written by Sawyere313 on 14/12/2021
Asked for medical evidence for my nans illness in order to cancel my membership. This is just a summery my nan who has dementia who needed support day and night needed me and my family's support I moved some 100 miles away and when I explained the situation I got a cold response and not any help I pushed forwards explaining how it's very unknown what will be happening and that I haven't officially moved house but am staying there till I can arrange careers and or a care home but this stiff is not quick. They then asked for proof of adress change but im not officially living there I explained this again now a 2nd time and they denied they asked for medical proof but then said they need medical proof so they did need it over all but bearing in mind they asked this for cancling a gym membership its utterly disgusting and assured and just unnecessary I also added id even oay the full month despite that I have not been there in over 2 weeks which they are aware off. DONT GO TO THIS GYM IF YOU MAY HAVE PERSONAL PROBLEMS OVER 12 MONTHS AS THEY DONT CARE AT ALL, THEY ARE ALL HEARTLESS PEOPLE.
written by on 17/07/2016
I am a member of Bannatynes Health Club. Last week; no showers working. No air-con. And this morning the class cancelled. What am I paying for???
written by qlShields242 on 08/03/2016
I have been a member for several years. The whole gym area is immaculate. Always domestic staff around. The equipment gets changed yearly as does painting & decorating. Considering how much people come and go from opening to closing the staff do a great job of keeping on top of things. The only downside is the cafe. They seem to have two systems of making. Coffee a machine and a filter jug system. So you have to keep telling cafe staff members which coffee you prefer. Why do they not invest in a barista type machine the the staff are not working between two coffee systems!! Plenty of classes to keep you interested in keeping fitness levels up to motivate if you find it hard to get motivated in gym. Wish they would give members a couple of gym passes a year though. Other than that I'm proud. To be a member
written by Sinclair183 on 29/04/2015
I have been a gym member for a year, at this gym. I must say apart from the little problems of setting up my direct debit I have not had any other problems. Most of the reviews are about the unfriendliness of the stuff. I must say I go to the gym to work out not to socialise. I myself sometimes forget to even say hello or thank you to the stuff. I am sure they would not consider me as unfriendly, I also find most of the club members are like me they will not exchange a word unless they have to. I have asked for help from the stuff and they do it for you. So for those moarners who need attention I would say get a private personal trainer or a therapist who will listen to your problems. Or go to another gym because I am sure you will encounter worse problems than these.
written by on 06/11/2014
When a compliant is made falls upon death ears, poor or lack of maintenance of equipment and other facilities repairs and other routine things takes weeks in some cases months to put right, months to replace a light bulb. Changing rooms, poor locker locks out dated and often don't work. Showers useless, floors through out the building often dirty and sometimes smell. In general very poor management. One good point plenty of equipment.I have been a member for years and over the years have seen very little money spend on improvements or if so not where its needed. Need to get its act together no wonder members leave.
written by on 19/07/2014
The cosmetics of the club were of a standard expected from a council run gym/pool facility! Poor customer service from reception to the cafe,staff definitely not interested,can only describe it as of they were there doing community service!!.. The only nice and welcoming experience was from the spa ladies.. The changing rooms were a poor layout,not very modern. The walk to the pool was awful,nothing relaxing about having to go down stairs that looked like it had come direct from a run down school. The pool area was uninspiring and very bland with old rusting fixtures around the jacuzzi,the outside decking area clearly needs a new lick of paint. In general the building needs a maintenance overhaul with customer service training. Would not recommend for a spa day which is not fair on the spa girls because they are let down by the rest of the club..
written by Spafly on 14/07/2014
Beautiful, opulent facilities but clueless, rude, unenthusiastic staff. Very sad and a waste of money.
written by Janiah52 on 14/06/2014
As with many of the other reviews, there is no flexibility with membership, to the point of being them being dishonest when signing up. My 18 year old daughter asked to join for a month, was very clear that she would be going travelling etc. No problem they said, cancel any time they said. How wrong could they be. They said that they ad to have her banking details..... she cancelled before the end of the month but guess what £55 comes out of her account! Okay maybe she was naive but she's only 18 and has never set up any direct debit before and trusted the word of the guy who processed her membership. When questioned (3 levels of management) they know nothing of any conversations they had with my daughter. They have been very short sighted and have completely alienated her, our family and other friends. Not clever!
written by on 27/05/2013
My experience of being a member of this gym was not a good one. The staff are unfriendly and unprofessional. When I was leaving the gym and walking through the reception area, a male member of staff asked the other 2 female members of staff, who were also in the reception area, "are there any fit women in tonight?". An unprofessional comment to make in front of a member. I get the impression that unless you are a "fit woman" you do not count in a place like that. I was kept waiting for my induction and finally, when I did receive it, it was all over in about 10 minutes because the instructor had to be somewhere else. I smiled at a member of staff when leaving the female changing room one evening, and I received the most unwelcome look you could ever ask for. Since I have cancelled my membership, I have received no end of marketing information. I have sent e-mails, letters and telephoned the gym to ask if my name can be removed from their mailing list but every month, I still receive information from them that I do not want. The customer service could be so much better and this is the only thing that I feel lets the club down. The faciliites are fantastic and there is something for everyone.
written by on 27/03/2013
Many people have spoken to me about this terrible place horrid staff dirty pool.
written by on 20/03/2013
Having been a member for many years and looked forward to my Tuesday nights aqua, I now find that it is no longer. This class has not been tried on another night to see if more people were able to participate and now us workers (who do pay the premium rate) no longer have the option of this class. We were told that the other classes had not been affected and that we should join them but obviously this is not an option. I feel that we are paying a lot of money and being discriminated against.
