The "24 Hour Fitness/ Barefoot" incident

I have thought long and hard about whether or not to post what I am about to write. As the events, which I will explain in great detail in a moment, were unfolding, I said to myself. "This is ridiculous! The minute I get home, I am going to write about this and post it to my blog for the whole world to see". Well, if there is one thing that I have learned after being on this planet for 43 some odd years, is that it is wise to NOT make crucial decisions when angry. So, I decided to sleep on it and see if I felt the same way in the morning. The following day, I felt that, before I went blogging and perhaps adding fuel to a fire, I would wait to see if the situation could be resolved without having to broadcast the drama from the highest mountain I could find (in this case, this here blog). Besides, I really love life and I try my hardest to not be negative (it doesn't always work) and I would much rather write about cool and inspiring stuff, than use this space as a bully pulpit. But, dammit! They just couldn't leave it alone.

As much as 24 Hour Fitness or "Big company that doesn't need little customer" (as I like to call them) has led to this posting, the real clincher was a Tweet that I received today. It said "Asics customer service is awesome!!!! They're replacing my sneakers 4 free rush shipping, bc 1 shoe made incorrectly." That got me thinking. Wow! With that one small gesture, that customer service person has created something called "goodwill". And the effect of that goodwill will have residual effect. As anyone who knows anything about business will tell you, "word travels fast". In this day and age, it travels even faster. The question is, what do you want those words to be? I would say that in Asics making Cassandra a happy customer, and the residual effect through word of mouth, that one action could boost Asics bottom line as much as a small magazine ad or sponsoring a small race would have. Pretty cheap advertising.

Sadly, in the case of "Big company that doesn't need little customer," they chose to handle matters in a different way. Before I get down to the nitty gritty, I do want to say that I am aware you are only hearing my side of the story and well, I am biased. It is partially why I hesitated to report the events that transpired. I do however have a knack for seeing the "other point of view;" almost to a fault at times. I am actually relieved when I discover that I am flat out wrong about something because if I am right and someone else fails to use any logic, it makes me mental. But more often than not, I find that the truth, or solution, lies somewhere in the middle. So, with that full disclosure and without further ado, I give you...

The "24 Hour Fitness/ Barefoot" incident.

Last Wednesday, my oldest daughter Brittany and I went to the gym. I have been a member of "Big company that doesn't need little customer" since '05. I pay my dues monthly. Brittany has been a member since '06 and she has a prepaid 2 year membership that I purchased for her as a Christmas gift and she is now in the 5th month of the 2 years. My younger daughter is also a member and she is on the month to month membership plan as well. Sorry if I jump around a bit, but this information will have significance as the story progresses. The three of us definitely get our moneys worth at the gym. I go 5-6 days a week. Brit goes 5 days a week and Jasmine goes at least 3 days.

Anyway, back to Wednesday. Brittany and I both had the day off so we decided to go to the gym together. She usually lifts and you can usually find me on the treadmill or stationary bike. Brittany hates the treadmill and prefers to run outside, with one little twist: Brittany runs barefoot

Now I know that to some of you that may sound weird, insane, kooky, even dangerous. Before you bombard me with all of the usual questions that get asked, I invite you to do some research here and here as they will do a much better job of explaining the benefits of running au natural.

After she lifted, she selflessly (I love running with her) grabbed the open treadmill next to me. Before we went, she mentioned to me whether or not I thought she could run barefoot on the treadmill. I said that I couldn't imagine that it would be a problem . So, she took off her shoes and started her run. As much as it can be argued, the cost/benefits of barefoot running, running barefoot on a treadmill is almost a no brainer. There's nothing to stub your toe on and no glass or rocks to cut your feet on. Its a nice, soft, predictable surface that allows you to just run. Sounds reasonable to me.

As you can probably guess by now, "Big company that doesn't need little customer" did not feel the same way. I have several points to make about what happens next. I will try to keep my commentary to a minimum and address them more at the end. So, here are the facts.

