Hey, careful, or she’ll accuse you of roid rage You definitely aren’t in the wrong, but I guess the way you handled it wasn’t the best.
[quote]WideGuy wrote:
(I do like to leave a 45 on each side of the bar in the squat rack just to remind people if you don’t use at least that much weight then DON’T USE THE SQUAT RACK). [/quote]
I had a whole response I was going to say, but NorskGoddess basically wrote exactly what I was going to say! I’m short and can’t unload a 45 from neck level. We all have to start somewhere.
And just because you pay membership fees doesn’t mean it’s “your gym”. They have the right to close whatever time they want. If you don’t like it you can join another gym, and…[/quote]
That sounds like a great idea… bag the fee for a year in advance and subsequently change the opening times as you please. Lets see… how about 8:00 to 8:05 today? Too bad this wouldn’t work, at least under Austrian law.
The tannoy announcement thing is generally not aimed at people lifting weights. They’re aimed at fat jokers who come in an hour before closing, dick around for 25 minutes and end up doing their 3mph walk bang on closing time, then insist on a 10 minute cool down and stretch ignoring the fact that they have yet to break sweat.
Then they’ll go into the showers blah blah
Where I work there are even two idiots who have been caught by the cleaners, coming back out of the changing rooms after the gym staff have left and switching the cv kit back on to do another 20 mins of level 1 on the recline bike!
[quote]RickJames wrote:
First off, commercial gyms suck. They are there for one and only one reason - to make money. They are not there to get you jacked, lean, healthy, etc. They are there to make money. Part of this involves hiring $8/hr help. It’s these kind of douches that they hire that are all pushy to be out of there when it’s closing time, not realizing (or caring) that closing time is just the START of the closing process at most other businesses.
So unless you luck out and find a locally-owned gym that is cool with things like this, you need to learn to deal with it. My suggestion would be to not be THAT GUY that stays until 10:59:59. No one waiting to close a place likes people to pull that shit. Try to be out of there by 10:45. This serves two purposes. The first is that they’ll be up your ass less.
The second is that you won’t look like that dude ordering water with your value meal and demanding they take off the $1.19 for the cost of a real soda. I just don’t think it shows a lot of class to be there at closing time in anything besides a bar.
As far as leaving a plate on the bar…dude…I train with guys squatting and pulling 800+ raw, benching 600+ raw, and we always strip the bar down. Being lazy isn’t being manly. [/quote]
I agree with this. If this was once or twice, you are very justified. However, if you are staying until closing time everey single night and you are dealing with people like this, all it is going to do is piss them off more. I don’t see why you can’t just show up 30min earlier. I trained at two gyms and the Gold’s a trained at closes at 10pm on weeknights. That means they are asking people to leave 5 minutes before 10pm.
People who don’t train seriously themselves have no understanding for why anyone would need “another set” or “another rep” to finish. That closing time is the reason I go to a gym with 24 hour access.
Take the time as a paying customer to adress the issue with a letter sent certified mail to the owner. While the gym isn’t completely out of line they definately could handle this better and in a more customer friendly manner.
I have managed a few gyms and yes I did yell out the oblugatory 30 min till close I never rushed anybody out or had to. If they were a fe sets from finishing or if they said hey I got here late could you give me few extra mins I’d lock the doors start doing my other stuff and then just let them out or if it was crowded I’d just basically do the same and theyd let each other out I never messed with stuff in the area they were working out I just simply started cleaning up on the other side of the gym or lockeroom there is always plenty of other stuff to do.
But the bottom line is its not worth fighting with anyone or causing yourself problems stuff like this can always be worked out especially with a business which is counting on you to renew with them ist just a customer service issue.
[quote]WideGuy wrote:
Well here’s where I am an asshole. I’ll most likely just lift till it’s 11 (assuming I need to, won’t do it intentionally) and if they give me a hard time I’ll continue to fuck with them. ie leave tons of weight on the bar and a chalky mess on the floor by the squat rack. :-)[/quote]
Maybe if they didn’t think you would leave a big-ass mess they wouldn’t mess with you until 11?
You should thank god for your gym hours. Mine is 6-9 M-T, 6-7 F, 8-2 on weekends. Be thankful and if it’s a big gym chain call the headquarters and complain. People are calling and complaining about problems with our gym all the time and they usually get solved.
Yes I’m wrong for leaving the 45’s on the bar, I strictly do it because it looks nicer, but that’s merely my opinion and doesn’t make it right. I have NEVER once in my entire time in my current gym or any other gym I’ve lifted in seen a female squat in the the power rack. Any time I’ve seen them squat it’s either in the squat rack or the smith machine. Btw if I said squat rack before I meant to say power rack. HOWEVER, that still doesn’t make it right and seeing how many people take that as me possible ego tripping, and then that coupled with my appearance and the fact that I like mirror, I won’t leave the 45’s on ever again intentionally. Sorry ladies, that was inconsiderate.
Yes, I’ll most likely make a more consistent effort to go to the gym a little earlier. However, when I have to go later I’ll continue to lift till 11 on the cell and tell anyone who doesn’t like it to get the snotty end of my prick. That’s what you had in mind, right Zeb ;-)? BTW nice to hear from you and I hope all is well. I was thinking about our discussions the other day while cleaning out my mail. Anyway,back to the pithy little topic at hand lol. As for going and talking to a manager or basically snitching these sucky workers out? Nope, I’d rather just piss em off
I’m lucky. Our Gold’s doesn’t close until midnight. The staff are usually pretty cool if you’re running late, as long as you’re not a jerk about it. The few times I’ve worked out late thay have been gracious.
Pissing the staff off isn’t my idea of a good one, but if they are gonna be jerks, you might as well have a little fun.
The problem is that the employees don’t get paid after the gym closes. So when the gym closes at 11 they still have to clean up and close up the place. They want people out early so they can lock up and be out the door at 11. Not 11:15 or 11:30 when they are not getting paid.
Managers should extend the shift to 30min past closing that way people can stay to closing without feeling rushed, and if you run over a little bit no one cares. The emplyoee gets paid and everyone is happy.
Clean up what? I only make a mess leave plates on when they’re up my ass. Granted I’m not the only person who lifts there and your comment probably wasn’t directed at me only. STill that goes back to the same things I said before. I don’t give a fuck. Get another job or suck it up and shut up. I have a decent idea of what they do anyway and what they look like (fitness level). They’d benefit from moving some plates around.
You’re talking about a gym where that machine takes a couple of minutes to wipe down, the plates a couple of min. to put up, and they’re out of there. They’ve probably already swept.
I worked at a Ponderosa when I was 16, as a dishwasher. I’m scarred for life, by the way. Anyways, this couple came in 15 min. before closing (10:00), wouldn’t let us close the grill, wouldn’t let us close down the buffet, wouldn’t let us bus dishes, etc…
THAT was assholish. Didn’t get out of there until three.
Well vacuming, turning off T.Vs, restacking weights, clean locker-rooms, towels. There is a lot to do. Many of times there is just one person working that late and he/she can’t get leave the front desk and start cleaning early.
Look all I’m saying is that if you paid to stay till 11 then you should should be able to stay to 11. But that also mean you must be out the door at 11:01.
[quote]WideGuy wrote:
That’s kinda what I figure, btw is that you in your avatar? Pretty jacked guy.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s me, but I’m not as jacked as I look. I’m 5’9", and about 180. It’s an illusion. I’d like to gain a bit more weight, maybe 10 lbs., eventually, but I try to stay cut. I have a fast metabolism also, so I have to eat a lot to get bigger.
You definitely aren’t in the wrong, but I guess the way you handled it wasn’t the best.