I was a member of Be Pilates in Marylebone, London for 14 months and stopped going there a few months ago. I needed some time to contemplate what happened so I could write a very objective review.
I have been in many gyms and Pilates studios around the world and have never encountered any problem at all. It took me a while to figure out what was going on at Be Pilates and comprehend their behaviour towards me. I have never felt more humiliated, insulted and unwanted in my life. Be Pilates has made a great effort to kick me out of their studio....They have been struggling to throw me out for the last 10 months. But I insisted going there out of stupidity I guess and convenience (since it is very close to my house and I am a working mother).
The first time I had a problem with Be Pilates was last December. I have made a contract with them for six months and at some time around Christmas I was going away for an entire month. So I asked them if they could do me the favour to extend my contract for a month so I would not miss one month from my contract. They denied me the favour, of course, giving me a whole lecture about contracts and how I disrespected other members of the studio by even asking such a favour. So I lost an entire month from my contract although I paid for it.
When my six month contract finished I (foolishly) bought another contract from their website. This time round they accused me that I somehow "manipulated their website" and bought a three month membership that did not exist and that they stopped giving that membership a few days before I bought it. They said that they would honour the contract for only a month out of the three and that after that the contract would not be valid. I reminded them of the lecture that they give me on contracts so once they understood that there could be a legal problem, they did not proceed with terminating my contract.
Finally, after coming back from my summer holidays I again very unwisely, thinking that nobody was holding grudges anymore, went and paid them all the money in advance for another three month contract. Please note, that in my previous contracts with them they had a 3 late cancellation policy, which they magically erased from the last contract I had with them without informing me. When I had to late cancel a class they told me that I had to pay 32 pounds to reinstate my membership, that they did me a favour the first time I cancelled a class [which I did not know because they never informed me] otherwise my account would freeze and they would not refund me the money I paid in advance. When I told them that I was allowed to three late cancellations they finally remembered to inform me that I was not allowed to that condition anymore because it was not on the new contract which I did not of course see nor did they give me a copy to sign. They kept on insisting that I had to pay in order to be able to reinstate my membership. I told them that they have cancelled classes on me the last minute and that their contract, which I later found on their website after all these, said that they could not cancel a class either, if they had a person registered in the class. I was registered two times in classes and they cancelled them. Long story short, they "appreciated my position", gave me back two out of the three months that I paid (the only descent thing they did) so they could get rid of me.
Although the studio in itself is a very cozy place with beautiful new equipment and good teachers (although they keep losing good teachers and staff like Victoria) the management of Be Pilates is the coldest, most unprofessional people I have ever come across my entire life. read more