Crunch fitness / West Wood

BlazingSaddler

Hi all. Has anybody previously a Crunch member seen a massive increase in costs since the takeover by West Wood in Westmanstown? I paid €450 last year (including the 3 kids) when still Crunch, now they are looking for €948 (inc kids) or €708 not including kids. There is also an entrance fee on top of this. I know they have big plans for investment in the place (not particularly needed IMHO) but that's a hell of an increase.

annfield1978

My membership runs out next sunday, I too paid €450 last time so your topic is off concern

Won't be paying that sort of increase if that's what they offer

Whats the entrance fee for?

I got a flyer with a discount ticket on it, but i think that related to bring a second member in? Seemed to be one of those too good to be true thing

BlazingSaddler

annfield1978 wrote: »

My membership runs out next sunday, I too paid €450 last time so your topic is off concern

Won't be paying that sort of increase if that's what they offer

Whats the entrance fee for?

I got a flyer with a discount ticket on it, but i think that related to bring a second member in? Seemed to be one of those too good to be true thing

Hi. The entrance fee is on top of the membership and is supposed to be €499 per year! So their standard charge is €499 + €59 x 12 (€708) = €1207. Now I think I was told if I pay up front for the years membership (€708) you get 3 months free but at that stage I'd lost interest and she wasn't particularly clear! If your flyer was the same as mine it came with s cheque (voucher for €402), this is used against the entrance fee, reducing it from 499 to 97. They seem to be encouraging monthly payment. It's a shame as I like the place and have been there for about 5 of the last 8 years but that's silly money. Let me know how you get on. I was prepared to hand over €450 today but they weren't interested!

BlazingSaddler

Just found this old thread on West Wood. Interesting read.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056998329&page=3

54and56

I may be wrong but I think the way Westwood work is they have a single price across all their Irish gyms, join one and you are a member of and have access to all of them so it's likely the price for former Crunch members will move upwards rather than the price for legacy Westwood members will move downwards.

They do offer "special discounts" from time to time but they aren't that special, they get repeated frequently.

They say they are making a big investment (€13m or so?) updating all the gyms so it looks like they are going to continue pitching themselves as a premium rather than price competitive club.

Fyi, I've been a Westwood member for 20 years or so. I enjoy and use the Leopardstown cub several times a week but I'd be critical of their lack of investment in main gym equipment ie their treadmills and other cardio equipment is fairly old but other than that I think they run a very good club with a great selection of classes etc.

slavedave

I was in there as a guest last week and received a flyer with details on it that reflected other people's posts here. The staff member did say that if you were a member already ( my wife is) then you do not pay the joining fee. That would bring the price down per year a fair bit. I hope I heard her correctly.

54and56

slavedave wrote: »

I was in there as a guest last week and received a flyer with details on it that reflected other people's posts here. The staff member did say that if you were a member already ( my wife is) then you do not pay the joining fee. That would bring the price down per year a fair bit. I hope I heard her correctly.

The joining fee is a once off which is frequently waived. I get 2-3 letters a year in the guise that they are giving me a €499 cheque I can give to a friend to use against the joining fee.

It's the monthly fee you need to focus on if you're planning to be a long term member. I pay €180 a month for 2 adults and 2 kids which adds up to €2,160 per annum. That's a lot of disposable income so you really need to be using it to get value from it. Thankfully we use it 4-5 times a week.

Arse Biscuits

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

The joining fee is a once off which is frequently waived. I get 2-3 letters a year in the guise that they are giving me a €499 cheque I can give to a friend to use against the joining fee.

It's the monthly fee you need to focus on if you're planning to be a long term member. I pay €180 a month for 2 adults and 2 kids which adds up to €2,160 per annum. That's a lot of disposable income so you really need to be using it to get value from it. Thankfully we use it 4-5 times a week.

Got a newsletter in the post today with all their news in it and then hidden on the back in the corner is a price increase per month from €75 to €79.
That's surely breaking the t&c's letting people know 9 days in advance that there's a price increase.
I've been a member since '03 and think I will leave now. €948 is a lot of money for a gym.

54and56

Arse Biscuits wrote: »

Got a newsletter in the post today with all their news in it and then hidden on the back in the corner is a price increase per month from €75 to €79.
That's surely breaking the t&c's letting people know 9 days in advance that there's a price increase.

