OK, I considered joining Powerhouse Gym years ago when I first got out of the Army, but I found them to be lacking in customer service orientation. This past weekend, I visit a friend who lives near the gym and who had just joined. Usually, when I visit, I go to the local YMCA - always friendly, and they have all the stuff. However, my friend talked up this new Powerhouse Gym so much that I thought I should check it out. My friend says that it's every bit as nice as Lifetime Fitness. She gave me a free pass to check it out.\r
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I stopped by to go check out the place and get a workout. The young man at the counter told me that the guy who issued the pass wasn't there at the time, and that they would therefore not be able to honor the pass. He said it as if it made complete sense to him. He told me that it would cost $10 to enter. I pointed out that the pass said ""Free One Day Guest Pass"" in pretty big letter across the front. He turned the card over and pointed to the fine print that read ""some restrictions may apply."" His attitude made it very clear to me that I was just a low-life, scum sucking customer who was too dumb to realize that ""some restrictions may apply"" clearly means that the FREE ONE DAY GUEST PASS is only applicable if ""Todd"" (name changed to protect the guilty) is also physically on the premises. Silly me. And when they learned that I was visiting from out of town the attitude became even worse. Hey ... not only is this just a potential customer, but we can't even convert his sorry butt to immediate revenue. The young man then told me that the charge was usually $25, but that he was giving me a break by only charging me $10 (for my free one day guest pass). I walked out shaking my head having re-learned a lesson from yester-year because this was the same feeling I had in my previous interaction with Powerhouse. \r
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If you're looking for a gym, I'd have to recommend the YMCA. Lifetime Fitness can be kind of iffy, too, but they're not bad. I was a member there for long time. But Powerhouse doesn't ""get it."" You can't treat poorly and maximize your potential as a business. They will not get my business. If they get yours, then that's totally up to you, but don't say I didn't tell you.
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