to have used the shower?

[MissMooMoo]

I have a membership at a niace gym.
mon-fri it closes at 10:30pm.
Tonight when I went to use the shower the cleaner asked me if I wouldn't mind using one on the right hand side as she had just cleaned the ones on the left hand side. All the showers on the right were in use and there were 2 women ahead of me in a 'queue' to use the showers.
I said if it was nearly closing time and there were available showers then I would have no problem but seeing as it was 8:30 and I was going to have to wait then I would be using the left hand side ones as they were available!
I pay £55 a month to use this gym. aibu to think I should be able to use an available shower 2 hours before closing time??
I complained to reception and the guy working said he would mention it to the cleaning staff but "at the end of the day they all want to leave at a reasonable hour too"

[t3rr3gl35]

gamerchick - I love that you are an expert on pink body fat Not something I've ever heard of before yesterday. Can recommend steam cleaner to prevent buildup as have never had it in my showers (stealth boast?) and always assumed it was staining from coloured shampoo or body wash when I've stayed with friends.

Sorry Op - not meaning to hijack.

[exbrummie]

My dd is a cleaner (or domestic as they are called) at a gym.
Yanbu op, she says the showers are given a good clean once a shift,and although it's annoying when someone uses it as soon as you have cleaned it,it's just part of the job. It is an ongoing cycle showers are cleaned then they get used again.
Mind you some people are very entitled,she was recently called over the tannoy because a lady had dropped her keys in the bin and expected her to get them out! She did it because she hasn't been there long and didn't want to rock the boat.

[ThePinkOcelot]

OP YADNBU. Can't really understand how anyone thinks you are!

Same as going in to a restaurant, you order your meal, pay for it then are told sorry, turned the ovens off we close in 2 hours! Those of you who think OP IBU, would you be happy with that?!

[WitchWay]

I'd just pick out any obvious pubes & not mention it in future.

[andsmile]

pink mould on your butt mousmous

[SocialNeedier]

MN never fails to deliver.

I read the OP thinking 'nobody could possibly think that was reasonable. This has got to be a unanimous YANBU.'

But nooooo...

[gamerchick]

ah man imagine if you could get rid of your proper fat that way? We'd all be sparkly clean skinny

[mousmous]

I assume it's just pink mould/bacteria growth as long as it cleans off...

[andsmile]

exudes

[BoulevardOfBrokenSleep]

Oh god how I wish my body exuded adipose tissue through the skin!

[Badlands]

I would imagine it is more grease from skin, and residue fats/grease from products eg lanolin etc, and then there is mould which feeds on it which is pink/orange colour:

"Due to its abundant presence in the environment, and its preference for damp conditions, S. marcescens is commonly found growing in bathrooms (especially on tile grout, shower corners, toilet water line, and basin), where it manifests as a pink, pink-orange, or orange discoloration and slimy film feeding off phosphorus-containing materials or fatty substances such as soap and shampoo residue." From here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serratia_marcescens

The chemicals will be kill the mould.

The last time I looked the human body didn't exude actual adipose tissue through the skin. But skin oils, greasy residue, yes.

[gamerchick]

its amusing that people shy away from what occurs naturally.. the products i've used get rid of body fats and limescale.. maybe it's just so important it get's mentioned twice?

[JuniperHeartwand]

Uh, I think "pink body fat" is actually limescale from the water, gamerchick. In London it's notoriously orange.

[gamerchick]

Pink body fat is what come off us when showering and builds up. You may notice it sometimes in your bathroom.. pink on the walls or in the grouting. It's easy cleaned off but will always happen.

[AuroraRoared]

Slightly ot, but what on earth is pink body fat??

OP, YANBU. I would complain about this too.

[Lemonfairydust]

YANBU, if I was paying for a facility, I'd expect to be able to use it. I understand people wanting to get home on time after work, but that doesn't mean that the paying gym users should suffer so the cleaners can go home. How long does it take to clean a shower btw? 2 hours?!

