FITNESS FIRST, EMPLOYEES LAST.
Fitness First is one of the biggest fitness chains in the world. There's no denying that. They have countless branches in various countries from Europe to Asia to Australia. So it's no surprise that the facilities and the management is top-notch all around the world. Now, taking that into consideration, one would expect the facilities and management of Fitness First Philippines to be top-notch as well, right?
WRONG.
The management -- Group Exercise division, to be specific -- is shitty, inefficient, and corrupt. I won't delve into the "corrupt" aspect, but I do know what some of our higher-ups have been doing. However, I will gladly discuss the "shitty" and "inefficient" aspects at great length. So make sure you have time, and some food nearby. This is gonna take a while.
Anyone who knows me knows that I started out as a member. I was a 230-pound guy who wanted nothing more than to attend classes, lose weight, and have fun. 50 pounds later, I was still a member, I was still attending classes, and I was still having fun. I loved the classes so much that when there were auditions for BodyAttack instructors, I showed up and gave it a shot. I wanted to be able to show people the benefits of the classes. I wanted to be one of those "success stories", one of those people who lost weight by constantly attending the classes. It was sort of a "Pay It Forward" thing for me.
So I got in. I went through the training. I finished the mentorship program quickly. Our lovely program head cleared me right away. I was right on track. I was doing my job. I was working hard.
Now, as everyone knows, group exercise instructors don't pay their monthly membership anymore. It's one of the so-called "perks" of being an employee of the company. BUT what people might not know is that an instructor has to have at least THREE regular classes for the membership fee to be waived.
That brings me to October 12, 2008. The launch of BodyAttack 62 at Fitness First Manila. (Yes, I loved BodyAttack so much that I actually went all the way there just because our program head asked me to do the launch.) The launch was intense. One of the members even came up to me after the class and said he loved my energy. I took a bath, got dressed, and started heading out.
On my way out, I ran into MIKE ABACAN -- Group Exercise Manager of Fitness First Manila AND Senior Group Exercise Manager of Fitness First Philippines. I informed him that starting October 13, 2008, I would already be handling FIVE regular classes. I kindly asked him what I had to do to have my membership status changed. (At that point, I was still a member.) The all-knowing Mike told me to text him my list of regular classes. A couple of minutes later, I did what he told me. He said he would just update me when my status was already fixed.
October ended. November began. NOTHING. I was still charged my monthly membership fee for November 2008.
On November 23, 2008, all the group exercise instructors were at Fitness First Manila for our quarterly workshop. Once again, I calmly approached Mike and asked him about my membership status. He told me that I had to e-mail him my list of regular classes. I found it a bit weird, but I did as I was told.
Last week, I texted Mike again. I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be charged for the month of December. So I texted him and followed up. I asked for an update. He replied: "Saang branch ka member?"... I answered: "Eastwood Branch :-)" (Yes, I even put a smiley face even if I was getting impatient.) After I replied, Mike never texted back.
And so here we are. December 19, 2008. Out of curiosity, I approached Michelle, the pleasant receptionist at Fitness First Eastwood. I asked her if I was charged for the month of December. She said yes. At that point, my head was about to explode. Enough was enough. After my 730pm class, I headed straight to the locker room, whipped out my cellphone and texted Mike...
Hi Mike. Good pm. I just checked with the Eastwood branch and i found out na na-charge parin ako ng monthly membership fee for December 2008. Bakit ganon? OCTOBER 12 ko pa sinabi na 5 classes na ang hina-handle ko. I even texted AND emailed you my list of classes. Oo kayo ng oo sa akin, pero nagbabayad parin ako. WALANG NANGYAYARI. I've been working hard and I've been ding my share. And you treat us this way? This is incredibly WRONG and UNFAIR.
Message sent. But I was still fuming mad. That text wasn't enough for me. So...
We work ourselves to the point of exhaustion, dehydration, AND hospitalization. We wholeheartedly give you our time and dedication, without any hesitation whatsoever. We are at your beck and call 24/7... Then we get NOTHING in return? Something isn't right here. Why are we ALWAYS on the losing end? Is THIS what we have to look forward to as employees of this company? I hope you have a merry christmas and a very happy new year.
Message sent. I put my phone in my bag. Took a bath. While I was scrubbing myself, it dawned on me that I still wasn't satisfied. So the minute I stepped out of the shower, I got my cellphone and proceeded to type...
I am a new employee and therefore, I am NOT familiar with how the system works. I do know that it takes three classes for the membership fee to be waived. So when I told you last October 12 that I was already handling FIVE classes, I put my TRUST in you. As a new employee, I had faith in your words of reassurance. You told me that you would be the one to fix it. YOU, not anybody else. I remember everything vivdly. 2 months later, and still NOTHING.
Message sent. 24 minutes later, Mike Abacan replies...
Jake di ba I told u to go to the fohm of ewc coz ur membership is based there? They will process that. Communicate with maki. He will also process the credit memo on ur cc.
