DW Fitness First Blackpool

The staff are complete and utter liars!...

I joined 12 months ago at DW Blackpool as an off-peak £28 member, for a 6 month contract. I liked the idea of a 6 month contract as most gyms offer 12 months only.

I was told that I would receive a FREE training session if i refer a friend, no ifs, no buts! I was told to complete a couple of refer a friend forms by a staff member...

I said... "can i complete at home?" He replied with NO, you need to complete here! He was very very pushy towards me, so I did as he requested. One month free for referring a friend sounded excellent! I put my partners details down and my Aunties, I knew at least one would join!

I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH - THE STAFF MEMBER SAID ONE MONTH FREE FOR REFERRING A FRIEND!

I then asked about my free induction session. He said he was fully booked and he would phone me in the next few days... I received no phone calls, nor any letters in the post... NOTHING AT ALL!

I then started using the gym and it was excellent. No complaints about the gym, it was clean and well maintained. To be honest though it wasn't even a year old when i joined, so all the equipment was excellent.

2-3 weeks later my Auntie joined, she phoned me to tell me the good news... I said as a good gesture when i get the £28 then i will split it, or we can go out for a lunch meal somewhere etc...

I confronted DW Blackpool, and they said it was a COMPETITION! Not once was competition mentioned when i joined, not once! They use tactics to push you to join and offer promises, which they don't do!...

They should have stressed it was a competition when I joined! I then refused to use DW Blackpool, this was my second month into my 6 month contract, I knew I had another 4-5 months left, so I decided to use DW Preston...

WHAT AN AMAZING DECISION! STAFF AMAZING, POOL AREA AMAZING, CLEAN, EVERYTHING EXCELLENT! A MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN BLACKPOOL DW!!!

It was costing me a fortune to drive to DW Preston, but i had 4-5 months contract left. They have a Sauna and excellent pool area so I loved it. At month 6 of my contract I decided to cancel my contract...

I sent a letter to head office giving my months notice...

I popped into DW Blackpool and handed in my membership card. The Manager had a copy of my letter and asked me some questions...

She said if i re-join then she will look into the one month free. As they sometimes had refer a friend weekends, where they do actually give one months free...

Silly me re-joined as i put my faith in her... 2 months later nothing!

Last month I received a job offer in Norwich, so I sent a cancellation letter on 13/7/13 giving my 1 months notice, also handing in my membership card...

They don't have a branch in Norwich, the nearest ones are over 1 hours drive away, so i explained this in my cancellation letter. They replied saying I needed to pay another month, as they require 1 months cancellation payment...

My point is...

I have to pay them for 1 and a half months membership AND I CANT USE ANY DW GYMS FACILITIES!!! I'm not driving over 1 hour to use a gym!

So, Avoid DW like the plague! I've joined The Marriott gym... One word EXCELLENT!

Great gym. Plenty of equipment. Good staff. Would have been a five star review but the showers in the changing rooms are crap. Always freezing and you have to push the button every fifteen seconds..... give us proper showers!

Been at the gym since it opened. Promised the price would never go up if a signed up early. The they put the price up about a year later so i left. Wasn't a bad gym when it opened, but after a year the equipment was always breaking and not repaired for weeks. All in all it became a very average gym with loads or members and an over the top price plan.

I joined mainly for swimming. I got 2 months free for paying 12 months in advance and 1 month free for referring a friend so I'm quite pleased with that. The pool can often get a bit too busy for a decent swim, I'd much prefer it if people had to "book the pool in advance" to stop this from happening. Also the showers are a pain in bum as you have to push the button about 2 dozen times to get a decent shower. Putting them on a 5 minute timer would be far more reasonable. I hope our reviews don't fall on deaf ears and that management act on members concerns. It will mean the difference between renewing my membership or not.

Me and my wife are members took our kids swimming. I got a float from the side to have Lisa fairhurst the swimming coach scream how this is the second time people have stole her floats, my little lad dropped the float with fear and refused to get out of the water as she was stood. there the manager who looks like a 14 year old clearly didn't know what to do or say. Memberships stopped we will go to a child friendly gym. Shame cant give 0 stars

The friendly staff are so helpful. There's so much choice in terms of fitness training and strength training with plenty of modern equipment. Also a wide range of daily classes and all the instructors are brilliant. The pool is perfect with easy access down wide steps instead of the usual little ladders. Love the spa and steam room. The changing areas are spacious and clean and the showers are always good and hot. Very flexible opening times to suit almost everybody. This is my local happy place and I love it 😊. Brilliant!

I’d like to believe I’m a pretty reasonable person but this place has a special ability to really grind my gears.

Left the gym in 2017 because I was tired of the staff and their attitude, especially the whole forget your card and we’ll give you strikes like a schoolchild system.

Joined again so I could train with a friend and first time in get verbally lied to about a joining promotion and then get told that I should of read it more carefully two days after joining.

The total refusal of responsibility is the insult. I eagerly await the time businesses with customer service philosophies like DW are pushed out the market and into liquidation :).

staff are good to get along with,they always greet with smile. good facilities but when equipment need repairing it lasts for weeks .and the next issue is about hygiene , I would like to see the changing room more cleaner.