About 10 minutes into her run, one of the "Group X" trainers came by and told her that she must have shoes on. Then she walked over to a girl a few machines down and told her the same thing. I am pretty sure that the other girl wasn't barefoot. She was probably wearing sandals or some other type of "opened toed shoes". The trainer (who I've never seen before) came back and told Brittany again, "you have to put shoes on". I said no. I fully expected to see a manager real soon :) Next up, about 5 minutes later, was a trainer that I do know. He said "Hey, she's got to wear shoes on the treadmill". At this point I was ready for a rational conversation, so I said "She likes to run barefoot; I don't see any sign that says you have to wear shoes, but I realize that you guys are probably worried about liability and I understand that. She is willing to sign a waiver that releases you guys from any liability". He looked and me and said, "OK, let me go talk to someone".

I need to interject something at this point. I fully understand that in society we must have rules and laws. It has always been my understanding that rules and laws are designed to prevent someone from hurting someone else or infringing on someone else's rights. In our litigious society, I fear that our rights and freedoms are slowly eroding away under the guise of "for your own safety". Which really means that everyone operates under the fear of "what ifs" as in "what if this or that happens and I get sued." It is a slippery slope because I can make a compelling argument for just about anything and therefore strip anyone of their freedoms "for their own safety." And now with our sensationalized media, something only has to happen once and suddenly all rational thought goes out the window and we legislate to the lowest common denominator to make sure it doesn't happen again. So, to prevent an accident, we legislate any behavior that "might" lead to a similar accident. I feel that a rational solution to this is to release the other party from liability and would be right.... right??

If only it were that easy. Next up was one of the big managers. She said, "Come on, she can't run on the treadmill barefoot." I tried to explain my case again and said that I was sure that it wasn't dangerous and if they were worried that she was going to get hurt, she would sign a waiver. She said they didn't have any waivers. I said we'd write one. She said "a rule's a rule." I said that she would finish her run. Now I will admit that this was a bit combative but, there was NO sign and I didn't see any danger. We certainly weren't hurting anyone else, so I was sticking to my guns. I am also aware that as a business, they have the right to refuse service to anyone. But I ask, "at what cost?" which I will talk about later. At this point, I wanted to see the rule so I knew what I was debating and whether or not I had a shot of changing the rule. This would also prove to be extremely difficult.

We finished up the run shortly after the manager left. Brittany got off the treadmill and started to walk away to put on her shoes. I said she should put them on right there because I felt she should confine her disobedience to only the treadmill. She did :). We went downstairs, I took a shower while she reluctantly waited for me in front of the men's locker room ("Daddy, don't leave me out here alone").

After my shower, I met Brit in the lobby and I found the manager that we had spoken to before. I said, "Can you show me the rule that says you can't run on the treadmill with bare feet?" She pointed to the sign at the front desk that says "Rubber soled, close toed shoes must be worn at all times." I was in my flippy flops, like I usually am (hey, I grew up in Huntington Beach, it's practically a law) and I said, "Does that mean I am not in compliance?" At this point, I just needed to understand the rule. She said no, It's ok here and in the pool area and the yoga area. Wow, I didn't even think of THAT. So I said, "Well, then are those places marked?" And she said, "No, it's common sense." Hmmm..... I have a bit of a lawyer streak in me and this was nothing short of me brushing up on my debating skills. "If it says AT ALL TIMES, but then is allowed in other areas, it should be clearly marked or else it is arbitrary." She had a really hard time understanding this, and it was frustrating. If I at any point was wrong in the course of this whole incident, it was at this point. After trying to explain to her my line of reasoning, to the point of exhaustion, only to hear over and over that "it is the rule," I said, "try to use your brain." If I could take that back I would, and the following day I apologized for speaking to her that way. Anyway, this was clearly going nowhere so I said, "Show me in the contract your shoe policy," as she said that we had signed a contract saying we would follow the rules.

Quick reality check. We are the customers of this business, we were hurting no one. Now, back to the story.

She left and went into an office with the other "Big Manager Dude". She was in there for about 10 minutes. She came out about 2 or 3 times, going to the printer then going back into the office. I would think it would be pretty easy to show us this rule if it existed. I finally went over to her and said, "Why do you keep going to the printer? Are you rewriting the contract?" She didn't say anything. The "Big Manager Dude" came out with a photocopied piece of paper and handed it to me. The only thing that was highlighted was something about '24 Hour's responsibility to ensure a safe and positive environment for everyone.' On the side of the page, they wrote in their own writing, "See Cardio Room Rules Regarding Footwear." Now we were getting somewhere. I had no intention of flagrantly ignoring a rule. My plan was to find out the rule and then try to show that for Brittany "Appropriate footwear" is NO footwear. If I was unable to get the managers to see that, then I figured I would take it up with the people at the "Big company that doesn't need little customer" Headquarters. If we were unable to come to an agreement then perhaps Brittany would decide not to go there anymore, since all she does is lift and she could pick up a weight set and save the drive to and from the gym. Sadly we would never get to that point.

