As I've posted on here before, I attend pole fitness classes, and have been since January 10, 2009. I moved up through the levels rather quickly, and became an All-Star (advanced level) in about 10 months. I got my own pole in April 2009 so I practiced a lot of stuff both from class and the internet - probably helped me in advancing so quickly - possibly the fastest of anyone in the clientele list.
I started school again in August, the same week as a new session. Since May, my fitness classes were on Monday and Wednesday; when I started school, I signed up for my school classes for Tuesday and Thursday - it was perfect. I even told them how perfect it worked out. From August through the beginning of December, that was my schedule.
Suddenly, in December, they changed everything. You have to pay in advance to hold your spot, it was $185 for 2x a week for 8 weeks. They changed it to $145 for 2x a week for 6 weeks, with levels broken up to L1-L5 (1=beginner, 5=very advanced). They put my friend and I in L4, still advanced, but beginner advanced. Okay, I was cool with that. I put my money down to hold my spot because we didn't know how many people were going to be moved around with the new levels set up and I was told I'd still be coming Mon & Wed. I even told them that I was signing up for school and wanted to be 100% sure that I still could work my weeks the way they'd been for awhile.
They come out with the new schedule - horrible. They now dictate when you can come, instead of having a set class time and open practice times for convenience. Most of us work full time and fit it in at the end of whichever days we can get it in. I asked when I paid if L4 would be Mon & Wed still, the girl told me definitely. When I got the call to schedule my classes the week before, they offered L4 times as Sunday @ 1pm, Monday @ 6:30pm and Tuesday @ 6:30pm.
Sunday is the only day my husband is home from work 99% of the time. He works Mon - Sat because he has his own transmission business. A lot of the time he has side jobs on Saturdays as well, and will be gone from 8/9am-5/6pm. We spend Sundays lounging together, doing errands together, and enjoying time together. So I definitely didn't want to do Sundays, and I had told them that LONG ago - Sunday was hubby day. Even during the week, we get up early, carpool to work, then he works 15 hours or so, I pick him up after school or we meet up at home on pole nights, spend ~2 hours lounging and eating dinner, sleep, then repeat.
Monday was good, I had been going at 6:30 for a long time by then. It was one of my preferred days. Tuesday, I had told her I signed up for school - I'm in school from 4:30-7:30pm. So that day is out. I've been going Sunday and Monday for a couple weeks and have been hating it. I also have a few make up classes to do from when I was sick, and barely any time to do them. I was offered a time at 7:30 on Wednesday, which is a beginner level. I was so bored that when Rob called me I was SO happy to have an excuse to leave. Not challenging at all because they wont allow me to do anything higher than a level 2 move. I spent most of the class doing the same little spin and dancing in an invisible box, instead of doing straddle inversions upside down, and all the other stuff I've learned in my L4 class.
They are so hyped about fitness, but I've always been told that doing the same thing 2 days in a row (and not at all any other day during the week) isnt the best way to achieve results. The owner (who pretends she isnt the owner
) is always spewing her fitness spiels at us. Now our only days are one day after the other.
I've been holding off on paying in advance for the next session. I'm not going to give up time with Rob to go to pole and be aggravated. I also go out of town a lot on weekends. I cant go on Tuesday, so why am I going to drop $145 for 2x a week and then only go once? (You cant only go 1x a week, they dont have that option, unless you want to pay for 2 and lose money). My friend went tonight and got the NEW (yet again) schedule for next session which starts in February.
She texts me upset because they now limited us to Sunday at 8:30pm (WHAT?!) and Monday at 6:30pm. So now two workouts less than 24 hours apart. I get up for work early, by 8:30pm on Sundays I'm curled up with Rob in bed watching FOX and getting ready for sleep. My friend is putting her daughter to bed and spending time with her husband. She also lives 45 minutes away and wouldnt get home until after 10pm. The worst part is, she paid for her next session, and THEN they told her about the new schedule, which she cant really do either. And they used to refuse flat out to give any refunds. I just checked their refund policy and it says that if you request it two weeks prior to the date of the new session you can get a refund. She's currently emailing the owner to let her know how messed up it was they waited until she paid before telling her they were changing everything again and that she wants her money back. When she complained about the change, the girl at the studio said "well you can always come to a L3 class". My friend said "yeah, but 1. I paid for L4, and 2. I cant do stuff I'm supposed to be practicing in L3 so why am I wasting time?"
