Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre — Local services in London

This sports center is a good value for money. It is spacious, has a large family swimming pool (largest I have seen) and a good lane swim facility. The changing rooms do get a bit dirty at times, as some of the other reviews suggest, but it's inevitable with so many families passing by and the do get thoroughly cleaned every day and are fresh and clean in the morning. The staff is very helpful and friendly.

My major problem with the facility is the way it's managed at a higher level. When I first joined via direct debit (online) in September 2021, the website clearly said that all gym and swim sessions need to be booked online in advance due to covid. I checked the online system and there were no available slots for the next couple of weeks and I assumed the sessions need to be booked that way in advance, which is a deal breaker for me. So I cancelled by filling in the cancellation form on the website. I never heard back from them about the cancellation requests, despite repeated inquiries and I had to go in and clarify things in person. It turned out that the gym&swim no longer require advance booking (contrary to what the website still says) and are operating on a walk-in business.

So I started visiting them gym regularly and have been quite enjoying it for the past 2,5 months, until my membership got cancelled (apparently, my September 2021 request finally got throuth, it's now mid-November). And now I have been asked to pay 15 pounds to reinstate the membership. I am not cheap but this makes no sense to me, I am happy with the gym and am willing to keep my business there. There are plenty of gyms in the neighbourhood that I can choose from, and if anything, I would expect them to be offering me a free month for having changed my mind and wanting to stay with them, not charge me extra, secially given the fact that the whole situation happened because they haven't bothered to update their website in months or to respond to online queries.

Just thought I would share my story in case someone encounters a similar problem and knows...

I had made a booking at Brentford leisure centre for a badminton court on 30th April. When I made the booking, I told the staff I can't find a slot for 7th April, so I'll take the 30th tentatively. She confirmed and said amendments will be allowed and I could call back, and not to worry about it.

I called the reception at 10.00 am, 30th April, much prior to the minimum 4 hour prior notice, but I was met with extremely rude behaviour of the staff including the general manager on the day. I clearly remember the staff who made the booking for me had confirmed that I'll be able to change / amend it incase I can't attend, as bookings had not yet opened for 7th May. Even the general manager on the shift, I spoke to today on the not polite, she kept repeating the same thing "our policies have changed, no amendments are permitted", as it leaves our tills unbalanced. She told me it's the staff's fault as well, as she will investigate the matter and if need be give the staff member a disciplinary. I just feel all this was so unnecessary, for a matter of such kind.

Communicating and trying to explain this situation to the staff at Brentford centre has been one of the most difficult situation, as they didn't want to listen or understand customers point of view. I then called Osterley centre to cross check, and they said appointment can be moved and they will help out. I have been a regular at Osterley sports centre and I've found the staff friendly, so when I experienced such behaviour by Brentford leisure guys, it was quite shocking for me.

I've attached a copy of my booking that cancellation prior to 4 hours of the session will be taken, and the same was confirmed by the staff before I had done the booking attached.

As a customer I feel helpless, not sure whom to contact and how to get help. I'm not sure if there is any central office or customer service desk when such issues can be addressed. Overall very poor customer service at Brentford fountain Leisure Centre and lack of willingness to support customers with any issues...

Okay facilities (a bit old and the pool is constantly closed for repair). Good selection of classes, decent gym facilities (although poor gym etiquette is a common problem here), plus kids classes and racquet courts, etc. But the systems and management are really poor.

I've had loads of issues with their computer systems, right from how difficult it was to initially take out a membership (took weeks or trying and phone calls to get their computer to recognise my membership, and having to try with multiple email addresses). And even once I was finally setup, I found more problems trying to use my membership.

I paid extra for a multi-site membership (so I could use any facility at any of their centres) but their systems wouldn't fully recognise me as a member at the other sites, meaning I couldn't actually use the bits of them I wanted to use. And when I complained that I wasn't getting what I'd been paying extra for (that they're charging me extra for a service they aren't actually delivering) they initially gave me attitude and tried to insist that I was getting the service (because their computer said I was entitled to it). I know I'm supposed to be entitled to it - the problem is I'm not getting it!

So i had to deliver proof that their system wasn't supplying the paid-for service. But then they didn't seem to have any idea how to fix the issue. So I asked them to change my membership to the cheaper single site option, as that's the only one their system will recognise my entitlement for. I didn't ask them to refund the extra they'd been overcharging me for months, just stop overcharging me going forward. Not unreasonable, I think.

Unfortunately they insisted they'd only stop over-charging me if paid an extra admin fee. They seriously wanted to charge a "please stop cheating me" fee. Unbelievable.

But it's just so indicative of how poor the systems are, and how poor the customer service is, that this...