Virgin Active South Africa
Reviews and Complaints

On the 19th of August 2019 I joined Virgin Active with the promise that my first installment will be 1st October 2019 as there was a promo for 1 month free. On the 1st of September 2019 my account was debited and when I enquired I was told it was a mistake and I will not be charged for October 2019. On the 1st of October 2019 my account was debited again, and when I asked for the money to be returned to my account I was told this was not possible. I have decided that I really do not want this contract anymore because it was full of false advertising and poor costumer service. They can keep the money they have already stolen from me it's OK. I will be changing my account just incase they try to steal from my account again.

I opened my virgin active membership with the guy called bongani, and tge agreemwnt was to pay R200, i was shocked when a debit of R400 was made by virgin active, i reversed my money and notified virgin actin but they never assist me, instead they told me i need to call the person i sign to, 2nd debit was made still it was R400 i called again they told me am in arears, i told them that they made an incorrect debit on my account they never assisted instead they told me that i need to make payment, my problem is as a company why couldn't they trace my debits and fixed them instead of telling me to call the person that i signed to, i once worked as customer agent i would assist a client with everything they need NOT to direct them to another person, now they saying my account its with mbd and i need to pay R2000 something,

Good Evening Dear Sir/Madam.

I am writing to you as a loyal member of the Virgin Active Group of Gyms. Our gym visit this pm turned into a bloody nightmare at the Cascades branch in Pietermaritzburg. My partner and I entered the facility separately and our intention was to train together and have a good sweat session with each other.

He recently terminated his vitality membership and today I referred him to the Sales Consultant to sign up a open roaming membership, so we can roam while we travel. Jose was very helpful as usual and he sorted his membership in less than 30 minutes.

We proceeded to the upper level to train and walked together and laughed and chatted all the way up. To our dismay we were encountered by a white gentlemen who is identified by Tristen Edmunds. This was my first time in contact with this man. He abruptly halted us with a loud voice and aggressive tone. I whispered to my partner and said let's ignore him. This man alleged that my partner had posted something about him on Facebook. My partners response "was i dont know what you talking about boss and further more i deleted Facebook" as we continued walking to our favorite spot to train biceps and arms. This man was challenging my partner Nadeem Osman to meet him outside in the parking lot after he was done. I intervened and said leave Nadeem alone. And as we started walking away, he jumped up from the Leg press machine and proceeded towards us. I went in between the two men. My intention was to cause a separation between the two and no body contact as I sensed the temper flaring from Tristin especially. Tristin tried to push himself unto me to get to Nadeem. I am still shocked and surprised that he would have no respect for a woman who pleaded to him to stop. He pushed me and wrestle to get to Nadeem. I tried my best to keep Nadeem away from this gentleman. But he head butted Nadeem and I lost my balance and Nadeem fell.

The next moment he was kicking Nadeem in the face and head. And the next thing blood was squirting and Nadeem was on the floor. I screamed for help and everyone just stood by as spectators. I even asked the gym staff on site to help. Because my fear was that he could hemerage and this man was not stopping. I could not stop this man as he was so violent and vulgar. I took Nadeems towel bag to hit him off him and distract him as I didn't know how to get him off my man. Thank goodness for that because that warded him off Nadeem.

Security came after a few minutes and they still failed to act. My concern is that the accused was still entertained by them and no form of action was taken to remove him. Until I made a noise to escort him out. You have a member bleeding profously from the mouth head and nose area and no one sees the seriousness. I fail to understand how the wellness of your members are managed in a case of emergency.

No one came with any first aid kit to the scene or anything. In fact the security asked us to be escorted out by him. I refused as my partner was bleeding and feeling weak and dizzy. I called the police and his parents to the scene of the assault. The manager on duty Lungisani was the only one that had some sense of customer service skills and care towards us. He moved us to a private office downstairs as we waited. The blood fell all over the floor as we walked down.

Subsequently to this. A white gentleman who was not involved in the altercation came up to the security while Nadeem was rinsing the blood as it was literally pouring in the sink. He was rude and arrogant insisting we be removed for what reasons I don't understand. I responded and said to him that we are leaving to wait for the police but it's not his prerogative to tell the security to remove us as we are victims to this barbaric act and my partner is hurt. He swore at me in front of those staff members and security and i firmly told him I don't care what you think because you jumping for your friend Tristen as they were all training in the same vicinity.

