this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2024
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[–] Ceedoestrees 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Let me tell you aout the only gym membership I ever had. It was a little place around the corner that was open late and rarely full. I enjoyed my time there up until I had to leave to the cold north on a work contract.

There were no memes to warn me about what happened next.

First they asked me where I was going so they could find town near my camp. There's no goddamn way I thought a town, pop. 3000, had a gym along with it's one main road and rocky woodland, but their franchise had spread that far. They said I could use that location instead. When I explained I'd only be spending one day a week in a town that was 250km from camp, they were like "Well one day a week is still a good deal!"

The rest of my week would be in the woods doing long days of manual labour, like carrying 30lbs of equipment and supplies for ten hours a day, but they insisted. I insisted not.

They tried shame: Was I not interested in maintaining physical health?

They tried to appeal to my budget: One month at half off.

They tried guilt: But I'd been with them for so long.

They tried hanging up so I had to call them back.

In the end I had to threaten to contest the charge to get them to cancel.

In the real end I had to call them from the woods to ask why I was still charged for the next month. They pleaded with me to suspend my membership until I came back, so I said I was moving to another country. And that was the end.

Learn from my mistakes, I thought I was taking care of my body but that's just the illusion they cast over their gaping maw of a snake's mouth. Their tactics have only gotten more sophisticated since then, making escape even more impossible.

Please, for your own sake, never go to gym.

[–] tamal3 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What in the world. Do people really have a hard time dis-enrolling from gyms?

[–] chiliedogg 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They make the vast majority of their money from memberships that aren't used.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife 1 points 4 days ago

I read a while back that the average Planet Fitness has 6,000 members. If you assume half are paying the minimum $10 and the other the "black card" $25, that means average revenue is around $1.5 million a year (counting annual fees). But it's pretty obvious there's no way any gym could accommodate 6,000 daily users.