Three things:-

1. If you have your membership agreement (which you signed or agreed to when originally signing up) you'll probably find it includes a right for the club to increase membership fees annually or as they see fit without having to give any minimum notice. If you don't like it you can leave seems to be their stance. I thought about leaving a few times but can't find another gym which gives us what we want i.e. opens at 6am, has spin classes, pilates and yoga classes, tennis and squash etc. It is expensive though, no question.

2. They may have included a notice of fee increases in their communications over the Xmas and new year period which I normally just bin i.e. you may have missed previous 'notifications'.

3. I think it's a few years since they increased the fee. Not saying it's justified but if an increase of €4 across all 33,000 members (I think I saw that figure quoted when Crunch and Westwood are combined) that would generate €1.6m a year in additional revenue. They could afford to lose over 1,500 members in protest and they'd still have a net gain in revenue from the €4 monthly increase.

BlazingSaddler

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I pay €180 a month for 2 adults and 2 kids which adds up to €2,160 per annum. That's a lot of disposal income.

That is a massive amount of money to be spending on gym membership. My last and previous years in Crunch for 1 adult and 3 kids (all under 12) and 20 guest passes for when the wife decided to join us, as I said earlier was only €450! This is really not going to go down too well with existing Crunch members

Arse Biscuits

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Three things:-

1. If you have your membership agreement (which you signed or agreed to when originally signing up) you'll probably find it includes a right for the club to increase membership fees annually or as they see fit without having to give any minimum notice. If you don't like it you can leave seems to be their stance. I thought about leaving a few times but can't find another gym which gives us what we want i.e. opens at 6am, has spin classes, pilates and yoga classes, tennis and squash etc. It is expensive though, no question.

2. They may have included a notice of fee increases in their communications over the Xmas and new year period which I normally just bin i.e. you may have missed previous 'notifications'.

3. I think it's a few years since they increased the fee. Not saying it's justified but if an increase of €4 across all 33,000 members (I think I saw that figure quoted when Crunch and Westwood are combined) that would generate €1.6m a year in additional revenue. They could afford to lose over 1,500 members in protest and they'd still have a net gain in revenue from the €4 monthly increase.

1. Agree more than likely in the t&c's.
2. No this is their first notice as was just talking to someone I know who works there and they said some members won't get it till the end of this week.
3. Yeah it's about 10 years or so since the increase and no doubt they've taken into account the amount they can afford to lose but that's a serious amount to be spending a year for 3/4 times a week. I know it's an excellent facility (Clontarf) but I'd never be in any of the other gyms so being a member of all doesn't appeal to me at all.

It's a pity they've gone about it this way tbh and it's not worth going off peak at €57 per month.

54and56

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

That is a massive amount of money to be spending on gym membership. My last and previous years in Crunch for 1 adult and 3 kids (all under 12) and 20 guest passes for when the wife decided to join us, as I said earlier was only €450! This is really not going to go down too well with existing Crunch members

I can well imagine that allright but I guess there's a reason Crunch didn't stay going as a business, maybe it's just not viable to provide all that for €450 a year?

I know low cost can be done as Ben Dunne and others show very well but I also guess it depends what you want from a gym. If my focus was weights and cardio equipment I could join Ben Dunne in Beacon but it doesn't open until 6:30, the first spin classes don't start until 7am (Spin atarts @ 6:30 in Westwood), parking is a pain in the ar$e there, it doesn't have a pool, sauna, jacuzzi and steam room area, doesn't have tennis, squash and five a side football courts etc.

Horses for courses I guess. No question Ben Dunne and Raw Gym etc offer excellent value for money if what they offer is what you're looking for.

54and56

Arse Biscuits wrote: »

I know it's an excellent facility (Clontarf) but I'd never be in any of the other gyms so being a member of all doesn't appeal to me at all.

It's a pity they've gone about it this way tbh and it's not worth going off peak at €57 per month.

I do think it's a pity some people who won't want/value what Westwood are planning to bring to each of the Crunch gyms will leave but the flip side (which I guess is what the owners of Westwood are betting on) is that others will join.

If they are correct it will be disruptive for a few months as some leave and others join but it will settle down again.

Do you have alternative gyms in the area offering a package closer to the old Crunch deal you can join? Even if there isn't right now you can be sure other gym operators will be looking at this as an opportunity to perhaps open one of their gyms to serve those looking for a better value than the old Crunch/new Westwood clubs are now offering.

Market forces and all that!!

