Before reading this you should know that everything was resolved as you can tell by subsequent posts and now that it’s in the past it turns out that it was one of the most empowering parts of my journey. I actually fought for myself and didn’t give up. I didn’t let my frustration become and excuse for giving up on myself…

The following is a letter to the head dude at Crossfit at my local gym. Yesterday, I went in to sign up for what I thought was going to be a $99 deal for 10 sessions- as clearly stated on their website but when I got there I was told that the deal was no longer valid and that there would be additional fees that were also not listed on their site. I’m not going to name names right now– Hopefully I’ll be able to report back with a positive response.

As someone who is overweight and has been all my life, I’m constantly looking for excuses not to exercise and can always find reasons not to step foot in a gym. Next to the beach or a public pool, the gym is the most uncomfortable place for a fat person to be seen. What happened yesterday did not help. It may be my own insecurities as a “fat person” but feeling dismissed in a gym hurts, regardless of whether or not I was actively discriminated against.

Someone once told me, you shouldn’t complain unless you know what you expect. I typically make my expectations clear when complaining and/or negotiating however, in writing this I have not made my expectations clear because I don’t really have any. I don’t want to set an ultimatum. I plan to do this program regardless of the response however I think good customer service would be to offer an apology first and foremost and then waive the $99 (unadvertised) foundations fee.

Actually, I think I AM going to put that in the email…

Also my husband always says that a good compromise is when no one leaves happy so if need-be, I will offer a negotiation- waive the fee and I’ll make a long-term commitment. But I’ll wait to get a response before negotiating. Seems fair. We’ll see!

EMAIL SENT:

Hi,

I was in the facility yesterday a spoke with ____ about joining Crossfit. I had seen the promotion on your website stating ten sessions for $99.00 for new members but was told by ___ and ___ (?) that the promotion was no longer available; though it was still on your website as of yesterday and there was no indication of an expiration date, anywhere. (I actually signed up for that deal last week via your website but no one contacted me.) When I met with ___ yesterday, I was then told that I would have to pay a $99.00 fee for a foundations class in addition to the regular rates- which is nowhere on your site. While I am not happy about this, as it feels like the old “bait and switch,” I still want to sign up for Crossfit– my fitness goals are more important to me than principle. However, I think you should be aware of what happened and know that what made me most angry was that I felt dismissed, like, “oh well, too bad, get over it.”

I have signed up for the Spartan Race in March 2013 and I am confident that Crossfit is the best training option for me. I am a professional blogger and plan to blog about my experience with Crossfit as it impacts my journey. I hope this will be a good (better than I felt yesterday) experience for me. I’ve lost 95lbs over the past 9 months and plan to get to my goal weight as well as my fitness goal of completing the Spartan with Crossfit.

After meeting with ___ yesterday and airing my grievances with ___ I was told to send an email to ___ through the website so I’m hoping this email reaches the right person. I would appreciate a response as soon as possible as I am anxious to get started. I’d also like you to consider waiving the $99 foundations fee as I had not budgeted for this in addition to the regular monthly fee for this month based on the promotion advertised on your website.

Please let me know who I need to speak to and/or what I need to do to sign up.

Thank you,

Andrea