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Post by greenergrass on Dec 9, 2016 22:53:15 GMT
12 Snap locations in Kansas City area. An internet search indicates there are 12 locations. But Snap Fit Find A Gym = 8. So 1/3 have closed (there were three north of the city that no longer show up on the Snap Fitness find a gym).
9 Round: 21 locations
Anytime: 11 plus 2 coming soon
Planet: 5 plus 4 coming soon
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Post by cheryl on Dec 10, 2016 16:33:58 GMT
greenergrass : Your search may also include snaps which were planned, but never opened. In our area it shows 2 snap locations which were planned, but never opened. One of them was within 3 miles of our club. We brought this up to corporate and they kept trying to tell us it was further according to their maps. Well yeah, if you drive to Alaska and back anything is more than 3 miles, but I could get there in under 3 miles driving. Fortunately that one never opened. We had people delay their memberships to our club because they were waiting for that one to open. After more than a year some of them finally joined. Another way that snap negatively impacts business and refuses to change because it benefits corporate in their minds. matthewarsenault@ymail.com asks on the crap forum (I mean snap forum):
Hello, with the introductions of the $8.95 auto renew how do we collect our global access fee and program fee? We currently charge $25 for the global access fee and $49-229 for the program fee. If people are automatically converted to auto renew we will have no opertunity to present nor collect these fees and will thus expeience a significant lose in revenue .
Secondly, why are we being charged a finders fee for leads that are brought in from the website that we pay for?
Thank you.Matthew, you must be new to snap. Anything which corporate does is for the benefit of corporate. If you benefit well that's that a nice little consequence, but the main thing is that corporate increase their bottom dollar. If they have to steal it from you, and if your business suffers, well then so be it, too bad. Old program Free trial - $8.95 to corporate (customer uses your club for 30 days, $8.95 to corporate - $0 to you - Sucks to be you) Web fee - $70 to corporate ($70 is a typical yearly fee from places like GoDaddy and Wix, better support, more capabilities, Snap is 12 x more $$) New program Free trial - $8.95 to corporate (customer uses your club for 30 days, $8.95 to corporate - $0 to you - Sucks to be you) Web fee - $70 to corporate ($70 is a typical yearly fee from places like GoDaddy and Wix, better support, more capabilities, Snap is 12 x more $$) Auto rollover - $15 finders fee to corporate for a someone actually using their crappy, feature lacking, overpriced site. You go figure out how to collect the program fee, pro-rated dues or anything else. ($15 to corporate, $0 to you, Sucks to be you. ALL HAIL IMPERIOUS LEADERS - Yes the Snap franchise more closely resembles communism than capitalism
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Post by greenergrass on Dec 10, 2016 20:02:15 GMT
That is my point. There will never be a vote for the franchisees to decide anything. It's a dictatorship. Snap Fitness will fail with this attitude but Lift Brands will continue with one gimmick after another. The current one being 9Round. Seems they should be worried as a brand that they have failures.
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Post by snaplongtimer on Dec 13, 2016 21:01:39 GMT
Wow...just had an online trial come in that has an address on the other side of the state. Looks like a college kid coming home for some free workout time. Now another from a few cities away. The first line in the terms and conditions states "local year-round residents only". I hate this program...
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Post by greenergrass on Dec 13, 2016 22:07:36 GMT
You don't have to let them do the trial. Especially if the kid is not 21. Check their ID. They lie. They fudge on the birth year and say oh, I made a mistake and oh, I didn't know you had to be 21. I always explain that the point of the trial is to give someone who will buy a membership a chance to try it first. So if they are not living in the area, they have no plans to even consider buying a membership.
I had someone with an out of state phone number set up a 30 day around the holidays one year. When I talked to her on the phone, and asked if she lived in the area, she said she used to and she said they were planning to move back here. I told her to contact us for the trial when they actually moved here. It turns out they were just visiting relatives. I know this because I learned from social media that they were related to my neighbors. I'm sure this happens ALOT.
Corporate doesn't care that we hate the program.
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Post by snaplongtimer on Dec 13, 2016 22:46:22 GMT
Prospects do not read the terms and conditions very well. Maybe I should say the young people do not. Especially when the link is at the bottom and who likes reading terms and conditions anyway? Reminds me of credit card t&c.
In a happy voice I usually ask if they're visiting for the holidays. Especially when at the front desk, I will pull out the guest contract and ask them that. Pulling out the contract in front of them, I believe, will relax them into telling me more since they think they're getting their trial. Outsmart a liar!
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Post by determined1 on Jan 16, 2017 3:46:03 GMT
Have you taken any steps to combat the fraudulent $8.95 freeloader program? We've had it with all of the fraud invited with this program. To combat this what we're doing is requiring these people to sign a document stating:
1. They understand and confirm that former members are not eligible and that they have never been a member of this snap fitness or any other snap fitness
2. They understand and confirm that this program is for local, year round residents. To clarify they'll be required to state that they are living locally 10 to 12 months of the year.
3. They're at least 21 years of age
If they're found to be in violation of any of these terms they authorize us to charge their card on file $X. (I'm thinking $150). They're also required to provide us with billing information.
