Boo to gym chains and their unclear T&Cs!
Just to be straight I have never been, nor will be a member of Total Fitness. I'm currently looking for a new gym and took advantage of the free introductory day pass offered on the Total Fitness website, but I wish I hadn't bothered.
The gym itself is humongous: three pools, three gym areas, three studio spaces, juice bar, hairdressers, beauticians and sauna/steam rooms. It's got all the charm of an aircraft hangar, but lets be honest it's a gym, who cares?!
I was genuinely excited about my trial, as they seem to have a good rota of classes and the the price was mid-range. I was willing to overlook the fact that one out of every 4 or 5 machines was either out of order or squeaking like it was on its way to being so. And I also wasn't overly precious when only one of the lights in the 'Mind and Body' studio worked and I overheard the teachers joking about the leaking roof, as the lighting kind of complemented the Pilates class and the scaffolding in the corner gave me hope that it was on the 'to-do' list.
What really annoyed me was the fact that when I went to the sales desk to join I was told that a six month contract bumps the price up from a student rate by £15 a month! So basically I'd be paying for 9 months regardless. Not cool Total Fitness. read more