Robyn van Dyk, Sunnydale
With all due respect to Jacqui Walter’s response (“Why upset a system that works,” Echo, August 31) I would like to raise the following issues.
I lodged a complaint at the beginning of August when a young administrator was hanging around the pool during the 9am class coercing us older women into three lanes as there were people wanting to swim in lane four.
The class that Wednesday morning was 40-plus people, and I and another woman objected as it was a very full class.
On Wednesday August 23, I and a full class again experienced this coercion from Virgin Active staff to move into three lanes to accommodate some swimmers - again with another full class of 40-plus.
I walked out of the class and have not been back since. I have lodged a call with Virgin head office about this problem, and I am still awaiting a response to my complaint.
I asked why a few swimmers were not willing to wait the 45 minutes for the 9am class to finish - why do they have to swim at the time the class is in progress? The pool is immediately available the rest of the day for them with no other classes according to the Virgin Active timetable. Those of us that are in the class are just as much paying members of the gym as the ones that are wanting to swim.
Would Virgin Active allow a hip hop class to take place within a yoga class just because they need the space?
This shows a total lack of respect for the aqua-class participants and the instructors of these classes.
Covid-19 regulations are still in place. It might not be as widely reported as previously, but there are new variants going around, and I doubt any of these people will want to be infected unnecessarily or due to the negligence of the gym.
Virgin Active did not communicate to anyone regarding these proposed changes to the classes - it was simply enforced one morning. This shows a lack of respect towards the people that are paying these Virgin Active staff salaries through their membership fees.
I left a private aqua class to join Virgin Active as the timetable suited my personal circumstances, and as my membership is up for renewal in two months time, I am seriously considering not renewing my membership and rather going back to an environment that respects me.