My PT is annoyed I haven't given notice...

[filionj]

But, I pay in blocks. I've come to the end of a block and I'm just not renewing until Sept. (Or ever now).

I can't see how I have to give notice? I don't have a contract?

Thinking he's not for me, he pulls me up on cancelling short notice when my children are ill despite the fact I've already paid for the session. I think he expects to be able to fill the slot and get double bubble.

What a shame, we get on fine etc but this all leaves a very bad taste.

Freedom is liberating!!

A few ideas came to mind.
re not renewing or being told ‘At the last minute’
1- he is strapped for cash and can’t replace you that easily
2- knowing earlier, he could have accepted other people to take ‘your’ slot
3- when cancelling one session last minute, he has to be waiting around doing nothing when, with a bit more notice, he could have re arranged the day to avoid that
4- tbh when people regularly cancel, regardiess of whether they have paid, it’s annoying
5- if you knew you’d never go to the gym during the summer hols, then why not telling him ahead rather than when ‘renewing’. He isn’t a mind reader expected to know ‘obviously’ you wouldn’t do the sessions. Eg some parents jump at the opportunity to carry on because it’s giving them a break!!

Regardless of all of that, his communication style sounds like it could be better.
I have told clients all of the above before (not PT but similar situation) and it has never been an issue. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

The bottom line is, I've come to the end of the block and have chosen to not continue.

I would have been taking a short 2 month hiatus. Now it's permanent!

I have cancelled less than 5 times over the last year, which is good considering I have two children and the last year included a change of setting for my youngest who picked up a whole new batch of diseases!

To you point 5:
I suppose I would have carried on few the next two weeks, but he reminded me that it was renewal time. I took the opportunity to take a break.

Am I the only one who doesn't know what a 'PT' is? At first I thought, 'piano teacher' but then you went on to mention a gym.

Whatever, if you pay for missed sessions, don't worry about it.

Personal Trainer @LBFseBrom

Mine has changed my life. Before her I scoffed a bit at people with PTs. Now I am a PT zealot.

He's being very unprofessional by making a fuss.

That all might be true but isn't the OP's problem. Presumably the last minute cancellations were because of an unforseeable circumstance otherwise she would have rescheduled earlier and not had to pay for a missed session. He set up his contract for block booking, so that's his business model. If you're in business you have to expect a certain amount of churn. Clients don't owe you their business. Also in similar industry.

These industries are very competitive. You need to differentiate yourself and be great at marketing. You can't guilt your clients into staying with you.

OP you have done nothing wrong.

You do have a contract with him - it's just that all the terms are implied other than (presumably) making payments in a block. He might well argue that it was an implied term that you gave him reasonable notice of non renewal. In any event it does seem a bit rude/unhelpful on your part not to give some notice for the reasons suggested earlier.

He's not being that weird. He's reacting to a sudden drop of income that he could have anticipated but didn't. He's being a poor business man. He'd probably counted on income from you renewing. It's such a hard business to make a living from. He needs to learn that it's up to him to check half way through a block if a client plans on renewing or not. And he needs to fill up slots if clients are unsure.

As to cancelled sessions - he doesn't have the right to to moan at you if you pay for them anyway, but it's understandable he's frustrated. He will have planned the session - building on your current strength and creating variety from the previous session. He wants his clients to progress - get fitter and stronger. Too many cancellations means they won't and might lose motivation and not rebook - as has happened with you.

Your relationship with your PT sounds really transactional.

I don't think he's the one for you.

(What’s a PT, please?)

Personal trainer.

It seems that way now, wasn't like that in the beginning.

I can see how, from his perspective, it would have been useful to know you were taking a break (or not continuing) as it would have allowed him to try and fill the slot without a break in his earning. However, that's on him, given you don't have a contract. He should have addressed this with you in good time and explained the reason for him wanting to know your plans. It sounds like he hasn't dealt with it very well. What did he actually say to you?

If I cancel at less than 24 hours notice I have to count the session as one of my paid sessions, whatever the reason. If either of us knows we're going to be unavailable we sit down together, take the sessions out of the diary and work out whether or how to make them up or whether it would be better for us for me to suspend my payment for a few weeks and sign a new agreement. I have to give a month's notice of changes and have a rolling ongoing contract, but those are the gym's terms and conditions.

It sounds as though he has his own terms and conditions if you moved gyms and you'd prefer to move back, which is obviously fine. I think it would be polite to let him know you're not renewing and you prefer to return to your previous gym, which he should accept gracefully and professionally.

He obviously counted (wrongly) on you continuing and is now annoyed you aren’t. You haven’t done anything wrong.

I think life as a PT can be tricky in terms of managing income. It seems commonplace to pay in blocks, as ongoing contracts do put people off starting. I try to give my PT as much notice as possible (holidays etc). If I was stopping for a period or permanently, I would try and tell them as soon as I made the decision to give them time to backfill the space.

However, I don’t see that you’re in the wrong at all. Seems like you have outgrown each other and also the gym doesn’t suit you. Perfect time to move on and now you can do so permanently without giving it any more thought!

I get that its hard for a PT to have unpredictable income due to the nature of the work, but he shouldn't have displaced that stress on to you and it sounds like he is not being very professional in his communication.

My PT looked a bit stressed the other day as he is trying to buy a house and he told me two of his regular clients have cancelled within a week of each other so he is now down nearly £600 a month, after a long period of steady income from them, which has affected his mortgage affordability. So with that in mind I know that if I ever do decide to end our sessions I will give him as much notice as I can, just as a courtesy as a friend more than anything, to give him heads up that his income is about to change quite drastically, but he's a wonderful trainer so I think I'll carry on with him for years I hope!

What has he sent you that you need to reply to?

I see nothing wrong with being transactional when what is involved is actually a transaction. One party pays, the other provides a service. I mean, you can be best mates with a trainer but it's not really part of the bargain.

If you have been with this personal trainer for a year and knew you wouldn’t be renewing or taking a break before your last session then I think morally I would of definitely of given him a heads up.

Yes you have no contract, so if you wanted to be technical you didn’t necessarily do anything wrong… but I would of personally of given someone a heads up a few sessions before my last one.

It would have given him time to find someone else to book into your usual session time.

I can see in a way why cancellations last minute are annoying, especially if they happen often. Sometimes you plan your whole day around an appointment or session and if you have cancelled quite regularly then I get it from his perspective. Obviously he shouldn’t be harsh to you about it though.

Op surely you had this arrangement confirmed when you started the tutoring? I always confirmed that I was not available in the holidays and only wanted term time . No one ever had issue with me and kept my slot for the next term unless they couldn't, in which case I also understood I had no right to complain if I had to find someone else. You could try a site like tutorful as well. You have alot of more control over lessons and how they are booked and canceled.

He needs to focus his energy on finding new clients rather than berating you.

I have always taken the holidays off. I was so transparent from the start that I didn't want regular sessions because I'm too unpredictable with two young children (all childcare falls to me and my husband works away).
I got slightly pushed into a regular slot.

I perhaps should have given him some notice this time around, I just saw the opportunity to leave the current arrangement as it's just stopped working for me.

How many PTs really expect their clients to continue month on month ad infinitum by the way?

why on earth reply when you haven’t bothered to read the post!