Virgin Active South Africa
Reviews and Complaints

In March 2015 we took out membership for my son who had just turned 18 and therefore now had to have his own separate gym membership. We took out a Student Premier gym membership and we were clearly told that this meant he had access to any gym club at any time of the day. There were no restrictions to his gym access. We were very clear with the consultant that we wanted a gym membership that would allow my son access to any gym at any time of the day with no restrictions. The consultant assured us that the gym membership we were signing up for operated with no restrictions. He has been going to gym with no problems at various gyms and at various times of the day since then.

Last week Monday, 4th April 2016 he went to a Virgin Gym in Pretoria at 5 am and was not allowed access to the gym. He was told he was on a limited students gym membership which allows him access to gym only at off-peak hours. This was never the condition of the gym membership that we signed up for or that we agreed to.
I immediately called your head office, spoke to a consultant and to a manager. I also emailed the copy of the contract which clearly states it is a STUDENT PREMIER and the block PREMIER is ticked ...the OFF PEAK BOX is not ticked. I have continued to call Virgin head office to speak to the manager regarding their progress in resolving this issue several times during last week. I have also spoken to the Manager at the club that signed us up, he promised to call me by Friday lunch time to give me further feedback on the matter which he never did. It is now a week later and the matter has still not been resolved. I have continued to call for feedback and progress all of last week, no-one from virgin has ever called back to give me progress report or feedback.

I would really appreciate this matter being given urgent attention and being resolved TODAY.

I would appreciate

Centurion Management has started to give tickets for the Kick Class, because the class is too full and for Safe and Healthy reasons. This was introduce 1st of March 2016 - only 52 members per class (52 Tickets), however after the 52 members were inside the class, more members were allow in the past 3 weeks . Including the Saturday class, but yesterday was a different story all together with no communication.
We were turn back @ the 11th hour & told that an emergency decision was taken by Safe &Healthy
Quoting one of the Manager Janine "This is my club " You will follow the rules, - I don't care what you say about the other clubs, "As members we said 52 is a small number rather 70 and have an online booking.

What I experienced yesterday was unprofessional, very poor customer service and an arrogant manager. Most Club have the Ticket System and we do welcome it because the amount of members allowed is reasonable . Virgin Active Centurion is inconsistent and does not value their members. (Especially when a Manager can tell members I do not care this is my CLUB.

Very disappointed!

Various communication to virgin active regarding cancellation when consultant handled conversion from vitality to multiply, confirmation that my family won't be joining, and still deduct money from my account (Again today after clear communication and complaints). A fee is being deducted for a cancelled vitality membership since oct 2015?

My contact number is [protected]

The official letter of complaint can't be added to this mail and I can forward the relevant communication to you.

I joined the virgin active group whilst they had a promotion on that you would receive an adidas voucher to the value of r999 if you visited the gym 26x by the end of november, if you were a discovery life member the voucher would be r1350.
I received the voucher and logged on to place my order in the basket. Whilst in the checking out basket it told me that the voucher was r999. Now the only way to check out is that you have to put your credit card details in so they can deduct the monies and then proceed to check out. Very clever, I sent 2 mails to virgin active customer care - no reply. I sent an email to adidas customer care, no reply. If the money is deducted off my credit card there will be a lot of noise, I am wanting someone to get on top of this and rectify the problem immediately. But who do you contact when you try and no one comes back to you?