This man who someone identified him as Andrew Nicholson came to me again downstairs while I was talking in isizulu to Lungisani about the police that were outside. He rudely came and pointed to my face and said i want her name and Surname. I said to him what is your issue with me. He said I used vulgar language and said he is a racist. This I don't take likely because I am a born again Christian I never use any derogatory words or vulgar language. I understand the importance of communication as i am in the customer services industry and we are well groomed in how we conduct ourselves in public and at home.

He threatened to get me banned from the gym. I will not be bullied by any one. As I am a paying member and I have never had any incidents or complaints about anything prior to today.

The are camera surveillance in the gym. I will appeal to you that this footage should be viewed in order to collaborate my concerns that have been raised today.

I await your anticipated response

Jose will also confirm that I have referred clients to this facility and just today after signing up said I will send more members through. But Today I felt unsafe and had to swallow my pride on bragging rights as a proud member when the safety and security of the members were compromised

Good day

I attended an open class (zumba with fawaaz and faldielah who rocks by the way definately assests to your virgin active team) on heritage day 25 september 2019 @ 8.15am.

Everything was going amazingly I was sooo impressed by the atmosphere the instructors the capacity of the class the the entire feel was just unexplainable I had myself considering joining the quite a few times during class right up until 9am everything just went downhill from there!

Please bare in mind I do not know any of the attendees nor do I know the instructors of the step class which was to follow after the zumba so there is no possible way anyone can say I am byass.

At 9 possibly a minute or 2 after people started entering the class with their steps which are huge in between us bear in mind our class was already packed (which I thought was extremely rude and disrespectful to everyone in the class as well as the instructors) they started putting down their belongings my immediate reaction was to get our things at the back because their was a lot of new people entering but I thought I will continue I overhead one of the instructor tell someone from the class if they can please just wait until we finish the class as our things are there and the lady response was soo rude and she went to stand in the corner never the less I saw our instructor have a word with another lady and a few people left.

When it was time to do our cool down which is the best part of the class it's normally so relaxing and we do breathing and stuff but there was 2 ladies that stood a arms length behind me and they kept on talking extremely loud and laughing and for the remainder rod the class they kept at it non stop the studios door was left open and in turn everyone waiting to use the class was standing there laughing at us all the time I was sooo dissapointed my entire experience tainted.

I'm not sure what the times of your classes are or how your schedule works but from what I gathered it seemed as though their class was suppose to start at 9 and they were getting pretty cheesed off that they had to wait as some people arrived before 9 and because of that they just decided to be nasty and spiteful and make a joke out of our class.

Once the lesson was over they entered I immediately went to one of the ladies that were laughing so loud and screaming the entire time I remembered her face as I kept looking to the back to see who was being so disruptive and disrespectful. I went over to her and said very politely (yes politely believe it or not even though I was pretty pissed off I was raised to be very respectful and she was older than me)

"excuse me aunty but what u did I think was very rude and disrespectful immediately she took a defensive approach and said what? (looking at me like who the hell do u think u are to tell me) i'm not sure what it was but it could possibly have been the fact that I called her aunty and prob made her feel her age I said aunty was so noisy and disruptive during our cool off session and it wasn't a nice thing for me. She then replied do u go here? With a attitude of course I answered this was an open class and they have open classes for people so that they can get a feel of the place and possibly join and she said again but by this time a lot of the step class attendees were making their way to the front of the stage and when she saw it was clear she was now wanting to put a show on infront of them..

And she continues do u attend this gym (looking at me from head to toe right in my face)

As I answered believe it or not she reckons to me and I quote"this is not how roll here girl huh uh we don't to this kind of stuff and I said how we roll? And she says ja and walks off while I was talking what completely blew me away was when she got on the stage? (whaaaaaaaaat she is an instructor? Are u kidding me is this a joke?

My immediate reaction was you an instructor and this is the manner in which you behave and speak to people you are suppose to be an example to the attendees u are their leader for the next hour? Disgusting!

I mean am I wrong? Am I over reacting? [censored] no i'm not! I have every right to be pissed off and angry and feel embarrassed not to mention dissapointed and disrespected.

