written by 155Vargas on 17/03/2015
From looking at social media they are under the impression that they are proud of their gyms and facilities. You see this is the problem, the arrogance that they are "proud" & actually providing a decent service? WOW if X4L are proud of their gyms then they are clearly walking round with rose tinted glasses! Your gyms are a shambolic mess, its not just Newcastle but Leeds, your supposed "Head Office"! The place is a shambles all because you have 3 maintenance men that maintain all the gyms up and down the country! You need to get an external company in to fix your gym equipment, such as Matrix, they do maintenance plans with 3 day turn around. Yes it costs more but you have a proper maintenance contract this way and less peed off members. Other budget gyms have a 3 day turn around on broken equipment, X4L is whenever they can get there to fix it which can be months! I was at the Leeds gym but I know every one of their gyms are in the same condition, Wakefield being another! Your business model is shockingly bad! GREED is what will eventually cause your company to brought into the limelight and not for a good reason.
Leeds in the winter is unheated, meaning sweat and moisture condense on the cold metal roof and then drip down onto you below when training and soggy carpets, there were even mushrooms growing along the wall at one point on the gym floor! In the summer its a sweat box but they cant apparently heat or air condition the place because of the type of building it is - don't want to spend money on it more like! Other gyms have the same type of building and manage to heat it or cool it. Yes I know its budget but when equipment doesn't work and repeatedly remains unfixed or there are cold showers then the members don't make allowances for the other stuff. Showers at the other gyms are constantly broken yet the social media staff who respond to peoples complaints very falsely sympathise with members with things such as "we know how frustrating this is, and we hope we can restore some faith in you" blah blah blah! The sort of thing immature folk would write. I raised faults if something wasn't working yet was constantly told that there was nothing wrong with it. Even being told once by the maintenance manager that I could leave and go elsewhere and that's how it was despite me being qualified regarding the fault I was reporting.
The PT's don't last long either because they get sick and tired of being told what to do when they pay rent to "work" there. The morale is poor so its hardly surprising that the members don't show any respect for the place because that's the picture you paint to everyone. There are people that come in externally and hold classes at various gyms and are annoyed because there is no support from staff members when groups of lads will stand at the sides of the areas that the class is being held and try to indimidate the class attendees. When this is reported week on week nothing is done about it because they dont care. The PT's dont care and do nothing about it . They don't support the PT's they just want their rent money each week. They don't even have a proper place to rest. The staff meetings are usually just a place for them to be told off for what they haven't done etc or being threatened with not being able to work.
X4L gyms are too busy as in you sell too many memberships and they are dangerously busy at peak times. The feedback I hear from friends and from social media is that the company is getting worse so I am glad I got out when I did! Who do you have writing your social media pages, never read such patronising rubbish. These are your members, just because your a budget gym doesn't mean you should provide less than the basics needed to fit in that category, such as hot water for showers and decent customer service.
I left last year because of all these problems and joined a diff "budget" gym and they do it so much better, the place is spotless and stuff is always working despite it being in use 24hours a day! If equipment is out of service its usually the odd treadmill here and there. I pay an extra £7 a month for that and its worth. X4L seem hell bent on one thing only, making money and signing more up. The problem for members is that once your signed up you are in a contract for a year and they make it very hard to cancel afterwards where you are hounded by debt collection agencies because someone hasn't done their job properly. They are not bothered if the place is a dive because you are in contract and will continue to pay each month!
Take my advice look around other gyms, check the condition of equipment, the cleanliness & upkeep of the place, then check out reviews online where the truth is told! Then decide where you want to sign up and who deserves your money. If I could give this company 0 stars I would!
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