Virgin Active

Honestly I would leave a negative 1 to this place if I could. Where to start….
I joined on a flex membership (not a 12 month contract) about a year ago. I had a direct debit and paid them every month until I had to freeze my membership and travel abroad because my father was critically ill. I forgot to keep the freeze on my membership at some point due to the hellish situation I was going through with my father. Towards the end of my fathers life I got contacted by debt collectors stating that 260 pounds were outstanding on my account which I had to pay. My father sadly passed away around that time and I told the debt collectors that once I was back in the country I would settle the balance as while I had extenuating circumstances I also understand that it was my fault to an extent as I should have kept tabs on my membership freeze.
I paid my outstanding debt upon my return to the UK and the letter I received in effect from the debt collection agency was that if I wanted to continue my membership I would have to contact Virgin active and set up another direct debit. I never did this so for all intents and purposes my assumption was that this contract was terminated.
Guess what - I get another email from virgin active saying that I owe 155 pounds. I haven’t been to the club for over 4 months!
I tried to explain the situation to them but the lady on the phone and her colleague in the background feeding her instructions just had a computer says no mentality. They threatened to get debt collectors involved again! Honestly for what…I paid my dues under my contract. The whole reason I signed up to a flexible contact and not a 12 month membership was to have flexibility!
I am truly shocked and a bit depressed to be frank that I need to go through this whole process again given my father only died a couple of months ago!

I have amazing experience with them.
The staff were always helpful, superb cleanliness and a great space to workout, also a very peaceful place for Yoga and Pilates.
My PT Silvia is absolutely extraordinary!

I have been going to this gym for years. I always feel welcome and the staff are really helpful and professional. The classes are fabulous and it's really to have Reformer and Boxing on the timetable alongside Body Pump and Cycle classes. The pool is beautiful and spa areas clean and well looked after. I always feel at home here and when I have a question about fitness, know I will get a knowledgeable and informed answer.

Great gym facilities in terms of showers, steam room etc. and staff are always friendly, however the gym is so oversubscribed considering the amount of money that you are paying. If you want a gym that you can use equipment in the morning or after work then do not use this gym, it is actually ridiculous at the lack of equipment for the amount of members that go. Who knew you had to que for every piece of equipment.

Spoke to Mayfair virgin gym yesterday on the phone saying I was a member at Wandsworth, can I come in and use your gym and is there parking ‘yeh fine there’s parking a couple of blocks away head down’

Lady at the entrance this morning ‘oh we have wristbands here, it’s £30’ which is a very expensive 30 minute run on a treadmill (which I’m only doing to raise money for Movember).

Now Im stuck with nowhere to get ready for work because of their lack of communication or ability to see a genuine error & allow me to at least change for work at their gym.

I was a member here for over a year
Pros: good pool, clean mostly, quiet times of the day, good yoga instructors, good towels & showers, electronic lockers

Cons: men allowed to behave out of control - using oils in sauna room, doing butterfly stroke whilst sharing a lane, using phones in the jacuzzi, verbal abuse towards women, aggressive towards one another. I complained about feeling unsafe and unfortunately I was not reassured at all by staff including the manager. I was told there was “nothing they could do”. For that reason I stopped going as it was not relaxing.

Women would exfoliate and fake tan in the steam room which was gross & the women’s toilets are temporary and never fully clean.

Sometimes the staff are arrogant & loud.

With a few changes this place could be really good but sadly right now it’s got some serious downsides.

I was a member with Virgin for two years and quit soon after being moved to this place as my home gym. One word about this place - rude. The customer service by the management team has been non existent. They sound fed up and have zero customer service skills. Try to call and ask a question and you get immediately shut down in a nasty tone. Try then calling another branch, say the Kensington one and see the difference. I can’t understand how this guy has been allowed to manage this place for 15 years. One piece of advice, if you are that fed up, get a new job. Don’t take it out on the customers. I have also seen the staff raising their voices at customers in front of several people in the women’s changing room. The whole thing is appalling and they obviously are forgetting that these people are paying a lot of money to be there and go there after a hard days work to have a good time and get some exercise or relaxation in. Not be yelled at and treated like they are being done a favour by having their money taken.

I have been a member with Virgin UK for about ten years now, with home club at Mayfair for about 4/5. The use of clubs abroad is becoming increasingly difficult and the support I have received from the staff close to none, on a recent occasion where I am being denied access abroad not having been informed in advance of the existence of a cap.

Not sure what you refer to, I have called the clubs in Italy and there is no such a thing as a temporary membership. What are you talking about then? POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE VIRGIN

p.s.

No, what you write below is not true. I needed 2-wk access, the shortest I could get as a membership in Italy was 3m. A voucher for ten accesses in corso como would cost 249€. Thanks for the poor customer service! Next reply I'll move one notch lower to one star.