Gymbox Elephant & Castle — Attraction in London

I received the most sickening, repulsive, nauseating, foul service I could've experience for this price tag.

This is Hellfire and I'm brutally honest in my reviews.

Searching for best place to train in the area, I wanted to see the gym (multiple times) and what I received is absolute shocking.

The highest part in this experience was played today by their staff, someone at reception, a male, mid 20s, curly hair, extremely rude and arrogant. I'll get to this in a bit.

Their booking system to see the gym is an absolute joke, I tried arranging through Wapp, bot was useless, they called me, I couldn't in that time, I tried rescheduling, they couln't find my name in the system and so on.

The following days they kept buzzing me with calls to see the gym. I told them to literally leave me alone and stop harassing me because I won't be able to see the gym in THEIR available time, I have MY schedule as well. So I decided to just pop in and see it myself, I know what I'm looking at (training for ~17 years).

Wrong choice. First time I pop in, a lady at the desk alongside multiple staff members tells me "we can't show you the gym now, no tour booking slots available". Complete waste of time.

Second time I went today, Friday 13'th, 2024, around 9am'ish.

Two staff members at the desk, that same lady that was there first time and another (super rude, full of himself) mid 20s "teen" I'll call him. I asked nicely I just need 3 min to see the gym, no need for lots of time, as I have work anyway and I know what I'm looking at.

Very aggressively tries telling me to "just book the tour online" because "that's how it works". I tried telling him, because of this lack of flexibility, they might lose me as a customer for life. He said "don't care mate, so what?" Well, Gymbox, I'll tell you what. Me as a potential customer x 10 years membership/monthly = how much loss? Additionally, I told him "I will review this on Google", he says "yeah go ahead mate" like I'm some kind of buddy of his, having complete lack of awareness of what his behaviour does to the gym. Complete lack of respect.

Well, I went ahead. Now, because of my personal anti-recommendation for this Gym + this 1 star review that will potentially deter members to sign up = how much monetary loss £ over 10 years, GymBox HR? Exactly, unmeasurable.

Train your staff, improve your "see the gym" system, improve your customer service, sack that guy, teach him a lesson.

You want us to pay that horrendous price, GymBox you better show for it. Oh, and I still haven't seen the gym. Brilliant.

GymNation on 26 Druid St is the absolute best gym I've seen in this area, yet. Service, equipment, everything. Go there, see for yourself. Oh, they also have "online tour booking system" but they were super nice and flexible when I just popped in to see...

I’ve been with gymbox for a couple of weeks now, I was previously with another gym for a very long time 10+ years.

The atmosphere in this gym is different and it feels a bit cramped. Albeit the quality of the equipment is great and new there are loads of weights but not enough cable machine. The weight room is cramped and if you get a seat then you can work out. You cannot really work out standing up as you'll be in the way of people walking.

The atmosphere: Fairly loud and bright There are a lot of space for the free-style area There are not enough mat or Calisthenics equipment workout Horribly busy for such a large gym as the weight area does not have enough room to work out. Friendly people but quiet. Extremely busy before and after work. It is ok on the weekend as you'll be able to jump on the equipment.

There are no induction on the facilities and equipment other than a walk around. No welcome pack.

The groups are great but they are only on during peak hours; morning, lunch and evenings. So you might not be able to head to a gym session around 3pm.

One thing that really bothers me is the shower and locker room facilities. I have a few ‘things’ that bother me: The gym does not offer free padlocks to new members. The shower room is fairly far from any lockers so you have to walk barefoot to the shower room and back in the same corridor as the toilets where others are using their trainers to get there. See the video I've posted. Shower room and corridor is a slip hazard No coed sauna No Swimming pool for the price

Other than those I like the new machines, especially the new spin bikes.

One thing that makes gymbox standout is the different group classes they have. I think it is one of their selling points compared to other gyms. But some of the instructors are just very robotic; they come in, do the session and walk out. No engagement or way to build a relationship.

For the price I am paying (£65/month) I am only getting access to one gym without swimming pool. Compared to £72/month for multi-gym with another competitor across the whole of the UK

The good: Good location for me as its next to the station Good parking facility nearby Late group classes New equipment Free towels Boxing equipment Friends attend the same gym (if they didn’t I think I’ll go somewhere else)

response to the reply 12.07.2019 Hi which option on the website should I select to contact you? I don't have a name or reference...

Avoid this gym. No complaints about the facilities, however their business practices are completely unethical and possibly even with questionable legality.

I signed a 3 month membership last summer, after it expired they just put me on a rolling membership, naturally without asking if I would like to do so. On the 24th of December I was leaving the country for an extended period of time - so I requested a freeze from January to February. I was informed that not only January freeze is not possible because you need to inform them of a freeze intention more than 10 days before the start of the next month, but also that freeze costs you £15 per month. What? What is the justification to require 10+ days heads up for a freeze AND require a customer to pay money for it?

After receiving the news I was appalled at their business practice and requested to immediately cancel my membership with them. They said that I now have to pay full price for February membership (that was confirmed frozen) because you cannot cancel a frozen membership and they require more than a month notice to cancel your membership. Again - why? Bear in mind that all is well after my initial 3 month contract ran out in autumn and I was put on a rolling contract without asking for my consent for that.

The final straw was when they got a debt collector agency after me for the January and February fees (I have visited the gym a total of 0 times in those 2 months) that I refused to pay. What gym, especially one that requires you to pay IN ADVANCE for the next month, employs a debt collector agency? Only the one that clearly knows that their business practices are clearly rapacious and possibly even illegal. To elaborate, all other gyms of similar size (or even larger) do not require such advance notices, most even do not require a contract these days - they just stop you from coming in if you didn't pay your membership, which makes complete sense. What does not make sense is requiring 10+ days notice for a freeze and 30+ days notice for a cancellation, even if your initial contract with them expired.

The argument "It's in our T&Cs" that they seem to use to justify their practices is really weak here, since you cannot put "To cancel your membership you must sell us your kidney" in your T&Cs and expect it to be upheld in court.

In summary, avoid the gym as the experience you will get when cancelling the membership feels like being mugged...