Don't do long term gym contracts

Okay. Rant time. 

 

I had been piggy-backing on my roommate's Gym Membership by paying him $20 a month and being able to go to the gym with him (it’s like a rider to his contract that allows you to bring up to two friends each time you go). “We” signed up with the gym when it first opened and were happy with its size and amenities. I didn’t go all that often.. Maybe once or twice a week. Working up to my wedding, I flipped between going as much as I could to not going at all. All in all it reminded me of our high school gym, nothing special, but lots of space meant you weren’t ever right next to a heavy breather or awkward gym jock.

 

Then my hubby came over to Canada and we got married and started signing up for the couple-y stuff like bank accounts and Costco memberships. Next on the list was a gym membership. Our roommate had nothing but good things to say about the current gym and I didn’t really have an opinion other than staff seemed lazy. My husband and I checked out a couple other gyms and their pricing and went in for an appt with the Manager at the current gym.

 

We asked for the best deal after a while, and he worked out some sort of thing that basically gave us free gym hopping to any facility and a slight discount on the monthly rate. My husband and I liked that the gym had a pool and a lot of machines. We asked some questions related to classes (why weren’t there many) and the manager assured us that he was working on that and there would be a bunch more added. We signed up and paid the lump sum for a year-long membership. Did not get any swag for free, did not get a safety tour, just gimme your money and go. 

 

Fast forward a couple months and my husband and I were both basically spitting mad about the gym. The staff stopped caring and everything immediately hit the dirt floor. Showers never washed, broken machines, inattentive and inappropriate staff and horrible advice from their “fitness” manager (they told me to lose weight I should only eat fish and use just my body weight.. no machines). We could go to the gym as long as we didn’t use the bathrooms, showers or lockers. 

 

After complaining numerous times we were met with excuses and answers that never made sense (the janitor quit the day before… SO.. you as the manager just don’t clean or tidy yourself then?). After two separate issues came up for me (one involving a shower that wouldn’t drain (pictured) with flies stuck to the wall and another with the fitness manager making me feel like I would never lose weight because I wasn’t willing to do her a, b or c) I basically refused to go back to the gym.

 

It was a weird feeling getting emotional about it. My husband and I cared, but no one else at the gym did, and the reviews we saw on social media must have been posted by staff as they continually said the opposite of what we saw each week. And we felt like we (should have) held some sort of importance as we had paid for a whole year.. we weren’t about to end the contract and head off like other monthly members. Yet this didn’t matter and there was nothing you could do about it. Getting out of a year commitment is tricky and in our case would have required some deceit to end.

 

We haven’t been in months and in amongst that we have moved cities. My husband found the same gym name close to our new home and went and had a look at it. What a difference! Small, but clean. So we will be able to at least finish out our year-long commitment at a gym that is actually maintained. 

 

It’s been a disappointing learning experience for us. There are a couple benefits to staying month to month:

·         Negotiating power if you see they have a cheaper rate on, or if you are unhappy with stuff. Threatening to leave can often give you the cheaper price or a promise to clean up their act

·         You can leave

·         Paying all at once can hurt the bank account

Compare that to only having the one benefit of saving a little money if you sign on yearly, and in this situation I believe month to month for the little bit more makes more sense.

How to make your own discount

There are a bunch of ways to get a discount on every purchase you make.. and a lot of them take little effort. When I say I can get a discount on anything, I’m not lying! The comment I hear most from people who I say this to is that they don’t have time to coupon clip or search multiples sites online for the best deal.. so below are simple solutions for these guys!

Okay, maybe it’s a too-simple one… but “ASK!”

·         I’m notorious for a quick question in line with the cashier to say “any current promotions or deals you could offer me?” which has recently been responded to with “here’s a free small slurpee coupon on your next visit since you bought a large one” or “yeah, since you bought 3 Hallmark cards I can give you this coupon to get $5 off”. I have lots of instances where someone had something I didn’t know about that they could offer me just because I asked.

·         Asking can also include the online “chat with us now” boxes just before you place the order. It takes only a couple extra minutes to see if there is a promo code they can give you to apply for being a new customer or a frequent customer, and for me this has worked most of the time.

·         “Ask!” if you have an expired coupon, or if a deal “cannot be combined” if you can use it anyways. This has worked for me in the past for small shops or restaurants who will either give me the discount anyways or offer me something similar. A good example has been our ice cream place, where I can use a discount coupon or my normal discount card PLUS get a stamp on the stamp card that shouldn’t be applicable.

·         Simply ask at checkout if they have any discount programs.. Sometimes they will say “Oh yeah, CAA gets 10% off” or similar. I always look at the store or website to see if they have icons suggesting they take CAA or SPC discounts, but I will always ask too, just in case. In the example of ice cream place again, they have both CAA and SPC, but one is better than the other and I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t ask.

Sign up for credit/bank cards that give you points/miles/cash back.

·         Again, maybe this is too simple, but switching to a bank/credit card that rewards you is a no brainer in my opinion. I have an Air Miles mastercard and my husband has a cashback debit card.. so every time we swipe, we get a little bit extra. Basically every purchase I make gets me closer to another Air Mile, which we use for our vacations. It counts as a discount in my book!

Online shopping – search for the coupon codes!

·         When purchasing online, take the extra couple minutes to google search for a coupon/promo code. Retailmenot is a great starting point, but there are a number of sites with various codes that have worked for others. Take the few minutes to try some

·         Also, sign up for the website’s e-Newsletter. Oftentimes, first time subscribers will get a coupon code for a discount off their first order. If you are an existing email subscriber, check their last few emails to see if they sent out a promo code. If truly determined, use a new email.. I think everyone nowadays has at least 2. I haven’t checked to see if you unsubscribe and then re-sign up later if this works or if it remembers you already got a code… anyone with insight here is welcome to comment!

·         Another option is to quickly check the sites Facebook page, as sometimes they have added a tab that says “sign up here and get a code” or “enter the contest” and at the end you’ll get a code just for entering.

Use the Flipp app

·         Again, no-brainer, but for every shopping trip, check the flipp app. You never known when something you were going to buy regardless is one sale that same week somewhere else.. Price match and save a little bit of money.