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Original poster

Gym posted photos of me on Facebook

147 replies

DomesticDisgrace · 20/08/2017 18:22

I recently joined a small gym/training studio very local to me and I have 33 mutual Facebook friends with this gym as it's a smallish town and the PTs there are very involved in the local community, children's sport club said etc.

I had my first PT session today, purposely because I was advised it would be quiet and I was feeling very self conscious etc. It went really well and I booked and paid for my next session before leaving.

I've just logged onto Facebook and the first thing on my timeline is 4 photos by the gym page of me, mid session, red contorted face, dripping with sweat, one where my mum tum has escaped my leggings and looks to be flying off like a fleshy jelly spaceship! There are lots of comments, some just of people tagging their friends which I take as a pisstake, others along the lines of "any step is a step in the right direction".

I'm fucking mortified and fuming! I've messaged them asking them to remove them and had no reply

OP posts:
Straycatblue · 20/08/2017 19:09

What utter fuckers.

It takes great courage to go to a gym when you are overweight & unfit because you already imagine people to be staring at you and judging you.
For them to secretly take your photos then post them publicly is a betrayal of your trust, they already knew that you wanted to go when it was quiet so that fewer people were likely to see you.

Whatever you do, please don't let it put you off trying again at another gym.

selectedpicnicitems · 20/08/2017 19:09

lemons honestly would you really not care if it were you in the photos? There is shame and embarrassment isn't that enough? Poor OP that is hideous and totally out of order, I would hate anyone to video or photograph me exercising without my knowledge or permission.

As for outing the gym that is a dreadful suggestion.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 20/08/2017 19:13

How bloody horrible of them 😡

These days I expect large chains to do shit like this with it buried in the fine print (still horrible), but a small, local place...it's disgraceful. The whole thing says more about them than you.

Definitely get everything paid to them refunded & don't let it drop. They need to know you're taking this seriously. It's a huge breach of your privacy & is just fucking nasty.

I know it's embarrassing, but try not to let it get to you too much. Most of us 'normal' people look hot, red faced & sweaty when exercising - hell, I don't even need to do much to look like that these days! You've got a bit of a 'mum tum' because you've carried a couple of kids in there! Frankly, people being twattish about the photos are nasty bastards anyway that you probably wouldn't chose to socialise with anyway, so no great loss.

Have a 🍷 Absolutely no calories in it, promise.

ChasedByBees · 20/08/2017 19:18

Do you know if you've been speaking to the manager / director or a social media manager? Make sure you take the complaint to the top. Did you get a screenshot?

JulietNeverMetRomeo · 20/08/2017 19:23

I'm mortified on your behalf OP this is totally outrageous and would definitely put me off from joining. The fact you didn't know they were being taken is horrible, then to find them on FB with horrible comments would make me feel sick. Complain to the manager and demand a refund.

kali110 · 20/08/2017 19:25

Oh for goodness sake. It's a shame that you were not happy to have your pictures used but you complained and they remedied the issue. Aside from some embarrassment you felt there was no real harm and you suffered no loss. So quite what all these people banging on about 'taking it further' would want to happen is beyond me.
You can't what harm it might do? What about People with mental health problems having their photos put up without permission then then having the piss ripped out of them?
People should be able to workout without the fear of being photographed.
I'd be demanding a refund stating i wouldn't be able to go to the other session.

Sallystyle · 20/08/2017 19:25

Hahaha

Huh?

OP, I would have been mortified. I wouldn't let this drop quite so quickly either.

Anatidae · 20/08/2017 19:28

It's in the contract of the large national chain gym near me; unless you ask for it to be removed. The gym membership costs a little more if you do.

Which chain is this? Just so I can write to them to tell them it's disgraceful and spread the word.

insancerre · 20/08/2017 19:29

Can you leave a review on Facebook?
I'd be tempted to give them 1 star and tell the world about your experience

kali110 · 20/08/2017 19:30

It's in the contract of the large national chain gym near me; unless you ask for it to be removed. The gym membership costs a little more if you do.
That's disgusting!

coddiwomple · 20/08/2017 19:31

The gym membership costs a little more if you do.

