I am all for gym membership; people getting and keeping themselves fit, but if you're going to make it awkward for people then it's really not going to encourage people to join up. A prime example of this is the Esporta gyms, I was a member of Esporta for a good 3 years and at £60 a month (outside of London) it wasn't cheap.

I used all the facilities and found that it was really very good, it was nicely kept and always had a nice working out environment. When I got myself a job in London I moved down and gave in my months notice. After 3 years I assumed a month would suffice. Little did I know that they wanted 3 MONTHS NOTICE!.

This is a bit unrealistic due to me moving house and jobs, I thought who could never predict what may happen in three months time? Who knows whether they'd even get the job?!

Either way I had to pay the remaining fees as I was contracted to so and didn't want to go to court over something so trivial. I should have really known this from the start and I guess it's my fault, but either way I'd never use and Esporta again! I'd not want to be held to such a long contract, on top of this the London clubs were £5 entry EXTRA, on top of each gym session as well as £60+ a month!

Fortunately I found myself a gym that's pay monthly no lengthy contract and even better facilities than Esporta! Which made me very happy!

The moral, Read and fully understand any contract they are trying to get you to sign and shop around when looking for a good gym!