Any David Lloyd members?

[Granard]

Hoping to hear from any David Lloyd members. Have you received a fee increase notice for 2019? And, if so, how much is your increase?

Fees in Dublin have increased for the third year running, 10% for 2019.

They seem to see Dublin as an easy target as there is little competition for the standard they offer and the majority of members are well-off families so I'm curious to know if similar increases have been implemented in their UK clubs.

Many thanks.

We haven't had a fees increase notice but I think our club is struggling with membership numbers at the moment. I think every club's fees are different so I don't think it would be uniform across different locations.

How much do you currently pay if you don't mind me asking? 10% sounds very steep! We pay £218 for a family of four including racquets but not Vantage. My sister has recently joined the same club and is paying £110 per month with no racquets! (We have been members for just over two years)

Hope that helps

£6 extra , for 2 adults and a 3 and 1 year old. I also negotiated no charge for the children so we pay £168 a month for us all together with no racquets. We are in the South East.

Scotland. And I think dh said his were going up 10% too.

Letter says new payment is £55.45, up from £50.42. That's about 10% I think. My council membership is on't £34.99!

David Lloyd Clubs are an absolutele rip off and you pay far too much for it when it’s clearly not worth what you pay for it.

Yep, also had a circa 10% increase.

There's uproar at the club and the membership office had a stack of completed termination forms on the desk when I was in there yesterday.

It's come from head office and there's no negotiation.

Prices are soaring and the level of service is zooming down with classes been permanently cancelled and not replaced with anything else. The odd new class they have put on tends to be taught by in house staff rather than the more expensive freelancers who tend to be better instructors Ime. So the in-house staff may be able to teach a circuits type class but generally can't teach stuff like Les Mills.

I now pay £88 a month (non racquets) and that's corporate membership so discounted.

And yes, newer members will be paying more than I am.

Friends who have been there longer are paying less.

Recently left as so fed up with their nonsense. Their facilities at our local club are great and a shame to give up but it's just too corporate for me

We have LOADS of classes. Just counted Body Balance (as that is one I do regularly) and there are 11 classes per week all done by outside instructors not gym staff.

Strongbeatsskinny it is expensive but for us there is nowhere else close by that meets our needs. No other gym has a 25m pool or allows teens / pre-teens in the gym. The next biggest gym pool is 16m. Our council pool which is 25m has public evening swimming (the only time during the week I can go) one evening a week!!

11 body balance classes a week?

Blimey we have a total of 5 body balance classes in a week!

The only class all day on a Sunday is one BodyPump class. They cancelled the other Sunday classes.

Group exercise coordinator person just complains about lack of budget from head office to pay for instructors!

13 instructor led adult classes on a Sunday with us, plus lots of virtual spin (think there were two instructor spin classes). First HIIT class is at 7.20am, last class is a circuits class at 7.30pm. Things like the circuits which are on the gym floor are taken by gym staff not outside instructors but I guess if you are a qualified PT you can do circuits!

Thank you all for your replies.

The new fee for me in Dublin will be 140 Euro & 45 for my 18 year old. That’s without tennis. The only other similar club in Dublin (but not as nice) would be 72 for me & 57 for DD.

Out of interest, I phoned David Lloyd Belfast club. They had to reduce their fees from £110 to £82 a couple of years ago due to member complaints. It’s £25 for age 14 to 18. That includes tennis & something called Blaze that I’ve never heard of.

I’ve emailed to complain but I don’t even think the majority of members will notice the increase or care. The email they sent obviously didn’t refer to an increase, just advised that “your new membership details are attached. You don’t need to do anything.”

We have a mix of standards for instructors, mostly freelance. A couple of good yoga & body balance teachers left but weren’t replaced. Staff turnover is very high. Reception staff change every couple of months. They pay badly by all accounts. Didn’t pay staff during snow in March apparently.

Staff pay is awful. Minimum wage for gym staff and they take the majority of any personal training fees by the gym staff.

Free lancers here get £20 an hour. But obviously they don't work full time so it's hard to make a living from it. They cancel the classes with minimum notice which affects the instructors. Instructors have to pay their NI and any tax, there's no sick pay.

From Jan they have to pay for their own Les Mills music licence thing which is about £1.80 per class. DL won't pay it. The instructors are saying they can't afford it so will have to use free cover versions. So the concern is the classes won't be as good and this will affect members but DL don't seem to give a shit.

One of the managers shrugged when I threatened to leave and said leaving members are always replaced by a steady flow of new members signing up.

Apparently membership in Dublin is full and there is a waiting list.

I spoke to a sales person in DL's main competitor here and he had just shown a couple around the facilities who had been told by DL that membership was closed.

One theory is that they're hoping some of the individual members will leave because of the increase to make way for more family members with young kids. That's where the real money is. Couples with 3 or 4 small kids all doing tennis and swimming lessons, which are extortionately priced, and spending the entire afternoon in the club after school and availing of the restaurant. Most afternoons it's like a zoo in the Dublin club with kids doing homework, eating dinner and going to lessons. They make a lot more from these members than they do from an individual adult membership.

Instructors here are apparently paid 25 euro an hour and reportedly have to pay €50 for every new release from Les Mills, hence a lot of the instructors just keep teaching the old releases and never buy the new ones. One of the main body balance instructors has a full time job elsewhere and another is a retired teacher. Both do it for pin money.

Speaking to one of the freelancers last night and she says she's about to quit because the money just isn't worth it. She mentioned the les Mills licence, the paying for the updates, the music. So another good instructor gone.