This is not really a review, as I didn't even set foot into the gym, as much as I would've loved to.
The stars I give are more of an assessment of the customer service and my impression of it (I would give no rating whatsoever, but that's not possible).
While not having trained there for one second, I'd like to say that I know of no reason not to believe that The Legend offers first class Muay Thai training.
This is more a complaint - I hope this doesn't become a rant! - about the policy of charging for a trial class.
I've trained several sports in Beijing, among which some martial arts like boxing and (once for trial) krav maga. I have never heard of a fee for a trial class, with or without refund, in case you immediately sign up.
I got a really good impression of The Legend from the website and I immediately realized this wouldn't be cheap, but I and three more friends were extremely interested in having a trial class, so I contacted them.
The reply was absolutely within the limits of politeness, but had a rather cold and busy tone. I'm not a customer-first-freak, but a high price should bring high quality in all aspects.
We agreed on a day and time, but then I double-checked the website and saw that the trial is not free, in case you don't sign up immediately (my mistake for not having noticed that, however the fee is not displayed on website). I asked about the fee and was informed that it's 250 RMB per person.
Now I won't go into discussing whether that's a lot or not, and I won't go dissecting the meaning of the word "trial", when it's pretty much common sense that a trial is supposed to be one-time free.
I totally understand the price of quality, and I wouldn't mind shelling out a considerable sum for good training, but being charged for a trial feels like looking for a somewhat petty way to get RMB out of anybody interested.
I could have actually understood a different solution better, like, charge me for the trial IF I sign up (sort of a satisfied or money back, one time thing).
Be that as it may, after cancelling via email, no reply followed (no "sorry", "how about a discount/deal" etc., this is China after all).
Considering that they had four new potential paying customers on their hands, I'm very surprised. Maybe things are going so well they simply don't need more people.
End of story: another "well-known" Muay Thai gym in BJ enthusiastically offered my friends and me a free trial class, upon request.
Feels like missing out on a chance, but I'm trying to get used to the crazy prices Beijing dishes out for any fighting sport that's not gong fu in uncle Wang's garage, and a trial fee is beyond the line.
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Comments
Re: Missed chance?
Hey there jimu,
Just wanted to thank you for your thorough and unbiased review. I honestly appreciate it and always like to hear about what other people think about us. I've both trained and worked for the Legend so I've seen both sides of coin and feel like I can respond appropriately.
First off, I want to apologize for the lack of response after you cancelled, we do pride ourselves in having great customer service and although we make a point of responding to every email, whether it be positive or negative, due to the high volume of emails we received, it is very possible that we forgot - things get pretty hectic in here sometimes.
Secondly, we used to offer free trials, and since we are located in a very high traffic area, ALOT of people would come try and for the most part they weren't serious about joining. Which is totally fine since I just like to see the gym full but due to our class structure - semi- private training - it would interfere with our paying members who have spent a lot of money to train with us. Allow me to elaborate, we have 2-3 trainers per class, we don't allow more than 8 students per class so that students to be able to spend an average of half of the class training in the ring with their own trainer while the other students work on fitness and technique outside the ring with the other trainers. This is how we promised our paying members it would be so that they could get the most out of each session and reach their fitness and fighting goals as quickly as possible. So by allowing walk-ins to jump into a class at no charge it would take away from the experience of our current members whom mean everything to us. Not to say that your business is not important to us, it really is, but we have to protect our members who have been supporting us since the beginning. It has nothing to do with us not wanting to help people out or get people into the gym because we are 'doing so well that we don't need it', it is simply because we want to deliver the product we have advertised which is a lot more than many other gyms in Beijing do.
I hope you understand where we are coming from and that none of this comes across harshly as that was definitely not my intent and that one day you'll come check us out since we are the best at what we do.
Chok dee
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