Refunds

[djz]

What are your guys refund policy?

My policy is "if at the end of 30 days of consistent diet and exercise, if you do not see or feel a difference, then i will issue you a 100% refund"

That's my policy and i stick to it. For the first time, i had this client just email me asking for a refund.
She paid for 10 sessions at 2x per week
Showed up to 5, and since then been flakey, not showing up, excuses, excuses leading up to "this is not working out, i would like a refund for my remaining 5 sessions"

This is why i take payments in advance. For flakey people that don't show, and i charge them for no shows

Now she wants a refund, and feels that it's right to issue her a refund

I'm sticking to my guns. She didn't abide by my policy. Didn't even reach 30 days with no consistency. If she did reach 30 days with consistency, and wanted a refund after no results visual and feel, then i have no problem issuing a refund. I explained that to her, but she doesnt get it

[hungryone15]

Absolutely. Stick to your guns because you are right and shouldn't have to pay for her flaky-ness.

Additionally, I think you should have people sign up for a minimum of 4 sessions per week. Not only will it be more money in your pocket, but they have greater consistency. And I'd say that you get about 50% better results doing 4 workouts a week versus 3 workouts a week.

[Mr.ILL]

Stick to your guns. My policy is all training is non refundable due to the nature of how flaky people are. I've had one person ask for a refund in my 3 years of training and threaten to get legally involved if I don't refund them. I scanned the document they signed and send it to them via e-mail. Haven't had any problems since besides one angry flaky person.

[YoBigFatMomma]

I offer refunds on unused sessions, but I can't afford any of this 30 day money back guarantee stuff. I drive a truck, do in-home sessions, and some clients are 20 minutes away.

Refunding unused sessions just seems like a good policy to give clients some peace of mind when purchasing and make the decision easier, plus it's not like you won't be getting paid for the work you've done.

[Simmo0508]

I'm not a fan of any refund policy where it involves results.

Stick to your guns like the boys already said. She didn't hold up her end, so you're fine. But in the future, definitely don't use a policy that stipulates a full refund (because that's still 10hrs work for you) based on lack of results because they couldn't stick to eating well at home for example.

Generally PT is non-refundable. If you've done your job, at the time, stuck to your appointments, then you deserve to be paid. Unused sessions, sure, since you haven't physically performed that work yet, but anything you've done in the past, don't refund. Be careful. You're running a business and if people can smell loopholes and ways to take advantage of things, you're setting yourself up for a loss and aren't protecting yourself.

[darins]

I do not do refunds. If you do, make sure your contract (or whatever document they sign) lists things explicitly to cover the situation you listed here. You should not be in position to honor a refund request if the client put in minimal effort, but if your 'guarantee' wasn't explicit enough with any conditions or stipulations, you may have little choice.

I'd think if someone is going to ask for a refund, they're going to be a pain in your ass if you don't give it to them.

[Palermo1]

I require a call in 24 hours in advance to reschedule. If they don't reschedule I charge them for the session. I make them pay up front in packages of 4 so when I say I charge them, I just count that session as completed.

[TrainBetter]

I have a similar situation, about refunds, so won't do another big thread. If anyone could give opinion:

Corporate requires our intro pack introduce members to the equipment in the gym through 3 sessions. The first day - using the machines. The second - using free weights and cables. The third - functional exercises. I followed the procedure exactly, giving an exercise for each body region. I then am required to give a copy of the workouts we did and have them practice on their own the next day. The following session, they would bring up questions they had. A girl asked my manager for a refund. She said it wasn't what she thought it would be and said there were too many exercises/too much information. I guess to not knock me down, she said that I was a good trainer. He had asked why he should give a refund for "too much information" and a good trainer.

He surrendered and just gave it to her. What a ****ing knock to me; I can't help but feel insulted. Esp. since I'm sucking right now at sales. And I'm sure she finished knowing a lot more about the equipment than when she started. Sh!t to the "too much information/too many exercises"...

[ts65]

It'd be one thing if she wanted a full refund for all the sessions, but I don't think it's terribly unreasonable to give her a refund of the 5 unused sessions.

You gotta think about the long game here, is it really worth the hassle to withhold her money for 5 sessions and leave someone feeling like you ripped them off? It's not like putting your foot down on a client who you're going to continue to train who constantly misses sessions, because that's going to keep costing you time on an ongoing basis, but here it's not really worth the bad blood for a few hundred bucks.

[tylerpritchard_7]

14 days to unused sessions. After that, use 'em or lose 'em.

[KyleAaron]

When I trained people privately, they'd buy X sessions which they had to use within 12 months. If the person failed to show or give more than 24 hours' notice of failing to show, that was counted as a session done, ie they lost the session. Likewise if I failed to show or cancelled without notice, they'd be credited with a free session. I offered no refunds based on results, since as Simmo said, we cannot guarantee things we cannot control.

I am now employed by a gym rather than self-employed, so could not offer refunds even if I wanted to.

We make a time for our next session, you're paying for a particular timeslot so if you're late we have a shorter workout, if you fail to show or cancel with less than 24 hours' notice then I charge you. Sessions cancelled/postponed with proper notice simply bank up until you're able to use them, however they expire in 6 months. There is no official policy on what happens if a trainer fails to show or give notice; in practice some trainers offer free sessions, other trainers simply lose clients.

Sometimes a person will try it on, so to speak, see what they can get away with. When you're wussy about it they try it again next time, when you go ahead and charge them they become more reliable.

Sometimes these policies will annoy the truly unreliable uncommitted clients. You then lose truly unreliable uncommitted clients, which is not really a loss. Just as 80% your income comes from 20% your clients, so too does 80% your headaches come from 20% your clients. And the headache-causing minority are never among the income-causing minority. So you lose 80% your headaches but only 20% your income, which to my mind is a net gain.