Altea Active Reviews (%countItem)
Altea Active Rating
Address: 100 South Town Road and Kenaston, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3Y 0V8
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This health and fitness club promoted their facility prior to opening within a rented space in a mall, encouraging members to join this new state of the art facility. I was thrilled and excited to be one of the founding members when I enrolled months prior to the opening of the club. They promoted multiple pools, swimming lessons for children, affordable childcare for children under 12, and tons of class availability for me to leave my current spin studio and replace it with Altea-the place that would meet all my needs and then some!
Upon opening in November the club began to charge me, although the services I had signed up for were clearly not ready, as much to my dismay the pools were not even near open! The main reason for my joining was in fact for the family aspect and the pools for swimming lessons for my children. The opening out the pools was delayed until late Dec and finally in Jan swimming lessons were announced. I immediately registered my daughter for classes to begin in mid-January (note this is already 2 months after the club opened). 6 days prior to her lessons starting, they called me to cancel her time slot as it had low enrollment offering me only a weekend time slot which does not work at all due to other activities she is involved in. This club was clearly not meeting the promises they set out for me, although I did wait patiently for them to iron out opening kinks. Eventually the manger did offer to waive 4 bi-weekly payments, and I tried to attend various times based on the promises they made, but their classes are always full, their childcare is set up for children up to 12 but realistically is for children under 5. In the end, I have never once attended the club for a single visit other than in the lobby. I was sold something that would meet my families needs, but still 4 months in has not met a single need. I am requesting a total refund of my membership based on false promises. I do think the facility is beautiful and wish it would have delivered on its promises
Product_Or_Service: Fitness membership
Refund Given the circumstances of the club not meeting the promised expectations set out upon enrollment , I'd like to see a refund for the $71.51 charged to me on Nov 19th, as well as the biweekly charges of $23.05 that incurred on Dec 2, Dec 16, Dec 30 and Jan 13 for a total of $163.71, keeping in mind that I never once was able to attend the club or use your services.
This member signed up for a membership in the summer as stated in our Preview Centre at the Seasons of Tuxedo Outlet Mall. She was made clear that this membership was a one-year agreement, where at the end of the one-year term the membership would renew on a month to month basis and she would be able to cancel at any time with 14 days' notice. Upon opening on November 15th we did not hear from the member at all with any concerns, nor did she express any dissatisfaction that our pools would not be open until January. Had she expressed any displeasure, we could have changed the start date of her agreement to commence in January when the pools open, as we did for many other members.
When swimming lesson registration opened the member attempted to register for lessons in a specific time slot. As mentioned in our lesson agreement and as mentioned by the Aquatics Manager, no spots were confirmed until we sent out a confirmation of registration, as we do require a minimum number of participants to run a time slot. The time slot that the member requested only had her daughter registered so some other time slots were given as options or alternatively, the option to pay for private or semi-private lessons, to which the member declined. The member reached out to the club manager to express her dissatisfaction. The member's payment for lessons was refunded. As a token of appreciation, for the delay in the opening of the pool and the displeasure of the member, the club manager agreed to waive two bi-weekly membership payments for her, which we did not have to do, to which the member indicated that this would be acceptable. Keep in mind that we are a multi-purpose facility, not just a swimming facility and not just a kid's center.
Almost two months later the member then sent an email to complain that the Active Kids club was more geared towards younger kids and that her child would not enjoy it. This amenity is an add-on for convenience that we offer to parents who wish to leave their kids while they workout. Nobody is being forced to pay for this service. She also expressed frustration that when she tried to book classes and reserve a spot using the My Altea Active app, that the classes have often been full. There are thousands of members who have been able to book successfully but classes are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis and again, no spots are guaranteed. The classes are included in the cost of a membership. The member expressed that we were not the right fit for her and requested to cancel her membership. We reminded the member that she had signed a one-year agreement and that all members are entitled to a 7-day period to cancel their membership after the start of the agreement with no fees, as per the Manitoba Consumers Protection Act. Again, as a token of understanding her frustration and to leave the member with a good taste in her mouth, we once again went above and beyond and offered to cancel her membership-- even though she was within her first year binding period-- and waive the early buy-out fee which is normally offered to members for $99 +GST. Member stated she wanted all payments refunded, as we did not provide the services promised. This request was denied, as we have gone more than out of our way to meet the member halfway.
