When I joined, I got an "all clubs" membership. The membership counselor told me I could go to any gym in the world (important later), and that was pretty exciting. If I did go to Jamaica on vacation, I don't know if I'd want to work out, but I had the option. I used the gym in Everett, Wash. (my "home gym") and the gym in Seattle. Then came Wesley and maternity leave, so I "froze" my membership. I was mapping out my plan to get back to the gym, when this letter came in the mail.
I knew they were planning to open a new fancy gym elsewhere in Everett. I figured out the new gym would be nowhere near where I live, so I ignored the prominently displayed posters and bulletins. The Everett gym is a bit outdated and hokey, but whatever. I take pilates classes and use the elliptical and call it good. My gym is called a "24-Hour Fitness Sport" club. There are wimpier clubs, "Express" clubs, but the Sport is the cool club, with a pool.
Well. The new fancy-pants club is a "Super Sport" club which is even cooler. But, like I said, I don't care because I'm not driving 20 minutes to get there. Except, the letter in the mail tells me, they are closing my gym because the new gym is better, and if I want to upgrade my membership to visit the new gym I can pay $10 more a month.
WHAT? Totally ridiculous.
- I have an "all clubs" membership, so this doesn't apply to me, right? Wrong. I have an "all clubs SPORT" membership. I think 24-Hour Fitness restructured the classification of their gyms, and back in '07 (so so so long ago), the "all clubs Sport" was all I needed since most gyms were those. But now there are new fancier clubs popping up like weeds. And I have to upgrade to an "all clubs Super Sport" to use them. Baloney!
- Why close the dinky gym? The way I see it, they are FORCING me to upgrade.
Luckily for me, I can bypass all this madness since I live halfway between the Lynnwood gym (a Sport, thanks to the blessings of heaven) and the now-defunct Everett gym, so I can just use the Lynnwood gym. But what about my pilates class? That enticing kickboxing class? Everyone's favorite stair-stepper in the corner? Things of the past.
I'm just disturbed by all this. GRR! I'll use the Lynnwood gym and be fine with it (or else I'll save my dues money and buy myself an elliptical and some pilates DVDs), but the principle of the matter is just so unnerving. Why close the dinky gym? Let the snobs who need the new equipment (or the folks who live next door to the hot new gym) go be super sporty, and leave the rest of us in peace.
My boss' gym in downtown Seattle closed down, too. She went in on a Wednesday and saw a sign saying they were closing on Friday. Her gym was also a little outdated, with '80s decor or whatever, but it was still a decent gym. Her theory was they closed so all the people who have had memberships there for years and years, i.e., "grandfather" members with low dues, were now forced out. She speculates a new gym will go in the same spot in a few months, offering her a membership for twice what she paid. Kinda like what's happening to me.
My dad likes to complain about what he calls "back-door" price increases. Case in point:
What you see here is the new container of Edy's (or Dreyer's) ice cream. Breyer's is doing the same thing. Back in 2002, they went from 2 quarts (a half gallon) to 1.75 quarts -- without changing the price -- and as of June, they are rolling down to 1.5 quarts. Again, without changing the price. Does this totally bug anyone else??? If you didn't read the size of the container or read it in the paper, you wouldn't know. It's a deliberate back-door price increase.
And, since I'm in the mood to vent, what is the deal with The Seattle Times? They increase their home delivery prices every 3 to 6 months. I hate it. If they were to increase their price by $2 once a year, I'd say "ok, they have to increase their prices. I get it." But instead, they increase their prices by 50 cents FOUR TIMES A YEAR. Does that strike anyone else as odd?
Ahh money. We could probably complain all day about different things. These three all hit me at once and I felt like I was going to topple over from sheer frustration. I mean, messing with a girl's ice cream? Who does that and gets away with it?
6 comments:
Yup, I hate those back-door price increases. Someone has got to pay for all the expense of making different/smaller containers, and that is also built-in to the price as well. So, they make the container even smaller, while keeping the selling price per container the same. GRRRRR .....
As for your loco rag, I used to pay a year in advance for our loco rag, to get a better rate, as well as a hedge against any price increases during the year. You might want to look into that if you really want to subscribe to them bad enough.
Our local rag got so bad that I canceled our subscription after getting the paper for almost 27 years! Have not missed it much, I can get all the comix I want online these days! LOL
Welcome to the world of "The Gym" game. I think it took me 3 times before I finally decided I would buy my own equipment.... They had a thing on one of the news show about the fact that we are paying the same for items but getting less. They are being hit by the gas cost and everything else and they are trying not to raise the price, so they figure they will do it this way... do they think we won't notice? Have you been to Cheesecake Factory lately? Wait until you see the size of the piece that you still pay $6-7 for.. Maybe I'll skip dessert.
MY LONG LONG COMMENT
So, the paper thing is a moot point for me because I can either a) read it online or B) grab the "free" copies in my library. Yes, I pass up the fab coupons, but I live with that decision.
As for the gym thing, I am also a 24-er & we live equi-distant from the Lynnwood and old Everett clubs. However, the fancy-pants gym is closer to us than the other two. We too got the "All Clubs" pass and we prepaid for 3 years; we too were promised that we could go to "ANY club" under said membership; we too were told "For just the low price of $10 per month, you can attend our glistening castle!" Whatever. 24 is a big, fat greedy company. I'd defect to LA Fitness or Mieko's except we prepaid... and would probably run into the same issues with them anyway. We're also opting for Lynnwood, but I fear that many people will do the same, thus the overcrowding will be worse than ever! :#
Don't even get me started about Dreyer's/Edy's move from 1.75L to 1.5L. People should not mess with a person's ice cream - bad things could happen!
I just don't buy Dreyer's. They can keep their 1.5 quart containers. They're overpriced anyway. I just get the store brand, which has now gone to 1.75 quarts since Dreyer's decided to go to 1.5. So not only is it more expensive for Dreyer's, but everybody else wants to hop on the bandwagon as well.
Yeah, the drop to 1.5 was much more obvious than the drop to 1.75 for some reason. Very annoying. But, on the upside, they fit in my freezer better and encourage me to eat less ice cream (not that I actually heed that encouragement). So I wouldn't mind taking the smaller container...for a smaller price! Sigh.
glad I could get everyone ranting. thanks for the awesome comments. i think i'll buy an elliptical and a weight set, and only get ice cream when it's super on sale. and i have a coupon.
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