...to expect that a 3 mth old dosent need to join the gym to use the creche

[emodi]

I am a member of a popular gym chain in london and as I was waiting at the front desk a lady wanted to drop her 3 month old in the creche which she was going to pay £3.50 an hour for but she wasn't allowed as the 3 month old wasn't a "member". I was totally shocked and disgusted. The mom was a full paying member. I wonder what these money grubbers expect the 3 month old to pay 7 quid a month for ? the treadmill ? Am I being unreasonable to expect that if mom is a member u should be able to drop kids in the creche paying of course without having to fork out every month?

you are kidding! That's ridiculous.

Well what are the club rules to which she presumably signed up? And ummm - what's it to do with you?

You've probably got the wrong end of the stick. My DS is a 'member' at my gym, but I don't pay anything for him. Basically being a member means I've filled a form in with contact details on it and detailing any allergies/medical conditions.

it is really non of my business really but she said she signed up when she was pregnant ( her 1st baby) and when she spoke to them the sold her on the creche but "forgot " to tell her that she had to pay £7 a month for her to drop him there. the creche is not free.
I felt very bad for her as a mum myself I have two kids now 6 and 3 and I know how hard it is was to get out of the house to do any form of exercise when my kids were that age without anyone to watch them and making a 3 month old pay £84 a year for the privilege of using the creche is absolutely disgusting in my opinion

i pay £30 for my 6 yr old and £7 for my 3 year old ie 3months to 3yrs £7 a month i kid u not

Exactly what backward said

It's so they can hold important data for your child and it also validates any insurance claims.

but if they are charging for the creche, shouldnt it be covered in the creche fee rather than a monthly membership plus a creche fee on top?

Our gym is the same. When we first joined ds was 4 and free until he was 5, now he is 12 and dd 6, they would have to pay £50 a month each, from birth it's £25 I think and most of the classes/creche/holiday clubs etc are more. It's ridiculous really. We actually took them off the membership as they were barely using it and now just pay £8 a day on the odd Saturday if we want to take them swimming and for lunch etc. That is cheaper than the local pool

They are trying to run a business not a charity. If the lady in question doens't want to pay, she'll have to go to the gym when she has other childcare in place. Or go to the council gym.

What you describe can't be right - they can't expect a 3mo to pay gym membership! Plus a fee for the creche?!

but £3.50 an hour for childcare is very cheap in London. They obviously make up for it by charging a minimum charge of £7 per month. I don't think there's anything unfair about it. If you use it for one hour per day, the additional cost per hour for the creche is negligible. Otherwise they would probably have to charge £5 per hour and no membership for babies.

At my gym (well known chain) there is a creche and non creche membership rate. Once a child is 3 they have to pay a membership but before that they don't. It is £3.50 a hour for a member and £4.25 for non- member. I think that is fair enough as under 2s have a different ratio. For example, depending on number of staff at any time, if there are 4 under 2s in they can take fewer children meaning they have less income but same staff costs.

FFS. I wouldn't be complaining if there was a gym with a creche near me that only charged £7 a month!

£7 a month? For a well known gym?

At my gym the kids have to be members from Age 3. No membership, no swimming lessons. It's Virgin Media.

I pay £7 a month for my DD (3) and get free creche up to hours a day

4 hours that should be

And it's £5 per month. On top of the lessons.

You don't get free creche til the kids are 3, which coincides nicely with free pre-school. They still charge the membership though or you can't have lessons.

We paid about 13 quid a month for our 4 year old, excellent free creche for 3 hours a time, and unlimited access to pool. Was cheaper than council swimming pool. Virgin gym.

My little one had to join our gym so he could use the creche but it was merely for contact details/dr info/allergies etc. We had to pay to use the creche but not any extra for membership. He was allowed to use the pool within certain hours as well.

It is standard at the big chains, in London at least. You can negotiate when you sign your membership though, I was about to join a big Esporta which wanted £25 per month per child, on top of £100 for me. Managed to get them to agree to charging nothing for the then 2 month old and 20 month old and reduce the 4 year old's rate if I wanted him to be a member for swimming. In the end, what with parking and creche fees for 2 dc's though, it worked out cheaper and easier to join the local council gym and pay a babysitter!

The creche has to be staffed and serviced whether there are any children in it or not, so the 'membership' fee will cover the down times.

It's not exactly 'gym membership for babies' though, is it? At £7 a month they'd be packed out!

I pay £12 per month for each ds above 3 and for that they get to use the crèche 10 hours a week! It's £3.50 per hour for my 14 month old .virgin active in Glasgow.