New web site address for the campaign!

There is now a new web site address which will be printed on the new T shirts:

www.bringbackthetowels.com

Ok we have contact at Virgin Active who is able to"change/overturn policies and procedures"

Dear *****,

Yes that is correct ***** does have the authority to change/overturn policies and procedures.

Kind Regards,

*****

Virgin Active UK

E mail from Virgin Avtive

Dear *****

Thank you for your response.

That is correct, ***** is the appropriate person to direct your petition to as he is nationally responsible for this operational decision.

Kind Regards,

*****

Virgin Active UK

E mail to Virgin Active confirming that the person provided is decision maker

Dear *****

Thank you again for your helpful response.

I will ensure, as a matter of courtesy if nothing else that you are copied into all correspondence. For the avoidance of doubt, ***** as UK Operations Manager is the individual our petition should be directed to as the ultimate decision in relation to the towels is his to make?

Again, many thanks,


*****

E mail from Virgin Active.

See below email from Virgin Active:

Dear *****,

Thank you for your response.

I can confirm ***** our UK Operations Manager would be the appropriate person to address the correspondence to, however I would suggest you also address it to myself so I can forward all information to him when he is out of the office to ensure you receive a prompt response.

Kind Regards,

*****

Virgin Active UK

E mail sent to Virgin Active requesting contact info for decision maker

See below e mail sent to Virgin Active requesting contact info for decision maker:


Dear *****,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

I thought I made it clear but if I did not my apologies, that I am fully aware that you would pass on all complaints etc but since there will be a substantial petition in relation to the towels matter it is not too much to expect to be able to present such a document to the actual decision maker.

I really do not wish to appear rude but I do ask that you inform me who the decision maker (s) is/are so that the petition can be formally addressed to them.

With thanks,

****

E mail from Virgin Active

Dear *****,

Thank you for your response.

I can confirm that I work within the Managing Directors office and my duties include recording and collating all Member Feedback to pass to the Management Team which ensures the business continues to listen and monitor any member's suggestions/concerns. Therefore I would advise you to direct any future correspondence to myself, however for your records ***** is our UK Operations Manager, though he is regularly out of the office and in the clubs so I would advise you to direct any correspondence to myself so I can give it my immediate attention.

Kind Regards,

*****

Virgin Active UK

E mail sent to staff as Club

See below e mail sent to staff as the Club:


Hi *****

I just wanted to give you an update on what I wanted to do as I really want to make this petition and t shirt the least hassle and work for you, ***** and the rest of your staff.

Due to this concern I would like to add something to the t shirt to make sure that they do not get the "heat". I was thinking of something along the lines of "the staff at the club can not change this company initiative, please do not hassle them, sign the petition which will be sent to the people who can".

I hope this will help.

Best regards,

*****

Emal sent to Virgin Active requesting actual decision maker

See below email sent to Virgin Active requesting contact info for actual decision maker:

Dear ****

Thank you once again for your helpful and constructive e mail which does indeed give clarity to some of my questions.

One point that does trouble me however is that as you mentioned, you do not want to lose members over the replacement of gym sweat towels but feel you have to accept that there will be some people who feel the club without gym towels is no longer value for money for them and may chose to leave the club. This from any perspective would of coursebe unfortunate. Now I am genuinely grateful for all your help as ******* but wish to guard myself from as it were
"shooting the messenger" something I hope I have avoided! Accordingly, and with no disrespect intended to yourself I must askwho is the person (or perhaps it is a board level decision?) to whom those of us at the gym who are unhappy with the towel reduction ought to address their complaint?

I know well your company structure is such that there is a feedback setup so that the complaints of members is given back to the top butas I'm sure you will appreciate, it would be rational for the body of unhappy members to present their petition to the actual decision makeras that would be the fair and sensible.

I emphasis it is not to in any way "go over your head" but since there is a growing petition, it is important that such a document is presented directly to the person who makes the decision in relation tothe towels.

With thanks in anticipation for your kind assistance,

Best regards,

****

Reply back from Virgin Active regarding t shirt and charity

Below is the reply back from Virgin Active regarding t shirt and charity:

Dear *****,

Thanks for your response and I must stress we do genuinely listen to our members and strive to deliver excellent customer service and value for money at all times. Our gym sweat towel decision does not override these values that we are constantly working hard to exceed in.

We fully understand and appreciate that you are not alone in your opposition to our removal of gym towels from your club but we made a balanced decision to remove the towels (as explained fully in our last e-mail to you) knowing this would be the case. Through all of our normal channels of member feedback we have had much open dialogue regarding the reasons for the change with members within our clubs.

I hope you can understand the reason for our decision and the fact that it was not made for any one reason, neither were we blind to the fact that some members would disapprove of the decision. It was not taken lightly hence we trialed it in a small group of clubs first to ensure it was the right decision.

