Dressed down by staff for accepting free offerThe following letter is part of a public discussion initiated by Uriel's letter of Dec. 9, 2005 objecting to management abuses at his Toronto squash club (which is part of the Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. empire). See index for list of letters in the discussion.
From: Joan Hi Uriel, Your mention of "joy of abuse" made me think of the time I invited a friend to the club. It was his first time ever at Northridge, and my second time ever inviting a guest. I requested a guest pass for him at the front desk. Darron was there, and he said something about new instructions from Head Office and how they weren't happy about reception staff being too lenient about guest passes, and how I'd probably have to pay for any guest I brought next time. He was saying these things in front of my guest, who was naturally unimpressed. As for me, the experience was offensive. I didn't invite my friend to my club so he could see me getting dressed down by staff. I was not trying to cheat. I was not even asking for a favor. The club offers a 4-day free guest pass so people can try it out. I've just checked and the offer is on the web, at http://www.sportsclubs.com/join/freepass/. But we never got the four-day pass and I was made to feel lucky not to be charged a guest fee. I agree with you that the club's attitude and actions aren't just harmful to members but harmful to its own business. Sincerely, Joan
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