Goodlife Health Clubs Elizabeth Street — Local services in Brisbane City

The place should be renamed Fitness Museum. When it first launched, it was a ‘Platinum Club’ and offered state of the art equipment and facilities. How the mighty have fallen.

So much potential, with a great location and space, and it was wonderful to have electronic locker systems (which have now been decommissioned in favour of ‘bring your own lock’). That is where the positives end. The upper level boasts an impressive collection relics and broken down equipment (including numerous treadmills with ‘out of order’ signs, exercise bikes that do not power on/have cracked screens/water damage/are in a different language, rowing machines that make a very sick noise when in use). Computers that used to display group fitness timetables and the time haven’t been working for months. Some TVs even display a Windows XP screensaver if they are ever switched on (which no company should still be operating, and this in itself is a major security concern). The main clock on the weights level that fell down and shattered has never been replaced. Some handy (and cheap) acccesories like ab wheel rollouts and half round rollers no longer feature around the gym. The place is always a mess, smells, has equipment and used wipes left all over the place and no one to clean it up. Air conditioning is underpowered (or turned on low to save money). Classes have been cut because more innovative brands have taken customers away (F45, Atora, Bodyfit, Fitstop, etc).

Reception staff hate their jobs, and would not be missed if they were replaced by a swipe machine or robots. Some are so efficient and like to turn off the air conditioning, music, TVs and clocks 15 minutes before closing time. Management are no better and have little pride in their gym. All the quality personal trainers have left (apart from Dexter) and replaced by a bunch of new kids. Seeing a PT on the floor past 6pm is a rare occurrence.

The Studio XT room was wasted space and did not get used by anyone (there are two massive studios on level 3 which is sufficient). Instead of knocking the wall where the mirrors currently are on level 2 in front of the Studio XT and extending the weights area (along with a few pieces of new equipment, which would be a refreshing and much needed addition), they decided to open up a Pilates Reform Studio to try and leech more money from members. The gym is missing key equipment like stair climbers, seated calf raise, glute press, etc like every other basic gym has. Other Goodlife gyms have multiple stair climbers, so anyone with half a brain and some initiative would consider relocating some of the equipment between the gyms so that all bases are covered. They lent 30 kg weights to someone during COVID and these were never returned. Please replace them. Is it too much to ask for all clocks to show same time in the gym?

The music (when it is working, at time of writing has been offline for 3 weeks), is most depressing, especially listening to useless adverts and hygiene/COVID notices. Other gyms have huge screens with people undertaking motivational workouts, more upbeat music, and overall better atmosphere compared to the cemetery vibe you get working out here.

The hours of operation are embarrassing (especially closing at 12pm on a Saturday and closed completely on Sundays). They try to push members to Edward St, which is in desperate need of a refurb itself and possibly one of the worst and oldest gyms in the country.

The rot has being going on for years. If you want to see how a real gym is run, take a visit to somewhere like World Gym in Stafford or any EMF. It is just a pity none are close to the CBD (yet). Anytime Fitness have just opened new facilities in New Farm and Post Office Square, EMF are inching closing to the CBD with a new gym scheduled for Fortitude Valley. Fitness Cartel are doing some great things. One would hope Goodlife has plans underway for a significant refurbishment of its current premises. This gym should be the flagship with new equipment and the existing equipment can be moved to Edward St to improve...

On 30th January, I requested to downgrade my membership from Platinum Plus to Platinum and extend the length of my contract, ensuring the total cost remained the same. Aiden promptly sent me the Contract Variation Form (CVF), which I returned the next day. On 31st January, Mia confirmed it would be actioned. Unfortunately, this was the last piece of efficient communication I received, resulting in an ongoing journey of frustration.

By 15th February, after being overcharged for three billing cycles, I reached out again, only to be informed by Ruby that the CVF required higher authority approval, which hadn't been obtained. Promises were made to reduce my rate ASAP, but these were not fulfilled.

Subsequent emails on the 20th and 23rd of February, highlighting my frustration with the lack of action and communication, went left unanswered. My request to cancel my membership on the 29th February, due to these ongoing issues and breaches of contract, also received no response.

Further attempts to resolve this issue through phone calls were equally unproductive. After being promised callbacks that never came, I finally spoke to the club manager on 4th March, who was rude and dismissive. Despite repeated calls to follow up on the 5th and 6th, 7th and 8th of March , I was met with excuses about the manager's availability to get back to me and a complete lack of accountability. The manager’s decision on the 4th March to pause my membership payments while he "escalated" the issue has now left me unable to train for over a week.

It's now 11th March, and after being charged incorrectly for 5 billing cycles, a membership that is now suspended, and more than 11 attempts to follow up on a simple request made in January, I'm still without a resolution. This experience has highlighted a significant failure in Goodlife's customer service and operational efficiency. To anyone considering joining, I'd advise caution and suggest looking elsewhere if you value responsive and competent...

I LOVED this location when I lived in Brisbane Years ago and prior to the Pandemic when the Gym also was under a different Ownership. I’m sure that Goodlife has done a good Job with this property and I hope to return to Brisbane asap from The United States. Do You still have the Downstairs on the 2nd Floor and Upstairs on The 3rd Floor Astro-Turfed Areas and sleds? I absolutely loved that about that Gym. I absolutely adored the Views while Exercising and even though I at that time was focusing more on Power and all out Strength; I can see myself spending a great deal of Time Running in one of your Treadmills or using a Stairclimber with a great view of the beautiful CBD Streets below. A great compliment to this location is the surrounding Area’s offering in the way of good quality Restaurants albeit many Years ago when I last was there. I lived in Sandgate at that time and found the commute easy by Train walking only a block or two from The Rail-Station to the front Door of your Gym, for those Commuting and Who might be wondering as that actually was easier for Me than Driving. I loved this Gum when there and again look forward to rejoining upon my Arrival and hopefully seeing You soon!

Is there any consideration by Goodlife Corporate to participate in Hot Sauna Cycling and Hot Pilates much like Hotworx in The United States as I’ve not found anywhere that really does that?

Just a thought and something that I’ve been trying to find for my return to Brisbane in the...