Complaint about Goodlife Fitness- Kanata Ontario

March 2007- Goodlife Fitness, Kanata, Ontario

The following is my experiences at Goodlife Fitness- Kanata, Ontario, Canada

Overall rating- 1/10 possible points.

I found the salespeople to be quite misleading in the original offer for memberships. I hired a trainer, who wrote down our sessions in an old daytimer, and he wrote like a child; with illegible writing. There were a few sessions in which he thought I had booked, but once we deciphered his scrawl, he realized that these were not my appointments. After many sessions (8 months) I was pleased to see my personal improvement, but the trainer started to book sessions with me, and when I tried to cancel some sessions (with appropriate notice), he charged for them anyway. There was also calculations of my training sessions which did not add up correctly. When I questioned my trainer concerning this, he said to never mind; and that he would take care of me. When I also tried to verify his credentials, I discovered that he would have been a black belt in Jiu jitsu at the age of ten years old!hmmmmmm. Then when I stopped payment on my membership (after over 1 year) I was told by the manager that I may still have to pay a penalty. Great gym, and facilities but this is overshadowed by the overall attitude and disciplines akin to slime-ball con- artists. The staff is mostly young, and hide behind the premise of trying to help people get in shape; but in reality they just care about the $Goodbuck$, not the Goodlife. Also, when you try to cancel your taining sessions, they will keep all the $$ remaining. Do not be fooled by the fine print of the contract, which is totally separate and has different termination clauses from the overall agreement to the gym. This is also not diclosed at point of sale, which is probably against consumer laws. Goodlife is betting that no one will complain to the Gov't, or take them to court for the hasle and expense. Recently, Goodlife was fined 75000.00 for misrepresentation by the Canadian Cosumer Association, but they have just altered their presentation to get by this new ruling. the same "tonic show" tactics are employed, until they are repirmanded again. The next time they pay a fine, it will still be less then all the monies they have taken in- therefore they will continue to operate just below the level of the law. This is a shame, but hopefully this letter will let a few people think twice before being drawn into the hasty contract signing and sales presuures of Goodlife Fitness. Remember to search Google- "Complaints about Goodlife" and you will see what other have experienced.

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wow...

I wish my friend and I had seen this before signing up to Goodlife - Kanata two weeks ago. Originally we went just to inquire about their membership fees and facilities. First of all, the manager kept us sitting there waiting for him for 2 hours (while he kept on telling us "i'll be another 15 minutes or so") so we booked an appointment with him the next day. During our appointment, he rushed us through the signing up process, and being just out of our teens, we were naive enough to believe this guy when he said he'll give us a special deal for students. When my friend asked about a paper invoice, he said he'll just withdraw from my account biweekly so there was no need. So Monday was our first payment and I was expecting approximately 34$ (after taxes) for the two of us so I transferred 40$ into my account. When I checked my bank account, i noticed there was a "non-sufficient funds" charge by the bank of 40$ because for some stupid reason, Goodlife decided to charge us ~55$! So now, I've been trying to contact goodlife numerous times since Monday and was told that only the guy who issued our agreement (the manager) will be able to make amendments. On Monday the guy on the phone told me the manager wasn't going to be in until Wednesday so I called today to book an appointment with him and the lady told me he won't be in until Friday!

In short, DO ask for some sort of invoice for the first payment, it'll save you a lot of hassel later on.

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As a recent employee of Goodlife Fitness I must tell all of you out there to beware. Money and greed, sales goals and suspicious business practices fuel this company. When you start at a new job or position it is hard to realise these facts until youve gained more experience with the company and the way they work. After working over forty hour weeks for almost two consecutive years at this company it was my time to move on to a higher level of education and better my own practices, also to better the environment for my clients too. Goodlfe took this as an attack on them that I would even think of leaving my "valuable" position to move towards a new prospective goal in my life. After giving my two weeks notice in a professional manner I was asked to leave two days later as the management would feel more "comfortable" if I just left. Even thouh it was with pay in lieu of, they denied me a letter of recommendation and went as far as sending me a threatening letter stating that if I were to contact any of my clientelle, members of Goodlife, staff and or associates I would be sued and legal proceedings taken against me. This is outrageuous coming from a company that supposedly has "core values" and apparently cares!

One quick story I must share with the public has to do with their sales team office. (the people who have nothing to do with a gym or workout facility yet are there at the front to let you know you are out of shape and its time to sign up) As if they really know who you are from a two minute meeting that I must remind you they are trained for consistently, using the same compliment strategies and uneducated fitness assessment guesses on everyone.

