COVID-19 – The Coronavirus Crisis: The Membership
Posted: April 28, 2020 in Chains, Independents
April 2020 Edition of Club Insider
By: Justin Cates
As a supplement to our Special Edition Two-Part Cover Story on COVID-19, the Coronavirus Crisis (Click Here to Read Part I), Club Insider presents the following participant responses about their Membership. In this supplement, you will hear from Pat Laus and Kevin McHugh, Greta Wagner, Mike Alpert, Geoff Dyer, Carol Nalevanko, Jim Worthington and Linda Mitchell, Larry Conner and Rich Nelsen. Next week, we will be presenting participant responses and inspiring news items about various Communities around the country. Stay tuned, and stay safe and healthy!
The Atlantic Club
Pat Laus
Pat Laus, Owner & CEO
Kevin McHugh, COO
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – The Atlantic Club informed the members the day of our closing from the Governor. We closed 8 PM that evening. We had anticipated more lead time.
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – All Members were placed on a NO Charge Suspension Fee for April, and any additional months that may be impacted with the closure. All inquiries from membership during the closure are handled by Kevin McHugh.
Kevin McHugh
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – They were billed in March for their March dues. They were billed in April only for any ancillary expenses that may have been incurred in March.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – We have been communicating to members periodically about how to stay active with the many tools that we have provided to them to stay active at home. We sent out an additional letter that updated our members regarding additional fitness tools and support that is now available for their use as well as Fitness Contests, Member Sweepstakes and also new online stores. We are working with MXM on a Member Survey to be sent via email in mid-April.
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – N/A
Chelsea Piers Connecticut
Greta Wagner
Greta Wagner, Executive Director/EVP
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – We communicated with members via email and social media. We also posted a banner on our website linking to an Updates Section that includes all member/customer communications and a section on the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – We have put all members on a freeze and will be crediting accounts once we understand the length of the closure. We are working with members who have specific requests, and thus far, everyone has largely been understanding of the situation and our efforts to respond and service their requests as quickly as possible in a constantly changing environment.
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – Our members pay monthly, so March was paid in full. The club was closed for almost exactly half of the month. Members will be credited back for the closed time or have it added as a membership credit moving forward, depending on their request.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – We have been communicating regularly with members. We email them at least twice a week and have been active on social media creating content, including news relevant to our closure and schedules for online live-streaming classes.
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – They are not paying; everyone is on a freeze.
The Claremont Club
Mike Alpert
Mike Alpert, President/CEO
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – We shut down at 4:00 PM on a Monday while there were actually members and staff in the club. We put signage up on the front doors to advise anyone who we were unable to contact of the closure until further notice. In our phone room, sales associates and managers contacted all staff by phone to advise them of the closure.
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – We did not give members the option to ‘freeze’ their membership unless it was for a medical reason with appropriate documentation. If we did not do that, we felt it would put the club in a very serious cash flow position without furloughing most of our valued staff and putting them on the unemployment line. For me, that was and is not an option. For those members who were willing to continue to allow us to draft their regular dues (with the understanding that all of this would go directly to pay all 260 of our staff, including full-time, part-time and commission-based their average rates from January 1 through March 15), we would pay them back 100% of the dues that were drafted for every week/month we were closed via a 30% discount off their regular dues rate once we re-open over a 10 – 12 month period. We have also posted over 120 virtual videos on our Mobile App and YouTube for them to access; we will give them a 25% discount on all products and services for 30 days after we re-open and two Family Guest Passes. This way, we continue to have cash coming in to offset payroll and keep everyone employed and paid. Those members who chose to cancel, we are accommodating expeditiously, and if they choose to rejoin at a later date, they will be required to pay an Initiation Fee and regular dues at that time. We also suspended all recurring charges during our club closure.
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – We drafted dues on March 1 and drafted them again on April 1. We have sent our offer to all members via email.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – Same as the answer to the second question. I have also been sending a weekly letter to all members via a mass email, and it is posted on our website.
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – 100%. Same as the answer to the second question.
Crunch Fitness West Florida and Atlanta
Geoff Dyer
Geoff Dyer, President
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – We emailed all active members. We communicated all Q and A on our Social pages. It was very positively received.
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – Continuing member.
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – All billing was frozen effective 4/1, indefinitely.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – Yes, frequent communication.
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – N/A
DMB Sports
Carol Nalevanko
Carol Nalevanko, President
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – We emailed all members on the day we made the decision to close the clubs (March 16).