The key factor going forward is that the club still offers fantastic value for money with the gym towels replaced for dispensed paper towels, and we are very committed to constantly improving the value of your membership through better standards, service, facility and innovation.

We do not want to lose members over the replacement of gym sweat towels but we have to accept that there will be some people that feel the club without gym towels is no longer value for money for them and may chose to leave the club. We feel that the investment and improvement made to the club over the last year ensures that this is not the case but everyone rightfully makes their own personal decision on this.

Regarding your question of would we terminate your membership if you were to wear a protest T shirt in the club? We respect your opinion on this towel replacement matter and as a valued member you and all members have the voice to raise concerns with the club and all staff within Virgin Active at all times. It is your choice what t shirt to wear when you use the gym and we would certainly not 'punish' you in any way for what you choose to wear unless it could be deemed offensive to any other members and/or staff of course. However, the communication channels are fully open so we view the method of using a t shirt to protest and rally member support, which we already appreciate, is there, as unnecessary. We have been in constructive dialogue with you throughout, you understand our reasons and this has and continues to be the case with other members too.

We do have a concern that your 'protest' would distract normal club operations and most importantly distract our staff from delivering great service and helping members achieve their health and wellness goals. But this is something our staff would need to use their professionalism to remain focused on their roles and the members they are there to service.

I hope this answers you questions, if you would like to discuss further, do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,

*****
Virgin Active UK

And the Email reply back to the Virgin Active email

See below the Email reply back to the Virgin Active email that totally ignored the primary question regarding the T shirt:

Dear *****,

Thank you very much indeed for your detailed e mail below and forsetting out the perspective of the company in relation to the reduction in towels. There is one paragraph however, that I'm afraid I must seek clarification on, namely:

"We fully understand the opinions of our membership base on gym towels and there is no need to generate more ballot/vote style polls as itreally does distract our team from delivering excellent customer service and ensuring that every member has a great visit."

I am sure that if you are the type of company who does genuinely listen to its customers with the aim of delivering excellent customer service you will be perfectly aware that I am by no means a lone voice in my unhappiness over the reduction in towels. I raised the issue of my wearing a T shirt in protest not in any way shape or form as ameans of individual malice but as a reflection of the general unhappiness that is felt by several members who I have spoken to inrelation to the matter, many of whom have brought the matter up inconversation with me rather than the other way round! I therefore must ask you again whether it is the case that wearing such a T shirt as I have mentioned below would result in my membership being automatically terminated? A move that for obvious reasons I would regard as being draconian and unfortunate to say the least. I am at pains to seek clarity on the matter before I actually wear it to the gym I would be grateful for your response as soon as practicable.

In relation to your comments regarding donating money to Virgin Unite, upon consideration and consultation with others, a sensible and practical way forward to resolve this situation would appear to be for Virgin Active to directly donate the money saved from this towel initiative to an environmental charity with the amount being published for all to see. It seems only fair, do you not agree, that Virgin Active should make a sacrifice considering that they have forced their paying and loyal customers to forgo and integral and important part of their club membership.

I close by emphasising that I am grateful for your assistance to date in this matter and only mention the T shirt again as I wish to ensure that this discussion is kept at the constructive and respectful level it has been to date.

With thanks in anticipation for you response,

*****

Email reply back from Virgin Active from another person in the company.

See below email reply back from Virgin Active from another person in the company:

Dear *****,

Thank you for your below e-mails addressed to ***** please be advised your comments have been passed to myself to respond as I organise all our Member Feedback for the UK Business.

Firstly I would like to thank you for taking the time to write to Virgin Active and advise your comments have been duly noted and recorded into Head Office.

We took the decision to remove gym sweat towels from your club for a variety of reasons, all of which I understand have been discussed with you in detail. We came to this decision a number of months ago now and we were aware of the fact that members may be upset with this decision, consequently we removed them from a group of clubs as a trial earlier this year to ensure our decision was a correct one based on balance.

Historically, we at Virgin Active have not included the supply of laundered gym sweat towels within our range of services. However, Holmes Place (the business we acquired in November 2006) did include this service in all their clubs. In some clubs we do feel that we want to maintain this service in our clubs. However in others we do not, and in the interest of having a consistent level of basic service across our clubs of a similar demographic and location we have removed them.

This action simplifies our operational management of the club considerably, managing just one type of towel in the Laundering and stock management process opens up an amazing amount of valuable time for the operations and cleaning team to focus on the basic Brand Standards and cleanliness of the club, one of our highest priority key performance indicators.

The reduction in towel laundering volumes across our business clearly has positive affects on the environment and helps towards our green initiatives. This also obviously reduces our laundering costs too, helping us manage our clubs as efficiently as possible which enables us to continue on our drive to offer excellent value for money by re-investing in the basic facility and adding innovative equipment to the clubs.

