Virgin Active 2012 Eina

[Shebeen]

 

 

I recall a similar special with Health and Raquet for life memberships, 3,5 and 10yr ect. Pay up front for a minimal fees. A few months later they closed down and were bought out by Virgin and all those memberships were null and void? Also not sure about the rest of the country but i couldnt even tell you were a Planet Fitness is in the WC where as i have the choice of 3 virgin clubs within a 5 km radius of my house and office?

took more than a few months for the system to break down at health and racquet.recall they tried to expand to oz and got their fingers burnt.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I recall a similar special with Health and Raquet for life memberships, 3,5 and 10yr ect. Pay up front for a minimal fees. A few months later they closed down and were bought out by Virgin and all those memberships were null and void? Also not sure about the rest of the country but i couldnt even tell you were a Planet Fitness is in the WC where as i have the choice of 3 virgin clubs within a 5 km radius of my house and office?

 

The Planet Fitness gyms in JHB are very good, equally on a par with VA and the one on Witkoppen road is probably better than most VA's except for the flagship like Melrose Arch. I was a member at Health & Raquet for at least 8 or 9 years before it failed, even though I had about two years left on my contract which I lost it was still an immaterial amount of money, paying up front for 5 or 10 years meant you trained for a few rands a month, I cant remember now but it was less than 50 bucks if you factored it out over the life of the contract, so it was no real issue.

 

That said I became a VA member when they opened and I have been very happy, I used to travel a lot and I could train at any gym in the country or internationally which I often did and still do. Unfortunately this is where gyms like Planet Fitness fall down for me, limited outlets and no international presence, but if you use them locally only they are actually very, very, good.

[TNT1]

took more than a few months for the system to break down at health and racquet.recall they tried to expand to oz and got their fingers burnt.

 

No, they really got burnt due to fraud.

[SwissVan]

Slight hijack

 

Any recommendations for a one month membership in Benoni on the East Rond area?

Should have spinning bikes and a indoor pool

Either Virgin or Planet fitness? (that one on the corner by Benoni Lake golf club)??

Edited April 17, 2012 by SwissVan

[TNT1]

Planet fitness (that one on the corner by Benoni Lake golf club)

 

[JGR]

The Planet Fitness gyms in JHB are very good, equally on a par with VA and the one on Witkoppen road is probably better than most VA's except for the flagship like Melrose Arch. I was a member at Health & Raquet for at least 8 or 9 years before it failed, even though I had about two years left on my contract which I lost it was still an immaterial amount of money, paying up front for 5 or 10 years meant you trained for a few rands a month, I cant remember now but it was less than 50 bucks if you factored it out over the life of the contract, so it was no real issue.

 

That said I became a VA member when they opened and I have been very happy, I used to travel a lot and I could train at any gym in the country or internationally which I often did and still do. Unfortunately this is where gyms like Planet Fitness fall down for me, limited outlets and no international presence, but if you use them locally only they are actually very, very, good.

 

GOG that was a little before my time so I have limited knowledge but just remember all the unhappy people that were duped just before they closed down - maybe 15yrs or so ago now. Companies on the down discount whilst companies on the up give you added value - imho

[Garfield2010]

A 20% increase in fees are high no matter how you look at it. Yes you can argue about going to the gym 155 times a month and all that, but frankly it has nothing to do with the topic. The topic is about the increase and not the actual premium.

 

20% increase is very high for a company that arent even influenced by the fuel price. Its members travel to it's location and not the other way around so they cannot even blame the high oil prices!! (by the way economist actually exclude the oil price from inflation technically speaking)

 

Have you ever considered that they might be targetting a different market? Maybe their studies have shown that the 20% of member's income they will lose will be made up by the higher 20% higher fees of the remaining 80%? In other words the turnover and revenues will be the same but there will be fewer members maybe also insuring the equipment will then last longer and there will be lesser "incidents" since more room will mean a happier experience for its remaining members!?......

 

There are many ways you can look at it............

Edited April 17, 2012 by Garfield2010

[JGR]

A 20% increase in fees are high no matter how you look at it. Yes you can argue about going to the gym 155 times a month and all that, but frankly it has nothing to do with the topic. The topic is about the increase and not the actual premium.

 

20% increase is very high for a company that arent even influenced by the fuel price. Its members travel to it's location and not the other way around so they cannot even blame the high oil prices!! (by the way economist actually exclude the oil price from inflation technically speaking)

 

Have you ever considered that they might be targetting a different market? Maybe their studies have shown that the 20% of member's income they will lose will be made up by the higher 20% higher fees of the remaining 80%? In other words the turnover and revenues will be the same but there will be fewer members maybe also insuring the equipment will then last longer and there will be lesser "incidents" since more room will mean a happier experience for its remaining members!?......

