California Wow Observations

[tropo]

Well, after being a member for nearly 3 months while concurrently holding a Tony's Gym membership; I thought it might be a good time to talk about the realities of this gym as I see them.

I divide my time about equally between the two gyms (I use Tony's on Soi 16, Walking Street), but I will say, the more I train at California Wow the more I like training at Tony's.

Some observations (mostly gripes):

1. With no compulsory towel policy you could easily be training in a pool of someone else's sweat unless you take matters into your own hands and get the wipe cloth and spray they keep at the water drinking stations and do some cleaning yourself. They don't even have towels for hire.

A little story: A couple of days ago I was waiting to use a machine. When the Thai member (not Thai bashing, just a fact) left the machine there was a puddle of sweat on it where his head had just been. I politely called him over and asked if he would be so kind as to wipe it off. He gave it a wipe with his hands. I suggested he should use the cleaning spray and wipe cloth after which he told me not to tell him what to do and walked away in a huff.

2. No training etiquette whatsoever.

Very few members have ever heard of the concept of sharing equipment in a public gym. The majority of members are newbies brought in through their aggressive touting outside and once they have parted with their cash they are left to their own devices unless they've paid for the services of a personal trainer. These newbies will sit on a piece of equipment for what seems like forever until they've completed several sets and rest periods between sets, often talking on their cell phones at the same time. They are not really to blame because they have never been taught gym etiquette and just don't know. If an experienced trainer comes along and asks to share the equipment these newbies are sitting on there can be hel_l to pay. They are even known to make complaints to management about other members trying to share the equipment. I heard this from a personal trainer there.

I've learnt it is better to just leave them alone until they are finished using the machine and do something else while I'm waiting. I've had to become an equipment hog myself now as there just isn't any other way.

3. Too many personal trainers hogging equipment. The annoying part is that they also will not share equipment. They also train whenever they wish; making the gym even busier than it already is, considering the limited amount of equipment.

4. Ridiculous opening hours. How many fitness gyms open as late as 7am during the week and 8am on Saturdays and 9am on Sundays? They also close too early on weekends - Saturday 10pm and Sunday 9pm. Kind of weird in a tourist town which never sleeps and where most people don't have Monday to Friday jobs.

5. Lousy machine maintenance. For example, one upright bike (they only have 4) has been out of commission for 3 months, another 2 have problems so there's only one in perfect working order. I'm concerned that soon there won't be any useable ones left. I was told by a personal trainer that they tend to have problems getting parts.

6. Machines placed too close together. It can be hard moving around the various machines and there is no dedicated area for people wanting to do floor exercises. If they didn't have the boxing ring they'd have enough space.

7. No juice bar. No tennis courts. No swimming pool. No steam room. No sauna. No plunge pool. No spa. I don't personally use these type of facilities even if they are available, but they're a glaring omission considering what they are claiming to be - an up market fitness gym.

8. For people with no clue how to train, don't expect any free corrective advice from the staff. I've seen members doing weird stuff right in front of a personal trainer who wasn't the slightest bit concerned.

OK, I'll leave it at that. I'm curious to hear what other members have to say.

Don't get me wrong, I could list quite a few complaints about Tony's Gym too, but Tony's is not pretending to be anything other than it is - a heavy duty, no frills, dungeon type gym. California Wow is pretending to be an upper market, fitness club. That's why I'm being fairly critical in my observations.

IMO if you pay their monthly or yearly membership rates you're paying too much. If you paid between 10,000 and 15,000 for a lifetime membership, you paid about the right price taking into consideration concerns about their liquidity.

Edited October 2, 2009 by tropo

[daxbr]

Thanks for info. Great post.

[BusyBee123]

mobiles should be banned from gyms

[tropo]

Thanks for info. Great post.

You're welcome!

There have been a lot of threads about pricing at California Wow, so I thought a post on what you are actually getting for your money was long overdue. A thread where members may want to leave some comments about their personal training experience there.

[scorecard]

Thanks for info. Great post.

You're welcome!

There have been a lot of threads about pricing at California Wow, so I thought a post on what you are actually getting for your money was long overdue. A thread where members may want to leave some comments about their personal training experience there.

You guys really think buying lifetime memberships is the way to go with these gym companies?

They have massive monthly cash outgoings (massive rents, massive electric bills, water, wages, and more) and therefore they need big cash inflow each and every month.

