A Gym to Avoid (Soho Gyms)

Member Name: Brooke3

Product:	Soho Gyms
Date:	31/03/09 (179 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: sauna in changing room

Disadvantages: cold water, rude staff.

In an attempt to get fit and lose some weight I joined soho gyms and was a member for three months. I regularly attended the gym in Camden.

Joining the gym was really easy. The staff on this occasion were very friendly, very helpful and had a lot of information about the services offered at the gym. I filled in a form, paid for three months membership and a locker and they gave me my membership card and key. It was a really good start to my time at soho gyms and if things had only continued in this way I would be able to write a really good review of the gym. Unfortunately things went down hill from there.

My first issue was with the changing rooms. When I looked around them before joining they seemed fine, I couldn't see that there would be any problem and I guess if I was more comfortable with being naked around strangers there wouldn't be a problem with these changing rooms. The issue wasn't the changing room itself but rather the shower area. There are no hooks for towels outside the cubicles so instead you have to leave your towels just outside of the shower area and walk from there to the shower naked. I was at the gym to lose weight and the last thing I wanted was to be walking around naked in front of all the really fit and toned women who were also members of soho gyms.
The other issue with the showers was that they were often cold. I know that when I was a member they kept having issues with their water and I complained a couple of times but all I got were excuses when an apology would have been more appropriate.

The changing rooms also contained one of the best things in soho gyms, the sauna. I think that sauna's are pretty standard in gyms but where I thought soho gyms was better than other gyms that I've been a member of is the location of the sauna. It's right in the changing rooms so that you don't have to wear a swimming costume to use it (just a towel). I also liked that it was for women only (presumably men get their own) but that is a matter of personal taste.

My second issue arose when I went away for the weekend and when I returned to the gym on the Monday found that the lock on my locker had been cut and all of my stuff removed. This was after I paid to have a permanent locker. I approached the person at the desk and asked where my stuff was. She pulled out a bin liner where my gym kit, trainers, shower stuff and towels had all been thrown in together (would you want your clean towels in a bin liner with a pair of trainers?) and informed me that I hadn't paid for the locker so I couldn't leave it in there overnight.
After arguing about it for some time she admitted that I was right and gave me a new lock for the locker. She didn't apologise.

The gym equipment was okay. I only ever used the cardio machines so I can't comment on the weights. The machines were very old and you could really tell the difference between them and the newer machines that I've used in other gyms. They just didn't run as smoothly. But they did their job and I guess that's the important thing.

The gym is very crowded, particularly the cardio area. I'm a size 16 which is the UK average (I think) and I struggled to get to some machines because the gap between them was so small. I know that many people who go to gyms are very fit and a lot slimmer than I am but there are also a lot of people who go to gyms to lose weight and I think that gyms should cater for these people. There were some machines that I had to stop using because it was just too embarassing and difficult to get to them.

The staff at the gym were awful. The day I joined they were so friendly and helpful I just assumed that they would continue to be so but it seems that after they have your money they don't care about customer service. There was one woman in particular who never smiled or even acknowledged you. She would just take your card without looking at you and then go back to whatever she was doing before. Other members of staff were slightly less rude but always seemed reluctant to deal with any queries and were certainly not friendly. Maybe it's unreasonable of me but when I go somewhere five days a week for three months and see the same people every time I expect people to at least smile and say hello. When I first joined I was friendly, not overly so but I would smile and say hello however, after a month of being ignored I was no longer friendly towards them and going to the gym became an unpleasant experience.

Needless to say that when my three months were over I didn't renew my membership. And their persistent (some would say harassing) telephone calls and emails did nothing to change my mind.

Summary: Don't waste your money