Regardless one fateful day I had to visit the sales team room, as one and only one of them was also my client and I had to see how her personal cardio workouts had gone on the previous weekend. The agenda for the day on their dry erase marker board stated and I quote: "Even a bum with a bank account can get a membership: lets get them in!"

Since my club was located downtown and frequented by quite a variety of people, as well surrounded by three mens homeless shelters and methadone clinics. My client who worked in this office advised me that they were instructed not to let people know of fees associated with cancelling memberships or the unability to afford one. If per say, a "bum" would sign up they would tell them they had a"special deal" for them and they didnt have to pay a startup fee! (they did this with everyone) They would then mislead them into thinking their membership was now paid for and as long as they got a bank account number no matter if there was money or not they would begin extracting it for their own greedy uses. I was very shocked at this and saddened to see quite a few actual homeless people be seduced into this trap. When they came back to let Goodlife know they couldnt pay for their membership as they didnt realise there would be all these associated fees. (they also set you up with towel service an extra 5 -6$ a month without your knowledge, you have to let them know you dont want it or they will just sign you up for it) Anyways after they came back in they would be treated poorly, left with no options from their so called "club" and left to deal with the banks and collections agencies. As if these people havent gone through enough in their lives lets destroy it a little more for a dollar. I am so happy and feel entirely free to be away from this horribly run company. I know there are many others out there like me and probably many more horrific situations. In a world where advertising and money rules all, beware what you get yourself into. Goodlife is not what it seems. It should be called Moneylife, as thats what really matters to them.

Anonymous.

Ps. I realise I left you all without a tip or piece of advice. Check out your other options, smaller gyms do usually practice better business ethics, as they cannot hide behind a huge corporate name. Check out your local trainers who work out of their homes or come to you, check out a more private studio (usually their rates are very competitive with the market if not cheaper because you may not have to pay any overhead or membership fees) Their prices will also be very upfront and no extra associated fees will pop up in the future. Good luck to you all and train hard, whatever you do.

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I had a very similar experience. They are clearly not in the fitness biz, but rather in the take-them-for-all-you-can biz.

I would advise anyone joining this gym to be very vigilant and keep on top of your records/payments and god help you if you have a complaint - there will be no solution. I had been trying to correct a mistake made by the club when a third family member joined the gym in December. Countless phones calls, no resolution. Finally I get hit with an arrears payment. THEY mess up and then expect me to pay for their incompetence. WOW. So, after trying to negotiate, and this after waiting 25 minutes on hold for the umpteenth time to contact an accounts rep, I am told they don't care if we cancel our membership, after 3 years - but they do want that $187 dollars they forgot to take from my account for the past 6 weeks - even though I had been flagging the missed payment from the onset. UNREAL. They don't deserve to have our business or anyone else's...this is a competitive marketplace.

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GoodLife doesn't have a customer satisfaction policy. If you sign up and the services fall short of their claims - too bad, so sad. The $99 cancellation fee applies. Every trip I made, the gym was filthy, equipment worn and dirty - scattered around. There is very little room to work free weights. These guys are in the game of sales - not fitness. If you are considering joining GoodLife in Kingston Ontario - you may want to re-consider. Perhaps try their 3 trial visits before signing on and verify my claim. Too bad I didn't do my homework.

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I cancelled my membership, tried to do it by phone as I had a sister-in-law in the hospital with a life threatening disease and we spent every hour we could with her. I asked them to write down the names and cancel the accounts. I got the bs that they can't do it over the phone. I explained the circumstances and still no compassion. I finally went in to cancel in September. I specifically told the girl, I want all amounts paid up, I had put a stop payment on my account and I want no more monies owing to them. She told me the amount that would clean up everything. She said they will try a bank withdrawl and I would need to call to get the money back. I said that won't be a problem as I put a stop payment on the account.

They say I still owe September payment even though I was told nothing more will be due to the club. Their word means NOTHING. They are a lying bunch of money grubbing assholes. If I don't pay by the end of November, they are threatening collections.

Also, if they try to sell you circuit training, don;t buy it, a waste of time. I was told it doesn't do much for you, if you want to really get in shape go to a personal trainer and they will put you through worthwhile routines to help you properly get in shape.

All I can say about BadLife is stay away.

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I also had an annoying experience with Goodlife Fitness which located at March Road, Kanata. They suspended my membership because my account was overdue. However, it was caused by their insufficient way of the transaction. My husband and I tried to reach the general manager at the club. However, he ignored the inquary and bounced our numerous phone calls.

It is apparent that he has no management skill. He shouldn't be in the management position to begin with if he is not capable of dealing with issues.They are unprofessional at all.

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I'm sorry to hear about your experiences. Thankfully, there are alternatives.

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