I am no fan of Crunch -- I live across the street from one and no longer go there for a variety of reasons -- but you show a remarkable lack of personal responsiblity with this statement:

"What is more, I was not informed during my last visit that my membership would be ending. Therefore, I had no way of knowing, when I walked in on Saturday, that I would not be able to work out."

When you joined the gym, you could have made a note of the period you joined for. Moreover, that information is probably on your membership contract. Perhaps you might not remember the exact date your membership would expire, but a responsible adult would at least have a vague sense of "Oh, I joined in January last year, so my membership is probably expiring soon -- I should check on that."

And even if you forgot completely, it's simply false to say you had "no way of knowing."

You sound rather greedy.

Just read Noah Brier's explanation of how his membership was canclled -- I should have read the earlier entry on this blog that explains the situation more clearly than his most recent letter to Cruch. He did, in fact, have little or no way of knowing his membership expired. Sorry to be harsh on him.

Just read Noah Brier's explanation of how his membership was canclled -- I should have read the earlier entry on this blog that explains the situation more clearly than his most recent letter to Cruch. He did, in fact, have little or no way of knowing his membership expired. Sorry to be harsh on him.

Hey JT,
No worries, I understand. But I really had absolutely no way of knowing. I left this comment over at Gothamist, but let me leave it here too:

I had a corporate membership that had been continued after I left my last job. The membership was not set to expire until June 1, or something to that effect. The company cancelled my membership and this was all unexpected. As I wrote in my response to Roger Harvey, the COO of Crunch, I went in on Saturday expecting to work out. I had been there about two days before and everything had been fine, not even a mention that I might have a cancelled membership. So when they told me that I needed to renew, I just wanted to think it over. I had been paying a corporate rate before and just wanted to decide whether to go with the 1 year, $799 option or the two year, $1199 option (or something to that effect).

I was at the gym, with my gym clothes on and I wanted to work out. I wasn't just looking for a freebie, I was just looking to make the best decision about a lot of money.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

After the initial story I thought you had run across an arrogant manager, but it seems the problem goes beyond that. I find it amazing that there are still companies out there that don't give their employees the tools to make their customers happy (especially in the gym/healthclub industry where so little differentiates most places already). Anyway, thanks for communicating the story. I certainly won't be joining a Crunch anytime soon if they don't trust their employees to make "good customer service" decisions.

I used to work for Crunch at a fairly high level and am not surprised to hear of your experience.

If it's any consolation, my own first-hand knowledge (things that I saw & overheard, and that I was asked to do while I was employed by Crunch) make your experience pale by comparison. What I mean is that I was absolutely SHOCKED by what I witnessed. I left saying I would never again step foot in a Crunch gym and have lived true to that promise.

In fact, I was so turned-off by Crunch that I immediately got out of the fitness industry all-together and put an end to that chapter of my life.

Crunch may suck... but please bear in mind that the ENTIRE fitness industry is a bacterial cesspool (literally and figuratively). Trust me when I say that Crunch is a hell of a lot better than the clubs it acquired during its growth.

In defense of Crunch, their guest policy WAS abused something awful while I was there. I know Roger personally and he is a good guy. I believe that he meant well and was trying to do the best he could with a dificult situation (policy vs. exceptions vs. precedent). Everyone tries to get a free ride for a day by going from club to club so you have to understand the policy, but their conduct towards a pre-existing member such as yourself is truly abhorable. I would have fixed it for you immediately 'on the down-low' if I was still there.

Here's my advice. Buy a decent pair of sneakers and throw-out your MetroCard. Get over the "work-out thing" all-together and start living your life instead of watching someone else's on TV while you try to shed an ounce or two.

That is, unless you are so positively VAIN (and an exhibitionist) that you can only take a shower with an halogen lightbulb projecting your naked silhouette on a publicly-viewable, not-so-frosted glass window. They are (to my knowledge) still the only place you can go for that "experience". :)