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Post by Very Frustrated on Sept 27, 2016 16:16:48 GMT
Are you saying corporate is cutting off Silver Sneakers? I haven't seen that announcement. Where is it at?
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Post by supercool on Sept 27, 2016 20:05:41 GMT
Are you saying corporate is cutting off Silver Sneakers? I haven't seen that announcement. Where is it at? I don't think it's official yet, but I have heard from multiple people that Snap will be exiting their partnership with the Silver Sneakers program.
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Post by Amy on Sept 27, 2016 23:14:00 GMT
We have not "accepted" silver sneakers for a year now. We simply tell them the truth that the program is terrible for the club. I have no problem sending them to the closest competitor that accepts the program. We have even signed a few up as regular members.
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Post by greenergrass on Sept 28, 2016 1:34:41 GMT
www.sj-r.com/article/20140307/News/140309401/?Start=1This article I found is from 2014 so it's a couple of years old. This is from the article: The program pays participating health clubs based on the number of times a person visits, with the reimbursement capped at about $30 per member per month, so FitClub has a financial incentive to get Silver Sneakers members to use its facilities, Imhoff said. Consider the SS member who comes in eight times would result in (SF payment to us) $22.80. We are paid 76% of this $30 that everyone else is apparently getting paid. Again, I call for an audit. $22.8 * 1.31 ~ $30. When you made $500 in SS payments in a month, is Corporate keeping $155 of this? Today I heard through the "snapvine" that AF gets $4 per visit. I really don't think they understand that our financial well being is linked to their financial well being. They think they will just replace "disengaged owners". But I don't think there are enough people willing to take our place and lose money on a bad investment if we start throwing in the gym towel and find our greener grass. I'm not willing to be taken advantage of over and over like this. Something really needs to change and soon.
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Post by FirecrackerGirl on Sept 28, 2016 3:24:39 GMT
Maybe I spoke too soon, but I was toldthat by one of Snap Corps salespeople, that they cut it off in their own clubs, and now will cut it off in ours. Nobody knowsfor sure, and my BPS wouldntsay. Yes, $4- visit... I work at Snap Fitness, AND Anytime Fitness, so I hope I can be of some info
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Post by cheryl on Sept 28, 2016 12:09:33 GMT
Nothing. We decided to follow other clubs around us and no longer offer it. Now we have the ability to tell those who converted over that we no longer accept these programs, and will collect a full membership rather than just a portion.
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Post by greenergrass on Sept 28, 2016 15:36:10 GMT
And are they paying for the membership? Full price? I always have seniors ask for a senior discount. But the reality is, they have more time to use the gym than the non seniors. So why would we discount this?
I think the article proves that we are being ripped off and the real payment for use by Healthways is around $30/month. The obvious math: 8 visits *$4=$32
Is corporate putting this extra money in their account instead of ours when it is our gym, our equipment, being used?
A better way to do this program (what HW should do) is reimburse us one amount, use or no use, and give the senior a rebate on their insurance if they scan at least 8 times per month. What good does it do to have the program and the senior doesn't use it?
Right now the senior/HW member can sign up at multiple gyms. So doing the above would probably mean they need to pick just one. And I'm ok with that if I can get a guaranteed $30-32/month for each SS. I think we would see more usage if the usage were a way for them to get money back!
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Post by Very Frustrated on Sept 28, 2016 19:41:43 GMT
Right now the senior/HW member can sign up at multiple gyms. And that is exactly what they do. They sign up for all 4 gyms here in town and rarely, if ever, come back. It's like a game for some of them to just get everything 'free' that they can regardless of usefulness to them. Of course, we end up paying some $10+ ea initially for them as well as the monthly maintenance.
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Post by snaplongtimer on Sept 28, 2016 21:28:01 GMT
I tell SS at sign up..."If you don't use it you lose it." Then I make sure they understand they need to swipe at least 2x times per week or 8 total per month. If they are people I really don't want to see in my gym much, I tell them you can only use it 2 times per week max or 8x/mo.
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Post by determined1 on Sept 29, 2016 14:34:09 GMT
Since first posting we've gotten a couple PMs with suggestions. What we decided to do is give them the access card for free, but charge a $20 administration fee. (We're debating on changing that to a $40 or $60 fee). This ensures that the person has some skin in the game. If the person complains that they don't want to pay anything we simply point them to the 30 day membership which gets them an access card for free as long as they pay the $8.95 for shipping. The other day a lady came in wanting everything for free. We explained the fees and she hopped on the phone and made a couple phone calls. After about 10 minutes or so she got off the phone and stormed off using some chose words. She came back the next day agreeing to pay the fee. Unfortunately for her we explained that one benefit of our club is that we filter out the difficult people and she wasn't welcome in our club.
No time for idiots like that.
Also, we do give a senior discount. That senior discount is about $10 more than Silver Sneakers' max monthly amount. I for one will be glad to see this program disappear. I'm sure it could have been a much better program if corporate was digging into the pockets of franchisees. They really do believe that the clubs are theirs and that owners are simply underpaid 80 hour per week managers.
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clark
New Member
Posts: 9
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Post by clark on Sept 30, 2016 16:44:07 GMT
FirecrackerGirl: What do you mean by "corporate is cutting these programs off"? Anyone have any new updates on this?
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Post by FirecrackerGirl on Sept 30, 2016 22:24:00 GMT
I was told that by one of the sales people at Snap Corporate. That they cut off SS in their clubs in MN.
I asked my BPS, and he said stay tuned for a portal announcement soon. I hope they dont cut it... I like my $400/Month. I charge my sneakers enrollment + Key fee. As a "security deposit" Refund when they quit. They never ask for the money back
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Post by determined1 on Oct 1, 2016 15:45:58 GMT
FCG: Why were you talking with a sales person at snap? Which sales person?
From the post in the snap censored portal it looks like they're planning on replacing it with something else. Most likely something more abusive of franchisees and favoring of corporate.
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Post by cheryl on Oct 2, 2016 1:45:14 GMT
If they're no longer participating in Silver Sneakers or Silver and Fit then what's to stop each of us from contacting them ourselves and negotiating an agreement which is more favorable to each of our clubs?
I remember some other company, global something or other, contacting us with a pay per visit plan. We contacted corporate and they said it was some sort of scam and listed a bunch of reasons, but after I read the reasons I remember thinking this is exactly what Silver Sneakers does.
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Post by determined1 on Oct 31, 2016 15:33:06 GMT
So, had a conversation at a party with the owner of another gym. After a few drinks started talking with him about business. He accepts silver sneakers and loves the program. Why? He's been in business for almost 30 years. Silver sneakers pays him $28/month per member. There is no per entry qualification. He said he has about 500 silver sneakers members. He has an agreement with ss that he'll hold a minimum of 12 silver sneakers branded classes per week. Those classes are primarily in the middle of the day. It's when most of the seniors have time and least busy time in his gym. He markets heavily to get those seniors into his club. He said that some of them tend to be a pain, but most come in, do their workout and leave. The ss classes typically have about 20 people. He said he also has a similar arrangement with silver and fit. I talked a little about our pay per visit model and also paying for non-active ss members. He laughed and said he'd never participate in the program with those terms. He'd be lucky to break even.
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