 

There are many ways you can look at it............

 

As i mentioned previously companies look to increase their turnover year on year and this is most certianly more than inflation. Companies exsist to add shareholder value - thats it by its very definition. Whilst they are in the fitness area and promote good living doesnt mean they are a NPO. Yes petrol might not effect them but im sure the cost of electricty to power Virgin has increased. How many new gyms have they open recently - i think alot! this all takes capital and this needs to be recupped.

[Garfield2010]

As i mentioned previously companies look to increase their turnover year on year and this is most certianly more than inflation. Companies exsist to add shareholder value - thats it by its very definition. Whilst they are in the fitness area and promote good living doesnt mean they are a NPO. Yes petrol might not effect them but im sure the cost of electricty to power Virgin has increased. How many new gyms have they open recently - i think alot! this all takes capital and this needs to be recupped.

 

Their turn over increases with the new gyms opening up everywhere in any case.

 

My point is that 20% is still a very, very high increase regardless (for a privately run company in any case!!)

 

Maybe if we knew their cost to income ratio we would understand.......

[covie]

Hi can someone tell me what is the monthly fee if you have momentum?

 

Momentum is useless, even going the compulsary 10 visits a month you save something like R100 bucks of the total monthly fee, once you add the deficit amount and the momentum monthly fee.

[JGR]

Their turn over increases with the new gyms opening up everywhere in any case.

 

My point is that 20% is still a very, very high increase regardless (for a privately run company in any case!!)

 

Maybe if we knew their cost to income ratio we would understand.......

 

Opening a new gym costs (a lot) of money, which has to come from somewhere, they still need to attract members, which also cost money. Their turnover might increase because of this (increased memebers) but not their profits as new gyms might take years to become profitable. VA is not a necessitity but a luxury and as such we can expect those type of increases - what is wrong is increasing vital items such as bread and other basic necessitities.

 

To the best of my knowledge Virgin is a public company ....

Edited April 17, 2012 by JGR

[TNT1]

what is wrong is increasing vital items such as bread and other basic necessitities.

 

I blame the toll roads.

[Garfield2010]

Opening a new gym cost (a lot) of money, which has to come from somewhere, they still need to aatract members, which also cost money. Their turnover might increase because of this but not their profits as new gyms might take years to become profitable. VA is not a necessitity but a luxury and as such we can expect those type of increases - what is wrong is increasing vital items such as bread and other basic necessitities.

 

For me it still does not make sense. 20% is high no matter what industry. VA has got competitors so for their sake I hope they know what they are doing.

 

The fact that it is a "luxury" makes it even more dangerous for them as people can just cancel their subscriptions. If you increase the price of staple food by 20% for example people still will and have to buy it....... (like eskom )

 

You can just cancel your gyms subscription and go somewhere else........

 

But like I said before there are lots of ways to look at it - would love to know their reasoning

[bikekid]

I know why they increased the fees, richard needed the money to rebuild his island after half of it burnt down

[GLuvsMtb]

The increase would be budget driven. I would think that the biggest component of their annual budget would be refurbishment cost and not salaries. If ZAR / $ exchange rates are expected to deteriorate, we will see this ripple through to capital intensive businesses who import like Virgin Active.

 

Another bit of interesting info would be to establish how many subscribed members attend the gym at least once a week. My feeling is that there are over 50% of members that never go to gym.

[JGR]

For me it still does not make sense. 20% is high no matter what industry. VA has got competitors so for their sake I hope they know what they are doing.

 

The fact that it is a "luxury" makes it even more dangerous for them as people can just cancel their subscriptions. If you increase the price of staple food by 20% for example people still will and have to buy it....... (like eskom )

 

You can just cancel your gyms subscription and go somewhere else........

 

But like I said before there are lots of ways to look at it - would love to know their reasoning

 

I disgaree - they have no compeditors that offer what they do ito nationwide coverage. Sure GP might have a few Plant Fitness' but thats about it really. No other gym have heated pools, various studios, spinning, yoga, beach volley ball, squas, tennis, ect ect. No people dont just buy it they protest and make a scene (and then buy it) much the same as in this example. Whilst im never happy paying more i dont think it is out landish as the increase once you have taken into consideration inflation/exchange rate might only actually be an actualy increase of 10%.

 

I agree with MorewoodMad on his points about the expense drivers as they are clearly expanding.