To be pissed off that my £65 a month gym has turned into a kids leisure centre for the holidays?

[OverTheHammer]

I pay £65 a month for David Lloyd membership. It's always been a child friendly place but they normally have specific times when kids can use the pool and gym etc. Since the start of the summer holidays however the pools have turned into "family fun zones" all day every day. I can't be doing with going in when it's like that as it's just too busy and noisy. On top of this the gym is running numerous "kid fit" classes meaning a lot of the gym equipment and tennis courts are taken up by kids.

AIBU to think they don't need to turn the whole place into a children's centre just because it's the summer holidays?? And if they really must do this, perhaps the rest of us should get a monthly discount until September?

YANBU for expecting a reduced rate!

Are there no other kids clubs?

If not, it's a nice idea on paper and for parents. But not for the people who pay.

If it really is that awful YANBU, but I think some people will say you are being unreasonable.

But I understand as the same thing has been done to my gym this summer

I would definitely be asking for a reduced rate!

Have you asked? It sounds bloody awful!

Just down the road the council leasure centre has a full on summer holidays program for kids! I know the idea is that parents who use the gym will want to take their kids but it really isn't fair on the rest of us who are still paying full whack

I'm a DL member and while my gym does have kids stuff in over the holidays, it hasn't turned into a play zone like yours has.
I'd be cheesed off too if I were you-it sounds like your abilities have really been reduced.
I'm not a fan of the David Lloyd business model but it's the best gym that's local to me. They'te probably making more money from the kids sessions than they'll lose if they lose a couple of members because of these sessions. It's all about the £ these days isn't it

It might be more productive to raise it/tweet it to David Lloyd group rather than Mumsnet. Or you know, speak to people at your actual club.

If you are paying £65 a month then family membership will be a hell of a lot more. And of course it favours children in the school holidays. People pay that ridiculous amount so they can use it a lot.

You could join a cheaper gym - in my local one, £40 a month there are no kids in the gym itself.

I'm at DL (pay £35 a month). They've got loads of stuff on for the kids over the holiday but it's not really affecting the rest of the club, aside from parking, changing rooms and the cafe. Which club is it?

My DL still has the protected adults swim hour at lunchtime and swim lanes. The club is inevitably busier but not unbearable.

It sounds like a big club so speak to management. Ours dropped the protected swim during holidays a few years ago but so many people complained it was reinstated.

Most of them have prob only paid £14 for 14 days too! Even more annoying

I had this at my gym last summer. I really went to town on them, arguing that I was paying for the provision of a pool, classes and a gym all of which were routinely unavailable to me without adequate notice.

It's a gym attached to a hotel and I took it all the way up the hotel chain of management. In the end, they gave all adult gym members a £10 gesture of good will and amended their policy so that this summer our monthly rate is reduced by £5 to compensate for the disruption to the timetables and they've put on a few hours of adult-only swimming time.

Definitely tweet them, OP. Also see if you can muster support from other gym regulars - strength in numbers and all that

I left the DL near us because of the reverse : there was virtually no sensible time when the children could use the club AND it was hideously expensive to take them. Which one are you at?!?!

They probably need the business because the rest of the time it is deserted. Or is that just the two DLs near me?

It's the same at Fitness First. Children's swimming lessons in an 'adults only' facility. Members have complained (I was told there was even a petition at one of the branches) and been ignored. The lessons continue to escalate in frequency. I will be quitting my membership soon. Vote with your feet.

'Children's swimming lessons in an 'adults only' facility'

That's ridiculous. I would be fuming. You join an adults only facility on the understanding that no children will be admitted. Disgraceful that they are ignoring complaints from the members on this

My DL costs me £85 a month!!
I am feeling robbed!

Our DL club always has lanes available. Are you saying yours doesn't?

Our members area has an adults only area, with floor to ceiling walls. It doesn't screen off all the noise but it does a pretty good job. Our children cost ~£275 per year each (plus then swimming lessons on top), which isn't trivial.

These aren't random children, these are children of adult members who are also paying high membership fees, then additional fees for any kids clubs that are run. If DL wasn't family friendly in the holidays many families would drop out, and there probably wouldn't be loads of child free people queueing up to take their place, so your membership costs would increase.

On balance I think YABU. Just work out the times when the kids aren't there, and go then. It's only 6 weeks.

This is why I cancelled my DL membership - wasn't too bad if you went in the evenings in school hols, but any other time it was so not worth paying extra for a 'nice' gym when it was full of kids running round the changing rooms and sitting/playing on equipment in the gym (the ones left on their own on treadmills made it quite stressful as I always had one eye out in case they fell off!). Came to the conclusion that 'family friendly' gyms probably aren't for me... but if you do pay extra so the kids can come too then well yes, you're going to use it to make the most of that!

DP just used a code to get 14 days for £14 at DL just to see what the fuss was about, he said it's the worst gym he has ever been to (being a gym addict he has been to a lot!), too commercialised and full of all the gear no ideas getting in the way chatting around equipment and using it as a mothers meeting place. Monthly membership at ours is £100!!
I pay £20 a month for my 24 hour lovely gym :D

Tweet them, a gym should be an adult place, not a kids play center.

YAalsoBU because DLL doesn't market itself as an Adults only place. The very front page of their website currently has 6 large pictures, 3 of which include children.

Plus, I think gym sessions for kids are 11+, so not exactly 6yos running around.

Overthehammer I suspect we are at the same gym. Is the local leisure centre at the back of a large well known supermarket..

I'm at David Lloyd as well but pay nearly £90 and exactly the Same problem. Tweenagers on the gym equipment, can't get near the synergy 360, kids all over the treadmills. There was a row of small kids in bodypump the other day watching their mums and occasionally running in and out.

I couldn't bear going to a gym full of children esp at that price. I am with Nuffield and there aren't any children at all there ever. It costs £52 per month and is a lovely sanctuary away from all that. Much quieter over the summer.

YANBU not to want to go to a gym crawling with babies and toddlers. Complain. I've never been in a David Lloyd. After hearing this I wouldn't want to go in one.

my local DL is £120 / month. £37.50 for the kids each and for that they got, errr a couple of kids-fit gym classes a week and the use of the pool at certain times but needed me in with them. total rip off.

Then at Christmas when the gym was lovely and peaceful they offer £10 for 10 days membership and the whole bloody town rocks up. grrrr.

no wonder i left.