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – Members will have their accounts credited for the days we were closed in March: March 17 – 31. We will not bill any members dues until we re-open the clubs.
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – Same as the answer to the second question.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – We are communicating with our members on a weekly basis using all social media platforms. Our group exercise instructors and personal trainers have done a fantastic job creating online videos and workouts that we have shared with all members.
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – What was the offer or benefits? Members are not being charged while the clubs are closed.
Newtown Athletic Club
Jim Worthington
Jim Worthington, Owner
Linda Mitchell, Director of Public and Government Relations
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – N/A
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – All members were put on hold. No dues were charged since the day of closing. Since they pay in advance, they have two weeks credit for their dues, to cover the last two weeks in March when we were closed. No billing will take place until we re-open. At that time, we will not bill until the first of the following month and will bill only for the prorated amount of the month that the club was open. This will allow members to catch their breath and not have a billing immediately upon return. They may even get a paycheck or two back under their belt. When they do return, they will have several options: Receive a membership credit for the original two weeks; apply their credit to other club auxiliary services; forgo the credit allowing the club to keep it as a gesture of appreciation and support; or donate the credit to the NAC Foundation.
Linda Mitchell
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – They were last billed dues on February 18th for the month of March. We are not still charging them.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – N/A
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – Not paying.
Stone Creek Club & Spa
Larry Conner
Larry Conner, General Manager
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – Via email, Facebook, Instagram and website posts; they had about seven hours’ notice after the Governor’s mandate, which required clubs to cease operations by midnight on March 16.
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – The members are ‘on hold’ through the closure, meaning that they will not pay any dues while the club is closed, They will all be active as of opening day (unless they contact us to request that we extend their membership hold beyond opening day). We did not change their status to ‘on hold’ in the software system; we just didn’t charge them dues or any other recurring charges for April 1.
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – Members were drafted on March 1st for March dues. Upon re-opening, members will receive a credit for dues for the second half of March, and that credit will be applied to the first month of dues billing.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – We’re sending emails to all members 2 – 3 times week, giving them free access to Les Mills on Demand at home, alerting them when we post workout videos featuring our own group fitness instructors and personal trainers and a reminder about billing. We’re posting on social media every day: Tips from trainers, copies of the updates we’re sending by email, encouraging them to promote their own local business that is open during this time, etc. We also sent a video that our childcare staff collaborated on to tell the kids ‘Hi,’ and we’ll be adding tips on self-care from our spa staff, tennis pros and other club staff in the coming weeks as well. We have a voicemail box for members to leave messages if needed, and the Membership Manager is returning all calls.
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – N/A
VASA Fitness
Rich Nelsen
Rich Nelsen, CEO
Q – How did you let the membership know? How much notice did you give them?
A – We gave members approximately 18 hours’ notice depending upon their territory. We notified them of the closures via email, across our social media channels, through our mobile app and via on-site signage. We also reached out to the local media in each territory we operate in and media coverage in those areas helped us get the word out.
Q – What did you decide about their status? Automatically “on a leave of absence” or a “continuing member?”
A – We froze everybody’s memberships the day we closed and stopped charging members their monthly fees.
Q – When was the last date they were billed dues? If still charging them, explain if they had to agree to do so and the procedure for doing so.
A – Members were last billed on March 17 for their monthly gym memberships, and all accounts will unfreeze once the clubs re-open. If members pre-purchased their physical training sessions, their accounts will be credited to their account when the clubs re-open, at which time they can re-book.
Q – What has been the communication with the membership since the original notification? Frequency? Any offers? How have you been communicating? Using social media also? Please elaborate.
A – We continue to engage with our members daily on social media with inspiring posts, fitness ideas and resources for mental health. We’ve even provided healthy recipes; we are staying very active on social media and hope it’s made a difference in terms of keeping our members’ spirits high in these uncertain and scary times.
Q – If members are still paying, what % of full dues are they paying? What was the offer or benefits?
A – At the time of our closure, we froze all accounts in terms of payments with the exception of our annual rate guarantee fees. At this time, none of our members are paying monthly fees. Accounts will be unfrozen once the clubs re-open.
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Thank you to Pat Laus and Kevin McHugh, Greta Wagner, Mike Alpert, Geoff Dyer, Carol Nalevanko, Jim Worthington and Linda Mitchell, Larry Conner and Rich Nelsen for their contributions to this cover story supplement.
