David Lloyd

I love this.

They absolutely wouldn’t give a flying fuck if they were called transphobes. I wish we could all adopt the attitude of 80 year old women without worrying about a backlash.

It happens in Kingston DL. Man in women's changing rooms. DL don't care. Fact.

There’s someone who I’m 99.9% sure is a man who comes in the female changing rooms but I’ve never seen them naked so can’t exactly accuse them of being a man 🤷‍♀️. Over 6ft tall, Adam’s Apple, deep voice, wears a badly fitting wig and loads of make up. I’d be amazed if they are female!

They sound fantastic!

He may well do. I'd like to see him argue with 20 fierce as fuck semi naked 70 & 80 year old post aqua aerobics battle axes. I have no doubt who would win, it wouldn't me him. I can't imagine they'd give too shits about being called transphobes.

I once didn't lock my locker (forgot my padlock) honestly, I never dared again & they were looking out for me!

Whilst it might be DL policy to allow men in the women's changing rooms, I have never seen that happen & I have to say it wouldn't be safe for the man concerned, he'd be set upon within a few seconds! The women's changing room has rules enforced by the women using it! God forbid if you drip too much water on the floor never mind enter whilst owning a penis!!!

It’s very unlikely to be that simple if the man then goes to the front desk & accuses the women of transphobia.

There seems to be price differences within the same gym location as well? From
asking around I know I pay more than some and less than others at my DL. We are all at the same level of membership and some joined at roughly the same time.

The lack of transparency over pricing is definitely a DL thing. Thinking back, I wasn’t even given a contract confirming fees. The salesperson showed me the price on an iPad at the end of my tour and I just entered a digital signature. The following month they overcharged me and I realised I had no paperwork to back up my complaint (fortunately it was all sorted).

Whilst it might be DL policy to allow men in the women's changing rooms, I have never seen that happen & I have to say it wouldn't be safe for the man concerned, he'd be set upon within a few seconds! The women's changing room has rules enforced by the women using it! God forbid if you drip too much water on the floor never mind enter whilst owning a penis!!!

There is however an elderly man in the men's changing room at my local DL who regularly dries his balls with a hairdryer, much to my children's disgust.

I lift heavy weights & I like DL as it's a very safe environment for women in the male dominated free weights section.

I have to say though, i feel happy with what we all get for that price. The facility is beautiful, well equipped, loads for the kids. We get good use out of it.

Mine is Tier 7, I think it used to be the cheapest in the country but not sure if it still is.

There's no local competition, really. Nothing else "upmarket". More Pure Gym, JD etc.

Probably because it's in a total shit hole and no one would go if it wasn't cheap!

The prices depend partly on the facilities but also on local competition.

i pay £125 a month for non platinum for one of the worst facilities DL in the country. It’s the smallest club I think with next to no equipment, no blaze, no padel courts, no spa, limited timetable. But there are no other “upmarket” gyms within a 50 mile radius.

When I go on holiday/away for work I like visiting different DLs. I often go to one which has much better facilities but is considerably cheaper. I can only assume that there’s more competition locally.

There is an hardcore group who stroll around looking quite glam, pouting in mirrors but never seem to do any classes. Apparently there are drug dealers who frequent the place in the evening as well (I’ve not knowingly come across one but a lot of locals mention this).

@Eastie77Returns I thought you were describing West Bridgeford!

£300, wow. The price differences are crazy!

I go on my own now but used to pay £176 for 2 adults and 2 children. The others only left because the children didn't like being separated in their clubs 🙄 due to age so it wasn't worth the money anymore.

I pay £60 for me on a single platinum membership now.

No, Chigwell. It can be a bit TOWIE on occasion!

I saw a former Eastenders actress feature Raynes Park on her Instagram reels and she said it has transformed her fitness. I thought it looked quite upmarket but she was probably paid a placement fee😭

Re. men in the changing rooms. There is a rule in my branch that boys over 8 cannot use the women’s changing room. I think it’s fair enough but I’ve heard women complaining angrily that their sons over 8 should be allowed in. It feels as if the gym can’t win as equally there are women who feel strongly that boys of that age shouldn’t be in the ladies changing area.

DS (9) doesn’t feel confident enough to use the mens on his own. So when I go with both DC, DD uses the ladies on her own and I go to the family changing with DS. The family room is a bit grotty and I dislike using it but I think women feeling at ease is more important that my convenience.

We pay 250 a month for two adults and 1 child in the south east. Never seen a man in the changing rooms! DD likes the clubs and that's the main reason we use it, I would rarely make it to the gym without the clubs.

Have you read about Emma and her fight against DL? They obviously don't care about women or girls

Where’s this?? We pay £300.

@Eastie77Returns - are you talking about Raynes Park? Sounds quite familiar!

Goodness. Is this the branch near/in Windsor? My colleague was a member there and left after her membership increased massively.

Mine is £200 a month. I like it, it is convenient and DC do swimming lessons there. I work from there quite a bit as well so I like the fact I can fit a class and swim in around my working day. But I recognise some of the previous comments on here about people spending a lot of time posing rather than exercising. There is an hardcore group who stroll around looking quite glam, pouting in mirrors but never seem to do any classes. Apparently there are drug dealers who frequent the place in the evening as well (I’ve not knowingly come across one but a lot of locals mention this). I’ve also been warned to avoid the spa on a Friday evening for unspecified reasons. This warning came from a class instructor!

I’m not 100% sure I’ll stay when my year is up. The problem is I don’t have many other good, cheaper gym options near me. There is a council run one but it is awful. The others are almost as expensive as DL.

£550 a month here. This is their flagship gym.

My friend is a member and regrets signing up but can't get out of the contract. They keep having taster weekends so it's often too crowded to use anything and she has seen members snorting coke in full view of everyone.
She says nobody seems to actually do any exercise, it's just posing and flirting.
2 weeks ago she went for a swim and left a wrap and flip-flops next to her sunbed- someone stole them! The staff weren't interested.

I hugely regret leaving the gym group (24hrs and cheap) and joining David Lloyd. Locked in until March and cannot wait until I can break the expensive contract.

I am actually quite shocked at how awful it is. Gym floor is a mess and equipment everywhere - hazard.Feels like I spend more time looking for equipment than actually working out. Towels dumped all over the place - entitled members. Showers are often broken.

I was out with friends tonight who I've not seen for quite a while. The husband of one of them asked me why he hadn't seen me at David Lloyd for such a long time.

Turns out he'd also left because it was so crap but hadn't found another good club that fitted in with his working hours so had gone back to DL and was paying £229 a month (he asked me not to tell his wife/my friend)! He said that it was even worse than ever and he was now on a WhatsApp group of fellow DLers who were submitting a group formal complaint but didn't hold any hope for improvement. I've told him to come and join my new club for less thab a 1/4 of what he's paying - although immediately wished I hadn't as a bit embarrassing him seeing me in my swimming costume or in the sauna!

What’s happened to this thread? My last two replies were on a different thread about DL and the original post and plenty of other posts are different. It’s like all the DL threads on MN ever have been merged into one and it doesn’t really make sense. 🤷‍♀️. And it’s changed my name to an old user name of mine.

Here’s an example of a quality DL spin “studio”. In the corridor to the changing rooms, the cleaner hoovers mid class most evenings!