With all respect, lifetime memberships is just fuelling their ultimate total demise.

[BusyBee123]

Thanks for info. Great post.

You're welcome!

There have been a lot of threads about pricing at California Wow, so I thought a post on what you are actually getting for your money was long overdue. A thread where members may want to leave some comments about their personal training experience there.

You guys really think buying lifetime memberships is the way to go with these gym companies?

They have massive monthly cash outgoings (massive rents, massive electric bills, water, wages, and more) and therefore they need big cash inflow each and every month.

gosh you are quite the business man and i thought they were talkng about <deleted> equipment Mr perceptive you are i'll follow your posts in future

Edited October 3, 2009 by BusyBee123

[Asianrider]

they get the thumbs down from me - they wouldn't let me inside to have a look at the facilities without filling in a multi-page questionnaire and listening to a long sales speech......

[Pdaz]

Mind numbing overly loud music means that why you are getting your body in shape you are destroying your hearing..

management and staff have no interest in customer service and satisfaction..

The greasy farang in charge is a slimeball

Looking forward to their business collapsing..

[tropo]

Mind numbing overly loud music means that why you are getting your body in shape you are destroying your hearing..

management and staff have no interest in customer service and satisfaction..

The greasy farang in charge is a slimeball

Looking forward to their business collapsing..

I didn't mention the music because it is pretty standard to have music fairly loud in fitness clubs these days. It is definitely not loud enough to hurt your hearing.

I haven't seen that Farang manager I think you speak of since July. I believe he is no longer working there.

[skate44]

I am by no means an expert on gyms but I can say that I was very disappointed with this place. I ended up paying over 25 000 for joining and personal training. The first one was ok but when I paid in full they completely lost interest with me and must have moved on to the next sucker.

First time in Thailand NO

Do I feel stupid YES

[tropo]

I am by no means an expert on gyms but I can say that I was very disappointed with this place. I ended up paying over 25 000 for joining and personal training. The first one was ok but when I paid in full they completely lost interest with me and must have moved on to the next sucker.

First time in Thailand NO

Do I feel stupid YES

There definitely is a change in attitude once you've parted with your cash. The gym has very business like, unwelcoming ambiance which may intimidate newcomers. You really are on your own once you've paid.

Edited October 3, 2009 by tropo

[basjke]

Mind numbing overly loud music means that why you are getting your body in shape you are destroying your hearing..

management and staff have no interest in customer service and satisfaction..

The greasy farang in charge is a slimeball

Looking forward to their business collapsing..

I didn't mention the music because it is pretty standard to have music fairly loud in fitness clubs these days. It is definitely not loud enough to hurt your hearing.

I haven't seen that Farang manager I think you speak of since July. I believe he is no longer working there.

Haha,the slimeball Pdaz is talking about happens to be the son of the owner so he is probably temporarily at some other branch now.And yes he is a slimeball big time.

I had some,let's call it a argumentative conversation,with him some time ago about defects and shortcomings in the gym and however he defended himself to the bone most of them were fixed within 24 hours.

[barrybike]

give me tonys any day on third road..went into that wow place and they pressured me to signing up and asked me too many stupid questions for my liking...talked as if the promotion he was giving me only lasted for that day until 6pm ..i said ill be back later just to get out of there ..ill never set foot there again anyway ....tonys has all the weights i need anyway ,,cheap protein shakes and towel ,good value i think...........

[deve]

I am by no means an expert on gyms but I can say that I was very disappointed with this place. I ended up paying over 25 000 for joining and personal training. The first one was ok but when I paid in full they completely lost interest with me and must have moved on to the next sucker.

First time in Thailand NO

Do I feel stupid YES

There definitely is a change in attitude once you've parted with your cash. The gym has very business like, unwelcoming ambiance which may intimidate newcomers. You really are on your own once you've paid.

Absolutely agree . I am one of those victims who become a member and than got treated like nothing . They have even appointed another PT without consulting with me . I don't know what can be done but something has to be done to stop this "money trap" operating freely with false promises !!

[William Osborne]

i was over in Pizza Pizza last week and took a while to figure out where the racket was coming from......like a friking nightclub ...seems to have its fair share of weirdos as customers as well...

My mrs made equiries when it first opened, they didn't stop calling her for months bugging her to join..