Well That Was Encouraging.......NOT!

245

Replies

  • denisedwrt
    denisedwrt Posts: 28 Member
    I used to be a personal trainer and I have NEVER worked with anyone who would act like that! If anyone at any of the gyms where I had worked had done this, they would have been fired right away. Seriously, do the gym a huge favor and tell the manager what happened (hopefully it is not him). :mad:
  • oshmom
    oshmom Posts: 78 Member
    You may never get a call back. I would walk back in and TALK to the management, with a copy of a letter in hand to corporate, and ask to bring in the "trainer" when you speak to the manager.
  • Breeli0519
    Breeli0519 Posts: 63 Member
    I would DEFINITELY report him to his supervisor! Regardless of his personal feelings about the potential someone has for success based solely on appearance (which in and of itself makes him a giant DB!), you just don't say things like that to people!

    And if he owns the place, I would wager a bet that he'll be out of business before too long!

    What a jerk! I'm sorry that happened to you. Now go find a gym that meets your needs with caring, motivating professionals and once you reach your goal weight, look that guy up and tell him to <blank> off!!
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    That's terrible, not sure what gym this was, but If it was me I'd contact someone above this db's head. I've never had that happen, but there was a story on tv not too long ago about how some gyms charge heavier people more for memberships and personal training.

    There's so many great gym's out there or alternatively classes I hope you find something that fits your needs:)

    Horrible thing is that it's a gym associated with my work place. There are 6 annexes to the gym so that's rather small. But I was just very turned off by this guy's attitude and pretty intimidated after that because I'm just thinking "Is that what all trainers feel about overweight people!?!"
  • lovemykids58
    lovemykids58 Posts: 195 Member
    Complain to the manager just so they know what that dumb@$$ said. THE GYM IS NOT JUST FOR SKINNY PEOPLE! How does he think people get in shape anyways- Ugh I wish you could punch people and get away with it sometimes lol :wink:
  • salcha76
    salcha76 Posts: 287 Member
    Seriously? is this a chain? email everyone.....or call....you could have been potentially a success story for the gym & the trainer! Instead of welcoming you they literally pushed you out the door! Awful!
    Keep your chin up & move on.....tsk......what a pathetic excuse for a trainer!
  • Troll
    Troll Posts: 922 Member
    At least you know where NOT to go now :)
  • 1stday13
    1stday13 Posts: 433 Member
    Hello :explode:
    Is it a major chain? Write/ call/ email or all of those to corporate and really let them know how appalled you are at that type of treatment. Make sure and let them know you will be letting everyone you know NOT to step foot in that place!!!! If it is local, find out who owner is and do not be shy in telling him the unacceptable treatment you got.
    Whatever you do,just do something.
    Good Luck
  • crystalrose1234
    crystalrose1234 Posts: 19
    what a jackhole!!! i can't believe he said that to you!! i dont go the gym anymore because all i ever see are skinny folks there preening in front of the mirror so that dosnt help much either but i cant understand why people are allowed to treat people that are trying thier hardest to lose weight and need extra help like that!! thats unreal!!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    prove him wrong.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    Yeah... I'd call management and move up the chain from there. What a d-bag!
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
    I'm just amazed that you and your friend stayed beyond that first rude sentence...I would have been out the door immediately.

    There are MANY gyms, rec centers, YMCAs there that would never treat someone with such rudeness and disrespect. Keep looking and you will find one that works for you.
  • Rogue_Minx
    Rogue_Minx Posts: 71 Member
    prove him wrong.

    THIS
  • ChinniP
    ChinniP Posts: 166 Member
    Maybe he had already found out he was getting fired and was spending the day getting even :-)
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    I say it's a fake story. No one hires employees like that to promote their business. Please.

    I am a paralegal at a large attorney firm that is worldwide. I have better things to do than make up fake stories. I have had horrible experiences at restaurants, clothing stores, and even Chuck-E-Cheese. Does that mean that those places "don't hire bad people to promote their business?" Please!
  • emmeylou
    emmeylou Posts: 175 Member
    I hate it when people open their mouths sometimes... UGH. What he said was completely thought-less and rude.

