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"

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

I get exclusive country club membership for £55 per month. I think that's a lot for a chain gym membership

[t3rr3gl35]

Not anything to contribute to this thread as think it's all been said by PP's re poor management but gamerchick - wouldn't mind knowing what the chemicals you use are...have a bit of a cleaning fetish and anything that strips gunk more efficiently than the stuff I buy in the supermarket is of much interest to me

[WooWooOwl]

I'm amazed that anyone thinks YABU.

The cleaner shouldn't be using harsh chemicals while customers are still using the facilities. We don't know whether she was or she wasn't, but as she didn't use that as a reason, and the receptionist said it was about going home at a reasonable hour, then we can probably assume, that chemicals had nothing to do with it.

If the management of the cleaners is poor, meaning that they can't do their job within their contracted hours at the same time as allowing customers to use the facilities they are paying to use, then that's a very strong reason to complain about it to management.

The receptionist was unprofessional in his response to the OP, and his supervisor should be made aware of that as well to prevent it happening again.

Presumably this company wants it's customers to be satisfied, and if they aren't satisfied because they have very valid reason not to be, then they will want to know about it.

[RiverTam]

if the gym is open until 10.30, the customers can be using it until then, which surely means that cleaners need to be there after that time, (or before they open in the morning) so the management need to sort that out - because if the cleaners are expecting to leave before then, or bang on 10.30, that would suggest that not everything has been cleaned (or properly cleaned) for opening time the next day. Sounds like the work hours for the cleaners haven't been thought through very well.

[gamerchick]

t3 I really wouldn't use these chemicals in the house. It's what they use in places with swimming pools and I had to use it in the gym I worked in to get pink body fat off the boxers showers.

Twas a pleasant job.

[andsmile]

tanith there was a Q but they were not 'allowed' to use showers. Feck that Id have used them.

[Dawndonnaagain]

It is little wonder people complain about the use of the word entitled. It is as applicable here as some think it is in benefit bashing threads.
Someone was working, they are probably on NMW, but you, OP because you've paid a membership the cleaner probably can't afford, don't want to wait for a minute or two to make life a tiny bit easier for somebody else. And then you come on here and complain about cleaner asking if you wouldn't mind. It wasn't an order, it was a request, but because the woman had the temerity to approach you...
Sorry, but that's the way your post comes across.

[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.

[gabcat]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[Viviennemary]

YANBU. And it was two hours before it closed.

[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?!

[AuroraRoared]

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

OP, YANBU. I would complain about this too.

[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.

[JuniperHeartwand]

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

[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?

[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.

[BoulevardOfBrokenSleep]

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

[andsmile]

exudes

[mousmous]

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