All too frequently the equipment at my gym is broken. Eventually someone fixes it and then it breaks again. Clearly, management must have recognized the problem because several months ago they closed the fitness center for an entire week. The sign on the door said “Remodeling”.  When they reopened, it looked nice. New paint. New equipment. New layout. A vast improvement. And to everyone’s surprise, they didn’t even raise our dues. What a bonus!

That was then. Now, about six months later, the gym still looks nice but the initial problem has returned. It seems every day a piece of equipment malfunctions or doesn’t work at all. When you tell the person at the desk, they shrug and say thanks. There is little communication. To be fair, a few of the brand new machines bear signs that say “out of order”. Other than that, not much has changed which makes me wonder if the fitness organization thought all it needed was a shiny new look to attract new customers and keep the old ones to stay in the game. As if makeovers are game changers. [Read more…]