World Health Club

Okay for this one I should have listened to everyone else and never have joined a gym in the first place. We have all heard the stories. But it was such a good rate ($40 a month and only $199 if I chose to buy out), and I was determined not to get suckered in to any other deals, or promotions or programs while I was there, even though they came at me hard, and I could see myself going to this gym for a long time. Have I mentioned previously that learning the hard way is pretty much the only way I learn? Now we are moving out of the area and are going to be on a very tight budget so the other day I decided to go in one last time and buy out of my term.

Here is the complaint I ended up filing with the Better Business Bureau:

According to the BBB's records, all complaints filed against World Health Club have been resolved to the customer's satisfaction. I'll be going back to the gym tonight to see if they now feel more motivated to play fair.

You may get the impression after reading about US Airways, and Expedia, and Shaw, and now World Health, that I am an antagonistic sort of person. I don't know if that is the case. I've worked in a customer service capacity for over a decade and have a very good understanding of the service provider - client relationship. I know the expectations from both sides of the counter. I don't like this culture of consumerism that we live in, the materialistic nature of it all. But I think that you can choose to be a mindless consumer or an intelligent one. Consumers need to understand their power. We, as consumers, need to realize that we have the ability to control and demand the products and services that we want. Because if they don't give us what we want, we can find another provider who will. That's how this game works. So yeah, maybe I rake airlines or monopolistic cable/phone providers over the coals when I feel I am getting ripped off. I wish more people would. Long-term contracts and usage fees - don't even get me started. If more consumers understood their rights, these companies would have to bend to our will instead of the other way around.

Okay I am stepping off the soap box now.