Members of Virgin Active Wembley Square in Cape Town have expressed their concerns over changes to membership fees and conditions after the club was redeveloped as a Collection Urban club.
Several members approached Nuusflits after new membership options and rates were announced. Some complaints come from people who say they have been members of the gym for years, while others say they joined themselves or their children only a few months before the change at Wembley Square and were not informed at that time that the club's classification and pricing structure would change.
One member said she has been with Virgin Active for decades and is concerned about what the change means for long-term members.
New membership options at Virgin Active Wembley Square
According to communication sent to members, Wembley Square is being transformed into Virgin Active's Collection Urban concept and new membership options have been offered to existing members.
Members have among other things asked questions about why they must commit again for a certain period to obtain certain rates, what happens to existing memberships and what options are available for people who do not wish to accept the new Wembley offering.
Other members have expressed their frustration over the period during which parts of the club were unavailable due to renovation work.
Some have also asked how attendance requirements and membership benefits were handled during the period of limited access or closure.
A further source of concern is that people who took out new memberships shortly before the change say they were not informed in advance that Wembley Square would shortly be getting a different club format and pricing structure.
Virgin Active asked for comment
Nuusflits asked Virgin Active to explain among other things when the decision was made to convert Wembley Square to Collection Urban, how existing and long-term members are affected, what arrangements were in place during the renovation and closure and what options are available for members who do not wish to accept the new membership structure.
Virgin Active was also asked to comment on members who joined Wembley shortly before the change and say they were not informed of the planned change.
The company was given a deadline of 10:00 on Monday 21 September to respond to Nuusflits's enquiries.
At the time of publication Virgin Active had not yet responded.
Nuusflits will update the article if a response from Virgin Active is received.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
