Did somebody change the definition of "Customer Service"?????? When I started working in the customer service field, I was under the impression that it meant you treated everyone who walked into your place of business with at least some respect and decency. Regardless of what the person is there for (of course, barring a robbery or inappropriate behavior), said person deserves some sort of welcome gesture (smile, handshake, eye-contact) and attention.

Does customer service only apply to people who pay to be at the gym or potential members? I hate to say this but I have always believed that whether or not the person pays to be there, is looking to pay to be there, or is just stopping in for the free air-conditioning, we must treat them with respect. NOW, if that person is disrespectful to you, THEN you have all the right to disrespect them back.

As health club staff, I feel most of us are not treated with any kind of customer service by a lot of managers. When I was a manager, I never forgot that when a staff member came to use my facilities, they deserved to be treated like any other paying member. Granted, they may not be extended certain priveleges that paying members get AND may be asked to let paying members use any services before them, it still does not mean that you pay any less attention to a staff member.

I had just gone to complete my paperwork at a new health club, Equinox. Said health club is known for it's high standard of customer service. Equinox is the gold standard of customer service in the mass market healthclub industry. They value their membership above all else. My experience at that health club has been very weird. Don't get me wrong: there are some people there who treat me very well. They are fantastic customer service providers. They treat staff and paying members with the same amount of respect. The scary thing about a place that preaches "110% Customer Service" is that it does not provide it.

As a new staff member of Equinox, I feel that a lot of the management treats me differently when they find out I am staff; and not in a good way. Rarely is eye-contact made and, more than once, I have felt like I am being talked down to. The hypocrisy that they spew is amazing. How can I, as a staff member, give the best customer service when I am normally treated with poor customer service when I walk in for whatever reason.

What I would like to know is if this a common occurence at all gyms. Do you get attitude the moment you walk into the gym? Are you treated with very little respect as you enter your gym? As an industry, we have become more concerned with meeting the bottom line rather than meeting the standard that we "set".

I guess part of the reason I have picked on Equinox is because most other places do not preach customer service as hard as they do. It would be sad to see that a place that is considered the gold standard is really just a bunch of gold plating. Later.  ¶ 2:55 PM