I got my husband Neil Warner joined monthly Virgin Active (VA) two, three months ago under monthly membership due to health reason. He had a near experience of heart attack and was advised to alter his lifestyle e.g; diet and exercise to reduce cholesterol level and weight. The reason I decided to put him on monthly subscription is so to see how he copes and if it is not suitable then I can discontinue it. The membership was finalised over the phone. My husband turned up at Virgin Active only to be told to sign here and there. Then at the end of Nov 2015 he experienced pain across his shoulder radiating across his chest after a few workouts at VA so I discontinued his membership and he was advised to stop physical exertion. Now VA is demanding for payment for month of Dec 2015 which my husband has not use the facility at all. VA stated a month notice is required which I have not been told about it. Me and my husband has the understanding that by joining monthly membership means we can terminate the membership at end of the month as payment is collected at the beginning of the mth. I have had few correspondences with the Manager, Gemma, in one of them I mentioned he has history of minor heart attack in 2013 he was admitted to Central Middlesex Hosp with troponin showing borderline. He was discharged with Aspirin, Simvastatin and GTN spray. Also advise of lifestyle changes which include diet and weight control. He was told by the DR this is a warning sign. His experience of chest pain has been on and off in which further investigation was carried out in May 2014, he has CT angiogram which showed no artery block and no plausible cause. Lifestyle changes were further advised. This CT report was forwarded to VA as prove but is not accepted. My husband recent experience of chest pain is mild. VA refuses to accept the explanation and continues to demand for payment which my husband and I find this is a harassment.

I joined VA some years ago and enjoyed the facilities. I lived in Amanzimtoti, KZN and utilised the VA there. I left South Africa in March 2015 and met with a VA lady at the club to inform her that I was leaving the country and therefore wished to cancel my membership. I had joined through the Discovery/Vitality route and informed her that I had already terminated my Discovery membership. She took my membership details and informed me that I need not take any further action. I subsequently relocated overseas believing that my membership had been terminated. I did not scrutinise my bank statements perhaps as closely as I should have but around Movember 2015 I noticed that VA were continuing to deduct monthly subscriptions. I contacted the Amanzimtoti gym and informed a lady by the name of Ronelle. I understand that she is the gym Admin Manager. She was initially very helpful and kept me informed even though it took some time to identify my membership and payment history. She kindly cancelled my membership and informed me accordingly. I then asked what arrangements were being made to reimburse the payments that had been deducted from my account since March 2015. She responded by saying that she required proof that I had cancelled my membership in February. I explained that I had met with an admin lady at the Amanzimtoti gym who had informed me that my membership would be cancelled and I need take no further action. She then reiterated that she will require proof of termination. I e mailed back again requesting to know if VA were happy to reimburse the deductions or with whom I should take up the matter to progress things further. I have written further e mails making a similar request but have received no acknowledgements or replies. I fully accept that I am partly at fault by trusting that my report of termination to a member of the admin staff at the Amanzimtoti gym was sufficient action, but her clear advice was that was all I needed to do. Clearly my notice was either forgotten or ignored to my considerable cost. Also, it seems that when an issue is beyond the authority of an individual to make a decision it is also just ignored. VA are very active in recruiting members and adding to their revenue but seem unwilling to admit /apologise/reimburse mistakes which result in unauthorised deductions of money. Ignoring requests for information and /or a decision is appalling customer service and I will never join VA again and will discourage friends and colleagues. I don't know if this is VA policy or practice or whether it is a reflection of the attitude of the Amanzimtoti gym but I would like to know : 1. Will I be reimbursed for the deductions from March to November? 2. If not why not and where I can appeal the matter further? Bryan Carpenter

I cannot believe the incompetent people working at Virgin Active La Lucia. I signed up to be a member at the Virgin Active Gateway. The sales consultant and her administrator - who has been off sick since I joined - has captured the incorrect club name and apparently there is no one else (in the entire Virgin Active enterprise) that can help me. Apparently it is this ONE administrator that holds the key to all Virgin Active Member problem and she has a problem herself. The sales consultant has been ignoring my messages (even though I can see that she has read the). And I was told that her manager would give me a call at midday to talk to... midday has since long gone... and I'm still waiting. Absolutely pathetic service - if I don't get feedback by the end of business today - cancel my contact

Few weeks ago I was so exited about joining virgin active randburg malibongwe but not any more, my first day at the gym I brought my friend with as a visitor and he was interrogated by the lady called portia she even told me that they cant just accept anyone from the street claiming to test the gym, of which was not the case my friend joined at another club but waiting for the card we explained all of that to portia but she did not want to listen until she called the manager and she let my friend in, then again this morning at about 5;15 I forgot my card and when I tell the lady at reception that, she said everybody is walking in so go in, bad attitude.I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO EXPECT FROM THIS CLUB.