Arse Biscuits

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I do think it's a pity some people who won't want/value what Westwood are planning to bring to each of the Crunch gyms will leave but the flip side (which I guess is what the owners of Westwood are betting on) is that others will join.

If they are correct it will be disruptive for a few months as some leave and others join but it will settle down again.

Do you have alternative gyms in the area offering a package closer to the old Crunch deal you can join? Even if there isn't right now you can be sure other gym operators will be looking at this as an opportunity to perhaps open one of their gyms to serve those looking for a better value than the old Crunch/new Westwood clubs are now offering.

Market forces and all that!!

Won't get anything that will match that type of facility and amount of different class options especially at 6.30 am but can use the gym in my club for free which will do me until I get somewhere else instead of paying €79 per month.

Celtic Tiger and greed is back!!

54and56

Arse Biscuits wrote: »

Celtic Tiger and greed stupidity is back!!

Fixed that for ya!!

RasTa

No idea why anyone would waste that money over a Ben Dunne Gym.

slavedave

I am a Ben Dunne Gym member and see it as great value, but unless you select your time to train well it can be jammed in there and you have to wait for equipment to be free. I attend some of the classes and you have to get to them early to ensure a place (esp yoga).
Crunch (where my wife is a member) is a different standard altogether. Much less crowded, cleaner (!), more sport options, easier parking, better wellness area (inc a sauna) and, dare I say, nicer aesthetics - if that is what you are after.
I joined BD purely on price and feel that I get a lot for my euro. If I had the spare cash then Crunch would have had my custom. Now that it has become Westwood then it looks to be even further out of my reach - though I like the look of the climbing wall, short tennis, snazzy A/V enhanced classes etc. Not sure if the missus will renew with them at the price they are asking - she may have to start slumming it with me in BD (oh the ignominy)

54and56

RasTa wrote: »

No idea why anyone would waste that money over a Ben Dunne Gym.

I spelt out why I choose to pay the premium for Westwood in this earlier post:

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I know low cost can be done as Ben Dunne and others show very well but I also guess it depends what you want from a gym. If my focus was weights and cardio equipment I could join Ben Dunne in Beacon but it doesn't open until 6:30, the first spin classes don't start until 7am (Spin atarts @ 6:30 in Westwood), parking is a pain in the ar$e there, it doesn't have a pool, sauna, jacuzzi and steam room area, doesn't have tennis, squash and five a side football courts etc.

Horses for courses I guess. No question Ben Dunne and Raw Gym etc offer excellent value for money if what they offer is what you're looking for.

Phil.x

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

It's the monthly fee you need to focus on if you're planning to be a long term member. I pay €180 a month for 2 adults and 2 kids which adds up to €2,160 per annum. That's a lot of disposable income so you really need to be using it to get value from it. Thankfully we use it 4-5 times a week.

WTF!! Is this a joke. Ha ha ha...

54and56

Phil.x wrote: »

WTF!! Is this a joke. Ha ha ha...

Eloquent as your statement is can you possibly elaborate? You clearly think I'm mad paying €2,160 per annum for four of us to use Westwood and think I should be paying €600 us to use Ben Dunne but as I already explained (which you clearly don't understand or have chosen to ignore) the cheaper gyms (which I think offer excellent value for money) don't offer what Westwood offers my family so before you express your ill informed hilarity you should take a moment to understand why I choose to pay a premium to be a Westwood member when there's a Ben Dunne gym closer to my house:-

1. Westood has squash courts, Ben Dunne doesn't. 3 of us play squash.

2. Westwood has tennis courts, Ben Dunne doesn't. My daughter pays tennis.

3. Westwood has five a side football pitches which my son uses with his friends. Ben Dunne doesn't.

4. Westwood has a swimming pool which we all use, Ben Dunne Sandyford doesn't.

5. Westwood has a spa area with sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, ice bath etc which I use, Ben Dunne doesn't.

6. Westwood opens at 6:00am so I can get my work out in and be home for 7:00am in time for breakfast with the kids. Ben Dunne doesn't open until 6:30am.

7. Westwood classes (in particular Spin classes) start at 6:30am, Ben Dunne doesn't start classes until 7:00am.

8. Westwood has dedicated car parks for members only, Ben Dunne (in Sandyford anyway) is a disaster for parking as it's shared with Dunnes Stores etc.

