I have been a member of most of the big gym chains in London (including LA Fitness, Fitness First and Virgin) and they continue to amaze me with how appalling the service is and what a bad service experience they provide.

The service is dire and they truly do not care about their customers - I know of no other business which could offer such poor customer service and stay in business.

The facilities aren't normally that good however that isn't my major gripe as they are generally clean. If you do compare them to facilities in the US though they are a lot busier and have less facilities and equipment available per member.

The worst thing however with gyms in London is the sales staff. Unbelievable people. They will literally tell you anything in order to get you to sign up. Will I get a free massage every day, of course sir; Will I be able to get a free burger and chips with each sesssion, why of course madam. The worse thing is there is no come back to these guys and there are very few alternatives, so the customer has very little power in the relationship. The number of stories I have heard where people have been mis-lead into signing a long term contract are most worrying.

For this service we have the privillege of paying somewhere between £30 - £100 per month! Have you ever actually worked out how much that costs per session? If you compare that to gym memberships in the US which average at c.$30 a month even in big cities we can be paying up to 3 to 4 times more than our transatlantic friends!

I have left all gyms behind me and am now enjoying sport at a new sports and social club called 'Come Play Sport' which is more fun, sociable and much cheaper! Until London gym's start concentrating on the customer, re-think their pricing models and invest in modern facilities I won't be going back soon. Hopefully this petition will encourage more people to do the same and force the gym chains to take some action.

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