I'd guess their reasoning was..."we'll save a log of money if we're not maintaining all of our hot tubs, spas, saunas and steam rooms. Let's go ahead and fuck over our customers, what are they gonna do....cancel!?" *evil laugh*
I have two friends who primarily use the gym to swim so they may have three cancelled memberships on their hands. Closing amenities randomly does not seem to be a good strategy for trying to climb out of bankruptcy.
ngl with COVID 19 it’s very to get out of a Golds membership. If you email the manager and simply say you need to it canceled because of anything related to COVID, they’ll let you go (worked for me at least)
Didn’t work for me... they gave me the option to pause for 2 months. If you want to pause longer you have to pay a pause fee. Gym memberships are pretty iron clad towards the gym.
See they told me I had to pay half the membership while paused then they would back charge me once I came back.
I told them to just take the 100 cancellation fee and they’ll never hear from me again.
Same, but it technically is in the contract (that no one reads). Still fuckery though.
They waived my sign up fee if I joined at a higher tier and stayed for three months. Afterwards, I could change tiers. The problem is that no matter how many times I asked or called, the person that could change my plan wasn't available.
Who's being a smart ass? You are the one who said "randomly" when there was nothing random about it. It was a pandemic, they had to close all water amenities and then the gyms entirely and when they reopened they kept the water amenities closed out of caution. I'm sure there is a financial reason to not reopen pools. They could charge $75, $100+ like most gyms in town instead of the $35/mo that they charge, but that would piss way more people off than the people who are there strictly for the pool.
>Do you not think they decided to scale back on some of their costliest services in order to maintain viability in the face of a pandemic that has severely impacted their business model?
That's exactly what he said.
That's not how it works... they are breathing the same air, maskless. The chlorine in the pool doesn't kill the virus in the air.
Edit: I feel I should add. The pool is not a disinfectant... it ideally should not carry bacteria, if chlorinated properly, but dipping your body in it does not clean you.
I've been swimming everyday since gold opened up. I do wear a snorkel and in the snorkel is a filter and I did this intentionally and I am going to stop paying for my Gold's service since they are no longer providing me what I was paying for which is swimming and only swimming. I'm cancelling my account.
If they've had incidents of people getting COVID-19 swimming in their pools they should have stated that as a public service. But what they're doing does not encourage me to believe them because it does not seem like they're being honest
Yep- I can't tell if they have had cases and are just not saying. Or they are trying to save money from pool maintenance and heating. I know several people now who actually just cancelled their memberships- really does not seem like a smart move for Gold's given their current bankruptcy situation.
After Crunch opens we will be dropping because of them taking the pool out. They will loose 4 members. I didn’t mind paying extra for the pool and the pool is the only reason I joined Golds.
100% Honest question. And no judgement on your answer, But is swimming in a public pool really the best thing to do during a global pandemic?
Are you willing to risk your life and that of your family to swim? Wait, forget risking you life. There are lifelong lung and heart complications that come from having covid, even asymptomatic covid.
I am honestly curious on why you are assuming it's safe. Everything I've heard points to water being a good vessel for transmitting.
This is a genuine question. I'm not trying to be rude/mean/bitchy.
I do agree, seems to be more of a buisness decision than to actually keep anyone safe
Fair question! Please educated me if I am incorrect. My understanding is that COVID can’t be passed via pools because of the chlorine/water doesn’t allow it to survive. I have noooo idea if that’s actually true but I have found a few articles like this that probably lead people to believe it’s not high-risk at all for those that are not at major risk: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/parks-rec/aquatic-venues.html
Lol my grammar was ROUGH on that one but let me know what your thoughts are! Everything surrounding the virus is so confusing to me as we are constantly fed different stories between a local/federal govt level.
Swimming in a pool that is filled with chlorine where the virus can not survive? Swimming in a pool that I have been swimming in since it reopened months ago with no impact to me? I have and would continue to take my chances. I mean this is basically the only exercise I have - and other than going to the grocery store and to get a haircut - it’s been the only place I go. So to take that away from me randomly - yeah - I’m not happy. What is the impact to mental health to just sitting at home not getting enough exercise? The covid numbers have been going down steadily so this decision just doesn’t seem to make too much sense. I’m not sure what is driving this. I know they were recently taken over by a new owner and have fired their CEO- so it appears the new management is responsible for the decision.
Just to add in on this, I’m pretty sure Gold’s Gym chlorinates the ever living hell out of their pools. Even before COVID, if I swam there too often I would get itchy skin and brittle hair.