Another L4 girl told them she was unable to come Mon and Tues nights because she's a tattoo artist and MUST work those nights, she doesn't have the option to take time off unless she's really sick or her kid is really sick. They didnt care, so she's been coming Sundays - I'm not even sure if she's been getting her 2nd class in. They're attitude was "too bad". She's also been there for 1+ years now.
Rob has been pretty irritated with their way of doing business. They sucker you in by making you pay way ahead of time, then change things on you and refuse to give your money back when you cant make it. They tell me to put school AFTER pole. None of them ever went to college, but they dont understand that my future is a BS in Chemistry, not a strip club or go go bar. I went through issues with the competition I was in with my friend in November. They had us pay in August, then in October they changed the day to a school night and refused to give me my $25 back, then the owner sent a nasty email to me, making stuff up along the way about me, then at the end changing her attitude to nice again. I probably shouldn't have gone back after that, but I love doing pole. Rob suggested to me that until they figure the schedule out to something I can deal with again, that my friend and I should practice at each other's houses - we both have at-home-poles, and YouTube has plenty of instruction by professional champion pole dancers.
Its just disheartening they dont care about the clients that have been giving them money for a year +. I've dropped well over $1200 on them in the last year, including $35 on a uniform skirt they told me I HAD to have for the competition, only to change it around & say never mind you dont need it, but we're not offering returns.
I just needed to rant. I was so hoping they had listened to our concerns about the days and times they had promised us vs the days and times they decided. I really wanted to be signing up tomorrow night when I go try and weasel my way into an L5 (if they say no, then I'm going to stretch my 3 make up classes through 3 Mondays of the next session since you have 150 days to use them). The L5's are doing the exact same thing we are, so I dont know what their deal is
If they ask me why I havent signed up, I'm going to tell them I'm keeping my $145 until they listen to their clients concerns. Three of the four L4 clients need a Wednesday option, and it was promised to us then taken back. If they dont want to, I'll be saving a lot of money every 6 weeks.
I started school again in August, the same week as a new session. Since May, my fitness classes were on Monday and Wednesday; when I started school, I signed up for my school classes for Tuesday and Thursday - it was perfect. I even told them how perfect it worked out. From August through the beginning of December, that was my schedule.
Suddenly, in December, they changed everything. You have to pay in advance to hold your spot, it was $185 for 2x a week for 8 weeks. They changed it to $145 for 2x a week for 6 weeks, with levels broken up to L1-L5 (1=beginner, 5=very advanced). They put my friend and I in L4, still advanced, but beginner advanced. Okay, I was cool with that. I put my money down to hold my spot because we didn't know how many people were going to be moved around with the new levels set up and I was told I'd still be coming Mon & Wed. I even told them that I was signing up for school and wanted to be 100% sure that I still could work my weeks the way they'd been for awhile.
They come out with the new schedule - horrible. They now dictate when you can come, instead of having a set class time and open practice times for convenience. Most of us work full time and fit it in at the end of whichever days we can get it in. I asked when I paid if L4 would be Mon & Wed still, the girl told me definitely. When I got the call to schedule my classes the week before, they offered L4 times as Sunday @ 1pm, Monday @ 6:30pm and Tuesday @ 6:30pm.
Sunday is the only day my husband is home from work 99% of the time. He works Mon - Sat because he has his own transmission business. A lot of the time he has side jobs on Saturdays as well, and will be gone from 8/9am-5/6pm. We spend Sundays lounging together, doing errands together, and enjoying time together. So I definitely didn't want to do Sundays, and I had told them that LONG ago - Sunday was hubby day. Even during the week, we get up early, carpool to work, then he works 15 hours or so, I pick him up after school or we meet up at home on pole nights, spend ~2 hours lounging and eating dinner, sleep, then repeat.
