Virgin Active UK Reviews 6,024

There is no way to cancel the membership online; the only option is to call them. If you have relocated, they request numerous documents and respond very slowly. By the time they reply, your next billing cycle has often already started and you are charged for the full month.
If you refuse to pay, they add late payment penalties. This feels like a very sneaky way to take money from customers. I am very disappointed that I joined and would not recommend them to anyone.
It is very easy to sign up, but extremely difficult and costly to cancel.

I sent 4 emails with 4 different complaints - poor in itself - had no response after a week. Terrible customer service.
Virgin replied after about two weeks but didn't resolve all the queries. The biggest complaint is that my husband pays the same amount to be a peak time member as I pay to be off peak. This is unfair and the company doesn’t care.

I am a member of Wimbledon and it is superb. Staff : Barnabus on reception is always helpful and my favourite pilates classes are with Jennifer, Marzia, Mari, Eleni, Charlie and Justine - they all make the gym such a wonderful place to visit. It is a life-saver for so many people and my health is much improved. Thank you all so much for making it such a lovely place plus the cafe is fab. The annual subscription is reasonable with access to the other London clubs.
Sauna is clean and toasty.

After 10 years' membership, I have finally cancelled. In the last couple of years in particular Virgin Active has gone so far downhill. The facilities on-site are not as well maintained as they used to be, and they are certainly not cleaned as much as they used to be. Dirty equipment, empty sanitiser spray bottles, dirty changing rooms. They've implemented new towel rules meaning 1 towel per visit, no matter how long you're there for or what you're doing. (E.g. if you are there for an hour in the gym and an hour in the pool then you get one towel, or if you visit for a half hour class you get one towel. It's absurd.)

In short, you do not get what you pay for.

To top it off, you are not treated as a valued customer. It is now not possible to phone your gym - you have to go through to a call centre. You can expect to be waiting on hold for anything from 20 to 45 minutes. When you do speak to someone they often are unable to help. Emailing is no better - you can expect a response in a week's time.

It's also notable that it doesn't only seem to be the customers who are unhappy; I know several very good instructors who've recently stopped working for Virgin Active and have taken their skills elsewhere.

A relatively expensive gym membership that does not deliver on that price tag.

I have been pleading with virgin active to allow me to come to a settlement buy out of my membership. I realise I signed a contract but since then my circumstances stances have changed but not within the 3 reasons the company will accept if full proof can be given. The whole situation is making me quite ill and I am still waiting for somebody from Virgin to speak to me in person. Can anybody please advise me what I can do!
Thank you

I joined in January and a few days later had a hand injury , a couple of weeks later I saw a speciality who advised me I needed surgery and I would not be recovered enough for the gym until May.

I have never been to Virgin, I called and asked if we could delayed my start date to May..

"No as my membership has already started"
I can only pause membership for 2 months and still have to pay for that
If I cancel then they will charge me for another 30 days....."

Cheapest option was to cancel, and after that experience, I wonder what other 'surprises' membership has to offer"

I won't be rejoining in May

Update 26/32026
Virgin just replied below to say a member of their Team has reached out to me. I have multiple emails saying thank you for your enquiry, a member of the team will reach out to me. The last one was March 11th l, see below, promising they would respond in 1 -2 days, today is the first time I have had a real reply.

Hi Ivan,

Thanks for getting in touch.

We’ve now converted your ticket into a formal complaint and logged it in our system.

Your complaint reference number is 439058.

One of our agents will be assigned to your case shortly and will get back to you within 2 to 4 working days.

You can view a copy of our complaints policy and our escalation process – here.

Love,
Virgin Active

Have been trying to cancel membership for nearly a month now on medical grounds, emails have been ignored, customer service said they was sending to club manager which was ignored, visit to club with more medical letters,still ignored!! I would 100% not recommend joining Virgin as you will be discriminated against for being unable to exercise. This has caused stress and upset which is not acceptable. ❌️Avoid at all costs!!!!

Disgusting facility's dirty damp and barely cleaned the new addition to the gym is equipment this equipment is used by classes so the normal members can't use it fixtures fittings are broken in many areas the manager has a problem with members expressing themselves and wants everyone to behave Ike robots or else get told off or banned disgusting attitude and I will never go back swimming pool spar are dirty often broken roof is leaking dust is everywhere and all over the roof cavity area no working Aircon or vents fans ect "disgusting is a understatement"" shut it down

I had a surgery and I am unable to use gym for a bit. I provided hospital letter and I have been waiting for my refund ever since. Dealing with the call center customer service team for over a month now, without resolution is not fun. They don't answer messages, don't follow through, don't understand query, Very tired of dealing with this now.