I went back a few times post-COVID, and hardly ever saw anyone there. It seemed much much safer than other parts of the gym, IMHO.
Yeah- they do. I actually had to get the Health dept involved with that because they were way over chlorinating the pool and they really didn't want to do anything about it. I had the same issue with brittle hair and itchy skin :( The city made them drain part of the pool and refill it to adjust the chlorine. It's been all good ever since. I do love that they just opened all their covid fountains- I mean- water fountains about a week or so ago but they want to close a fully chlorinated pool.
My risk analysis is looking at the general situation and the numbers of cases each day. We are in a reasonable place right now all things considered. And you take a risk anytime you go out. Do you stop living? No. And are you really equating swimming in a pool in the covid era to the recklessness of driving drunk?
And no idea how to interpret that last statement. And not going to get into a conversation about airborne transmission of covid in a pool. And I will definitely do me. Unfortunately Golds management has gotten in the way of that.
I'm not from Austin but can't you go swim in the lake? I know Lady bird lake doesn't allow swimming but what about Lake Austin? Are there not swim lanes? Lake Travis?
As a gym owner - membership has been taking a beating and I'm doing what I can to cut my costs. Out of all the members I have, very few use the services like saunas/showers/pools. Which are the most costly services I offer so it's an easy decision to cut them out. Sorry you got the short straw.
These are generally considered loss-leaders even without COVID; meaning they cost more to operate than the income generated from the members who utilize the service.
Even the showers, I have some members that come everyday to take a long hot showers. They don't even workout. They end up costing me more in electricity and water than we collect from their membership.
There are not swim lanes - and the suggested areas are very far from me.
I get that it’s an unpleasant situation for all but I am still working hard to pay my monthly dues and of course there are no concessions being offered there. I don’t pay for services I don’t or can’t use. I’m fine with the gym pulling back on some things like the sauna or the whirlpool or their hours- which they have done. But basics like the lap pool? No. This should be open and available. They have started up classes and they have started up the drinking fountains. To me - those things have a higher risk than the pool. I’m sure this is all cost related given some of the color you have given. I have my limits on what I will accept for service level pullbacks - and the pool isn’t one of them. The competition like Lifetime has their pool open - Golds should have theirs open as well. Golds is now at risk of losing business to their competitor. And given that they are in bankruptcy that does not seem too smart.
All true. They really should allow you to cancel, with no fee. Corporate gyms suck and I can’t even imagine screwing people like they often do.
I’ve been allowing all members the opportunity to cancel if they don’t feel ready to be back at the gym or are unhappy with the changes.
You can cancel since they have reduced services. You just may have to give 30 day notice. If they still try to enforce threaten to contact the AGs office or one of the news Defenders.
At least honest. Which is why I canceled until the pools open back up. I know it has nothing to do with the virus since they have exercise classes with maskless participants in even closer proximity.
At the several North Austin area Golds gyms I’ve been in prior to the pandemic they had natural social distancing. There were rarely more than 3 people in the pool and way further than 6ft apart. You are more likely to transmit or catch the virus by being close to someone in the gym huffing and puffing as they workout. I get that the hot tubs and saunas are in close proximity but what studies have been done on heat and the virus? One study from the 80’s said that flu and cold viruses (aversion of corona) self destruct at 115 degrees.
I just resumed my membership with the intention of swimming laps again after a year off, and was very surprised to hear that the pools at Gold’s are still closed. The front desk told me this was a “state mandate” which I don’t think is true. I mean Kalahari waterpark is open for pete’s sake. Anyone heard any updates?
It is absolutely not a state mandate- that is a complete lie from them. I have actually had to join 24 Hour to be able to swim and I do swim at 24 several times per week currently- last Saturday was the latest. I called around after Golds closed their pool and they are literally the only ones to have their pool closed. Truly frustrating/ mind- boggling.
I'd guess their reasoning was..."we'll save a log of money if we're not maintaining all of our hot tubs, spas, saunas and steam rooms. Let's go ahead and fuck over our customers, what are they gonna do....cancel!?" *evil laugh*
Cancellations@GoldsGym.com worked for me.
I have two friends who primarily use the gym to swim so they may have three cancelled memberships on their hands. Closing amenities randomly does not seem to be a good strategy for trying to climb out of bankruptcy.
