I drove to the YMCA. I offered to pay the girl at the front desk more than $800 in advance for a one year membership. She refused my money. She told me that the YMCA only sells monthly memberships, but I could ask other YMCA employees to find out if a yearly membership is possible. She gives me some business cards.
So at home, I sent emails to the other YMCA employees, asking if can pay them more than $800 in advance for a one year YMCA membership.
A couple of days pass. No one follows up with me: no phone calls and no emails. So I phone the YMCA front desk and they tell me that they can sell a one year membership to me. So I drove to the YMCA to pay more than $800 in advance for a one year membership. I am ready to pay. I am ready to sign. Then the front desk tells me that I am not entitled to the promotion of receiving fifty percent off the first month (a discount of $32.00) because I want to pay more than $800 in advance for a yearly membership. The promotion is only available for monthly memberships. Surprised, I decided not to purchase the one year membership because I had thought that I was doing the YMCA a favour and vice versa by purchasing a one year membership and paying them all the money in advance.
I went home. I thought about it. The YMCA is a charitable organization. Maybe I was a bit harsh. News articles on the internet say that the YMCA needs money. So I return to the YMCA s saying that I am willing to pay them more than $800 in advance for a yearly membership even though they will not give me the $32.00 discount (promotion of fifty percent off the first month). Now, the girl at the front desk tells me that they do not sell yearly memberships. I am confused because the YMCA had told me a day or two ago that they could sell me a yearly membership. I ask to talk to her supervisor. Amazingly her supervisor is there. He told me that he would look into the possibility of selling a yearly membership to me and get back to me.
So today, I received an email from the supervisor. In the email he wrote that the YMCA does not sell yearly memberships.
In conclusion, I thought that I was doing the YMCA a favour by offering to pay them in advance for a one year membership. However, I wasted my time, energy and money in gas driving back and forth to the YMCA, phoning the YMCA and emailing the YMCA to get conflicting answers: no yearly membership; yearly membership possible; yes yearly membership but no promotion or discount; no yearly membership possible; we will look into it; finally an email of no yearly membership. I am going to join a private gym.
Update: the YMCA failed to inform me that I can buy a yearly gym membership through the City of Kingston which gives me access to the YMCA throughout the year. The yearly membership through the City of Kingston is cheaper than the monthly YMCA rates. read more