We are providing swimming lessons that many members have been able to successfully register and attend. We do not ensure specific time availability, nor does any swimming facility. We also are offering group fitness classes even if she has been unsuccessful in reserving a spot--many other members have successfully attended classes and reserved spots. Lastly, we are offering a childminding service, even if the member feels that her child will not enjoy it. We have gone above beyond with waiving payments and waiving her early buy-out fee while still being in her commitment period. If the member has chosen not to use the club that is a decision made by the member but we have fulfilled every term and condition as per her signed agreement.
Should you require more information we have emails to confirm this information.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I'm really dishearten to read your response today. Your points are not accurate. I actually did attend your club on opening day, to pick up my key tags. Nothing was ready as promised. It was a total disaster, and that is when I first learned the pools were not open. That is also when I learned that the skating labs and ninja courses were not open. Please note, I immediately noted my concern to the person helping me, and I was assured they would be open soon. I was very patient and tried to be understanding with the soft opening of the club although many of my friends who were also club members were also very angry that it appeared the club had a rushed opening in order to start charging members. It was clearly not fully ready at all and you should never have charged anyone during that time. I signed up for a year, yes. I wanted nothing more than all the things promised. I was told don't worry there will be SO many spaces and classes available. The only lesson time for swimming when it finally opened was on a weekend. That is not a lot of variety. You sold me something that you could not offer. When I bought your package no one said childcare at your ninja club would be $27 an hour for 2 children. That is outrageous. I signed up for a family club. Everything that I was sold on was not delivered. I waited months only because I was waiting for things to work themselves out. Please note I never once stepped into this club or accessed their services. I was PRE sold a membership and in all honesty I feel taken advantage of and penalized for being patient and understanding and waiting for things to slowly get up and running as promised. They still haven't.
The member mentions that the club was "a total disaster". If that was the case and the member felt this way, she had 7 days to indicate so, as per her agreement and we would have happily cancelled her membership with no cancellation fee. Again, as a courtesy to the member, we still went ahead and did this anyways, although we did not have to, months after the club had already opened, as well as waiving two bi-weekly payments as a gesture of appreciation for the pools not being opened immediately.
As the member mentions, it was a soft opening, as there are numerous amenities in our 80,000 square foot facility--we are not just a swimming facility, regardless of what the members intentions were in using our club. That being said, the only areas of the club which were not accessible upon opening were our swimming pools, rock climbing area and skating lab--keeping in mind that our Skating Lab and Rock Climbing are offered at an added cost. Therefore, the only amenity not ready upon opening which was included in the members fees were the swimming pools. Any member who voiced a concern over this was given the option to postpone their start date or cancel their membership with no fees. Again, this member did not voice any concerns until long after the fact and we did waive her cancellation fee for her as a courtesy. We have over 8000 very satisfied members who are extremely satisfied with the club and have been from the start. The member also mentions that she was told that there would be "SO many spaces and classes available" but feels like that is not the case. Again, we are an 80,000 square foot club and we offer over 221 classes/week, which is more than ANY other facility in the city and have 5 different studios. We are the largest health and wellness facility in the province.
Because swimming lesson times did not meet this member's specific schedule needs (which she was refunded for) and she did not agree with prices for certain additional amenities (not included in her membership), as outlined in her agreement, the member feels that she should have everything refunded from the start of her agreement. We feel as though we have been more than fair by waiving her cancellation fee even though she was months past her date of being eligible to cancel without penalty during her first year, as outlined in her agreement. She signed up for an all-encompassing health and wellness facility, not just a swimming facility and all of our amenities have been running since the beginning of the year for her to use, as thousands of other members have. We do not adjust prices based on each individual's intentions of which amenities they will use and that is made clear from the start, as our entire marketing campaign is based on "Best value for your health".
We are disheartened that this member is so unsatisfied with the club, but it would not be fair to our 8000 members that have paid their membership dues since opening to waive Ms. membership fees and not everyone else's. There may also be other members as well who signed up early to take advantage of our discounted Early-Bird membership rate and have not had the chance to use the club or who may not be using EVERY amenity available in the club, but are still paying, as they understand that they made a decision to do this and signed a legally binding agreement and are respecting the terms outlined in their agreement. Again, the member could have waited until every amenity was open to make the decision to join, or contacted us at any point during the first week of opening to either postpone her start date or cancel with no fee, to which she did neither.
It is unfortunate that the member does not feel that by Altea Active going above and beyond by waiving her cancellation fee and already refunding multiple bi-weekly payments, that this is an acceptable resolution. However, we will not be refunding anymore collected membership dues.