Correct me if i'm wrong but to my understanding any staff or instructor working or teaching at virgin active is meant to be a respresentation of the brand itself so they should be expected to behave in a certain manner and carry themselves a certain way right (even independent contractors as they using your facilities?)

What is your screening process for hiring instructors? What do u actually factor in? Their looks? Their bodies? Their hair? How old they are? Which areas they reside in? What cars they drive? What's their social media status? How popular they are? What clothes they wear? I'm baffling to understand or identify the qualities in her which made you guys decide "this was the right candidate to lead a class... And yes I said lead because to me and instructor or a teacher is someone that is a leader... Someone that is not only able to lead that particular class but someone that is going to lead by example in any aspect for that matter which is why I firmly believe these qualities are crucial!

Patience (complete lack there of as she couldn't wait a few mins for our class to end. If anything I fear the new comers to that class as I know it's not easy to do that so I can only imagine her approach to a situation like that from the experience I had with her I think her first reaction to that would be oh no not another idiot this person is going to make me and my class look stupid)

Respect (none what so ever that much was effident none for me zero for the current instructors at the time none for herself clearly proven by the manner in which she she carried herself and retaliated towards me when I simply just wanted to make her aware of what she has done)

Confidence (and no not confidence as in i'm the [censored] and no one will tell me confidence as in someone... Confident in what they are teaching)

Positivity, good motivational skills, understanding, disciplined, good communication skills, be approachable, be a peoples person.

These are qualities I believe u should have in a role like that and none of those I saw its in her today extremely saddening.

I am completely and utterly disgusted by the manner in which I was treated and even more disappointed by how 2 instructors that showed nothing but professionalism and dedication to the class fantastic attitude how do I know this because every single time I looked around at any given time there wasn't 1 person that wasn't smiling hell I smiled even when I was making a complete fool of myself not knowing all the moves? But was I singled out no I was not was I made to made to feel like I didn't belong no... Howcome? Because throughout the class from start to finish there was this level of reassurance u got from those instructors that's its ok to make mistakes we will just be right there waiting to show u the right way they never laughed at me like the other people did right there behind me loud making me feel embarrassed as a result of that encouragement from fawaaz and faldielah I felt secure and safe enough to make those errors so its not fair to them one bit that that entire experience they set out to give to the class the preparation the hard work the determination the positive drive the dedication that goes into having a successful outcome all their hard work just taken away like that just by 1 bad apple 1 bad apple that will forever stand out to me as my experience at your gym i'm hoping someone will see to it that they get an official apology from the instructor and the gym for having to give and complete a class under those conditions.

Virgin active gatesville is one of the worst branches you guys have truly gone to the dogs it's as clear as daylight that all u worried about is numbers and not quality... Your membership fees are totally overpriced and not worth a single cent the only way I would feel that the price is justifiable was if u said to me those 2 instructors gives a class everyday or even better all of your instructors are like that... Then I would've been sold on the idea.

I look forward to your response.

Fazeela abrahams
[protected]

Ps. Just something to bear in mind at all times esp on your day to day runnings of the gym.

"don't ever take peoples time for granted"

Fitness is a mindset it's a lifestyle something you want people to maintain and let's be real it's not easy it's tough as hell and the reality is not everyone is able to do it for whatever reasons everyone's situations are different but what I am pretty sure of is that time is the most precious thing ever and there are millions of people out there that doesn't doesn't have a extra minute to spare yet we make time we set aside all our responsibilities for that hour or few minutes because when u leave the gym/workout/class u leave feeling good about yourself each and every time u feel more confident than u did the previous time and with confidence comes strength fulfillment and happiness you leave feeling proud because u did something for you and only you...

Good Day.

Please take note that the swimming pool at Virgin Active ECO PARK Centurion is not properly maintained for almost a year or more. The attach photos shows the amount of sif or bacteria living underneath the pool floors and sides. Been able to swim lengths underneath the water and looking at the pool floor for 128 lengths makes me feel sick after a session.

Please be so kind to resolve this matter before somebody gets sick or infected.

Good afternoon

I am writing with regret pertaining to the service that we are receiving at one of your clubs, New Market in Alberton. The club has aging infrastructure, it's even worse in their spinning facility where all their bikes are broken.

I feel that we are not getting the value for money considering what we pay on a monthly basis.

I am sure you've received such complaints but there's nothing being done to address such.