I've had it with this program and if snap won't take any steps to ensure that these people are eligible, then we will do it ourselves. The verbiage was emailed to the lawyer on Friday to have them make sure everything is good with it.
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Post by snaplongtimer on Jan 16, 2017 16:10:38 GMT
No I haven't except for my awesome investigative skills for sniffing out criminals. If I included terms of being in violation and charging $150, I would probably get shot at my one location once that charge shows up. Besides, they will dispute that charge anyway, easily get a refund and the only thing we will have done is piss them off to write a bad review about us. I do charge $18.95 for in club 30 day trials no refunds. At least I get to pocket $13 for the month after expenses. If they ask how come online it is only $8.95, I tell them they can buy it online, get their key in a week and they won't get a break on enrollment if they wish to continue. That's their incentive for buying in house.
I don't honor 7 day free trials although I will tell them in the same breath I'll give them a couple workouts free during staffed hours and go from there. I have read one of us zees stating that their 7 day trial works for them, but it depends on your demos I am certain. Rarely works for me. I'd rather take the cash. Many join after that 30 day. I want the auto-enroll to kick in online and give them a window of the last 5 days or so to cancel if they wish. Nothing before. I like putting the burden of cancellation on them and not me to chase down a decision of whether they would like to continue on or not.
Oh...if you decide to go with that waiver, include something about college students on break or something of the like. They are the worst offenders hands down.
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Post by snaplongtimer on Jan 17, 2017 17:38:43 GMT
So I am a bit confused with the 30 day trial program after reading through the process and terms. When signing up, the screen is misleading to prospects implying once they receive the key card they'll have access to all the clubs around. This is stated twice. In the terms and conditions, it states local year round residents only, but not many people read that small print link to the terms and conditions. So realistically, if I were going on vacation, I could order a couple passes ahead of time, take them with us to our destination, beat up your club for a good week and come home all for less than $9 each. Hmmmm...once again I have to write corp and object over the play on words for clarification.
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Post by greenergrass on Jan 17, 2017 21:25:39 GMT
Members signing up for trial and using it while somewhere away from home, on vacation....That is what can happen. It is what does happen. In addition, you are not really able to enforce the terms & conditions. Have you tried to freeze or terminate a trial? Even if you do this, they still have access. So all the previous members will get to rejoin (just use a different email and birthday) and college students will get to use "our" gyms with a 30 day trial. But don't worry, because corporate says they don't expect many to join with this autoenroll.
Here is an option for those singles that do join this way. Your online membership rate for a single membership can be higher than the in-club rate. Mention discounts for joining in the gym. This way, you can still charge joining fees.
Here is another scenario for joint or fam membership. One person per household can do a 30 day. Sometimes we get two who sign up for this. If they join, it's two single memberships. Sorry - you both signed up this way, so it's not a joint for maybe six months. Another scenario is one person does a single 30 day and auto enrolls. Then this member asks to add someone. Now you can charge enrollment to the new member (call it a change fee) plus access card activation.
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Post by determined1 on Jan 18, 2017 14:46:40 GMT
Form's been put together by our attorney, so now all 30 day free loaders will be required to sign it. This ensures that those taking advantage of the program are properly vetted since snap corporate refuses to do it. They'll also be required to provide billing information.
Now, another point our attorney brought up is that this looks to be a "theft of services" on the part of snap's corporate hq. If so, with the extent that they have committed this crime, it would be a felony. The fact that they're a franchisor doesn't give them the right to steal services from their franchisees and sell them to the general public. So now this is something else we're pursuing.
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Post by veryfrustrated on Jan 18, 2017 15:04:21 GMT
Actually, thinking about it, that makes perfect sense. You don't ever see McDonalds forcing their franchisees to give away anything at all nor to even dictate pricing. Every zee is free to price their products accordingly, depending upon their market.
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Post by greenergrass on Jan 18, 2017 15:54:42 GMT
Will some action be pursued then, against the 30 day trials? I suspect corporate gets around this legality by saying the $8.95 is not a selling price because it's shipping/handling. Is it "theft of services" even if it is something sold for "free"?
Prepaid memberships that are reciprocal should also be illegal. I will never understand how one gym can sell a membership for an extended period and the member could only use the gym belonging to another owner. Using the McDonald's reference, isn't this like someone buying a certificate for a year's worth of Big Macs at one McD and redeeming it at another location (with another owner). A gym can sell a prepaid membership and close a month or two later and another location ends up a new member with no revenue for months, or ever.
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Post by veryfrustrated on Jan 18, 2017 16:49:38 GMT
Will some action be pursued then, against the 30 day trials? I suspect corporate gets around this legality by saying the $8.95 is not a selling price because it's shipping/handling. Is it "theft of services" even if it is something sold for "free"? Sure it is still "theft of service". Can anyone give another person free use of your car without your approval? |
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Post by greenergrass on Jan 18, 2017 16:52:54 GMT
Well that really implies that even a prepay is illegal when the membership is reciprocal and can be transferred to a club that is never paid.
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