9. Westwood has tons of equipment, I've never ever once in 20 years had to wait for a cardio machine of any sort. I've waited for the odd specialist weight machine but that's it. (I'd prefer if the cardio equipment was newer but it works!!)

10. Westwood has a teen gym which means I can bring my kids there and do regularly (I'm bringing my 15 year old there at 6:15 tomorrow so time for me to go to bed) and Ben Dunne doesn't permit U16 members. I value being able to spend time exercising with my kids!!

So, laugh in ignorance all you like but I know exactly why I pay to be a member of Westwood along with (I think) 12,000 others (pre Crunch acquisition).

Price is what you pay, value is what you get

Phil.x

I pay €280 for ME, here; http://abarbellgym.com where real men hone their guns and push heavy weight.

If I'd your money I'd burn mine.

54and56

Phil.x wrote: »

I pay €280 for ME, here; http://abarbellgym.com where real men hone their guns and push heavy weight.

If I'd your money I'd burn mine.

Do you get some sort of special discount? Taken from their website "12 months - €349 (student - €299)".

Why do you pay so much to just push weights? Why not join Ben Dunne Blanchardstown for less than you are paying in your current gym and in addition to all the weights you can lift you'd get access to a 25m pool, cardio equipment, Jacuzzis, Spin classes etc etc and even a hairdressers onsite so you can look your best when showing off those guns

Phil.x

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Do you get some sort of special discount? Taken from their website "12 months - €349 (student - €299)".

Why do you pay so much to just push weights? Why not join Ben Dunne Blanchardstown for less than you are paying in your current gym and in addition to all the weights you can lift you'd get access to a 25m pool, cardio equipment, Jacuzzis, Spin classes etc etc and even a hairdressers onsite so you can look your best when showing off those guns

Special time of the year when that deal is on. Ben Dunne like crunch are not real gyms and are packed full, they are a type of resort/treatment/spa....soft place.

But I've being to total fitness before it was ok but i wouldn't swap if it was still around.

54and56

Phil.x wrote: »

Special time of the year when that deal is on. Ben Dunne like crunch are not real gyms and are packed full, they are a type of resort/treatment/spa....soft place.

Gotcha, say no more.

RasTa

Phil.x wrote: »

I pay €280 for ME, here; http://abarbellgym.com where real men hone their guns and push heavy weight.

If I'd your money I'd burn mine.

Skipping cardio.

Do you even run bro?

Phil.x

RasTa wrote: »

Skipping cardio.

Do you even run bro?

Run?

annfield1978

was able to renew at Crunch at same price as last year as spoke to girl at the desk and not the membership team, not sure if that made a difference or whether its new members that may get stiffed for the higher prices

BlazingSaddler

annfield1978 wrote: »

was able to renew at Crunch at same price as last year as spoke to girl at the desk and not the membership team, not sure if that made a difference or whether its new members that may get stiffed for the higher prices

That's great annfield1978, I may try again! Mine wasn't a straightforward renewal as it expired back in October, I also think having the kids on the membership at the same price as last year is something they may have tightened up on.

annfield1978

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

That's great annfield1978, I may try again! Mine wasn't a straightforward renewal as it expired back in October, I also think having the kids on the membership at the same price as last year is something they may have tightened up on.

So apparently I should have been paying children membership for my 6 yr old at 15veuro a month on top of my normal membership of 450. 9 months into my membership I am told I can't bring him in.

I have another child about to turn 4 and they'll be looking for money for him as well. Crunch was children under 12 weren't an issue

BlazingSaddler

annfield1978 wrote: »

So apparently I should have been paying children membership for my 6 yr old at 15veuro a month on top of my normal membership of 450. 9 months into my membership I am told I can't bring him in.

I have another child about to turn 4 and they'll be looking for money for him as well. Crunch was children under 12 weren't an issue

Yes unfortunately the money for the worlds biggest and most expensive immersive studio has to come from somewhere. What on earth is an immersive studio anyway?!

BlazingSaddler

Hi all, 3 and a half years on from my original post i'm thinking of joining this place again!, mainly so I can use the pool with the kids in the summer. The pricing seems to have increased still, now at €69 (€49 off peak) pm per adult, €29 pm per teen, €15 child. Joining fee €69. Are these prices negotiable at all, back in the days of Crunch they certainly were. I get the impression West Wood wouldn't budge. I'm sure I wouldn't recognise it since the Crunch days, is it worth the money?