Kindly assist us

Regards

I have been called in twice to the Managers office (new manage (Elke)) mid August 2019 and also on the 11/12 September 2019 regarding the complaints by personal trainers. The personal trainers complained that I was taking their business since I train with a group of ladies (four, sometimes five) and I was advised to refrain from such activities. However, I have not stop training with the ladies because I did not see anything wrong and still do not see anything wrong with such an activity. People train in groups most of the time and in most Virgin Active gyms, but I have noted that at Sammy Marks, the trainers in particular have an issue when a guy trains with a group of ladies than when it is just a group of guys, which I find it sexist to begin with as anyone can choose to train with whom they freely want to train with, secondly, they instructed me to send people who want to join our group to them or the manager, but in such instances the manager is not available or the acting manager is busy, which I find it challenging on my side when people want to join our group and I do not know where to direct them. I have trained in groups since I was a member in Jan 2018 and I am perplexed why this is an issue now. No one is paying anyone in our group and we train better as a group, I thought a gym environment would allow people to freely choose who they want to gym with but it feels like ladies have restricted options and cannot train with a regular member because personal trainers own them.

I left my Nike slip slops at Virgin Active Alice Lane a couple weeks ago. I went away for 2 weeks straight after, therefore I was unable to collect them from lost and found. I went back twice once I returned from holiday and both times I was turned away as "the manager was not available to sign out lost and found items". I understood and said I would return when he was available to help.

Last night I went straight to the manager and asked to collect my slops. He asked when I had left them there, which I replied "about three weeks ago". He then said that Alice Lane has a policy that if items are not collected within two weeks, they either throw them away or given to charity. I was beyond shocked.

I am aware that it falls under a property law principal, accession, which I fully understand. But HOW is this policy not been made known to the public? If I had known this, I would have called WAY earlier asking them to keep them aside for me.

On top of this, I said to Alice Lane's manager why this policy is not made known to everybody and I do not understand. I asked him if this policy is in our contract which we signed upon joining (as i do not remember this policy) and he said no, but it is in THEIR policy. He was beyond rude and stormed off as I was mid sentence.

I am appalled. Being a Classic Collection member, I pay a hefty monthly fee. I would just expect better service/response to my questions.

On the 5/09/2019 I switched my gym membership to that of a Vitality Gym membership and I was told that I would get the first month (ie September) free and only from October onwards will I get charged the Discovery Vitality gym rate.

An amount of R 855 had already been deducted from my account on the 31/08/2019 and I was told that this transaction would be reversed.

Till date (16/09/2019), I have still not yet been refunded the R 855.

Please address this issue ASAP.

My wife and I left Planet Fitness to join Virgin Active in Key West, we Paid plus minus R 350 per per person per month at Planet Fitness, we are With Discovery Health and are Vitality members, when we join Virgin Active in April they promised us 2 months free before we will pay R137 per person per month, as from day one they Charged us R 1100 per month and the 2 free months never happened, they still deduct R 1100 every month from my wife's account, we went there in person and was told that they will reverse the 2 months they charged us which never happened, they also showed us on the system that we will from now on only pay the R137 per person as promised .

i want to know why i will leave Planet Fitness where i pay far less to go to a Gym where i pay double, i feel they breach their part of the contract and would like to cancel the contract and demand a full payback from Virgin Active.

We pay for the right of use of ALL services at Virgin Active. Much like the POOL, the STUDIO & the RIDE rooms, these are used at our OWN risk.
How can one club (Claremont Virgin Active Cape Town) LOCK AWAY, the assault treadmills in the HEAT room and only allow use during class times.
This makes NO sense, & restricts Virgin active users who enjoy the use of the HEAT rooms during their own private gym time!

Thank you for making our Gim " look pretty" however the most important part of our Gim is being severely neglected.
The weight training equipment was replaced by used re-painted equipment which is unfortunately not usable. The moving parts are either so sticky that they can not be adjusted or so wobly and skew that they are dangerous to use.
Please send inspectors URGENTLY to have a look at what we have e to put up with. I have been a member of this gim for more than 15 years and this is THE worst equipment we have ever had.

From: Madelein Ludick
Date: Tuesday, 20 August 2019, 14:35:11
To: accounts@virginactive.co.za
Subject: RE: FW: [Case: qX5Xhp, Ticket: PTCPa2]

Inshaaf you are a joke.

