone could share their experience with this company it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

*I suffered a similar sounding fate at the hands of Gold's Gym many years ago.

Posted 1 year ago #
maveric1
5xNW
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I signed up with them. They didn't really give me a pressure sales pitch. I'm sure it'll come since every gym I've been with always trys to sell extras.

I would also like to hear from others who are currently members.

Posted 1 year ago #
osulew
My house...in the middle of my street
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I just recently joined but haven't gotten to go to the actual gym yet, but I have a couple friends that are members and say the actual facilities are nice. I called on the phone before going in and secured my price and asked them to draw up the contract so I could come in and just review it and sign. I went in after work and met with the rep I spoke to on the phone, told him I was in a hurry, reviewed the contract to make sure it was on the up and up, and I was out the door with my key fob pass thing in under 5 minutes. I find that if you don't give someone the option of taking your time, they won't. Most gyms I've been to try to sell you more than you want, and I just don't allow them any time to do it. YMMV of course.

Posted 1 year ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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cc wrote >>
I did some searching and am a bit concerned as a lot of online reviews mention shady practices with billing and trouble getting out or contracts when they are set to renew or after notice is given*.

*I suffered a similar sounding fate at the hands of Gold's Gym many years ago.

I'd take most sought-out online reviews about "service providers" like gyms with a grain of salt knowing that people will go out of their way to post complaints if they feel they have been wronged in any way, but rarely, if ever, will post anything positive if they've had any sort of average to above-average service with their gym (or other service).

Really, entertainment (restaurants, bars, events) is one of the few things that seems to attract positive online reviews. Services (gyms, taxis, internet providers, etc) rarely attract a review-happy fanbase. People just have different expectations.

That being said, I think some folks here can provide some worthwhile feedback, good or bad since you're asking a very specific and direct question. ;)

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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That is true about the internet reviews tending to be skewed.

She is pretty excited that UA will have pool...I am trying to help her as they are talking her into a long term contract.

Posted 1 year ago #
duncanfj

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My wife and I signed up at the place on 5th. Only high pressure event was the head of the personal trainers name dropping MMA people he's trained trying to get us to sign up. Soon as we said no, he backed off. Alot of the reviews I saw online were about canceling their contracts. I'm pretty sure a large number of those people didn't read their contracts to know how and when to cancel. We signed up for a month-to-month contract, which is nice.

Posted 1 year ago #
osulew
My house...in the middle of my street
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cc wrote >>
That is true about the internet reviews tending to be skewed.
She is pretty excited that UA will have pool...I am trying to help her as they are talking her into a long term contract.

I think mine was so easy as I had a postcard in hand that they'd mailed me with a specific month to month price as well as specs for what fees would be due up front and stuff...so I just called and said "I got a postcard offering $29.95/month +tax for a month to month contract and no joining fees and I want that"

Posted 1 year ago #
somertimeoh
Harrison West
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Do what Lew did. DO NOT engage any of the personal trainers. I'm having the hardest time now because I got suckered and my right to cancel was taken away by some fast talking. The salesman got sold :(

Posted 1 year ago #
maveric1
5xNW
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^^^ Same here! I called got the same contract osulew described, went in, reviewed the contract and signed, then walked out. Took less than 10 minutes.

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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I think I will try and persuade her to pay a bit extra and go with the month to month plan.

Besides the $29.95 monthly were there any other fees?

I think she said they wanted to charge a one time fee of $50 for one thing and also $30 for another plus the actual membership cost. I will ask her if she got a postcard.

Posted 1 year ago #
osulew
My house...in the middle of my street
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cc wrote >>
I think I will try and persuade her to pay a bit extra and go with the month to month plan.
Besides the $29.95 monthly were there any other fees? I think she said they wanted to charge a one time fee of $50 for one thing and also $30 for another. I will ask her if she got a postcard.

I had no enrollment fees...which is usually just whatever in the world they make up to charge you it seems. I paid a little over $40 to get started...which consisted of last month's dues and a 9.95 charge to get stuff set up with my bank and their auto pay system or whatever. It was something like $42 bucks and I was out the door.

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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Great info! thanks

Posted 1 year ago #
shmack

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i've been thinking about joining as well, but i'm a little confused...

so they are opening a gym in grandview yard fall 2010. but they are charging monthly membership fees prior to opening? it doesn't sound like they are initializing the fees when they open, and already have paying members at the grandview yard gym without actually being open?

Posted 1 year ago #
somertimeoh
Harrison West
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You can go to any Urban Active.

Posted 1 year ago #
osulew
My house...in the middle of my street
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shmack wrote >>
i've been thinking about joining as well, but i'm a little confused...
so they are opening a gym in grandview yard fall 2010. but they are charging monthly membership fees prior to opening? it doesn't sound like they are initializing the fees when they open, and already have paying members at the grandview yard gym without actually being open?

The membership is for all clubs, all hours. I figure I'll start at the Graceland location which isn't a bad drive and then go to Gview when it opens...but I can keep going to any and all of them I want.

ETA: He did give me the option to not start my auto debit until October if I knew I didn't want to go to any of the other gyms and only wanted to wait until Gview opened.

Posted 1 year ago #
duncanfj

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shmack wrote >>
i've been thinking about joining as well, but i'm a little confused...
so they are opening a gym in grandview yard fall 2010. but they are charging monthly membership fees prior to opening? it doesn't sound like they are initializing the fees when they open, and already have paying members at the grandview yard gym without actually being open?

You can start paying now and go to the other Urban Actives until the new one opens, or start paying when it opens. We're paying $30 a month for the month-to-month. I would also advise against paying with the debit card or having them withdraw directly from your bank acct. Easier to close your credit card and get a charge back than get money from your bank account back.

Posted 1 year ago #
osulew
My house...in the middle of my street
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I had an issue with a contract in the past that kept drawing on my account after I'd cancelled. I took my contract, my cancellation letter that had been sent to the business that fit within the specifications in the contract to my bank and my bank blocked that entity from drawing on my account. I'm not at all worried about anything happening with this transaction, but at least with my bank there were ways to stop it when the company didn't comply with my request to terminate.

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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That had been my problem with Gold's Gym. They kept charging after I had met all the requirements to cancel (including written notice). Chase did a charge back, but Gold's kept hitting the card month after month. Gold's said they would stop it, but it kept happening. Chase had to close the account and give me another to finally stop it. I think it was more administrative ineptness than anything else. If you follow your contract your credit card will back you up.

I must reiterate, that was Gold's Gym and not Urban Active.

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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I think Urban Active also told her they could freeze her account until the gym opened.

Posted 1 year ago #
meltsintowonder

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I'm a happy customer. You get an incredibility facility for the membership price with classes, cardio theatre, and other bells and whistles. Like others said, don't engage with the personal training staff (unless you're interested) because they're pushed to get people signed up for personal training, and then they'll try to sell the energy drinks, clothing, and other "essentials."

A lot of places will screw up billing and contracts, but like Walker said, you'll only find the negative comments for this business category. I know the biggest complaint with the Urban Active at Graceland is that people bought memberships with the impression that gym was opening about six months sooner so they had to use the temporary location, which looked more like a sales office.

Posted 1 year ago #