I joined virgin active in August 2015 as a vitality member and was given a cash back voucher by the sales agent which states that at the end of September I will get a cash back. I am now told by the sales manager at vodaworld virgin active that I was misled when I went to collect the cash voucher and I am told that there is nothing they can do. How is it possible that your employee lies to the customer and you don't even have a way of reimbursing them. I am so disgusted at this behaviour and lies that sales agent make claims that are falls to get the customers to register and the company does not even feel any remorse about the action. This is wrong.

Good morning

Please update my membership, I normally pay on the 20th of every month but I always get to the gym and be told that I am owing, please assist and update this as I have spoken to the management at my club to have it sorted.

Please also note that I have introduced a new member on the 03/7/15 by the name of Dennis Baloyi during the bring a buddy promo from 1st -12th July. And my membership was supposed to be free for the month of August and I need that redeemed as I am not currently owing. I am current very unhappy with the service at virgin active at the moment. If it is not possible to update my account and save me from the embarrassment of being stopped on entrance due to this same problem, kindly cancel my account and inform me once you have managed to do so.

Thanking you in advance.

Judith Ntombenkosi Ndzube

This is an e-mail I have forwarded to the person I have been liasing with at the gym: I started a membership at Kings Park, then my family upgraded to Moses Mabhida membership under Liberty Life, which cancelled my standard membership at Kings Park.

I continued going to the gym between May and July, as I was supposed to be a member. Everytime I came to the gym I encountered problems and continued to be told there was a problem with my membership. I took it up on myself to establish contact with you to explain the problem i was having when entering the gym. At no point did you mention that my membership was cancelled. The problem persisted until the day I couldn't leave my daughter at the ClubV area. I came to the classic gym and you told me I needed to go back to Kings Park to resolve the issue. At Kings Park I spoke to a guy called Andile. I was told my membership was terminated, months after adjusting my membership. I was told I would have to sign up again if I wanted to continue coming to Virgin Active. My daughter was refused access into the kids area and I had to put her ClubV membership under her dad. Upset about how much time and energy this situation had taken, along with the embarrassment of having to explain the same issue over and over again when ever I was coming to the gym, I decided the membership was not worth trying to restart after Virgin Active cancelled my contract.

From this point I never trained at the facility again, because Virgin Active breached our contract and cancelled my membership without my consent.

Unauthorised, Virgin Active started debiting my account two months after they stopped debiting for the membership. Please check your records for amounts I've paid before we even debate this issue. I then called you again to inquire as to what the status of my account. You said you would check and come back to me. This carried on a number of times with both you and your manager promising to get back to me but you never did. The issue was never resolved and payments have been coming off my account for a number of months. I don't even have a membership card for Virgin Active.

I have come in to inquire about the situation with my husband. The last I saw you, you assured me the problem would be sorted, and specifically said I would be reimbursed or be given membership for the time I paid and wasn't able to access the facility. Till today you have not resolved the issue and are now saying your going to reimburse me for two months that you didn't debit my account, during the cancellation period.

My husband and I have come into the gym many times looking for you since, the last time I was there I even left a note with reception asking you to call me. Are you now going to tell me I was using your facilities because I was coming in to find you and settle this matter?

Wow, I actually have nothing good to say about this club. From the beginning i have had endless problems. This is now my last resort as i have depleted all other!
I joined Virgin Active in March 2015. Only to find out that my contract of 8 years back was never cancelled. After i have cancelled the contract and paid my 1 month extra as requested. Long story short, i had to pay. End of April I had an issue with my salary not being in my account on debit order date, so i took my card to the branch, and swiped it. I was told that i short-paid by R60. Which i said that i will pay as soon as i have the cash. Now, a month later, I am refused entry to the gym, as "my payment was defaulted". This is not my problem! I paid that account @ The branch.
I have a competition i am preparing for. Now what must i do? Change gyms? I dont want to as Virgin Active is right around the corner from my house! But so is a private gym. Please Please Please tell me what to do as i am now fed-up with this crap!

