Bannatyne Reviews

This is a place lacking any customer service. I was booked for a spa day and got a call less than 24hrs away from the spa start to tell me they needed to cancel. No apology I was hung up on the phone 3 times and the supposed Supervisor some male working at reception between 4pm and 5pm at the Weybridge club on Sat 21st actually hung up the phone and refused to put me thru the manager. Supposedly the manager is away and they do not have a deputy manager. The club reviews are revolting and everyone is complaining I can see why. I was offered a date 4 months from today in order to rebook. This place is a joke.

Date of experience: January 21, 2023

I only consider it fair since I wrote an adverse review on this site in relation to Banatyne Spa Chingford, that I also write to applaud the centre and staff for having made significant noticeable positive changes to the centre since the beginning of the year.
Staff are working hard to provide an improved experience. Thank you

Date of experience: January 19, 2023

I joined Bannatyne in Banbury and enjoyed the use of their facilities for around 6 months. The pool area which was largely unsupervised was closed twice during my membership time due to clientele taking in drinks glasses that were broken leading to the pool having to be drained, refilled, and reheated. I received no emails from Bannatyne to inform me of the 4-5 day disruptions and closures.

When it came to trying to cancel my membership due to covid and self-employed work demands I found Bannatyne very inflexible and unsympathetic. They have a policy of demanding at least one calendar months notice in order to cancel your membership. I attempted to cancel mine in early May which led to them charging me for non-usage of their facilities for nearly two months. Make sure you understand how this policy works and is applied before you consider joining!

Date of experience: January 20, 2023

I have been a member of Bannatyned since they opened, some 20 years ago, up until now they have had some small issues but always resolved them, now they are taking our money and doing nothing, I say nothing, to resolve the issues that are arising every day within in the Norwich Bannatyne venue. Temperatures have been reduced greatly around the building, changing rooms, greatly reduced in the swimming pool, so much so it’s empty most of the time because it’s so cold. Shower temperature have also been reduced or are not working as they should be. Management do not seem to be doing anything, they say they are going to call an engineer but how long does it take to pick up a telephone. They are quite happy to take our money even raise our membership prices, but never make any good changes. Structural as you go down to the swimming pool the concrete stairs are falling to bits, there is always a danger sign on one of the stops. I think this branch has had its day, close it down/pull it down/build a new one/update/modernise it, but do not raise membership prices.

Date of experience: January 24, 2023

Cancelled my membership as I've found a better gym, for some reason they need over 30 days to turn off my access and cancel the direct debit.

I contacted them in the middle of the month, they managed to reply within a day, but need another month and a half to click 2 buttons.

Why would they need over a months notice to cancel the membership? Simply to get more money out of you.

"This is all in our pages and pages of T&Cs you signed up to" - typical response.

My wife will also be cancelling as they continued to charge her £10 a month when she had a baby - why oh why would they continue to charge anything during this time?! That's right, simply to get more money out of you.

Date of experience: January 18, 2023

I wish I could give a zero
I have a voucner & tried to book to no avail. Everytime I went online it came back with error messages. I made several efforts to contact them but no response.
It's pathetic in this time when funds are tight for a company to make every effort to rip you off.

Date of experience: January 14, 2023

If I could zero I would, I signed up for one year only with Virgin Active, they were lovely when my Dad passed away with cancer and fully supported me prior to his death and put my membership on freeze at no addition cost as the gym was closed during the pandemic. This company takes £10 plus £47 every month to freeze it, when it was Virgin Active it was somewhere to go for relaxation and pamper time if you wanted, Bannatyne sacked all the therapist to turn it into a crèche, I won’t be paying this rip off company 1 pence, I really hope they take me Court for a membership I haven’t signed up for so they don’t rip off anybody else

Date of experience: December 24, 2022

Not a great experience for us, I booked a spa day for myself and my mum and they changed the time without notifying us, left us waiting in reception for 20mins so we missed some of our treatment time, had us lay in damp towels for our massage and were pretty poor overall. I would not return again

Date of experience: December 31, 2022

As member for 8 yrs,I can honestly say my experience has over the last couple of years changed for the worse,I used to enjoy going swimming 3-4 times a week,keeping my arthritic bones moving in a lovely warm pool.
Unfortunately now I can only stay in exercising for about ten minutes as the pool temperature has been reduced far too much for comfort,even the shower temperature has in my opinion been reduced,there is often cubicles closed of for long periods of time,the jacuzzis are often limited to one,repairs take forever if indeed that is the reason for the closure.
The whole area in the changing rooms and spas has become jaded and needs a refurbish,twice I have complained about the cobwebs and dust in the changing area.
Speaking to management has not been helpful,I have seen a reduction in the cleaning of the pool and showers over the last couple of years.
I will not be renewing my membership this time,the fees are rediculous now for the quality of experience.
Somehow I think Mr Bannatyne is just happy to take the money and does not reinvest to keep the customers happy.

Date of experience: January 15, 2023

Loved my trip to this spa! me and my boyfriend booked a voucher from wowcher to get 3 treatments and access to the spa’s facilities. I had the pleasure of getting my treatments from a lovely lady called Jan, she was super kind and knowledgeable about all elemis treatments and beauty therapies. She made me feel super comfortable and not to mention relaxed during my treatments. She also recommended me some products without sounding pushy or salesy and I even asked for more recommendations. The facilities were so nice, calming and super clean. I really enjoyed everything this spa had to offer and will definitely be back.

