Toronto Delivers

There are two ways to build a customer base for any business. You can win your customers over (through good customer service) or you can screw your customers over (by using questionable tricks to keep them uneducated about their options). While choosing a health club, I encountered both.

A few months ago, I joined Jump Fitness, formerly located on Pape. It was near my home, was no-frills, and they offered me an excellent price. But six weeks after I signed a contract with them, they were bought out by Extreme Fitness. Extreme promptly closed Jump and required all Jump members to move to Extreme’s location on Danforth. The only information provided was a flyer showing a beautifully designed club (certainly not the Danforth location) and a photocopied sheet informing members that they were limited to that one location and that Extreme would graciously honor the prices we were already paying. The Danforth location, however, is currently under construction, with half of the club closed off and unfinished. The two times I stopped by, I was unable to work out because the machines I use were not working, and the dust that accompanies construction really bothered my sinuses. Worse yet, customer service at the gym was nonexistent.

And their gracious offer to honor current agreements? At the same time as the Jump closure, Extreme was offering the same level of membership at the Danforth location for $20 less than what the average Jump member was paying.

I, of course, did what any smart consumer would have done. I looked around for a new gym. I found it just down the street from Extreme. href=" http://www.virtualtour.tv/riverdalefitness.wmv /">Riverdale Fitness, which has been around since 1949, is located at 835 Danforth, above the Blockbuster. I dropped in unannounced, and the general manager stopped what she was doing to welcome me, and to give me a tour around the gym. The gym itself is small but clean, and well-maintained, and looked like just what I wanted in a gym. Then we sat down to talk over terms. She was willing to give me the same terms that I had at Jump Fitness, and explained the contract that she asked me to sign. I left Riverdale Fitness feeling the way I should have felt when Extreme took over. And two days after I signed, I received a nice welcome card in the mail, which included the general manager’s business card and a free coupon for one of their excellent protein shakes.

But my story doesn’t end there.

My next step was to inform Extreme that I was refusing the new terms of the contract they were offering me. I assumed that Extreme had a procedure for former Jump members to refuse, so I sent an email first to the contact information provided to me. The email bounced back. I then looked up the contact information for the general manager and sent an email asking what the procedure was for refusal. He replied that I was committed for a year under my old contract. I sent a second email informing him that I was not willing to be held under a contract with a company I did not negotiate with, and that all I wanted to know was the procedure for refusing membership at Extreme. This time, he ignored my email entirely.

It finally took sending him an official letter of complaint, obtained from the Ministry of Government Services for him to answer my simple question. All I had to do was come in and sign a membership cancellation form. I went in as soon as I could, signed the form and I was done. It took all of two minutes to do, once I had the information.

Perhaps Extreme Fitness was not trying to screw me over (a a search on the net shows that it is likely they were, though). They certainly gave the impression that they were. What if they had tried to win me over? What if they offered every Former Jump member a tour of the facilities? What if the information packets given out had included everything needed to assess Extreme and make an informed decision? What if, after I expressed my intent to refuse Extreme’s contract, the general manager had tried to entice me to stay? I may very well have stayed at Extreme.

And Extreme did not just lose me as a customer, but everyone I mention this story to (including you, reader), and everyone they mention it to. Screwing customers over is a losing proposition because the time and energy you save by not wooing a potential client is offset by the effects of bad word of mouth. On the other hand, I’m telling everyone just how well I was treated at Riverdale Fitness. For the price of a greeting card and a ten minute walk-through, the pay-out is big.

Ratings? Riverdale Fitness is most definitely World Class. Extreme Fitness is a Not World Class (and my own personal advice to run away from them as fast as your legs can carry you). ~ robis