Good day. I wanted to cancel my contract with virgin active montana and they informed me that the cancelation fee would be r1092 on 23/04/2015. I went to pay on 25/04/2015 only for them to tell me they dont take cards only cash, which they somehow failed to inform me when I called in to confirm before I went to the club. I was in a hurry and could not return that day. I wanted to go pay today (29/04/2015) after work only to see they have already deducted the instalment of r455 for the month of may 2015. I phoned the montana branch where I am a member and they informed me they didnt know if they could refund me or not so I had to call head office after 8h00. I called head office and spoke with a lady named thabela and she so rudly informed me that I could not be re-funded the r455 for may and that I was only allowed to make use of the gym until tomorrow (30/04/2015) but that I would still have to pay the total cancellation fee of r1092... When I asked her why I had to pay for the month of may but was only alowed to use the gym for one more day and not the month they had already billed me for, she so kindly hung the phone up in my ear. Having all my details right in front of her as I gave her my id nr and she yet has not called me back, I phoned back and ended up by thabela again and she was rude and short off and couldn't answer my questions, when I asked for her supervisor or manager she hung the phone up again. I then called back again for the 3rd time and spoke with a nice lady called nancy who transfered me to a more suitable person equiped to assist me and I then spoke to keith who was very helpful and could assist me in a professional manner. I would like to know what is to happen with staff members like thabela, that treat thier loyal customers in this manner and just get away with it? After all if it weren't for all their loyal customers who would pay he salary each month? And then it is still expected of me to pay the cancellation fee, with this type of service?!?!?!?!?!? I would like to get a response asap as to how this matter wil be treated, and by no other than a high up manager who knows what he is talking about.

The reason why I ended my membership was due to a member of staff lossing control. My membership had been messed up by a member of staff and the membership manager dealt with it so badly, the conversation/confrontation ended in me walking backwards while she came forwards rasing her voice and spitting as she spoke. It was almost impossible to complain. After calling a customer care centre who at first didn't know who the manager was and gave me the wrong person to contact, finally the actual manger told me he was on a training course so he couldn't give this his attention at the moment... I had to chase this after a while, it was clear they were not interested. Personally I think this member of staff would never approach someone in such a manner in public or on the street. Which in turns begs the question as to why she thought it was ok to treat someone like that... Maybe because she knows the clubs/company do not care. Had I behaved as she did, I'm sure I would be banned from the club.

I've been an active member for years now and I am well aware we cannot compare our local club to the standards of the city but I however feel service and staff wise they should be on the same level. We have issues with the opening times, where all other clubs open and close both earlier and later, Middelburg changes by the mood of management on the day. The employee who opens during the week in the morning started training with two of her "friends" at 04:35 while almost 30 people stood outside the doors waiting in Que for the club to open. at 04:55 she quickly got of the stepper and came to unlock the door and aloud members in. Upon confrontation surrounding how they are aloud to train we received an answer "we're management and can decide who gets in when. If that is the standard of service we receive I'll much rather move to a different health club

Hello i'm a member at virgin and have had fiona morrison as a personal trainer. She never turns up, tells me about the drugs she takes (Coke and weed) and she has been under the influence of drugs whilst training myself! She is a disgrace and I am paying nearly 140 pounds a month and have found out she is charging some people much less as she is doing cash in hand with them! This needs resolving! I have terminated my pt and membership and will not be having a good word to say about this woman!