(SIDE NOTE: fohm = Front-of-House Manager. ewc = Eastwood City. Oh, and Maki is a she, not a he.)
Yes, that's all he had to say. He tried to turn it around and make it seem that somehow, I missed something he said, that maybe he told me before and I just forgot. If he thought he was gonna get away easy, he was wrong. I wasn't gonna take that shit. So I immediately replied...
Nope, last time I texted you about this, which was last week, all you asked me was what my home branch was. I replied "Eastwood City" and never got any text after that. But anyway, thank you for the info. Now all I'm left wondering is... If that's all I had to do, why didn't you tell me in the first place? Si Maki naman pala ang kelangan kausapin eh. Bakit binitin pa ako for TWO MONTHS? Was it really necessary to keep me hanging in the air? Good Lord.
Once again, not enough. So I sent a second text message...
October 12 was the first time I told you about it, and I texted you my classes that same night. November 23, I asked you at the quarterlies, and I emailed you my classes after. Last week, I texted you and was left hanging. There were so many opportunities to inform me and tell me what to do, and I only find out NOW??? Kung kelan na-charge na ako ng ilang libo??? If I wasn't supposed to be bugging YOU about it, then why didn't you say so in the first place?
1 hour and 21 minutes have passed. Still no reply. Amazing. Oh, and to top if all off...
WE DIDN'T RECEIVE OUR SALARIES!!!!
November was a busy month for everyone. Other than our regular classes, several instructors were killing themselves rehearsing for Asia Momentum. Some of the BodyAttack people stayed till midnight just so we could come up with 2 decent routines for Powerade. Speaking of Powerade, I had to go all the way to the Coca-Cola headquarters in Santa Mesa to do a BodyAttack demo. And lastly, I hosted the BodyCombat Main Event. All the other instructors had their own gigs, demos, and other stuff on the side.
SO WHERE THE FUCK IS OUR MONEY???
Don't get me wrong. This isn't all about the money. It's about fairness. It's about doing what's right. It's about treating your employees -- old or new -- properly.
All this madness makes me want to spill the truth about those Les Mills t-shirts that the AsiaMo people received. But I won't. All I'll say is... P100 and P600 are not the same. There's a huge-ass 500-peso difference. There were approximately 50 people who took part in AsiaMo. P500 x 50 = P25,000. Where did all that go? I honestly have no idea. I'll leave it at that.
So there. It pisses me off to no end. And it pisses me off even more that all this is happening so close to Christmas. It's fucking Christmas, for crying out loud!!!!
How pissed am I? Well, if I start writing & cursing in straight english, then you can bet your fucking ass that I'm pretty fucking pissed.
WRONG.
The management -- Group Exercise division, to be specific -- is shitty, inefficient, and corrupt. I won't delve into the "corrupt" aspect, but I do know what some of our higher-ups have been doing. However, I will gladly discuss the "shitty" and "inefficient" aspects at great length. So make sure you have time, and some food nearby. This is gonna take a while.
Anyone who knows me knows that I started out as a member. I was a 230-pound guy who wanted nothing more than to attend classes, lose weight, and have fun. 50 pounds later, I was still a member, I was still attending classes, and I was still having fun. I loved the classes so much that when there were auditions for BodyAttack instructors, I showed up and gave it a shot. I wanted to be able to show people the benefits of the classes. I wanted to be one of those "success stories", one of those people who lost weight by constantly attending the classes. It was sort of a "Pay It Forward" thing for me.
So I got in. I went through the training. I finished the mentorship program quickly. Our lovely program head cleared me right away. I was right on track. I was doing my job. I was working hard.
Now, as everyone knows, group exercise instructors don't pay their monthly membership anymore. It's one of the so-called "perks" of being an employee of the company. BUT what people might not know is that an instructor has to have at least THREE regular classes for the membership fee to be waived.
That brings me to October 12, 2008. The launch of BodyAttack 62 at Fitness First Manila. (Yes, I loved BodyAttack so much that I actually went all the way there just because our program head asked me to do the launch.) The launch was intense. One of the members even came up to me after the class and said he loved my energy. I took a bath, got dressed, and started heading out.
On my way out, I ran into MIKE ABACAN -- Group Exercise Manager of Fitness First Manila AND Senior Group Exercise Manager of Fitness First Philippines. I informed him that starting October 13, 2008, I would already be handling FIVE regular classes. I kindly asked him what I had to do to have my membership status changed. (At that point, I was still a member.) The all-knowing Mike told me to text him my list of regular classes. A couple of minutes later, I did what he told me. He said he would just update me when my status was already fixed.
October ended. November began. NOTHING. I was still charged my monthly membership fee for November 2008.
On November 23, 2008, all the group exercise instructors were at Fitness First Manila for our quarterly workshop. Once again, I calmly approached Mike and asked him about my membership status. He told me that I had to e-mail him my list of regular classes. I found it a bit weird, but I did as I was told.
