Gym's creche policy, I don't think IABU, but would appreciate others views!

[MolesBreathless]

I have a small baby, so when I joined the gym about 6 months ago, the creche arrangements were top of my list of requirements. The 'membership consultant' very clearly told me that I could either 'pay as you go' for each session as I used them, or purchase a 'pre pay' pass that gave you a small discount on the usual hourly rate. If you choose to buy a pass, it comes with a standard 10 hours worth of creche time. The pass expires 3 months after purchase with no refund for unused time.

The first time I took DS to the creche (about 6 months ago), there was no issue at all, the staff explained the above to me and I bought a pass as I expected to use the gym quite frequently. They were very happy for me to either pay for the stand alone session or buy a pass.

I also do another (outdoor) sport so I didn't end up using the remaining creche hours within the 3 months so it expired. No big deal, I understood the T&Cs, my own fault.

I took DS there last week and again the staff explained to me that I had the option to buy a pass or pay for the session. I explained the situation with the last pass and said I would prefer to just pay as I went. Again, no issue at all, I paid for the session and thought no more of it.

I took him in today and was told that I had to purchase a 10 session pass or else DS would't be able to use the creche at all. The pay as you go arrangements that were previously available to me were apparently all a big mistake and was merely a 'training need' on the part of the staff (all of them!) who had told me it was an option.

I asked for a copy of the T&Cs and was given the attached. I've read it about 20 times and it seems quite clear that you can either buy a pass or pay in advance or pay at time of booking.

The first paragraph even says that the pass offers a 'discount from the hourly rate' which suggests that there is an hourly rate that you can pay without having the pass

Am I going mad? If I am, I am quite happy to be told, but if you read it the same way as I do, how should I handle it? I like the gym, and DS likes the creche so I don't want to flounce, but I know I won't use 10 sessions in a 3 month period and am not happy about having to pay for them. Had I been told this when I joined, I probably would have chosen a different gym.

So, AIBU?

x posts there...

Don't blame you for being cross. Yes I would take it further. I suspect we are probably talking about the same gym and I hope they haven't changed the rules or else I will complain too!

I read this as you could buy a pass for a discount off the normal rate. There then therefore needs to be a normal rate. YANBU I would complain.

Just sent you a PM

My reading is that you either pay for creche hours (PAYG) in advance of use at the time of booking, or you have a creche pass that is both in date and has enough pre-paid hours remaining.

However, the spelling and grammar on that is SO BAD that I think it was written by someone who hasn't got a clue what they want it to say. There are random commas floating around, clauses just hanging about seemingly doing nothing for half a sentence until you get the gist a bit later (because of another seemingly mis-matched clause) and words that sound similar to the word they actually want (wavered where it should be waived) but don't mean the same thing.

If it's Virgin then when I joined last year it was PAYG or a slightly discounted pass. I've not actually used the crèche though.

However some (all?) Virgin gyms are being taken over by Nuffield so I wonder if they're starting to subtedly change policy. We should be informed properly of course.

yes I was going to make the same comment re. spelling and grammar - it's clearly not been written or checked by someone legal, so it's hard to tell what they actually wanted to say in the first place.

YANBU. I am reading this as it says you can only book in to the creche if you have a pass with money/credit left on it OR pay (as you go) at the time of booking i.e. you don't pay at the end when you pick your child up you pay (as you go for your individual session) before the child starts the session. It goes on to say how you can buy the passes OR hours.

It's years since I was a member if that gym (mentioned by other poster) but you could definitely payg or buy 10 in one go for less.

OK, the way I read it is that you must have a pass and that each pass has 10 hours on it at the point of purchase. But then you can purchase additional hours to go on the pass, either at the door or in advance, which will be at a discounted rate if you use the creche facilities regularly. But the way I read it seems to match up with the manager I'm afraid.

Thanks for all the posts!

Just to clarify, the pass isn't something you can restock so to speak...you buy 10 hours, they keep a paper 'card' in the crèche and then cross the hours off the paper card as you use them up.

When the 10 hours are used up, you then buy a new (paper) card and start again.

It's not like a phone card I.e. You can't run your card down to 1 hour, then put additional hours on the card, you have to actually buy a whole new block of 10 hours.

Is it this?

www.virginactive.co.uk/our-difference/families/creche

Yes! Ok, so that's pretty straightforward...they've omitted the 'go' from 'pay as you go' but it's fairly clear what the intent is.

Thanks for that, I didn't realise there would be a central policy.

This is interesting

fis.wandsworth.gov.uk/kb5/wandsworth/fsd/service.page?id=JH-2T1J0m_8

I'm a member of that same chain - you can either pay as you go or buy a pass in the one where I'm a member. I think the staff member you were speaking to must have been confused.

Thanks...So that club has a PAYG Option as well as a Pre paid pass one...interesting.

I'm thinking my club is just trying to pull a fast one tbh, they will def profit from the pre pay passes as I'm sure loads of people buy them and then don't use them.

Cheeky sods. If I didn't like the place so much, I'd just leave, things like this
make me wonder what else they will try on

As a solicitor I would interpret 2 options - (1) pass for 10 sessions valid for 3 month period which you get a slight discount per session because yiu bought 20 hours at once and (2) you can purchase an hour in the creche paid for as you book that slot in advance which will not have a discount as you are only buying a single session. I believe you have interpreted their documentarion correctly. If you want to leave if this is an issue and go elsewhere and they want to charge until the end of the contract period wtc I suggest you tell them the contract is void as they have misrepresented a fundamental term of the contract to yiu.

Excuse stubby finger typos on iphone!!

Get onto Twitter and query it!

Crèche passes are for children under 3, do they take older children? Do they PAYG?

It is possible for all staff to have had a "training need".... It's called "management didn't understand so trained the staff wrongly"

To me it read as you have to have a pass, and you can either pre pay for 10 sessions or individual sessions.

That's how I read it too, either a pre paid pass (10 sessions) , or you can pay for individual crèche hours.

The 'pass' is just a pre paid voucher and you definitely don't need one for the individual sessions (otherwise by definition they wouldn't be individual sessions, they'd be part of a prepaid block) Not quite sure how you've come up with that interpretation (if I'm reading your post correctly!)

Or do you mean a pass for the club as a whole? I have one of those, the crèche pass (voucher) is a separate thing...

I think the most conclusive evidence that PAYG is (or should be) an optionI is from their own website...I'm going to check a few more clubs tomorrow to be sure and then email the club manager.

Thanks for all the input so far, it's much appreciated...!

I'm a member of a virgin active gym and use the crèche regularly. I can choose to buy a 1 hour pass or 10 hours, as long as I have paid before the session either is fine. OP I'll pm you what branch I go to if you like?

Yes, that's what I was told the policy was at my club
Hazelnut...would really appreciate a pm please!

I would also get a friend to ring the gym and enquire to see what they're telling potential new joiners- it would be really telling if they're still using the flexibility vs discount options as a sales hook.

But do get someone else to ring in case they recognise you or your number!