Hate is a very strong word but I can honestly say I hate Karingal Goodlife Gym. My experiences were…read moreoverall so negative it is almost impossible to know where to begin but I will try. Firstly, I never received the so called promised free Personal Training sessions despite me trying for months. I finally gave up. I used the gym for a number of months but found it to be increasingly crowded and Personal Trainers using up the floor with large groups for which they charge the already paying members an extra fee, and us regular paid members have no treadmills etc. Happens a lot. So the gym is double dipping constantly, charging the PT's for rent, they use all the equipment with large groups and paying members are put out. The gym also smells really bad. The facilities are very average, but my biggest gripe is with the staff. The blonde receptionist is sweet enough, the long dark haired 'customer service' staff member is a disgrace, she is rude, arrogant and her skills are so lacking I honestly wonder how they can justify giving her that job/role. She, of course, is unable to see how bad she is, she doesn't have the (and I put this politely) insight, I blame her superiors, they are taking the *iss putting someone like her in charge of customer service. So to continue, a number of months ago I had health issues and had to leave the gym on my specialist Dr's orders, I have a private hospital that will care for my exercise under the supervision of Doctors due to my condition. When I went to cancel, she took me to the public lounge area, and I was asked why I wanted to terminate my membership by this same above mentioned customer service staff member, I told her I did not feel comfortable discussing it and did not wish to say, which I believe is within my legal rights. She kept asking and asking me until I broke down and told her my illness was terminal. And this is honest to God what happened next, she then looked at me with vacant eyes and said 'is there anything we can do so you can continue your membership'? I said, no there is nothing Goodlife Karingal can do about my terminal illness, so she went ahead and 'allowed' me to cancel my membership (in hindsight it is entirely possible she does not know the meaning of the word terminal) However, that was not the end of it, the payments continued after the one month obligatory payment termination period, ie you have to keep paying for an extra month after cancellation (mind you they sell the one month you continue to pay after cancelled and a free month when you sign up, hows that for dishonesty) so I had to call and tell them that the cancellation did not go through as stated on the receipt I received and signed. The money was refunded after I complained. My partner who is also a member, decided today to leave due to his issues with Debit Success and their excessive fees, if you miss a payment (unlike most banks and credit cards you have the full banking day to balance your account for a payment, debit success does not allow for this, so for example if debit success try to take the payment in the AM of a said date, then your pay goes in after lunch it considers it a faulted payment and charges a whopping $10 fee) So again the above mentioned customer service staff member had to deal with this issue as he was disgruntled, she was unable to deal with the problem and instead of advising a senior staff member, treated us rudely and arrogantly to the point where my partner decided to cancel his membership on the spot. I will NEVER recommend this gym to anyone and plan to take my issues to the highest levels within the organisation until my complaints are acknowledged and we receive an official apology. Goodlife need to start taking care of their customers, as without us, there would be no Goodlife gym. It would pay not to forget that, there are lots of other choices out there and people can vote with their feet, by walking away.