This must go to the newspapers the lady I spoke on the phone said if I have proof she will correct it.
I send my notification 3 MONTHS before my contract expired.
YOU ONLY PROCESSED my request in February 2019 and then you hand me over.

I am going to take this further, with my recorded conversation between me and her.

Thank you regards
Madelein Ludick

From: accounts@virginactive.co.za [mailto:accounts@virginactive.co.za]
Sent: 20 August 2019 02:15 PM
To: Madelein Ludick
Subject: RE: FW: [Case: qX5Xhp, Ticket: tkVe7e]

Hi Madelein,

Thank you for contacting Virgin Active.

Kindly note, the cancellation request was processed on the 25th February 2019, with 20 business days notice as stated in the contract.

However, the February instalment and March pro rata instalments were unsuccessful and therefore the contract was handed over to VVM attorneys.

Kind Regards,
Inshaaf

The Virgin Active Team
T 0860200911 W virginactive.co.za

Good day i had a problem for quite a while i have emailed and i have called 1 the staff was rude every single time i went to gym they were bot polite that even when we went to open a contract we waited for hours for assistance I've called and I've been emailing no response or they say they will get back to me or that they will call me back.. I've been struggling for about 6 months and fighting for my rights...
I felt that you know i dont need to do this and i dont need to waste my money.. but now i really dont need this.. and i feel that struggling for About 4 months to get people come back to it even just get a response is Unacceptable... please sort this out cancel my account or i will take this further as i was a virgin active fan but due to weak service weak staff you are loosing a great amount off supporters

This gym is disgusting. I've been here 3 weeks now and I see only about 1/4 of clients using sweat towels. Others just leave equipment sweaty. Not on!
Weights are left everywhere and no floor staff sorting it out. Very disappointed in this gym
I've trained at a few Virgin active and this one is the worst I've seen. We pay fees and should get what we pay for.

I went to Virgin Active Thornhill on 24 August 2019 just after 9am. I found space on the floor where I put my keys, card, drink and a step where I wanted to perform my exercises.

I went to the studio to collect a gym ball which was also needed for my rehab exercises. On my way back to my space, I realized the personal trainer took the step I was busy with and removed it to the studio where he was busy with a class. I confronted him and he threatened me to get out of his way. We had words in which he continue walking "removing" me out of his way which I will say was assault as his aggressive behavior towards a paying customer in not called for.

I immediatly walked to the "manager" Leon, and AGAIN he immediatly covered for his staff telling me he will sort it out.

He didnt want me go with him and had a "private" conversation in the small room inside the studio (which I also dont think have a camera (is that procedure correct?)

Why would I be so emotional and upset if there was no reason to be like that? Why would I cut short my rehab session to complain for no reason?

I now understand that the staff will stand together and changed the whole version, which is what you do when you afraid of your reputation.

I also read an article on NEWS24 that virgin active are retrenching personnel, so I am wondering why?

I would like to bring under your attention that I pay for 3 people (not through medical aid) and that we will all be leaving.

I have already cancelled my membership, which I am very relieved about.

Leon told me that he will check the footage, I told him I will wait and watch with him, then only to tell me he needed a password from CHUBB and I cant watch it with him.

No paying member should experience what I did, again today with a manager who doesn't have the skills to assist a customer in need!

This is my statement, I will also open a case of rassism and assult with SAPD, and I will be in touch. I will also contact the local newspaper to interview me.

Have a awesome day

Good day

I would like virgin active to write off my old debt. I had family issues which resulted in me not attending gym and therefore locked out. I would like to rejoin again with my family as I am suffering for renal failure and need to lose weight so that my family can have me around for longer.

All I'm asking is for the old debt to be written off so that we can join again and this time we will he stable as the storm is over in my family

Can Virgin Active Vodaworld please explain why there is never any parking available at the gym area?

This seems to be a daily problem between 08:00am and 12:00pm.There is zero parking available in the entire complex.

On the odd occasion that i can find parking during these times, i find it odd that the gym is almost entirely empty with no more than 20 people making use of it.
All the Parking areas are occupied around the gym, the parking occupied around the gym does not equate to how many people there are in the gym at a given time.Can virgin active confirm if the parking areas around the gym are strictly for gym members?