    I was at my gym and I was excited because I *finally* lost enough weight to be within the "normal" BMI range (it took 120 lbs...). I was telling this one trainer who was super supportive. Another one was standing near-by and was all "well BMI is not accurate and you shouldn't base your success off of that, but good job anyways". I was completely taken aback and I still have trouble walking in when I see him working sometimes. It's true that SOMETIMES BMI is not a good indicator of health. But seeing as I am not a body-builder and I don't fit into any of the other "outside" ranges, BMI is a perfectly acceptable way for me to measure my success. I went from a BMI of 48 to 22.8... that is something to celebrate and this trainer completely killed my buzz.
  • athenaheim
    athenaheim Posts: 496 Member
    I have never had that happen nor heard of that happening. You should report it to the owner. I'm sure they would like to know what their staff is saying.
  • deadmittens
    deadmittens Posts: 536 Member
    Are you serious? What gym was that?? If it's one that's corporate I would call and complain. That's ridiculous.
  • Elizadolots
    Elizadolots Posts: 178
    Please, please write a letter to senior management. They probably have no idea about the damage being done at front. Good on you for being confident enough not to let it bother you too much, but for someone with real low confidence that can be a make or break deal for weeks!
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    Honestly, I would complain to management there.

    This, I have never heard of such a thing, and I know that either of the gyms I work at would want to hear that this is how they are being represented.
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    Are you serious? What gym was that?? If it's one that's corporate I would call and complain. That's ridiculous.

    Yes, very serious. It was an annex to a gym associated with my place of employment. And honestly, I have never been to a gym before except the all women's gym called "Curves." So, I had no idea the kind of protocol to expect when heading into the front door. I just know that I was very discouraged after what he said.
  • srkyser
    srkyser Posts: 1
    Yep...I agree with what others are saying. I've shopped various gyms, and I have had some obnoxious encounters--usually from some young super-stud that assumed that because I was large I was not going to be serious. But I've never encountered that much attitude. I saw someone else make the recommendation to search out a YMCA or YWCA. I recommend that as well. I have never had a negative experience at a Y.
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    Honestly, I would complain to management there.

    I called to ask for management after my friend and I left. I got a voicemail. I did leave a message but also seriously thinking about writing a letter to corporate office.
    oh most definitely do that! I hate being treated poorly by the way I look or act or whatever. I was buying a new car after my jeep was wrecked and the salesman said a couple of things out in left field. I let it slide cuz I wanted to test drive the charger. When I asked how much, he went to the manager to ask and then came back to me and said cuz your not buying right now and your husband isnt here he is not going to give you a price! I was like wtf?????? seriously? is this 1952? I walked right out of there, with my 15,000 cash down payment, and bought at another dealership. long story short, I got a phone call, from a woman, and I let her have it. she could not believe what had happened. I said seriously if they treat all their female customers like this they certainly wont get my business, nor any of my friends for that matter because I told everyone about my experience! pissed me off so effin bad! dont let him get away with this.
  • rob1976
    rob1976 Posts: 1,328 Member
    Maybe that is his definition of "motivation"...#sarcasm
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
    Wow. It's one thing to have a bit of cynicism this time of year. After all, any trainer or staffer may very well be investing time and effort in a surge of customers only to see their efforts are for nothing once the motivation of a New Years resolution has evaporated.

    But he's certainly done nothing to help the situation with this attitude. The way it sounds, I'm wondering if he isn't possibly angry at his bosses and is trying to sabotage things. Maybe it's a really stupid way of trying ot test your resolve by making you feel unwelcome?

    Whatever the reason, it's a bad attitude to have with customers. If I ran the gym and saw him doing that, I'd bust him down to "sweat wiper" on the spot, providing I didn't simply give him the boot. A guy like that does not need to be interacting with customers.
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    Please, please write a letter to senior management. They probably have no idea about the damage being done at front. Good on you for being confident enough not to let it bother you too much, but for someone with real low confidence that can be a make or break deal for weeks!

    I write for a living so writing a letter about his behavior is nothing to me, easy peasy. But I just wanted to get other people's opinion about it because I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to get him fired if I was just being too sensitive. I am honestly not a sensitive person but his comments pissed me off.

    I wanted to make sure I wasn't being overly offended, though I am.
  • rugbyphreak
    rugbyphreak Posts: 509 Member
    I had a similar experience when looking for gyms... My friend and I walked in and asked some questions about the fees and services, the usual, then asked if we could take a look around. As we were walking around, the girl at the front desk started talking about me and my friend to one of her coworkers saying that we would only come a few days a month because "people like us" are lazy, unmotivated, and have no willpower... We came back to the desk after looking around and asked about personal training sessions and we got just about the same answer as you did, "if you quit during the first week, we'll still charge you for the full four weeks. we don't care what excuses you have for not coming to your appointments, we still need to get paid".

    Needless to say, we complained... NOTHING WAS DONE! The rude staffers still work there and we did not get any free training or membership.

    We joined Bally's instead and dealt with fewer issues there, but eventually, we quit there because of hidden fees and having too many people and so little equipment.

    My friend and I weren't severely overweight or out of shape either. We were the typical rugby forwards, only being 20 and 40 pounds overweight respectively.
  • AshleyLo_44
    AshleyLo_44 Posts: 206 Member
    I went to a gym this morning and asked if I could take a look around. To make a long story short - I already have a treadmill and some free weights at home that I work out with daily. But I wanted to push myself and decided to look into a gym and a personal trainer.

