To think this a bit unfair? Gym related

[MintyChapstick]

About two months ago I joined a gym. I've been going every other day for the last few weeks as I'm training for a 5k in June, but Ive not once been able to get into any of the classes I'm interested in as they are always booked up, sometimes a week or so in advance. The gym has an online booking system so you book it that way, but Body Pump, Body Combat and Zumba are booked solidly all the time.
I've not been able to get into one of these classes in the whole time ive been going.

Now clearly there are some gym members who do nothing but watch the online time table like Hawks and book themselves in as soon as a class is announced , but what has annoyed me is on the occasions that I've been in the gym when one of the classes is in session, ive peaked in and realised that there are empty places, so people are booking them up and then not turning up keaning people like me are missing out!

Am I being unreasonable to think this isn't fair, and there should be some sort of punishment for gym members whom not turn up? I was a member of a different gym a few years back, and their system was that you just turned up in the studio at the time the class started and it was first come first served. I think this is probably a fairer system in all honesty.

Would it be worth complaining about this?

Just find out what the booking system is, and go with it. At my gym, booking opens a week before, and if you book in then you'll always get a place.

Some sort of booking system is important IMO, as it would be a total pain to have to go to the gym not knowing if you'd get into the class or not.

Also, stuff like Body Pump would have huge queues outside and then the instructor would have the unenviable task of deciding who to turn away. Subsequent arguments would then eat into the class time, too.

I looked into joining one of those new gyms run by Sports Direct and they operate a two strikes policy - book classes and don't turn up, and you're not allowed to book more.

In the end we stayed members at David Lloyd and this isn't often a problem at the times I want to do classes (usually weekday mornings) but things like the Saturday morning spin class books up almost instantly.

In your situation i'd be complaining to management - you are not getting what you signed up for, and if demand is that great, they need to employ more instructors and put more classes on.

I understand your frustration.

However if it was me, I would just make damn sure that I was first to book

This used to happen at a gym I was a member of and they had a three strikes and you're out policy.

I just used to go to the classes and take up a spot - I was never challenged.

If you look in at the start and see spaces certainly ask to join in! Why wouldn't you?

Mine books 9 days ahead via an app. If you miss each without cancelling you can't book for a month. If I miss the booking I'll just keep checking throughout the week.

I wouldn't be happy to not be able to book. If I arrive half an hour before hand and it's already full that would be worse than not being able to book in.

Agree with asking the instructor - sometimes the kids' classes at our gym are showing as "full" on the system, we usually turn up at the start and 9 times out of 10 there's someone not there.

Mine allows you to book a week in advance. There's also a wait list you can book onto and they text you if a space becomes available. When in the class they take a register but I don't know how they penalise non-attendees. You can also turn up to the class to see if a space becomes available by asking the instructor. Hope things can be changed at your gym.

I hate first come first served though as it just means people start getting there earlier and earlier. Advance booking makes sense but there need to be repurcussions for no shows.

My gym has a unique approach. If you dont show up or cancel within 12 hrs of the class they name and shame you on FB and twitter (small gym so we all know each other) and you have to do 20 burpees next time.

Another good thing is that the booking app has a waitlist so you can waitlist for classes and it'll ping you a message if you're now in the class due to cancellations. You nearly always get in.

They could easily solve this by having people tick their names off the list when they arrive at the class, then disabling their access to the booking system if they don't turn up. Offer that as a solution and see what they say.

Honestly, all this discussion about first come first served/just joining in classes/how to talk to the instructor etc is all moot until or unless the OP fully engages with the booking system.

If it turns out not to work properly or be almost impossible to use, then obviously she should complain away.

The gym needs a better system. At the Virgin branch I use you can go on a waiting list and you receive a text if someone else has cancelled a booking and a space has become available. They also block members from making further bookings if they no show repeatedly.

Some classes are v popular tho and you just have to book as far in advance as poss if you really want to go (Virgin timetable is 7 days in advance).

It's not always possible to obsessively watch out for the new timetable when you've got work, family commitments etc to do. I think people who that have too much time on their hands and are probably quite selfish.

I think people who that have too much time on their hands and are probably quite selfish
Don't be ridiculous. And you don't need to "obsessively" watch for a new timetable - you just needing know when booking opens, and go online.

Ours also go online a week before the class.
If you cancel within 48 of the class or don't turn up you get fined £7.50.
We have to scan our membership cards to get into the class so they are aware who doesn't turn up.

I go to spin every Wednesday but have never been able to get into the monday class! I think people must wait until midnight Tuesday mornings and book into the Monday class!

Inside 48 hours of the class that should read.
I go to the local council run leisure centre.

It's not always possible to obsessively watch out for the new timetable when you've got work, family commitments etc to do. I think people who that have too much time on their hands and are probably quite selfish.

That's a bit snippy, OP. And rather rude about people with enough 'time on their hands' to use the booking system. I have work and other commitments, as do a lot of my classmates at the gym; yet we all manage.

I and other posters have suggested a) finding out for certain when the timetable refreshes and when you can book and b) setting an alarm so you don't have to watch out for anything. Are you going to try doing that?

This was a big problem at my Virgin gym with Body Attack and the like. It was very cliquey too - one annoying instructor spent all her time chatting to her groupies at the front and ignoring the rest of us. And actually used to bitch about complaints made about her! I've now joined David Lloyd and the classes are always half empty even at peak times. The lounges and car park are always pretty full but not many people seem to actually work out? Suits me anyway.

Is this Pure Gym?

You can still attend fully booked classes without pre booking if it gets to the start time of the class and spaces are available, with the instructors permission.

In my gym you can book classes but you can also just go and take your chance. They usually have some empty places and will take extra people.
Why don't you try to see if you can get on to a class that way.

sounds like you are a member at David Lloyd??

If you don't scan your card in at the time of your class you get a warning and i think if you amass three in a certain space of time you lose booking privileges.

It does sound like David Lloyd. It's a huge problem at our club. I'm a regular at the yoga classes, and unless I book within 1h of the class going live on the system I don't get a space. And then often people who have booked don't turn up. It is extremely annoying. At our club they are not enforcing the three strikes rule.

I suggest you install the DL app on your phone - it's the easiest way to book a class. Classes go live 9 days before class date, at 8pm. So tonight from 8pm I will be able to book classes for Friday next week. I have a reminder set on my phone.

Also, you could just turn up anyway to classes. If there really is no space, and the instructor isn't happy with having one additional person in the class, you can just do something else in the gym. We rarely go above 20 (which is the official class size) in a yoga class but frequently only 15 or so turn up when the class is fully booked.

My gym is like this.

Then I realised if I arrived 5 minutes late when the class had started I could just slip into the back and no one checked whether I'd booked.

I'm with the local council gym. It has an online sign up and classes can be booked a week in advance but a lot of classes are full by lunchtime the day they go live and there's no waiting list. It's really, really annoying.

Better than my last gym, where you had to phone at 7am the day of the class to sign up. Friday spin would be full (including the waiting list!) by 7.20am.