You don't pay more if you refuse to have your photo published, you pay less if you allow your photo to be used for promotional purposes. So no, people don't get penalised for being private, they get an incentive for allowing their pic to be shared.

I am amazed you were not even aware that there were photos taken! Totally unacceptable of course! At the very least, you should be told at the beginning of the session about the pictures when you can refuse to be involved, let alone published.

MsMommie · 20/08/2017 19:33

I would be absolutely mortified. That's so unfair.

lemonsandlimes123 · 20/08/2017 19:34

My gym posts pictures on instagram and Facebook, at times I have been in the background of some of them at times there have been shots of me exercising (shock horror). I feel sad that the OP feels embarrassed about the fact that she was shown exercising in a gym, it is something she should be proud of not ashamed. I think that the fault is with arseholes commenting, not with the gym but I can see that others disagree. I agree that the gym should disable the comments on posts like that if the public can't be trusted not to be dicks.

But she asked them to take them down and they did, swiftly as far as I can tell.

mmmmnuts · 20/08/2017 19:36

God, social media creates so much drama, doesn't it? If you're so insecure about how you look, maybe just delete your facebook account. There's more to life.

MistyMinge · 20/08/2017 19:37

That's terrible. I'd be upset and angry if that happened to me. Totally out of order and unprofessional. You'd be well within your rights to take legal action. Companies need to be much more savvy with this sort of thing.

I hope they give you your money back.

There's no way I'd go back either.

Let's hope they learn from this. Social bloody media has got a lot to answer for.

HelenaDove · 20/08/2017 19:37

" you pay less if you allow your photo to be used for promotional purposes"

Maybe these gyms should stick to the original purpose of physical excersise and less of the mental gymnastics!!!

Because the comment of paying less if you allow your photo to be used for promotional purposes is just that.........mental gymnastics.

Semantics!

hackmum · 20/08/2017 19:39

That's appalling.

lemonsandlimes123 · 20/08/2017 19:39

kali110 -
You can't what harm it might do? What about People with mental health problems having their photos put up without permission then then having the piss ripped out of them?

But the OP doesn't have mental health issues does she, unless we are now going to have a massive drip feed. The OP said she was upset and embarrassed, which are fair and reasonable reactions for her to have but I don't think they could really be considered to have caused her harm in any meaningful sense. As I said before when she expressed her desire to have them removed the gym removed them, therefore there is no ongoing issue.

HelenaDove · 20/08/2017 19:40

mmmmnuts I have a fb account.............joined in 2009 In all that time i have had only TWO profile photos.

Social media accounts do get used for other purposes you know.

i use mine for politics feminism and debating and am on some support groups

Papafran · 20/08/2017 19:42

But the OP doesn't have mental health issues does she, unless we are now going to have a massive drip feed. The OP said she was upset and embarrassed, which are fair and reasonable reactions for her to have but I don't think they could really be considered to have caused her harm in any meaningful sense

It can surely cause emotional harm for someone to be publicly ridiculed and humiliated regardless of whether they have MH issues. They are asking for it by opening up comments as well. That's really low- they aren't just putting up photos, they are inviting the public to comment on them.

MistyMinge · 20/08/2017 19:43

mmmmnuts the op is totally within her rights to feel pissed off about this. It's an infringement of her privacy. The gym absolutely should not have put up those pictures for jo public to see without gaining permission. You can have a social media account without wanting pictures of yourself posted all over it. Also when it's your own account you can control what's seen, and by whom it's seen.

NoFuckingRoomOnMyBroom · 20/08/2017 19:43

They shouldn't have used the photos without your permission but I do think you need to be a little less self conscious of how you look when training-I look like a sweaty mess when I do it as I'm working hard, that's the point of it-I've never seen anyone look good after a hard workout.

coddiwomple · 20/08/2017 19:43

the original purpose of the gyms is to make money, as the business they are... and to offer incentive or rewards for promotion or bringing more clients. Come on Hmm

mmmmnuts · 20/08/2017 19:44

mmmmnuts I have a fb account

I didn't say nobody in the world should have a facebook account.

NannyRed · 20/08/2017 19:46

If that was me, I'd be commenting on the photo saying "there is no way I will be returning to this gym" and I keep posting it on their wall until you get signed up to a better gym. Shocking way to treat their customers!