Monday was good, I had been going at 6:30 for a long time by then. It was one of my preferred days. Tuesday, I had told her I signed up for school - I'm in school from 4:30-7:30pm. So that day is out. I've been going Sunday and Monday for a couple weeks and have been hating it. I also have a few make up classes to do from when I was sick, and barely any time to do them. I was offered a time at 7:30 on Wednesday, which is a beginner level. I was so bored that when Rob called me I was SO happy to have an excuse to leave. Not challenging at all because they wont allow me to do anything higher than a level 2 move. I spent most of the class doing the same little spin and dancing in an invisible box, instead of doing straddle inversions upside down, and all the other stuff I've learned in my L4 class.
They are so hyped about fitness, but I've always been told that doing the same thing 2 days in a row (and not at all any other day during the week) isnt the best way to achieve results. The owner (who pretends she isnt the owner
I've been holding off on paying in advance for the next session. I'm not going to give up time with Rob to go to pole and be aggravated. I also go out of town a lot on weekends. I cant go on Tuesday, so why am I going to drop $145 for 2x a week and then only go once? (You cant only go 1x a week, they dont have that option, unless you want to pay for 2 and lose money). My friend went tonight and got the NEW (yet again) schedule for next session which starts in February.
She texts me upset because they now limited us to Sunday at 8:30pm (WHAT?!) and Monday at 6:30pm. So now two workouts less than 24 hours apart. I get up for work early, by 8:30pm on Sundays I'm curled up with Rob in bed watching FOX and getting ready for sleep. My friend is putting her daughter to bed and spending time with her husband. She also lives 45 minutes away and wouldnt get home until after 10pm. The worst part is, she paid for her next session, and THEN they told her about the new schedule, which she cant really do either. And they used to refuse flat out to give any refunds. I just checked their refund policy and it says that if you request it two weeks prior to the date of the new session you can get a refund. She's currently emailing the owner to let her know how messed up it was they waited until she paid before telling her they were changing everything again and that she wants her money back. When she complained about the change, the girl at the studio said "well you can always come to a L3 class". My friend said "yeah, but 1. I paid for L4, and 2. I cant do stuff I'm supposed to be practicing in L3 so why am I wasting time?"
Another L4 girl told them she was unable to come Mon and Tues nights because she's a tattoo artist and MUST work those nights, she doesn't have the option to take time off unless she's really sick or her kid is really sick. They didnt care, so she's been coming Sundays - I'm not even sure if she's been getting her 2nd class in. They're attitude was "too bad". She's also been there for 1+ years now.
Rob has been pretty irritated with their way of doing business. They sucker you in by making you pay way ahead of time, then change things on you and refuse to give your money back when you cant make it. They tell me to put school AFTER pole. None of them ever went to college, but they dont understand that my future is a BS in Chemistry, not a strip club or go go bar. I went through issues with the competition I was in with my friend in November. They had us pay in August, then in October they changed the day to a school night and refused to give me my $25 back, then the owner sent a nasty email to me, making stuff up along the way about me, then at the end changing her attitude to nice again. I probably shouldn't have gone back after that, but I love doing pole. Rob suggested to me that until they figure the schedule out to something I can deal with again, that my friend and I should practice at each other's houses - we both have at-home-poles, and YouTube has plenty of instruction by professional champion pole dancers.
Its just disheartening they dont care about the clients that have been giving them money for a year +. I've dropped well over $1200 on them in the last year, including $35 on a uniform skirt they told me I HAD to have for the competition, only to change it around & say never mind you dont need it, but we're not offering returns.
I just needed to rant. I was so hoping they had listened to our concerns about the days and times they had promised us vs the days and times they decided. I really wanted to be signing up tomorrow night when I go try and weasel my way into an L5 (if they say no, then I'm going to stretch my 3 make up classes through 3 Mondays of the next session since you have 150 days to use them). The L5's are doing the exact same thing we are, so I dont know what their deal is
