Educating your MEMBERS means CUTTING COST on Fitness Equipment Repairs

I have been working in the Fitness equipment service and supply industry for over 11 years. With that being said, I have seen my share of destroyed walls, broken mirrors and broken Fitness Equipment. These were not wear and tear issues. These issues were caused by members of these facilities.

These members have 2 problems.

1) They have no idea how to properly use the machines.
2) They do not care about the equipment or the place where they work out.

If you want to minimize costly repairs at your facility and the fitness equipment you have paid to furnish your facility, you must educate your members. When a new member walks through the door of your gym, they should be taken on a tour. This should be mandatory. There should be a personal trainer or a fitness equipment professional there to show the member how to properly use all machines. The member needs to be briefed on the importance of taking care of the equipment properly. Such as wiping down the equipment after their workout (especially important on Cardio machines). They should in no way shape or form spray your treadmill console direct with cleaning solution and then wipe down. They should spray their towel directly with the cleaning solution, then clean the console. If they spray the cleaning solution directly on the console 9 times out of 10 you will eventually have a damaged console PCB board due to built up condensation. PCB BOARDS ARE NOT CHEAP TO REPLACE, ESPECIALLY NOW WITH TOUCH SCREEN TECHNOLOGY. TAKE MY WORD FOR IT AND EDUCATE YOUR MEMBERS.

Members need to be taught to treat the gym as if it were their own, or they can go somewhere else freely. They need to understand that if they abuse the facility in any way there will be reprocutions. Such reprocutions could be suspension of their membership or making them accountable FINANCIALLY for the damages they have caused. If you are scared they will tell you they are going to go somewhere else, well let them. As a gym owner you don’t need members who are going to use and abuse your facility. They are more of a liability and at the end of the day are costing you MORE MONEY. Let them go to your competitions location where they can use and abuse their facility. This will be better for you in the long run believe me.

You see the broken dumbbell above right. Well that broken dumbbell snapped like that because a member with no respect and no common sense probably dropped IT on the ground after their set. I don’t know, maybe it makes them feel like they are building more muscle by doing such stupid things. Being an avid gym rat myself I have seen this a million times. Not only are they breaking dumbbells by doing this but they are also putting other members safety at risk because the dumbbell will bounce if on a rubber mat, hitting another members leg or foot. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

INVEST IN CAMERAS THROUGHOUT YOUR FACILITY. THIS WILL BE THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU WILL MAKE AND WILL MAKE YOU LESS VULNERABLE TO THESE TYPES OF EVENTS. Making problem members accountable for their actions will benefit the life of your machines and your business!

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