We certainly considered the negatives to removing the gym towels, that being the fact members have become used to the service of available sweat towels and often use them out of habit, and there is often a need to wipe sweat from equipment after use so a provision is required. We have experience of operating clubs for many years and the provision of paper towels dispensed on the gym floor has suited this purpose very well in all cases.

Member Feedback is of vital importance to us. We feel that this is best channeled through our staff in the clubs who can act quickly and specifically to any member query. Our General Management and Duty Management team are very keen and proactive in being open to feedback from any member on any subject and acting on it quickly. We are aware that such face to face and instantaneous service does not suit everyone, so again with speed of execution in mind we have systems both in the club and online where members can provide us with written and sometimes more formal feedback. We are happy with how this process is working and there is no necessity for you or any member to canvass our members for feedback on any issue.

We fully understand the opinions of our membership base on gym towels and there is no need to generate more ballot/vote style polls as it really does distract our team from delivering excellent customer service and ensuring that every member has a great visit.

I understand ***** has previously confirmed with you that Virgin Active do contribute financially to Virgin Unite and will continue to do so.

Hopefully my explanation satisfies your questions fully and if not please feel free to contact me directly.

Kind Regards,

*****

Virgin Active UK

Email sent to Virgin Active regarding publicising the petition and their reaction to this.

Email below sent to Virgin Active regarding publicising the petition and their reaction to this:

Dear *****

After a long discussion with ***** and ***** at Virgin Active Oxford Street I will need some clarification and help on a couple of topics. Before I go into this, I wanted to firstly express my thanks to both ***** and ***** for taking the time to go though everything and express their point of view. The last thing I want to do is make their life any harder than it already is and that is why I have constantly asked for contacts further up the chain who are making the decisions. Unfortunately for myself and your club staff you have refused to provide me with this.

I do have to point out though that for a company who prides themselves on listening to customers and providing them with what theywant you are failing terribly. You are giving me the impression that not only are you not listening, not caring and seeing this as a real annoyance, you are also trying to prevent people from really expressing their views on this as a group. This perceived will to stifle any sort of group feeling on this is very very concerning and reflects extremely poorly on Virgin as a company.

Might I remind you that it was you as a company who decided to adjust things and remove the towels not the paying customer. The feeling that I am in some way being treated as a law breaker or a trouble maker who should be gagged at all costs for highlighting to you what is a very unpopular initiative is very concerning. As discussed with ***** and ***** I would like to know what your policy will be if I were to adorn a T shit while working out with the following written on it:

"Bring back the sweat towels
or
Give the savings to an environmental charity.
Sign the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/towels/ "

It has been highlighted that you may decide to cancel my membership with Virgin Active without my consent if I were to do this.

I trust that you will give this email the importance that many Club Members believe it deserves.

With thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Best regards,

*****

What Virgin Active are really doing with the savings from your towels

This is the response from Virgin Active when they are asked to donate the savings made through this cost cutting exercise to an environmental charity. Simple said, they say "NO its our money to keep":

Dear *****,

With regards to our previous conversation, I can confirm that we have introduced our very own designated Virgin Unite Manager who is responsible for ensuring we work towards implementing new ideas/strategies to benefit Virgin Unite. A recent innovation we have introduced is to donate all the pennies from staff's salaries (obviously with their written consent) each month towards this charity.

However the reason for the sweat towel removal is completely separate, this is to streamline our polices across the group and of course sits in line with Virgin's Green policy. Any financial gain from this decision will be reinvested into the clubs to provide our members with an overall better experience (E.g by providing new/updated equipment/more innovative classes etc...).
I hope you can understand the reasons for doing this and can back us up and help us make it a greener environment.

Any other questions please email me back and I'd gladly help.


Thanks


******

Customer Support Agent
21 North Fourth Street
Central Milton Keynes
MK9 1HL
0845 130 474

The campaign is now up and running.

The campaign is now up and running. The petition is online and can be signed at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/towels/

We are campaigning to get Virgin Active to bring back the towels.

If Virgin Active refuses to overturn this very unpopular initiative then they should prove they are doing this for the environment. They must prove that this is not just a cynical attempt to pass a cost savings packaged as an environmental initiative.

All savings made by the company, through this initiative, should go to a charity dedicated to the protection of the environment.

Bring back our towels!! Virgin Active

Virgin Active! Bring back our towels!

Say NO to the cynical attempt of Virgin Active to use the environment as an excuse for cost cutting.

Ever since Virgin Active took over Holmes Place Oxford Street (and other clubs) they have been trying to stop the free towels by using the excuse of protecting the environment.

They first reduced the towel allowance to one large and one small, now they have cut it to just one large.

If Virgin Active were really doing this for the environment they would be giving the money they save to an environmental charity. Instead they are forcing you to give a pound to charity each time you want an extra towel.

Enough is enough, say NO to this cynical cost cutting exercise and sign the petition to bring back the free towels TODAY.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/towels/