I have been a member of the virgin active gym and still am a member but due to recent behaviour form one of virgin actives employees I have decided to terminate my contract with virgin active and will never even consider rejoining until this matter is dealt with (Ps 5 other relatives and friends of mine have terminated thier contracts with me so thats 6 contracts that have been lost)

The sales consultant is a rude, uncuth and absolutely disgustingly behaved individual who has no respect and decency for the people who actually pay her damn salary. Her name is carin doelley and she works at the virgin active richards bay she is absolutely unhelpful once asked to assist with a machine and responded that we must figure it out our selves laughed at and given dirty looks she is rude and just down right stubborn she does not meet virgin active criteria and this is shown with the way she treats her clients

I am a loyal virgin active member, and I have a love/hate scenario going on right now, I love my gym don’t get me wrong but I hate the service rendered, I tried to complain to the manager but the is so much a manager can do, they club has deteriorated and very depleted, you would think because it’s a small club it’s easier to maintain but no, it’s at its worst condition ever, I gym at Tramshed because it’s convenient when I knock of work and go home, however the condition of the gym does not represent the status of the gym. The brand is not carried out well in that dungeon, firstly we are a capital city in a central business district but we are supplied with the smallest gym ever that’s very dirty and probably un-hygienic. I’m really sad to type this email because the love I have for virgin active, the way I speak with pride when people ask me. But I’m not satisfied, my heart bleeds every month because I feel cheated of my hard earned money.

I tried to talk to walled but his only a manager. I need the owner to know the status of the gym, word of mouth spread like wild fire and virgin active tramshed is losing potential clients on the daily.
My issues:
• Air condition- it gets so hot in the that its reeks of sweat from the door, the air condition system is so overworked (that’s what the staff tells us) then please kindly replace is. We do pay every month for the privileges of our gym
• Sound system- it’s so bad and weak its goes off on its own, they did change the speakers but it’s still suffering
• Cold showers- we have to bear cold showers every week due over worked geysers
• Studio space- it gets to cramped to even do anything, to many members. It’s in the middle of the city, they recruit every day with very little space
• Dirty carpet- everybody sweats on the floor it so un hygienic and smells

I have never been made feel so disgusted about being black and not knowing what my rights were as the consumer. First of all, as black i I am very much aware of it, I also happen to know my rights as a consumer. See when you have a made a promise to someone on a particular timeline, you stick to it. The consumer right book even starts with that statement. I spoke to Khaya Sinqe on May 22 and we wanted to sign up for the gym and because we wanted to start immediately he advised us that we would need to either pay a prorata amount for the regular sign up fee for those 5 days because we had not signed up for Vitality and then after the 5 days we go on to Vitality and pay the R1150 in two part between June and July. We thought the pro-rata was not going to make sense to pay for a full months premium for 5 days and we spoke to him and said that we will join at the beginning of June and just pay an amount of R575 and he assured us that will be good and he promised that he won't have to pay the premium for this month because there is a promotion happening where new sign ups do not have to pay for June which means everything that happens they know before hand. We went there today and we were told they no longer do two parts on payments and that we have to pay it in full! Since when? We had an amazin talk time last month and now? We were lied to and they called someone called Darren who said he was a manager, the manager we know is Carl Wegner. Darren told us there is nothing he can do and told us to leave. He did not care to even apologize about the explanation we had on the table about why we came back. Imagine two black people being escorted out of a white environment looking stupid. Second of all, I need to report the khaya who added me on a social network called Whatsapp. I did not know if that is something that is permissible in your policies for you employees to take the client's contacts and use them the way they like. I could go on for days about the corruption of this club with any requested proof. I will not be joining virgin Active anymore, well at least not the Gardens one, unless I get to speak to Carl himself or the CEO of Virgin Active, Yes I might be pushing it, but I am totally disgusted. I apologize for pulling the race card on it but the way i was treated, took me back in time.

I cancelled my contract with virgin active in september 2013 but was handed over to debt collectors telling me i owe r1000 which is all nonsense! I asked this rude lady from mbd inc what the debt was for and she told me its for cancellations fees. I even called virgin active in september 2013 to confirm cancellation by fax and they confirmed it was cancelled and nothing about cancellation fees was mentioned to me (Listen to your recorded calls) ! How the hell can i be charged cancellation fees while i was a member for 4 years and i did not attend the gym for almost two years but i paid my monthly fees. If this is the kind of service virgin active gives clients when they cancel, it is pathetic!