Terrible communication! Absolutely diabolical. They didn't let me know when the works would start at my home gym, I arrived one day to chaos and dust everywhere. I can go to another Virgin Active, but that one is so dirty, never any toilet paper, always smells like someone is smoking somewhere in the changing rooms.. So I asked to freeze my account until the works at my home gym are done, no one told me there would be a fee - I get confirmation by email of this. I am trying to contact Virgin Active to ask why I'm being charged when it's not my fault I need to freeze, and I can't get through. Can't reset my password to chat, no answer on the phone. So frustrating!!!

I moved to Wembley at the end of January where there’s no virgin active. I gave written notice of cancelling my membership in early December. I was charged in February and received a refund. Now I’m constantly getting overdue reminders and threats of debt collection despite being assured by my home branch that the cancellation is taken care of. It’s extremely stressful and time consuming to cancel this place and you can’t get anyone on the phone. Don’t risk joining
Edit, they finally got back to me and cancelled my membership, leaving an outstanding balance for month of February despite cancelling my membership in December 😒

I've just called the customer service and the person was so rude, no manner, no saying anything much. I havent finish my inquiries and he just said alright and hang up !! So I just canceled my membership and cancel it and make so difficult to do so. Not ever gonna join virgin active again !!!!

I actually dont mind the leigh on sea gym but i do not understand how they can up the price of my membership by £42, I've been using this gym since september 2022. I now have to leave and find a more affordable gym, how they can charge £136 for a membership that often has spa equipment out of use, often has no hot water so i have to shower at home i do not know, i sent a web message and was told I'd hear back,that was 5 days ago. Clearly want the old members out to make way for the new members

I’m extremely disappointed with Virgin Active’s handling of my membership.

I’m on a 12-month contract and had to request cancellation due to a genuine health condition that prevents me from using the gym. I provided the required medical evidence from my doctor and submitted everything by email on 26th January.

It has now been over 20 days with no reply, no confirmation, and no support - yet Virgin Active is still taking monthly payments as normal. Under UK consumer guidance, a contract should allow cancellation where a medical condition prevents use of the service.

To make matters worse, it is practically impossible to contact anyone by phone - calls either go unanswered or lead nowhere, which leaves customers with no proper way to resolve urgent issues.

At this point it feels like my request is being deliberately ignored while they continue charging me.

This is not acceptable customer service, especially when someone is dealing with a medical issue. I am now formally requesting that Virgin Active:
• confirms my cancellation in writing
• cancels my membership from the date I first submitted the medical evidence
• refunds any payments taken since that date

I hope someone from Customer Relations finally takes this seriously and resolves it properly.
Membership 425p149339 - Wandsworth

First, total lack of transparency in the way Personal Training contracts are presented. I agreed to a 3-month package, but the fact that this would convert into a rolling monthly contract was not even mentioned once. The agreement was signed on a tablet at reception, the renewal terms were not mentioned or explained, and I was not provided with a copy of the contract. Payments were then taken in a fourth month, without any reminder or warning, and at a higher price than the original 3-month promotional package. As far as I understand, practices of this kind may not comply with basic consumer transparency requirements.

Second, the customer service structure makes it practically impossible to resolve any issue. Telephone support says that decisions are made by the local club, while the local club says that they cannot act directly and can only submit requests through an internal system. In practice, this means there is no clear point of responsibility and no one who can actually resolve a problem. Emails trigger automatic replies promising contact within 1–3 days, but no one ever directly follows up, which feels like a complete lack of respect for customers’ time and concerns.

Practices like this harm both customers and the company itself. It is frustrating to see such an efficient system when it comes to taking payments, but so little support when a problem arises. Issues like these have already led to regulatory action and fines in fitness companies in other countries, and I hope Virgin Active UK reflects seriously on how contracts are explained and how customer support is handled. As customers we simply want clarity, fairness, and the ability to resolve problems without having to fight for it.

Last but not least, Virgin Active leadership should seriously look at the Trustpilot rating of around 3.2. This is not a small issue but a clear warning sign. It is hard not to question the judgement and competence of management when such consistent feedback is ignored. Ignoring your customers is not a strategy; it is a sure way to lose their trust and damage your brand.

