Ironmonger Row Baths — Attraction in London

Summary: good distance 30m pool, management do not follow up on complaints, cleanliness is so poor led to cancelling membership.

One of the strong points of this centre is the swimming pool. It is 30m which is a good length for longer swim sessions. Other than that, most other points about the facilities are negative.

Having raised a couple of complaints and a piece of feedback to Better support, the management only followed up on one of those and even then no action was taken after three months had lapsed.

The timer for the water in the showers is literally two seconds which makes it inconvenient to press the ON button tens and tens of times and impossible to turnaround and wash. This could be a quick win but has been the case for half a year.

The general cleanliness of the centre is poor at best and the biggest issue. The men's changing rooms always (not almost always but always) has a puddle with hair and dust, the bucket for the swimsuit dryer is more often than not overflowing, and the benches typically have discarded items from members and are generally unclean. While there are many members using the facilities on a daily basis, it would be unreasonable to expect them to be clean all the time but nevertheless maintenance is too infrequent. Maybe you can live with most of these but the worst experience recently was when excrement was found on the floor in the main area of the changing rooms which was there for at least a couple of hours (which goes back to showing how infrequent the changing rooms are maintained). Not to be too graphic but there was no mistaking this for mud as an example, the smell confirming that too, while it had also been stepped on and spread. Having raised this to support who supposedly escalated this to management, they never followed up. This must be the worst thing a member can experience and it was treated in the same manner as any other issue (i.e. without much care or action to resolve). Cancelled membership, after allowing a couple of weeks to lapse...

Dear Team Member

I hope this information finds you well, although I must express my extreme dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs regarding my membership at your facility.

Firstly, I took the time to compose a detailed email outlining the issues I've been facing, only to find that my concerns have gone unanswered. Subsequently, I had to resort to contacting your customer service via phone, which is not only inconvenient but also highly frustrating.

Now, let's delve into the unbelievable situation at hand. I have recently been notified of an exorbitant price increase from £65 to £69, allegedly due to some unspecified "expense situation." Frankly, this is unacceptable, especially considering the myriad of problems I have been facing within your facility.

The hair dryers, for instance, are consistently malfunctioning, rendering them useless. Additionally, the showers have been consistently cold, making the post-workout experience far from pleasant. Equally distressing is the apparent lack of attention to the gym equipment, which remains in disrepair.

It is mind-boggling that despite bringing these issues to your attention, there has been no visible effort to rectify or address any of them. As a paying member, I expect a certain level of service and maintenance, none of which seem to be forthcoming.

I implore you to take immediate action to rectify these ongoing problems and provide a satisfactory resolution. I believe that as a customer, I am entitled to a level of service that reflects the fees I am paying. Failing to address these concerns promptly will leave me with no choice but to reconsider my continued membership at your facility.

I trust that you will treat this matter with the urgency it deserves and provide a comprehensive response outlining the steps that will be taken to resolve...

The pool is good – 30m and it's fast too.

But there are so many failings here and they're just not being addressed. The men's changing rooms can only be described as a disgrace. They're dirty, infrequently cleaned and in very poor shape.

The issue with the showers has been going on for years and despite numerous complaints (and a few on here) it's never been addressed. The showers operate for 3-10 seconds at a time, which is ridiculous. They're frequently tepid at best.

Many of the lockers have broken locks. The hairdryers don't work (one runs cold only, the other working one has been removed).

The gym has been shut with no notice on several occasions to facilitate... painting works? There is new equipment now but it's not correctly installed (the network capabilities on the machines aren't enabled, for example).

But hey, there's a new spa.

I would suggest prioritising the things that 95% of your membership use – showers, changing rooms – above a 'jungle experience ice shower'.

It's nice to see a 1930s building still being maintained, but not when the levels of maintenance are akin to an 18th...