What is it about some people that they are so interested in being right that they can't discuss something rationally? If "Big Manager Dude" could have said, "I see what you are saying, it is ambiguous, call the corporate office and see if they can change the rule or have her sign a waiver," then we could have come to a resolution. Instead he said, "24 Hour Fitness apologizes for caring about the safety of your daughter." I trust I don't have to translate what he meant by that. I was able to keep my cool but did give him a look that said, well..... you know. In fairness, he did apologize for that. We then went on to debate the virtues of running barefoot, which was beside the point. He kept saying, "It doesn't make any sense!" I'm not sure what didn't make sense to him. He said his wife runs barefoot on the beach and I said, "You shouldn't let her" and he said "Why?" I said, "Because she could cut her feet on glass" and then, "Oh, I apologize for caring about the safety of your wife." Hey... what do you want from me... I never said I was perfect!

We then debated the sign issue. He said that there was a sign near the treadmills that says shoes are required. We went upstairs (I was still in my flippy flops, clearly a violation) and there wasn't any sign. I sort of felt bad for him at this point. The fact is, they are just employees of a big corporation. I don't think they get paid to think. I realized that the only way I would get this resolved, was to call corporate headquarters and try to clarify the rule or get it changed, if it is in fact against the rules. At this point, I'm not even sure. If they tell me that the rule is up to the interpretation of the manager who happens to be there at the time, if they ever hire a barefoot running manager, we are good to go! Otherwise, they define the rule and post signs accordingly; or of course, we sign a waiver. Regardless, I would have to make a phone call.

Another reality check. We are the customers of this business, we were hurting no one. Brit was running barefoot on the treadmill. Now, back to the story.

I called the headquarters of "Big company that doesn't need little customer" and spoke to a very nice Indian woman. I explained to her the situation in detail. She was very cordial and said that someone would look at this and get back to me in 3 to 5 days. Thank you!

Then, on Saturday I received this....

I have blocked out my address and membership # and also my last name (It is different than my professional name and well.....)

I know this has been an incredibly long story but I felt it was necessary to give all of the details so this letter could be put into context.

Let me say again that any business has the right to refuse to serve someone or have them as a patron. It is clear to me that the managers most likely called member services and had them draft this letter. I am sure that they made it sound as if I caused a huge ruckus. I have asked Brittany if that was the case and she said "No..." (well, she is my daughter, what do you think she'd say? :) But I will tell you that I never cursed or yelled or caused a scene. If anything, I made them frustrated and probably feel a little stupid. But that was it.

The several issues with this letter? First of all, there is no return phone number. If I sent letter like this, I can assure you that I would put a direct line so the person could contact me. Second, this letter goes beyond saying 'You must wear shoes or we will revoke your membership.' If it said that, I would consider that an official policy and then deicide whether I wanted to continue to go to that gym. No, it goes way beyond that and implies many things that, in my opinion, gives them the right at anytime to revoke my membership. That wouldn't even be so bad, if it were not for the fact that Brittany has 1 1/2 years left on her membership and when you cancel there, they continue to collect dues for an additional month. So needless to say, I wasn't happy about this letter.

So why do I write this? Am I trying to make sure Brittany can run barefoot on the treadmill at "Big company that doesn't need little customer?" No, in fact after thinking about it and a couple recommendations from some friends, I was going to see if these would qualify as acceptable footwear. Am I trying to make myself right to the managers there? No. Do I think that "Big company that doesn't need little customer" should make exceptions just for me? No, if they don't want to change the rule, which is their right, then I will simply take my business elsewhere. Although, that will prove to be hard as there are NO Mom and Pop gyms in our area. Only the really big corporate ones. But that is a topic for another post.

So, why did I spend the last 4 hours writing this? Because when they sent that letter, they forgot one thing and assumed another. They forgot that I am a paying customer and they assumed that I didn't have a voice.

Paul