New Addition after Virgin Active Response:
Thank you for your response. I appreciate that you state "contracts are explained verbally when set up". However, where agreements create ongoing financial commitments, the key terms should be clearly set out in writing and drafted in a way that makes their effect obvious to the customer. Transparency cannot depend solely on what may have been said verbally.

In my case, the arrangement was presented as a three-month promotional package, which reasonably suggests a fixed term rather than a minimum term converting into a rolling contract. The written agreement I signed states only the discounted price and does not refer to any higher price after three months (which has been the case and without warning), nor does it clearly set out automatic continuation beyond that period. In those circumstances, it is entirely reasonable to interpret the offer as a fixed-term package.

For terms like this to be fair, they need to be clearly written and made obvious to customers at the time they sign up. That is the core of my concern.

Giving it a 3 for the Classes and gym as they are great.

If you’ve got kids and want to get into lessons, brilliant. Kids swimming lessons are every day of the week, 4-8pm and Sat/Sunday mornings: exactly the prime time you would go if you work full time. For me, Working full time, with no kids, it’s totally rubbish. £80 a month to not be able to use the pool at convenient times is pretty pants.

Genuinely the worst gym experience I have ever had in my life. I am extremely disappointed with Virgin Active’s customer service.

I have been trying to resolve membership issues for over three months. It takes days-weeks to get any response, and when I do, the issue is still not properly addressed. I have made multiple complaints and spent a significant amount of time chasing for clarity, yet nothing seems to move forward.

As a result, I have been unable to properly use my membership, which I am still being charged for. I am now in an ongoing dispute over my contract, which could have been avoided if anyone had dealt with this competently at the start.

The lack of accountability and slow communication has been incredibly frustrating. For a gym brand like Virgin Active, the level of service is simply not acceptable. I have had to lodge a complaint via a private resolver. Their teams are unhelpful and you will go around in loops and loops.

I would strongly urge others to consider the level of aftercare before signing up.

This was the worst gym and leisure club I've ever joined. It's oversubscribed, you need to queue to get a machine. Parking is a nightmare to the extent that it's kind of normal to go there, get stuck in traffic and never make it the gym as by the time traffic in the car park eases you feel exhausted and get back in the exit queue. Numerous complaints remain unanswered. Most members are there because there's no alternatives. If a David Lloyd opens in Sheffield these guys go out of business overnight. I got injured and ended up in hospital but the only remedy they could offer was cancelling my membership after a fake investigation into the case. Noone rang me to check on me although the injuries were in head and spinal areas. I wouldn't go back if it's offered for free.

Signing up to this gym online is quick and straightforward. Cancelling, however, is a completely different story and feels deliberately obstructive.

The cancellation process is not transparent or accessible. The terms and conditions are not clearly available on the website and were only discoverable by pretending to sign up again, where they appear as a checkbox. The email address for cancellations is also hidden within these hard-to-find terms.

Although cancellation is supposedly possible by phone, in practice this does not work. I have attempted to call multiple times and remained in the queue until the call is automatically disconnected at around 46 minutes without ever being answered. Online cancellation is not available, and the app only allows you to freeze your membership, not cancel it.

Other options require attending the club in person or contacting customer service during limited weekday working hours, which are impractical for many people. This is despite the fact that joining can be done fully online at any time.

Before signing up, read the terms extremely carefully, take screenshots, and set your own reminder well before the end of the initial commitment period. Be aware that cancelling may require significant time, persistence, and escalation. If you do run into issues, Citizens Advice can help you understand your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

I would not recommend this gym based on the cancellation experience alone.

Money-grabbing and deliberately misleading cancellation process

⚠️ WARNING: Virgin Active will take as much money from you as possible when you try to cancel — with little to no warning.

I went through what should be a completely normal process. I got injured, froze my membership, didn’t recover, and then cancelled. I called them, cancelled within weeks of the next billing period, and was told the cancellation was “done”.

What I was not told — at any point — was that:

1. I would still be charged for the following month
2. AND hit with an additional cancellation fee
3. EVEN THOUGH my membership was frozen and I wasn’t using the gym

Incredibly, cancelling actually cost me more money than staying another month. This was never clearly explained, flagged, or transparently communicated.

This feels like a deliberately engineered system designed to squeeze maximum money out of members, particularly when they’re injured or vulnerable and just want to leave.

Hidden charges, poor communication, and a complete lack of consumer care.

I strongly recommend avoiding Virgin Active there are far better gyms that don’t rely on traps and fine print to make money.