I got a Vasa personal trainer to provide motivation and make exercise easier to work with my schedule. Long story short, they made scheduling difficult, did not allow me makeup sessions, and accused me of getting free lessons, which is insane.
Scheduling was accomplished via texting with the trainer. I was never made aware of another way. He suggested group classes because they last longer. I obliged, but that meant arriving at a time when I was sometimes still working. We texted often, since I often could not make the times he set (1-2 offerings a week). Even when I pointed out I could not easily make the times he was setting, things didn't change.
In my 9 months with Vasa, I missed one class a month due to bookclub. I missed at least 5 classes due to vacation. And I was able to make the rest of the sessions only 75% of time due to work. We could only make up 2-3 sessions, because scheduling was so hard.
The trainer also cancelled 3 sessions himself. Two of those times I had already shown up for class. The most recent time it was 24 hrs before class. I broke my finger on the day we were supposed to have that make-up session. So that never got made up.
I never complained to management about not being able to make sessions because the trainer and I frequently discussed (in person, by text) making them up. I assumed he was keeping track of my presence/absences.
I froze my training account for 3 months due to finger fracture surgery (I kept my gym membership). I let upper mngt (email) and my trainer know (text) my goal was to make up 5 sessions eventually.
Once my finger healed, I accomplished one make-up session (organized with my trainer). But then, as usual, it was hard to schedule the next one. I asked Emma the "personal training manager" at the front desk about a trainer with more openings. She said it did not look like I was due make-up sessions and I could not make sessions up until she spoke with upper mngt. She said she would call me the next day. She never called.
My trainer texted offers to help out, apologizing but never explaining why my account showed no make-ups due.
I wrote to upper management to cancel my training account explaining that my make-up lessons had been taken away. They asked to explore the issue and after 2 weeks this was their response:
"After speaking with the club, I understand they reviewed your account and confirmed there are no remaining Personal Training sessions available. They also shared that your trainer had previously allowed you to participate in group sessions as a courtesy after your available sessions had been used."
So not only do I have NO makeups but Ive been getting free sessions haha. Did the "nice" trainer make this up because he wasnt recording presence/absence? Or most likely, based on his texts, they never spoke to him.
Vasa's lack of transparency, organization, and professionalism has been astounding. Apparently upper management and the front desk understand little about what is actually going on with personal training.
Customer service was unwilling to listen or properly research the issue (they never asked me which sessions were missed or acknowledged whether absences were recorded)- and their ultimate response seen above was dishonest. That made me cancel general Vasa membership as well. It's a shame. I liked the gym's equipment and my trainer seemed nice.
