The worst customer experience ever!

Virgin Active customer service is one of the most pathetic in the country. I have been trying to get a refund from their Financial department since last year December but nobody has contacted me since.

I signed up for a membership with the gym at the Pavilion Branch early last year. I was assisted by a gentleman named Nkululeko. His customer service and interaction is awesome, he’s really good. He got me to sign up and explained that since I have a Discovery Vitality card I will be paying less monthly and since they were running a promotion, I wouldn’t pay for the first 2 months. The sign up fee was R750, and I agreed to sign up. He then told me to pick up my membership card when I am free.

When I went to collect the card, I asked for him specifically because I wanted to deal with him personally since I signed up with him but unfortunately he was on his way to a meeting in Pinetown and so I was referred to a lady named Gugu, who was going to assist me with getting my card. When I was finalising my account with her, she told me that they did not have any Vitality membership cards at the moment but she would give me a Premier Virgin Active card to use in the time being and once they have the normal membership cards she will make a transfer. She did this so I don’t miss out on gym sessions, I assume. I agreed to take the Premier Card.

After a couple of months down the line when I’m checking my bank statements I find that I have been debited R410 on the 1st and 31st of July, another R410 on the 1st of September, R410 on the 1st and 30th of October and R410. I spoke to Nkululeko about the matter and he advised that I need call the customer service Call Center so they would assist me with my query. The Agent I spoke to advised that I need to submit my bank statement and Fill in a blue form at the branch and have it sent to their Finance Department. When I was there to submit the documents, I was asked what they were for and I explained what had happened, and I pointed to Gugu who assisted me with getting my card. Gugu in turn denied that she assisted me, she looked at me and said it wasn’t her. I was appalled by the level of deception and lack of accountability that lies within that gym. If you know you created a problem, the least you can do is try to assist and not lie to avoid it.

After submitting my statement, Nkululeko advised that after he sends the documents, their Financial Department will contact me so I can get my refund. After some time he came to my store and asked if I can fill in the blue form again because his handwriting was bad and nobody could see it at Head Office. He also asked if I can send it to them with my bank statement which I did on the 2nd of December. On the 3rd of January 2022, I received an email saying that I need to resubmit my forms since they had misplaced them at the department. The level of incompetence and unprofessionalism is astonishing, because here I am thinking my query is being felt with but it’s not because my forms are gone. I cannot believe the amount of time it takes to process a refund, it is so easy for them to take our money but to return what they incorrectly debited takes years!