These were my observations this week:
The center at Howe Ave and Enterprise in Sacramento will close their entrance door tomorrow. This is how they did this, as shameful a way as they could manage.
1.Certain members were told of its closing last Friday by email. I was one who didn’t receive this email as did many others. I walked to the gym and saw the sign down and many of the gym equipment gone. Employees received a text message.
One excellent front desk person had, a few days prior to her text message, registered for her senior year at the University by scheduling her courses around her job at the Center. She was not given any referrals to another job. Just a text message that she’s out of a job.
2.Yesterday, while we were at the gym, the manager brought in a team of workers and right beneath our noses, they began to take the equipment out. The fans were the first to go. I told the manager we still had two more days of membership until closure so none of the equipment ought to be taken out. He said he’s obeying Corporate Office. What? Managers aren’t given the freedom to use their common sense nor do they have the freedom to treat clients with more respect ? Don’t they know what is the right thing to do anymore, but are under Corporate rule who are interested only in profit?
3.This morning, once again, they arrived to take more equipment out and we were left to a few machines.
4.Does the Corporate Office care to know their clients? Most of the members at this small, friendly, FAMILY center are in the 70-80-90 age bracket. They live near-by and are able to make this short, comfortable drive to the gym. Many of us go for coffee after gym. We know each other by name. They were totally upset as they felt their health needs were being terminated.
5.Yes, they opened a new gym on Watt and Arden. As one elderly man said, “I walked in and it was totally Corporate. Cold, large and uninviting. I’m not going back.”
To the Corporate Office of men and women: Please don’t ignore your humanity behind your Corporate Office. You are there because we clients are individual human beings who deserve more respect from you. Once you lose this humanity, you have nothing left.
Frances Kakugawa's Blog 
That’s a colossal customer service failure and terrible transitioning. If they’d done it right, they could have demonstrated how much they value their customers. We all realize that business considerations, like profitability, sometimes necessitate location closures, of course. Still, they could have sent written letters explaining things, empathized with the loss, and even offered a free month at an alternate location. From what you’ve described, it seems like staff were not transitioned well, and for staff able to stay on, it seems they were not prepared to deal with clients in any sort of respectable manner. I’m sorry it happened that way, and I hope you’re able to find a new place close to home.
I hope you’re in one of those corporate offices so your thinking can be filtered down to the custodial staff. We need sensible and caring people like you to see things so clearly. I’m checking out other gyms around the area. Thank you for your thoughts. I’m going to get in touch with the corporate office to help that college student get a job in their other locations with the same schedule to fit her college schedule.
If I worked there, then you could be sure there’d be a conversation. I hope they accept your feedback and improve. And I think it’s great that you’re advocating for the college student. Take care. 🙂
You won’t believe this as I could hardly believe it myself. I received the most defensive response, on a very personal level, almost attacking me saying I should not discuss the college student at all. I responded, she cannot censor me and I asked for another contact at the higher level of operations.