[Viviennemary]

YANBU. And it was two hours before it closed.

[AlpacaPicnic]

YANBU in the slightest. The showers should not be cleaned while the gym is open, because most people want to have a shower after their workout/swim. You are not complaining about the cleaner, but of the gym timing the cleaning while they are open and while many people want to use the facilities.
If there had been some sort of emergency clean, then that is different, but the reply of the person on reception would indicate otherwise.

I work in a public building and we don't have cleaners in while we are open, they come after we are closed or before we open in the morning. If they were mopping our marble floors and staircase while we were open, so people could not get to the various floors of the building, then we would have no end of complaints. In fact, we had a complaint that one of the two staircases was out of action, because someone had fallen and cut themself, the blood needed to be mopped away and so the staircase was unsafe to use. There was another one just feet away, but someone still complained!

[IamaBreastfeedingTramp]

YANBU.

I wonder if she was slowly 'closing' all the showers? Perhaps an hour before closing there was a long queue for one shower!

Yes you are entitled to use a free shower in a gym you have paid for. At £55 a month I bet the high standard of their facilities are one of the selling points and you can bet theres no mention of queuing for showers.

If she had said there were dangerous chemicals in the shower that would have been entirely different. But she didn't. Really, if that was the case, one cubicle should be done at a time anyway.

I think the guy on reception was totally out of line. Pretty sure "we want to go home too" doesn't represent the views of the chain he works for. I would complain about his response.

The cleaners on here have chips on their shoulders.

[MissMooMoo]

I did not complain about a certain cleaner, I complained that the showers were not available for use and that I should be able to use a shower 2 hours before closing time which I thought was unacceptable.
yes she asked if I did not mind, imfact I did mind waiting, I wanted to get home and have my dinner.
I think paying £55 a month is relevant, I pay that much because I am paying for good service and nice facilities, if the cleaner gets nmw is irrelevant.

[Badlands]

I'm sorry but this is all very bizarre. The OP is paying a sum to a large corporate for the use of facilities as per her consumer contract. Management needs to organise things such that their customers are able to receive the goods, facilities and services they have contracted for during the times they are contracted to provide them.

No one should therefore be taking those facilities out of action, either through use of harsh chemicals (should be done out of hours) or to expedite their ability to meet their contractual commitments (ie all showers to be cleaned by 1030 concurrently with gym usage) due to their contracted working hours. Employees or subcontractors who provide services which take these facilities out of service should be contracted, and paid a premium in my opinion, to work outside of opening hours.

Why should the OP inconvenience herself so that the owner and shareholders of the corporate can take a fatter dividend than if they were employing and contracting for services properly, and paying accordingly, to deliver on customer expectations?

It is not about the human rights of the cleaner vs the ops, "menial" jobs, entitlement etc. It is about business management. If she doesn't complain, how will the management know their customers are not happy with the trade offs the management are making when running their business?

OP, you shouldn't complain about the cleaner, you should complain about the situation. The cleaner is probably contracted to do what she did, or needs to do it in order to meet the terms of her contract/objectives, and that is what is unreasonable - and that's a management responsibility.

[WooWooOwl]

The cleaners wages and ability to afford a gym membership are completely irrelevant, and the OP was asked to wait more than a couple of minutes.

Neither she nor the cleaner knew how long she would be expected to wait, I take bloody ages washing my hair, especially at the gym which is pretty much the only time I'm in the shower and not in a hurry!

There is no good reason to expect the OP to wait when the facilities she has a right to use were available.

It is not entitled to want to receive what you pay for.

[gabcat]

YANBU. If you've paid £55 a month you are definitely entitled to use the shower 2.5 hours before closing time.

[andsmile]

No I disagree if you pay for a premium gym membership that is sold to you as such - 3 hour show around and detailed contracts then I expect to use a showe when I am ready to use it if there is one available.

I am entitled because that is the service I have paid for and they have agreed to deliver.