Fox Hollies Leisure Centre - Birmingham

nasreen S.

Whilst I understand that this centre is the closest to my home address and convenient to get too I believe that management should take a good look and go through members feedback and implement changes and improvement within the centre and the staff members.
Upon arrival very rarely is one greeted as either the staff is too busy chatting with each other or just cant be bothered to look up.
Secondly when complaining that the door to the ladies gym will not open not one staff member actually got up to look at it and offer a solution to get it to work leaving so many people unable to access the room.
The water leaking from studio 1 seems to be a common occurence to which you dont have an eta as to when you will fix it so your customers who still have to pay full price have to navigate between water buckets and water dripping during classes which poses a serious health and safety issue should an injury occur from a fall.
Lastly it would have been so amazing if there would be more variety in the classes offered rsther than most of them being always body pump, core blast and body combat. Whilst I appreciate your other centres offer body attack more than once a week as well as step & hit it would be lovely if your centre could as well and incorporate more daytime cardio sessions within your facilities rather than having to spend extra time and petrol on top of the monthly contract to travel elsewhere.
Appreciate if you have read this to the end and if you can find solutions to the above.

Alia J.

My children attend the swimming classes weekly, the instructors are great; special appreciation to Keeley and Abby who do a tremendous job in teaching stage 1 and 2 children in gaining their confident and aquired skills! I noticed a huge improvement in my children within a short space of time. Reception staff are friendly, and previous reviews have stated phone lines are unanswered, when I have phoned in the past; maybe 1 out of 5 occasions no one answered, I can understand how it can get busy if (on occasion which I have witnessed) there is 1 staff member behind the counter dealing with clientele requests and dealing with telephones simultaneously, I imagine isn't easy?

However... the smell when you walk into the swimming changing room; it's absolutely dreadful enough to deter you away. I wish something could be done about this, and I know I'm not the only person who has voiced this across. The hygiene of this facility, I would give zero stars!

Martin F.

Used Fox Hollies for years and they have a great atmosphere in the work out classes (especially body pump!) Don't even try to call reception as they rarely pick up the phone. More Fitness booking app is great and easy to use.

Magdi A.

Bad experience
I enrolled my 3 kids for swimming lessons and paid monthly; when I wanted to cancel the membership I tried to contact the lesuire centre but they hardly pick up when they finally picked up they gave me another number for cancellation. I rang the other number and cancelled membership for all three children at the beginning of December, I paid for December because I understand that they need a month notice even though we stopped going mid December. Then I cancelled my direct debit payment from January thinking that I have already informed them of the cancellation and gave them one month notice. However, I received an invoice in January about unpaid fees with extra charge (£15 for each child ) but I thought it must be an error sent automatically. At the beginning of February I was surprised to receive another email with payment invoice of unpaid fees and extra charges again. Unfortunately, I paid £165 today.

Tanya J.

Staff aren't always friendly, depending on who's on. Most areas are clean and tidy. They have divided the gym up to offer a women's only section, which has made it 2 very small spaces and not pleasurable to use. Would not recommend it to people who don't want women only gym.

chlo W.

I am deeply upset to hear the sad news that the nicest, most hard working, loyal member of staff Kaz is leaving the gym tomorrow to be moved to another gym. He has been there for over 30 years and is nothing but the most loveliest and nicest person in the gym. Nothing is ever too much trouble for him and he would go above and beyond for anyone. The gym will not be the same without him and I feel so many others would agree with this. Fox Hollis will not be the same anymore. Please reconsider your decision to move him as I can't understand why this is happening!

Heather P.

I have been a part of Fox Hollies gym for over 10 years.

I want to express my complete upset & disappointment that your staff member Kaz is being transferred to another gym. Kaz has been part of Fox Hollies gym for over 30 years & is valued by all members & is known as the face of the gym. I have never met an employee with such loyal work ethics. He always takes his job seriously & is very much a people person. He is always happy to help anyone, train anyone, clean & induct. When the gym had its revamp, Kaz was there on open day, meeting & greeting, helping & assisting everyone, all day including the evening, but as always he never complained.

When the gyms reopened after lockdown I was nervous about returning, Kaz kept the gym so thoroughly clean, that I soon felt less nervous & able to return to my usual 3 times a week. He shown his dedicated to members well-being.

I understand change needs to happen & change is difficult, but to move such a valued staff member has deeply upset the members of the gym. Fox Hollies is a community gym, most people know each other. Kaz is very much part of that community feel.

Please can this decision be reconsidered & Kaz be reinstated. Many members are saying they will give up their membership, this is how valued Kaz is at Fox Hollies by the members. Please come and speak with members to hear for yourselves. Having the right people at your gyms is vital for reputation & to keep members, especially dedicated staff. I know they are hard to come by.

Chaz H.

**AN UNSAFE AND UNHYGIENIC PLACE TO PRACTICE FITNESS AND WELL BEING**

Men’s Toilets (upstairs and downstairs)

I have recently joined this gym and I am extremely concerned about the hygiene of Fox Hollies Leisure Centre.
The male toilets, specifically the ones upstairs next to the gym, have not been cleaned since I started my membership 3 months ago.
The toilet bowls have heavy faeces stains stuck to the actual bowl which have not been cleaned nor sanitised in months.

The urinals are in worse condition as they have no urinal balls/cakes in them which means they actually smell of stale urine. The urinals have yellow stains indicating that they have not been cleaned or sanitised regularly for a significant period of time.

Ironically there is a notice above the sinks which states that the Leisure Centre cleans and disinfects the toilets regularly and that customers should contact them if this is not the case.

Next, the sinks have not been cleaned in months and are stained dark brown with grime. The mirrors are dusty and stained with greasy marks.

The air freshener in the toilets does not work so the whole room truly reeks of stale urine.

As a parent I am extremely troubled that a leisure centre, a place of health, fitness and wellness is so unsanitary.

I will be uploading images soon and will also be contacting Birmingham City council and various watchdog associations and of course the local government about these acute health and hygiene issues at a public leisure facility.

Staff and Front Reception

There is a wide variety of staff from all backgrounds and ages which is really nice to see as Birmingham is a multicultural city. Unfortunately the staff who are at the front reception desk are mostly rude, dismissive and unhelpful. This is certainly true of the more mature members of leisure centre staff. As a customer who brings their entire family to this leisure centre to improve their health and wellbeing, I am exceptionally disappointed that the majority of the staff on the front desk look so unhappy, talk with such disdain, don't say please when asking you to scan and generally really give off a negative air. Personally I really do not like to ask the Fox Hollies Leisure Centre staff questions even though it is part of their job to answer them. Instead I ask other gym goers who are much more positive and significantly more helpful.

Parking

There are usually plenty of parking spaces, however one major point of concern is that the car park is continually used by driving schools and driving instructors to teach their students parking skills. This has led to my car and that of other leisure centre customers being scratched and severely dented when we return to our vehicles after a fitness class or session at the gym.
Also walking around the car park is hazardous as I have nearly been backed into, and run over by learner student drivers doing their maneuvers. The car park belongs to the Fox Hollies Leisure Centre and is only to be used by people who are using the leisure centres’ facilities. There should be a policy in place, including a car park security guard which enforces this.

Security

I have been witness to a few occasions in the gym where there have been physical instances of assault between specific gym goers. This has made me and many other gym users feel unsafe and indeed frightened to use the gym. I feel that there should be adequate security to protect members of the public at all times, who use the gym and that those who cause arguments, who are abusive or cause physical harm should be banned and the police called to remove them and bring forward charges.

All of these above issues are far from being minor in nature and should be addressed as they certainly would not be accepted at any private gym or private health facility in the UK.