Trainer Troubles

I joined a gym quite a while ago, probably the beginning of spring, and I recently decided to sign up for a trainer. Trainers are extra cost and they are independent of the gym itself. It is just the facility that they use. I decided this was worth it and signed up for a trainer after talking to him over the phone.

 It has been a disaster. On one hand, it is true, I have gotten more work outs than I probably would have gone to the gym for. On the other, it has been annoying and not worth the money I have paid.

 1. In our initial call he says he'll text me some links and rates. The phone call was motivating and I was excited, however about 20 minutes after talking to him on the phone I realize I need to reschedule our initial in-person meeting to a Thursday instead of a Monday. I call the office back and never get a response. The secretary woman said she would let him know that I called back and have him call me. He never does. I do not actually have his phone number, as I initially called the office at the gym and they got him on the line. However he DOES have my phone. NO calls. No texts. Not even the informational text. During this time I am in Chicago and I think 'well, maybe something weird happened. I'll call on Monday.'

 2. Monday I call to reschedule. I tell the secretary that I haven't gotten a call back and I need to make sure he knows that I won't be there. She says "Yeah, he knows." Uh. Okay. How about a confirmation, then? Okay, whatever. I finally get him on the line, he is noticeable distracted and less friendly than our initial phone conversation, but we agree on Wednesday to have the first session at 4:30.

 3. Wednesday. 4:25 I get to the gym and go change. I feel very anxious to get started. Now it is 4:30. Now 4:35. The owner sees me and asks if I'm looking for someone. I tell them my trainer's name. They say "oh, he was just here. I haven't seen him for a while, though." So then they try to call him and look around for him, but can't find him. The secretary type lady says "well, let's get you on a treadmill to warm up until he gets here". Okay. So I get on the treadmill and after about 10 minutes I see my trainer standing outside the doors on his cell phone. I try to not get too angry because maybe it is an important call. But then it keeps going and going and I see him walk in to the gym, and then walk out of the gym and eventually, it's about 20 minutes (into my 30 minute session) and he finally comes over and says hi and "I was on the phone with my mom". Okay. I'm going to be okay with that because maybe there is a family emergency or something. But if there is an emergency, and you are at the gym, and you know I am here, then cancel the appointment or something. But whatever.

 So then, the rest of the "session" is just talking about goals. But we don't have a weigh-in, or lift any weights, or seriously do ANYTHING. I write him a check for the next sessions (maybe a bad idea, in retrospect), and I sign a contract, and the I thought "great! now we can start!". But what ends up happening is he says okay, let's have a session tomorrow. Uhm, okay. Tomorrow works I guess. There is another girl in the office waiting to have a session with him that then tells the owner to just have my trainer call her, because she has to go. BECAUSE her session was supposed to be when my session was. It was bizarre. Anyway. We decide on the next day at 6:30 pm. 4. Thursday. 6:30pm. No trainer. I wait until about 6:45. Nothing. I called, no answer. His answering machine was full so I couldn't leave a message. I text him, no answer. I decided maybe he thought it was at 7 or 7:30. Absolutely no show. I get home and write him an email. This is the email:

 Hi, I am emailing you because I think there has to have been a misunderstanding about my first training session.

I thought that it was today (Thursday, the 19th) at 6:30 pm. I stayed at the gym until a little past 7:30, hoping that maybe the misunderstanding was on the time. I am willing to come back to the gym at 8:30, if that is what you thought we had scheduled and if you get this in time.

 I have been unable to contact you, and your voice mailbox message says it is full and I cannot leave a message. I also texted you at this number: _________. Will you please confirm that I have the correct number?

I have also not received any texts. I wanted to confirm that you have my correct number. It is: _________.

 I was also hoping to get a firm, written, schedule of our sessions. I understand if you are unable to schedule too far into the future, but I would like to avoid misunderstandings like this in the future.

 Thanks, Megan M

 5. The next morning I check my inbox. Nothing. I wait until about 3pm and decide to call the office. The secretary says "oh, here, I can get him" I say hi, I was wondering about our training session. He says "oh, hi, I got your email, I was just about to respond". Bull shit. That is what I wanted to say. But whatever. We end up scheduling a time. But I still have never gotten a firm, written, schedule of our sessions. EVER.

 6. The first training session was fine. It was what I expected. There were times when I kind of felt like he left me hanging. Like, we're doing something and he says "keep doing that" and then walks over to visit with people he sees in the gym, so then I get done with the set and am just waiting for him to return. Whatever. Mostly it's okay. The follow up session he wants me to run a mile and time it. Okay. Well. I'm on a treadmill. Sooooo, I set it to a mile, and set a pace, and that is what it is going to be. If I set it to a 10 minute mile, it's going to be 10 minutes. If I set it to a 12 minute mile, that's what it is going to be. But hey, exercise is exercise. But AS I am running this mile, he leaves the gym to run an errand. This just seems so weird and unprofessional to me. It is frustrating.

 7. I'm out of town for about 11 days. I get back and am SO SICK. Really not feeling well AT ALL. This is a Monday. I go home early from work, sleep about 15 hours and feel too nauseous to eat anything. I texted him early that morning to tell him today is not going to work. He suggests Tuesday. Okay, I sort of doubt I'll feel better by then, but we'll see. Turns out I don't, I text and ask about Wednesday because I am feeling better than before. Wednesday works, so I show up, although still feeling quite tired, and he has decided to schedule me with another client. Okay. I get it, you're working me into your schedule, and maybe part of the problem is that he just has TOO MANY clients. But c'mon. I'm paying for a private session.

 I feel like communication is the problem here. I'm not clear on expectations, for one thing. So I expected there to be warm-ups and cool-downs, so I show up on time for the session, but we don't do warm ups. So then I'm just jumping into a workout cold, and end up being super sore the next several days. Well, okay, I can change that. That's fine. But what about scheduling? What about billing. THAT'S ANOTHER THING! We wrote him a check that he has still never cashed. We can't have a check just floating. Another thing is that he wanted me to write a food log. So I have been doing that, but then he wanted me to take pictures of it and text it to him, but that takes more effort than just emailing it to him. So I do, but then he never responds. It is just frustrating.

 Blah. I hate confrontation, but something has to change.