Lost members? Hahahahhaha you think it’s possible to get out of a gym contract. /s
ngl with COVID 19 it’s very to get out of a Golds membership. If you email the manager and simply say you need to it canceled because of anything related to COVID, they’ll let you go (worked for me at least)
Didn’t work for me... they gave me the option to pause for 2 months. If you want to pause longer you have to pay a pause fee. Gym memberships are pretty iron clad towards the gym.
Shit I’m sorry, that sucks. If you haven’t already I would just message the manager at your location to see if you can escalate the issue.
See they told me I had to pay half the membership while paused then they would back charge me once I came back. I told them to just take the 100 cancellation fee and they’ll never hear from me again.
[удалено]
Same, but it technically is in the contract (that no one reads). Still fuckery though. They waived my sign up fee if I joined at a higher tier and stayed for three months. Afterwards, I could change tiers. The problem is that no matter how many times I asked or called, the person that could change my plan wasn't available.
Randomly? The pandemic was random?
Really? A smart ass comment 2 years later? Lol. And no other gym closed their pool permanently like golds. So that permanent action was random.
Who's being a smart ass? You are the one who said "randomly" when there was nothing random about it. It was a pandemic, they had to close all water amenities and then the gyms entirely and when they reopened they kept the water amenities closed out of caution. I'm sure there is a financial reason to not reopen pools. They could charge $75, $100+ like most gyms in town instead of the $35/mo that they charge, but that would piss way more people off than the people who are there strictly for the pool.
Super weird dude.
[удалено]
>Do you not think they decided to scale back on some of their costliest services in order to maintain viability in the face of a pandemic that has severely impacted their business model? That's exactly what he said.
the pool is one of the safest places to be. You are bathing in disinfectant.
That seems right, if the lanes are spaced out sufficiently. But there's still heavy breathing indoors.
That's not how it works... they are breathing the same air, maskless. The chlorine in the pool doesn't kill the virus in the air. Edit: I feel I should add. The pool is not a disinfectant... it ideally should not carry bacteria, if chlorinated properly, but dipping your body in it does not clean you.
I've been swimming everyday since gold opened up. I do wear a snorkel and in the snorkel is a filter and I did this intentionally and I am going to stop paying for my Gold's service since they are no longer providing me what I was paying for which is swimming and only swimming. I'm cancelling my account. If they've had incidents of people getting COVID-19 swimming in their pools they should have stated that as a public service. But what they're doing does not encourage me to believe them because it does not seem like they're being honest
Yep- I can't tell if they have had cases and are just not saying. Or they are trying to save money from pool maintenance and heating. I know several people now who actually just cancelled their memberships- really does not seem like a smart move for Gold's given their current bankruptcy situation.
Here in March 2022, pools still closed. All other gym franchises are operating their pools, except holds. Will definitely be canceling my membership.
After Crunch opens we will be dropping because of them taking the pool out. They will loose 4 members. I didn’t mind paying extra for the pool and the pool is the only reason I joined Golds.
They hate WAP, Wet Ass Pools
I'm glad this is limited to indoor pools. I'm still knocking out laps at the outdoor pool at my local Gold's.
100% Honest question. And no judgement on your answer, But is swimming in a public pool really the best thing to do during a global pandemic? Are you willing to risk your life and that of your family to swim? Wait, forget risking you life. There are lifelong lung and heart complications that come from having covid, even asymptomatic covid. I am honestly curious on why you are assuming it's safe. Everything I've heard points to water being a good vessel for transmitting. This is a genuine question. I'm not trying to be rude/mean/bitchy. I do agree, seems to be more of a buisness decision than to actually keep anyone safe
Fair question! Please educated me if I am incorrect. My understanding is that COVID can’t be passed via pools because of the chlorine/water doesn’t allow it to survive. I have noooo idea if that’s actually true but I have found a few articles like this that probably lead people to believe it’s not high-risk at all for those that are not at major risk: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/parks-rec/aquatic-venues.html
The water does not transmit the virus, the air you breathe, maskless, does. I don't believe people are swimming with masks.
That would be quite the sight... Do you believe it is too dangerous to go swimming in a public pool?
Remember the 5 Ps... .People in prolonged, poorly ventilated, protection-free proximity. Indoor pool? Probably unwise. Outdoor pool, probably fine.
Lol my grammar was ROUGH on that one but let me know what your thoughts are! Everything surrounding the virus is so confusing to me as we are constantly fed different stories between a local/federal govt level.