written by on 17/11/2012
I feel it would be important to stress that most of the more critical views on the site seem have focused on the staff members at Bannatyne's failing to be more accommodating about stressful personal situations. While it can definitely be viewed as rather impersonal, we are talking about a a large corporate club, and in my experience I have not encountered a gym of a similar ilk (Fitness First, LA Fitness, Virgin Active, etc) that hasn't responded in exactly the same way. If your main concern is being able to cancel your subscription easily, I would recommended that potential members look elsewhere. To focus on the actual gym itself, it is excellent, with an abundance of cardiovascular equipment, resistance machines and free weights, such that an ultra marathon runner and bodybuilder could be accommodated alike. The atmosphere is friendly, and very much gives of the vibe of a "health club" rather than a gym, and the pool facilities, including sauna and steam room are equally impressive. They also have a bar/lounge, where a good selection of healthy meals are available, either pre or post workout, and provide an excellent selection of group classes. If you are serious about integrating health into your lifestyle, Bannatynes is a good option in Norwich. For those that are concerned about being able to readily cancel their contract, there are plenty of gyms (often with less facilities) that have rolling contracts, which can be cancelled within a months notice. To expect a faceless corporate body to care about personal circumstances, as depressing as it is, I feel is a little naive.
written by on 19/08/2010
Very good gym, with excellant resources available, would definately get a memship and attend regularly. Gym contains very high tech equipment with a relaxing atmosphere.
written by maximummuscle35 on 01/04/2009
A gym that has plenty of equipment available, well laid out with friendly and helpful gym staff. A good sized cafe with a good choice of food and drinks.
As a working gym Bannatyne's in Norwich is very good, I just would like to see the company introducing some flexibility with their membership policies regarding joining and cancelling. I feel more people would join and current members would be willing to sign up second time round if this was available. Im sure we understand from a business point of view the reason to have 12 month contracts and issuing 3 months notice periods but is it necessary in every case to be so rigid when implementing this, I think not. Why I hear you ask? Because people's lives do change beyond our control. We can't predict an accident, illness, job loss or other event that may happen to us in the future so I would like to see Bannatyne's doing more for it's customers by introducing some 'flexibility' in their membership contracts. For example having a 'suspension period' available for members to use and reducing the notice period to one month would be a positive step in the right direction.
I hope Bannatyne's can show that by implementing 'flexibility' within the current membership policy his current and future members would see he has a heart as well as good business sense. Good business sense after all is looking after the customer isn't it?
written by on 23/01/2009
Bannatyne's Health Club, Norwich, has lots of good and new equipment. Expensive considering other gym memberships. I found the staff to appear un-caring towards me and unwilling to compromise! I think they offer poor customer service but good facilties.
written by lynesj on 17/09/2008
I broke my ankle in June this year and was unable to go to the gym. I asked if I could suspend membership but they said they do not do suspensions and that I would have to cancel. I sent a doctors certificate which said clearly that I had a broken ankle but this was not enough, the doctor had to state that 'I could not go to the gym'! So I had to get a letter from him (cost of £15.00) stating that 'I could not use the gym' ... like it wasn't obvious! I have been paying £667 every month for 4 months whilst recovering ( £264). They have now sent me a letter stating that I can cancel my side of the joint membership but for a £75.00 administration fee. I feel this to be unjust and extremely unfair. I had no problems up until my accident but this has shown me the kind of organisation they are and my husband and I will be looking for another gym after our 12 month obligatory membership is up! Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Please feel free to let me know.
written by stevenees on 24/03/2008
My wife was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in January. I requested that Bannatyne's suspend membership until January 2008 as we would not be using the Gym for obvious reasons whilst she underwent chemotherapy and later an operation.
They see this as no reason to allow a suspension for a period. Indeed, they charged my wife 3 monthly payments and a £25 cancellation charge to close her membership as they do not "do suspensions".
So if you are happy to join an organisation with this attitude (I see the OFT has already investigated their membership contract and enforced some changes) then they are much the same as other places. But please don't get ill!
written by djeva1 on 12/11/2006
Bannatyne's health club in Norwich is a very good gym, with plenty of top of the range equipment. Whenever the gym gets busy, there is always plenty of equipment to go round, and there are always lots of classes for different fitness needs and levels. The staff are very friendly and helpful, whereby if you need a specific training program, then one of the gym staff will gladly help you to make one up. You just need to make an appointment. The cafe/bar downstairs serves a wide range of delicious meals and snacks at reasonable prices.
Because Bannatyne's is a private health club, myself and my husband feel that children should not be allowed there, but only in the creche as in other private health clubs,as they can be a nuisance in the pool when you're trying to swim lengths, as they keep crashing and splashing into you, and we hate them in the changing rooms. Children should only be allowed to use the council run pools, i.e at Riverside and at the UEA. As with the cleanliness of the changing rooms, the floors could do with more regular cleaning. We hate picking up other peoples hairs on our feet, even when wearing flip flops! The sauna/steam room and spa are all very relaxing after having a good workout. It was a shame that Bannatyne's got rid of the 'Cardio tone' (a nice simple and effective aerobics class), which was on Saturday mornings. They replaced it with Body Jam, which is a totally stupid rubbish class, involving pathetic gyrating movements. The pool is very nice and warm, but it's a little small and shallow. The membership is a little expensive, but you do get everything included. Where it is located is a little too far out of town, especially when you're home from work.
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Tibble's Comment
Written on: 19/09/2012
I have never been to bannatynes, but I have been told that is is a horrible club with horrible people in it.