I was really excited about a CorePower Yoga coming to Baltimore, since I have heard so many positive things about it from a friend who is a big yogi and also instructor. My first class and experience was great. It was intimate and a kick ass class that gave me an amazing workout and I left feeling great like yoga always makes me feel.
However, my second experience was completely awful. I trekked through terrible weather and unreliable public transit to make it to my 12:00 class. Of course the delays of public transit got me to the door at 12:01 instead of 11:45 as originally planned. At 12:01, the studio door was locked. No one at the front desk. I called the studio number (by the way, all calls go to their Denver call center, even though it has a local number listed, which I HATE--obviously the local studio knows and understands much better the goings on of the studio); they said that it is their policy for safety reasons to lock doors at start of class since not many are around the front area during class; at certain times of the day, there is only one person in the studio who is front desk and instructor, and class MUST be started exactly on time.
I totally understand and agree that safety should be a top priority, but I raised the point that I have been a member of at least 2-3 other yoga studios (usually small and local), and there is always a front desk greeter there to let you in at least 5-10 min into class. This is a HUGE nationwide studio that charges A LOT of money for classes and membership, and you're telling me you can't get enough staff to have at least one person in the front at all times? I have never been to a studio right at the start of a class time and been denied access. I told the rep that if this is their policy, they should inform their clients when they are signing up for the studio that this is a policy of the studio and you could get locked out for showing up on time and definitely put it on the website. She seemed very unconcerned with my frustration and even said, "Well what am I supposed to do about it?" To which I responded to let someone know my feedback (although I'm not sure how helpful this is). She latently apologized and said, "I guess with our studio, if you're on time you are late, and if you are 5 min early, you are on time." *insert eye roll*
Needless to say, I am glad that I was on the two week free trial. The two week free trial is also something you have to keep your eyes on your credit card for, by the way. When I signed up, I was told I wouldn't be charged until after my two weeks was up, however, from the moment I went to my first class, they tried charging my card 3-4 times; luckily the lady who input my card in did something wrong because it wouldn't go through. The customer care rep emailed me about it, I told her about my bad experience and desire to cancel; she responded promptly, apologized, and put in two free classes on my membership in hopes to change my mind, which I appreciate but doubt I'll use. read more