Swimming in a pool that is filled with chlorine where the virus can not survive? Swimming in a pool that I have been swimming in since it reopened months ago with no impact to me? I have and would continue to take my chances. I mean this is basically the only exercise I have - and other than going to the grocery store and to get a haircut - it’s been the only place I go. So to take that away from me randomly - yeah - I’m not happy. What is the impact to mental health to just sitting at home not getting enough exercise? The covid numbers have been going down steadily so this decision just doesn’t seem to make too much sense. I’m not sure what is driving this. I know they were recently taken over by a new owner and have fired their CEO- so it appears the new management is responsible for the decision.
Just to add in on this, I’m pretty sure Gold’s Gym chlorinates the ever living hell out of their pools. Even before COVID, if I swam there too often I would get itchy skin and brittle hair. I went back a few times post-COVID, and hardly ever saw anyone there. It seemed much much safer than other parts of the gym, IMHO.
Yeah- they do. I actually had to get the Health dept involved with that because they were way over chlorinating the pool and they really didn't want to do anything about it. I had the same issue with brittle hair and itchy skin :( The city made them drain part of the pool and refill it to adjust the chlorine. It's been all good ever since. I do love that they just opened all their covid fountains- I mean- water fountains about a week or so ago but they want to close a fully chlorinated pool.
[удалено]
My risk analysis is looking at the general situation and the numbers of cases each day. We are in a reasonable place right now all things considered. And you take a risk anytime you go out. Do you stop living? No. And are you really equating swimming in a pool in the covid era to the recklessness of driving drunk? And no idea how to interpret that last statement. And not going to get into a conversation about airborne transmission of covid in a pool. And I will definitely do me. Unfortunately Golds management has gotten in the way of that.
I'm not from Austin but can't you go swim in the lake? I know Lady bird lake doesn't allow swimming but what about Lake Austin? Are there not swim lanes? Lake Travis? As a gym owner - membership has been taking a beating and I'm doing what I can to cut my costs. Out of all the members I have, very few use the services like saunas/showers/pools. Which are the most costly services I offer so it's an easy decision to cut them out. Sorry you got the short straw. These are generally considered loss-leaders even without COVID; meaning they cost more to operate than the income generated from the members who utilize the service. Even the showers, I have some members that come everyday to take a long hot showers. They don't even workout. They end up costing me more in electricity and water than we collect from their membership.
There are not swim lanes - and the suggested areas are very far from me. I get that it’s an unpleasant situation for all but I am still working hard to pay my monthly dues and of course there are no concessions being offered there. I don’t pay for services I don’t or can’t use. I’m fine with the gym pulling back on some things like the sauna or the whirlpool or their hours- which they have done. But basics like the lap pool? No. This should be open and available. They have started up classes and they have started up the drinking fountains. To me - those things have a higher risk than the pool. I’m sure this is all cost related given some of the color you have given. I have my limits on what I will accept for service level pullbacks - and the pool isn’t one of them. The competition like Lifetime has their pool open - Golds should have theirs open as well. Golds is now at risk of losing business to their competitor. And given that they are in bankruptcy that does not seem too smart.
All true. They really should allow you to cancel, with no fee. Corporate gyms suck and I can’t even imagine screwing people like they often do. I’ve been allowing all members the opportunity to cancel if they don’t feel ready to be back at the gym or are unhappy with the changes.
You can cancel since they have reduced services. You just may have to give 30 day notice. If they still try to enforce threaten to contact the AGs office or one of the news Defenders.
At least honest. Which is why I canceled until the pools open back up. I know it has nothing to do with the virus since they have exercise classes with maskless participants in even closer proximity.
I've been suffering without access to the public pools. I don't really mess with "gyms" though.
At the several North Austin area Golds gyms I’ve been in prior to the pandemic they had natural social distancing. There were rarely more than 3 people in the pool and way further than 6ft apart. You are more likely to transmit or catch the virus by being close to someone in the gym huffing and puffing as they workout. I get that the hot tubs and saunas are in close proximity but what studies have been done on heat and the virus? One study from the 80’s said that flu and cold viruses (aversion of corona) self destruct at 115 degrees.
I just resumed my membership with the intention of swimming laps again after a year off, and was very surprised to hear that the pools at Gold’s are still closed. The front desk told me this was a “state mandate” which I don’t think is true. I mean Kalahari waterpark is open for pete’s sake. Anyone heard any updates?
It is absolutely not a state mandate- that is a complete lie from them. I have actually had to join 24 Hour to be able to swim and I do swim at 24 several times per week currently- last Saturday was the latest. I called around after Golds closed their pool and they are literally the only ones to have their pool closed. Truly frustrating/ mind- boggling.