Last week, I texted Mike again. I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be charged for the month of December. So I texted him and followed up. I asked for an update. He replied: "Saang branch ka member?"... I answered: "Eastwood Branch :-)" (Yes, I even put a smiley face even if I was getting impatient.) After I replied, Mike never texted back.
And so here we are. December 19, 2008. Out of curiosity, I approached Michelle, the pleasant receptionist at Fitness First Eastwood. I asked her if I was charged for the month of December. She said yes. At that point, my head was about to explode. Enough was enough. After my 730pm class, I headed straight to the locker room, whipped out my cellphone and texted Mike...
Hi Mike. Good pm. I just checked with the Eastwood branch and i found out na na-charge parin ako ng monthly membership fee for December 2008. Bakit ganon? OCTOBER 12 ko pa sinabi na 5 classes na ang hina-handle ko. I even texted AND emailed you my list of classes. Oo kayo ng oo sa akin, pero nagbabayad parin ako. WALANG NANGYAYARI. I've been working hard and I've been ding my share. And you treat us this way? This is incredibly WRONG and UNFAIR.
Message sent. But I was still fuming mad. That text wasn't enough for me. So...
We work ourselves to the point of exhaustion, dehydration, AND hospitalization. We wholeheartedly give you our time and dedication, without any hesitation whatsoever. We are at your beck and call 24/7... Then we get NOTHING in return? Something isn't right here. Why are we ALWAYS on the losing end? Is THIS what we have to look forward to as employees of this company? I hope you have a merry christmas and a very happy new year.
Message sent. I put my phone in my bag. Took a bath. While I was scrubbing myself, it dawned on me that I still wasn't satisfied. So the minute I stepped out of the shower, I got my cellphone and proceeded to type...
I am a new employee and therefore, I am NOT familiar with how the system works. I do know that it takes three classes for the membership fee to be waived. So when I told you last October 12 that I was already handling FIVE classes, I put my TRUST in you. As a new employee, I had faith in your words of reassurance. You told me that you would be the one to fix it. YOU, not anybody else. I remember everything vivdly. 2 months later, and still NOTHING.
Message sent. 24 minutes later, Mike Abacan replies...
Jake di ba I told u to go to the fohm of ewc coz ur membership is based there? They will process that. Communicate with maki. He will also process the credit memo on ur cc.
(SIDE NOTE: fohm = Front-of-House Manager. ewc = Eastwood City. Oh, and Maki is a she, not a he.)
Yes, that's all he had to say. He tried to turn it around and make it seem that somehow, I missed something he said, that maybe he told me before and I just forgot. If he thought he was gonna get away easy, he was wrong. I wasn't gonna take that shit. So I immediately replied...
Nope, last time I texted you about this, which was last week, all you asked me was what my home branch was. I replied "Eastwood City" and never got any text after that. But anyway, thank you for the info. Now all I'm left wondering is... If that's all I had to do, why didn't you tell me in the first place? Si Maki naman pala ang kelangan kausapin eh. Bakit binitin pa ako for TWO MONTHS? Was it really necessary to keep me hanging in the air? Good Lord.
Once again, not enough. So I sent a second text message...
October 12 was the first time I told you about it, and I texted you my classes that same night. November 23, I asked you at the quarterlies, and I emailed you my classes after. Last week, I texted you and was left hanging. There were so many opportunities to inform me and tell me what to do, and I only find out NOW??? Kung kelan na-charge na ako ng ilang libo??? If I wasn't supposed to be bugging YOU about it, then why didn't you say so in the first place?
1 hour and 21 minutes have passed. Still no reply. Amazing. Oh, and to top if all off...
WE DIDN'T RECEIVE OUR SALARIES!!!!
November was a busy month for everyone. Other than our regular classes, several instructors were killing themselves rehearsing for Asia Momentum. Some of the BodyAttack people stayed till midnight just so we could come up with 2 decent routines for Powerade. Speaking of Powerade, I had to go all the way to the Coca-Cola headquarters in Santa Mesa to do a BodyAttack demo. And lastly, I hosted the BodyCombat Main Event. All the other instructors had their own gigs, demos, and other stuff on the side.
SO WHERE THE FUCK IS OUR MONEY???
Don't get me wrong. This isn't all about the money. It's about fairness. It's about doing what's right. It's about treating your employees -- old or new -- properly.
All this madness makes me want to spill the truth about those Les Mills t-shirts that the AsiaMo people received. But I won't. All I'll say is... P100 and P600 are not the same. There's a huge-ass 500-peso difference. There were approximately 50 people who took part in AsiaMo. P500 x 50 = P25,000. Where did all that go? I honestly have no idea. I'll leave it at that.
So there. It pisses me off to no end. And it pisses me off even more that all this is happening so close to Christmas. It's fucking Christmas, for crying out loud!!!!
How pissed am I? Well, if I start writing & cursing in straight english, then you can bet your fucking ass that I'm pretty fucking pissed.