I went into a 24 hour fitness a few weeks ago to see how much it cost for a membership. I was not interested in starting a membership at the time, just wanted to know how much it cost. I was forced to sit through half of a sales routine until I told the guy I would not start a membership that day, I just wanted to know how much a membership cost. He told me he could not tell me because it varied from month to month. I asked him how much a membership cost this month and he said they didn’t work like that. Then he told me to come back when I was ready to start a membership and then we could talk price, but I won’t know if I’m ready to start a membership until I know if I can afford it. 24 Hour Fitness has pretty much a monopoly around my part of Dallas so I don’t have much of a choice. So my question is:
How much do you or your friends pay for your 24 Hour Fitness membership, and in what city??
I’m in Los Angeles, and I pay $30 a month for the 24 hour fitness Sport membership (which means I can play racqetball in the branches that have courts), but I got this as a deal through my employer, so I’m not sure if this is a break on their regular rates.
Without the Sport bonus, the rate I was quoted was $24/month
We just received an offer through our employer, and I quote:
Membership Enrollment Fee Active Sport Super Sport
Single $0 $29.99 $34.99 $44.99
Family Add-on $119 Active $15.99(1st) $20.99 $29.99
$119 Sport $10.99 (add) $15.99 $24.99
$149 Super Sport
Here in San Diego, I got in through a former employer with the deal (through the company): $50 one-time enrollment and $16 a month. And I’m able to renew at the $16/month rate forever. This is for the “normal” gyms, not the Super or Sport gyms (no pool, no racquetball, etc.). I am able to visit any of the normal gyms in the area, with no restrictions on days of the week or times of day (there are other deals that restrict you on these matters).
The salesguy you talked to was correct about one thing: it changes every month (if not every week). My personal theory is that if you walked in and said “$50 one-time enrollment and $16/month - take it or leave it”, though you may get turned down by a couple folks, I think eventually one would bite. I really do think it comes down to an individual salesperson’s call - not some corporate policy (think car salesman negotiation
When you consider that their entire revenue is based on people signing up, paying, and not necessarily actually using the gyms (in fact, the fewer the better ;-), then you realize that the deal is less significant to you simply becoming a member.
My wife and I joined the 24 Hour club in Fort Worth (it is a Super Sport club) about two years ago and we pay $28 a month for both of us. We prepaid for one year and were guaranteed the same rate for three more years so we’ve got a couple of years to go at that rate.
We had been using another club in the same area for many years but it closed a couple of years ago and 24 Hour was offering good deals to get members to come to their club.
I don’t remember what their regular rates were at that time.
When someone is selling something, but won’t tell me the price, it pisses me off. Usually, it’s just used cars, or motorcycles in the showroom, and there, you can ask. The situation in the OP is pretty weird.
Cust: How much?
Salesperson: I’m afraid I can’t tell you unless you want to buy it.
Cust: Well, the price would affect whether I want to buy it.
Salesperson: Well, come back when you are really sure you want the item, I’m afraid I can’t let you know the price right now. Go away.
I think that they have very basic prices, but the salespeople will try to get you to pay as much money as they possibly can. When I was looking for a new gym, I went to look at the 24 Hour gym here, which had just opened. They had me fill out some paperwork with my job, my husband’s job, all sorts of info on it. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have done that. At any rate, I was quoted something like $79 a month in addition to an outrageous sign up fee. I told them that their prices were way more than I had been paying. The price came down, but it was still out of line. I got up to leave. Oh, wait, maybe the salesman can give me a special. I sat back down again. By this time, i’d figured out what was going on, and I wanted to see the salesman limbo down…how low would he go? I finally got him sweating, trying to sell me a membership for under my current monthly dues at another gym.
Then I gave him my best shit eating grin, and told him that if he’d given me a reasonable price up front, even if it was a bit more than I was currently paying, without trying to milk me, I’d have signed that day. But that I didn’t appreciate him trying to screw me like this, so I wasn’t going to buy ANY membership at all in this gym.
Then I left.
Later that day, I signed up with Fitness For Her. I don’t like the idea of single sex gyms, but it’s the closest gym to my home with a pool, which is the only sort of exercise my doctor will allow me to do. I was quitting my old gym because the pool was always, ALWAYS dirty and I didn’t feel that it was safe to exercise in.
Lynn, did you by chance go to the 24 Hour in Fort Worth? When we went there looking for a gym after our old one closed they gave us a good deal to start with. It was about the same as we had been paying at the other place so we took it. Of course, we were dealing with the manager so maybe that had something to do with it.
I assume the Fitness For Her you joined is in Fort Worth. That’s the only one I know of. My wife thought about joining it when our other one closed but didn’t want to go if I couldn’t.
My business partner is part owner of FFH with his daughter and son-in-law and we keep their books.
Go to www.24hourfitness.com, click on memberships, type in your zip code, choose a club, and it’ll give you rates. For instance, the Dallas Uptown club has a $109 enrollment fee, $79 processing fee, and $29.99 monthly fee. (I really question the processing fee – do they have their data entry person carefully hand-carving your name into the italian-marble database?)
I don’t currently belong to a gym, but I’m looking in to joining. Going rate around here appears to be $100-$250 to sign up, and $45-$50 montlhly.
Look for local coupons and specials, the enrollment fee and processing will often be reduced or free during specials. The monthly rate is very haggleable, I kept talking mine down, with the rep doing the “Now, management won’t like this, and I’m only doing this for you…” song and dance, but was able to talk mine to under $20 a month, fixed rate, with zero enrollment fee and 50 percent off of the processing fee.
From talking with the sales girl, who was very open about things, it is highly dependent upon the specific location, and how well that local outlet is doing. Newer clubs will try and maximize short-term profits with higher fees, at the expense of long-term customers. Older established clubs already have a stable profit base, and are more willing to offer deals and goodies to new people.
I don’t know if this is an option with any gym near you, but if it is, I highly recommend buying a used membership.
In 1997 I placed an ad on my bulletin board at work that said ‘Want to buy used gym membership’ and got lots of responses. I ended up paying $500 plus a $50 transfer fee for a lifetime Bally’s membership. It’s good at any Bally’s nationwide. And there are yearly dues – $5.
The membership could be transferred once – which means I can’t transfer it again.
Risks:
Bally’s could go belly-up;
Bally’s could nbe bought out by someone who wouldn’t have to honor it;
Bally’s could (I assume) announce that they’re not honoring it anymore;
I could lose interest in exercise (not likely – haven’t missed more than a week or so in twenty years);
I could be injured and unable to exercise.
But even if, I’ve gotten my money’s worth.
I am amazed at the gall of gyms that refuse to reveal the prices of their memberships until you’ve sat through a high-pressure spiel (even new cars have sticker prices on them, fer chrissakes! I would sooner ballon up to 300 pounds than let any such clip joint get a dollar of my money.
Yeah, I went to the 24 Hour just off of Hulen. And I go to the FFH on Hulen, too, when I actually go. I live close to I 35 and South 820, so those are not REALLY convenient for me, but they’re about the closest gyms with pools. I was going to the Huguley Health Center, but as I said, their pools were consistently dirty, and so was the ladies’ hot tub. I DO NOT like going in indoor pools which have dead crickets in them. Or even live crickets. This wasn’t a one time occurence, this lasted for MONTHS. Yuck.
Hey, I lived near I35 and South 820 until about four years ago when we moved over closer to Hulen Mall (We downsized since the kids had all left home).
I knew several people who went to Huguley Health Center several years ago and it was pretty good then. They must have really let it run down. That’s too bad.
