Koko fit clubs

Newkell

I am interested in the koko fit clubs and it looks like one will be coming to a commutable distance to me in the near future. I was curious to hear if anyone has gone there, what are your likes or dislikes and if you would recommend it. I have not visited it in person yet so I have not asked any questions of them. Do they require a contract or can you go month to month. Let me know what you think if you have a opinion. Thx!

Asavitzk

This is a pretty late response but I saw nobody else had replied and I just visited one today so I figured I'd fill you in.

I liked it. It's small (only 6 circuit machines, 3 eliptical, and 3 treadmills) but since the exercises are targeted for 30 minutes and people come in all the time it didn't seem like it fills up often (the guy I spoke with said 1/2/2012 was their busiest day and the longest wait was 10-15 minutes). The machines are well designed and the program itself seems like it would be easy to follow. Having a planned 30-minute workout that constantly evolves and changes sounds wonderful to me.
I want to sign up but that leads me to the dislike: cost.

Forgive me, but I'm going to do all my math here for my own benefit as well as anybody else who's thinking of joining.

The price they advertise (different depending on franchisee and location) is the contract price of course which in my case is $79/month. To get that though you have to sign a 1-year contract. The cancellation penalty is $100 plus $10 per month left on the contract. That's actually a better cancellation penalty than most clubs I've looked at in the past. The $79/month is crazy high if you are comparing it to other clubs but what they tell you to keep in mind is that it's more like a personal trainer than a gym and they're right. As painful as that amount is, they're right.

They also have a month-to-month plan but that is $129/month! No cancellation penalty but of course they want a 30 day notice.

In addition to that there is a $29.95 charge for the "Koko-Key" which is what you plug into everything to track your progress. Seems high for what's basically a USB memory stick but oh well. They also charge $25 for a door keyfob if you want to go outside of their staffed hours.

If you join the month-to-month they want 2 months of fees upfront which makes sense since you wouldn't see the results for at least a month or so and they want to make sure you see results before you think about canceling.

If you join the annual contract there is a "Lifetime Membership & Technology Fee" charge of $119. If you go month-to-month that fee doesn't apply but if you convert to an annual contract later on there is a $50 fee.

Lastly, if you do the annual contract and pay the whole year upfront you get 1 month free so it's $869 so about an 8% savings.

So if my math is accurate and I sign up for a contract and pay the year upfront and want after-hours access then I'll be giving them $1042.95. Ouch. If I do the same plan but don't pre-pay the year then I'll be giving them $173.95 plus the first month prorated since with the contract they don't charge 2 months up front. Assuming I do this on Wednesday the 11th of January that prorated month would be $62.41 so the total cost then would be $236.36.

If I go with the month-to-month instead then I will be giving them $312.95.

At the end of a year, the month-to-month will have cost me $1602.95 and after the first year $1428.00. The contract price will have cost me $1121.95 and after the first year it would be $977.95.

They also said they don't really have a family/spouse plan but you can add them to your annual plan, pay for their key, and not pay the $119 technology fee again.

Whew! Sorry for the information overload but like I said, hopefully this info will be helpful to you and others. I think I'm going to bit the bullet and pay for a year when I go back.