Date of experience: December 31, 2022

Very cold treatment room even though I told the beautician, she said ‘it’s not my fault’ very quick Swedish massage, only 20 minutes for a 25 minute massage. Manager very helpful when I spoke to her, given a hot drink and free complimentary facial.

Date of experience: December 31, 2022

Do not use this gym. Even if you get diagnosed with 2 herniated discs and epilepsy they will keep you locked in to a membership with no way of paying it. Disgusting company.

Date of experience: March 01, 2022

AVOID THIS AND THE TRAUMA AT ALL COSTS!

Seriously, if you only want to try this gym DO NOT DO IT!

...Because I only went to the gym once and I wasn't too comfortable with the facilities for the price they offer, I decided that I was not going to continue going to their gym and cancel my direct debit as I have found a better gym.

They wasn't happy about my change of gyms and have since contacted a debt collector (ARC Europe) and as of the date of experience, contacting a solicitor (Majorlaw Ltd) to collect a "DEBT"!? Bare this is mind that I chose ONLY 1 monthly NOT 12 monthly. Separate and future reviews for these companies will be left accordingly on my experience with them.

I paid for £35 as well as a £20 starting fee for these facilities for the first month and now they are chasing after an originally nearly £60 "debt" on top of a £15 termination fee for cancelling. I have informed them many times that this does NOT affect my statutory rights yet they seem to go against the law and pursue anyway. As of the date of experience, they have threatened court action and a *further* £77 fee on top of £60!

Yet this is all for not receiving £35 for another month...

This has been going on for months now and the date of experience was when I was contacted about an elevated action.

Contacting them in person about cancellations is not helpful either, bare in mind you can't cancel on the app. They just tell you that I have to pay another fee to cancel on top of another month, which is a violation of my statutory rights due to unwanted services, which left me to cancel the direct debit instruction instead even before the initial 14 day cooling off period!

I will be in contact with my relative who is a lawyer as well as the FCA and CMA about this matter. AVOID BANNATYNE!

Date of experience: January 20, 2023

This is the most unhelpful gym I have ever had the experience of dealing with. Contacted them to cancel my membership due to health issues. They constantly avoided speaking with me, no replies to correspondence, sending threats that my case would be passed over to debt people (2 months gym membership which I had asked to cancel 3 months previously) and avoided my calls to ask for a solution. So unprofessional, no care or regard for members mental health. They are only interested in pound signs. Absolute disgrace and I would stay well away from the gym in Kirkstall, Leeds.

Date of experience: December 08, 2022

Broadstairs gym.....place is looking pretty run down, old equipment and staff that ignore you......they are either chatting to each other or on their phones. Place is far too expensive, do yourself a favour buy some really good trainers and go for a walk instead. The Bannatyne experience is exactly like the guy on Dragons Den a dour, depressing feeling that your just about to get ripped off.....and believe me you will.

Date of experience: November 01, 2022

Don’t take young children here , it’s supposed to be child friendly The pool is constantly cold , obviously to save on EXPENSES
AS is Eastbourne Bannatynes, my grandson got cold very quickly , I wouldn’t have renewed my membership if I knew 😡

Date of experience: December 06, 2022

Got a 3 month taster, with a friend, which i used ONCE in the entire 3 months, then tried to cancel, but because i had the outstanding £63 on my account for the final month, they charged me a 4th month,THEN decided they would freeze the account.
When i contested it, they threatened me with a County Court judgement from their own ARC company, and they bill would go up, again!!! Thieving c**ts!
Overpriced, and under performing. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE!!!

Date of experience: November 29, 2022

While in the process of providing proof of a change of address to cancel my membership, Bannatyne quickly passed my details to a debt collection company and added £40 to what I owe them to end my contract.

I felt like this action was intended to intimidate me. And to also get some extra money out of me.

The fact that Bannatyne has a contract with ARC Europe, a company that purchases debt for cheap to make a profit, shows they don't prioritise customer service.

Very disappointing customer experience.

Date of experience: November 25, 2022

Cancelled my direct debit as couldn’t afford to go.

Haven’t been since cancelling it but they’re saying I owe them money as they need a months notice.

Why would you need a months notice to cancel down a gym membership? Only reason is so that they can get more money out of you.

Threatening to pass my account over to a debt collection company over £30 is embarrassing.

One of the worst subscription services I’ve ever seen.

Four of my friends also use the gym and will all be cancelling to so they’ve lost more money than they’re gain (not paying them anyway)

Going to cost more than £30 for them to collect the debt anyway.

Date of experience: December 01, 2022

Gift purchased spa day was purchased through an experience day company and booked in, due to illness I am unable to attend however Bannatyne would not allow me to change the date without paying £25 fee due to the fact it was 30 hours before my appointment. Apparently they could have rebooked the appointment however I find it hard to believe they were fully booked for that day as when the experience was booked a week prior all the timeslots where available.

Very poor experience and charging for a simple thing which was moving a date due to illness is crazy. Maybe I should just turn up and spread the flu!

Date of experience: December 06, 2022