    The guy at the front desk says, "Well, I usually take people's money and say ok, I know I won't see you again but have fun on this one day you decided to exercise!" WTF! That was an answer in response to my question about joining the gym. OK, whatever, I'll let that slide; though I'm sure he isn't supposed to say things like that to potential members. But that wasn't the worse thing he said.

    Before I could get my entire question out about looking for a trainer, he says "Look, for a trainer like me (though I wasn't neccesarily asking about him as he was sitting at the front and I had no idea he was even a trainer) it would cost you. I don't train certain people and I hike my prices way up and stupid people still pay for me to train them and then quit. But I still charge them for the entire month. Fat people are usually the first quitters, no offense!" I thought this was a rather rude and out-of-left-field response. I was honestly floored by what he said.

    Well, I had a friend there with me who instantly flipped out and we decided that was not the gym to join if they had staffers like him working there. But has anyone ever had this sort of experience. It makes me not want to go out and look anymore. Bad first experience.

    This sounds so much like the gym I had first tried here in the small town I'm living in right now. big jerks that think they are god's gift and can do whatever they want. I fell in love with my workout joe's gym. It is so nice going into a place you feel so welcomed, no pressure, and everyone is there for the same goal "TO GET HFIT and BE HEALTHY" it may take 2 or 3 different gyms till you find the perfect one fthat's you. Good luck and I hope you don't encounter more rude jerks. I would also call that gym and ask for the managers name. Write up a letter and mail to the gym explaining what went on the meathead's name and say because of his rudeness you lost two possible clients.
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    Honestly, I would complain to management there.

    I called to ask for management after my friend and I left. I got a voicemail. I did leave a message but also seriously thinking about writing a letter to corporate office.
    oh most definitely do that! I hate being treated poorly by the way I look or act or whatever. I was buying a new car after my jeep was wrecked and the salesman said a couple of things out in left field. I let it slide cuz I wanted to test drive the charger. When I asked how much, he went to the manager to ask and then came back to me and said cuz your not buying right now and your husband isnt here he is not going to give you a price! I was like wtf?????? seriously? is this 1952? I walked right out of there, with my 15,000 cash down payment, and bought at another dealership. long story short, I got a phone call, from a woman, and I let her have it. she could not believe what had happened. I said seriously if they treat all their female customers like this they certainly wont get my business, nor any of my friends for that matter because I told everyone about my experience! pissed me off so effin bad! dont let him get away with this.

    This actually happened to me before as well. I had certified cash, out right to buy a new vehicle and was treated very poorly until they found out I had the certified check to pay right out but they had pissed me off enough where my husband and I decided to go and purchase a car else where.
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    I went to a gym this morning and asked if I could take a look around. To make a long story short - I already have a treadmill and some free weights at home that I work out with daily. But I wanted to push myself and decided to look into a gym and a personal trainer.

    The guy at the front desk says, "Well, I usually take people's money and say ok, I know I won't see you again but have fun on this one day you decided to exercise!" WTF! That was an answer in response to my question about joining the gym. OK, whatever, I'll let that slide; though I'm sure he isn't supposed to say things like that to potential members. But that wasn't the worse thing he said.

    Before I could get my entire question out about looking for a trainer, he says "Look, for a trainer like me (though I wasn't neccesarily asking about him as he was sitting at the front and I had no idea he was even a trainer) it would cost you. I don't train certain people and I hike my prices way up and stupid people still pay for me to train them and then quit. But I still charge them for the entire month. Fat people are usually the first quitters, no offense!" I thought this was a rather rude and out-of-left-field response. I was honestly floored by what he said.

    Well, I had a friend there with me who instantly flipped out and we decided that was not the gym to join if they had staffers like him working there. But has anyone ever had this sort of experience. It makes me not want to go out and look anymore. Bad first experience.

    This sounds so much like the gym I had first tried here in the small town I'm living in right now. big jerks that think they are god's gift and can do whatever they want. I fell in love with my workout joe's gym. It is so nice going into a place you feel so welcomed, no pressure, and everyone is there for the same goal "TO GET HFIT and BE HEALTHY" it may take 2 or 3 different gyms till you find the perfect one fthat's you. Good luck and I hope you don't encounter more rude jerks. I would also call that gym and ask for the managers name. Write up a letter and mail to the gym explaining what went on the meathead's name and say because of his rudeness you lost two possible clients.

    Thanks, Ashley! I think I will stick with my treadmill, little free weights and Jillian for right now until I can get somewhere else. But that gym was very convenient, right underneath my office over in the connecting building.

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