Fitness First...Customers Last

What follows is my miserable experience with the famed health club, Fitness First...particularly this branch in Robinson's Tower in Ayala, Makati.

I emailed the General Manager because of a pressing matter that needed to be addressed promptly, and also because our supposed meeting/discussions with them were kept indefinitely postponed by the incredibly unprofessional staffs.

Last May 20, a membership consultant named Lai paid me a visit in the office, after I mentioned that my company was considering setting up a Corporate plan with Fitness First. I floated the notion that a colleague from HSBC mentioned a fee of P1650/month as corporate plan, and that perhaps my company could also avail of it. She said that she "will discuss the matter with her boss"; she was then here in my office an hour later, with an "informal" proposal in the form of a printout of their flyer. She then started ticking off figures and quoting us with new ones, whose details I will not even outline here. We parted ways with a promise from her that she will come back by the 30th to bring individual contracts, and a reminder that we should all prepare our debit or credit cards, since those are the only means of payment accepted. Needless to say, there was a verbal agreement that this was a done deal...as witnessed by three of my colleagues and a receptionist fromFitness. When Lai arrived at her office, she even called me to confirm this yet again.

May 23, Monday afternoon, I sent an email to the whole company offering them this opportunity to join Fitness First. After all, as head of Training and Development, it is my duty to ensure that my colleagues are fit in all possible aspects of their being. It was received across-the-board, i.e. including senior management and branches nationwide. The following day saw a number of interested employees.

May 25, Wednesday, while on an out-of-town conference, I talked to Lai to confirm that we have completed the minimum requirement...ahead of time. She seemed pleased, and we put the phone down on a positive note.

The following day, I received a call from a colleague saying that Lai told her that the membership was not going to be effected until July. I called Lai to clarify this. I was told that this was because of an audit being done on corporate accounts, there was a "silipan" that happened, what with some companies using "fake IDs to pass as company employee", etc. I was flabbergasted; after all, this should not be our concern because all the employees in my roster were legitimate employees of my company. She promised to get back to me after she discussed this with her boss.

From May 26 up to this morning, I have been passed on from a Lai to a Francis, to a Soc, and with other persons named Mike, Carmela, etc. All promised to resolve this...but could not really give any concrete answer.

Soc (Lai's manager) finally told us the "bad news", that apparently, there was a glitch: that the rate quoted to us by Lai was only for HSBC, which has a minimum of THIRTY employees...and that if we stayed with only TEN, we will have to pay a monthly due of P2,100 + a joining fee. This was preposterous, considering most of our existing Fitness First members pay significantly less than that already. Converting to Corporate will only be an idiotic decision. I was even told that Lai was not supposed to be handling corporate accounts, and that she was not aware of the rates that she gave us. By God, this was a major, major error on Fitness' end to have sent someone unqualified. Moreover, a customer/client should not have to pay for a mistake that the service provider has committed.

It was very distressing because it was my good name and reputation that I had put on the line by proposing something like this to the whole company...and that it was the same good name and reputation that was jeopardized because this mistake wasn't rectified. Soc's team had more than sufficient time to rescind such offer. They didn't...until that day I called Lai for clarification. The reason I was given by Soc why she did not know of this matter was because Lai apparently did not tell her until last minute. I was then nonplussed in confirming that Fitness' staffs were offering outrageous rates without the GM's knowledge and/or authorization. Clients like I should not be privy anymore to inappropriate leadership aptitudes such as this. But then again, perhaps this should have been kept in check.

As a highly-qualified trainer of customer service programs, who knows what to expect in any service transaction, I was deeply bothered by how this incident was handled. Fitness First kept giving me half-hearted apologies, and a resolution that wasn't at all catering to us clients...despite my being willing to make adjustments and settlements, just so we could still pursue this company endeavor.

It's been two months. I have since enrolled in Gold's Gym (where I am being well taken care of, and where there are doubtless better--and available--equipment), and still no word from Fitness.

How sad...considering it's such a world-renowned health and fitness club. I've heard loads of horror stories about the club, but that's perhaps due on a different blog. If you have your own stories, holla back and comment.

Oh, last I heard, Soc and Lai were terminated. Like, duh.