the beginning of a new journey

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by djjjuk, May 5, 2012.

  1. djjjuk

    djjjuk Valued Member

    so, im waiting to hear back from someone at ultimate martial arts in cradley heath, thats the next best choice for me. left voicemails and emails but no contact as of yet ..
     
  2. Aegis

    Aegis River Guardian Admin Supporter

    Might be worth looking at less commercial schools as well, as many of the ones with great facilities will massively overcharge compared to getting membership at a small gym and paying a good instructor of a small club on a per lesson basis.
     
  3. niftyniffler

    niftyniffler Valued Member

    Well my combined gym and lesson fees per month are half what MAC were quoting - and thats for unlimited gym, pool, fitness classes and 2 amazing hours of Wing Chun tuition per week. :wow:.
     
  4. djjjuk

    djjjuk Valued Member

    great, see that sounds more like it :)
     
  5. Aegis

    Aegis River Guardian Admin Supporter

    Martial Arts Concepts Halesowen

    I have obtained permission from an anonymous potential customer of this organisation to post the following pricing model that was offered during a meeting that felt like he was "in a car salesman's office".

    I'm a firm believer in open and honest pricing, and also in the protection of potential consumers, therefore the idea of these prices was quite frankly shocking to me. I can certainly see why they wouldn't post these prices on their website - no-one in their right mind would even show up to the visit!

    In brief, the price offered was £199 joining fee and £100 a month thereafter for a minimum of 6 months' training. The amount of training supplied with this contract is two hours per week, making the effective hourly rate about £13.45 for those first 6 months, and presumably about £11.55 per hour if the contract continues at £100 a month. This is far higher than the majority of pay as you go prices even in London, and I have no idea if this includes uniform costs, testing fees, etc, all of which could increase the price further.

    To my mind, this level of pricing is unjustifiable for this type of training.

    I'm still also really worried about things like the accelerated black belt qualification if you go onto the instructor training course (and I dread to think what the price of that would be).

    As always, comments from the organisation are welcome and will be posted in full and unedited as long as they meet with our general site terms of service.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2012
  6. djjjuk

    djjjuk Valued Member

    another update, had a brief chat with Sean at the ultimate martial arts academy in cradley, didn't give any prices away either and told me it was best to pop in during the week at around 6ish. from the site it seems they offer a pay per lesson and monthly fee, which would be cheaper than per lesson, so i might go down friday after work.

    for anyone else reading, is it the norm to only be given idea of costs when you go in and not upfront?

    the other place i had in mind, rob locks academy in stourbridge, has all their prices upfront on their site - the only downside for me is they have no free weights there. but then maybe im expecting a bit too much with that one. i just didnt want to pay two separate fees.
     
  7. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Nope. If someone won't tell you something upfront it's because they are trying to hide it IMHO.
    £13.45 per hour is the most expensive martial arts class I've ever seen. No wonder they are hiding it.
     
  8. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Don't suppose you can get to this place?

    http://www.graciebarrabirmingham.com/

    Now...they aren't upfront with prices either (and BJJ being what it is I doubt it's cheap) but you get the (probably limited) chance to train with a legit legend in BJJ (Braulio) as well as many options.
    I did an open mat there a few years back and the facilities are top notch IIRC.
     
  9. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    They used to be up front about pricing...odd.

    I remember they had a gold/silver/bronze/newbie monthly fee that was a touch more expensive than normal, but not outrageously so.
     
  10. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Yeah...I looked, but all the option links I clicked went to a contact form rather than any further information on prices.
     
  11. Princess Haru

    Princess Haru Valued Member

    The MMA gym I train at (just the gym part) don't give out prices online or phone either, because they say there are so many options and they also change them a lot, but not sure about the latter, I think it's more to avoid the home shopping option, forces you to go and have a look. It's £30 a month to use the gym, £35 a month for 1 MA style (whatever classes they have each week) or £45 for 1 MA style + gym access. There are other options for more than 1 MA style or for paying 3 months or 6 months, etc, so it can get complex.
     
  12. niftyniffler

    niftyniffler Valued Member

    Well - My husband was meant to be at MAC right now - but he hasn't gone. (Big thanks there for saving him the journey).
    Rob Lock's prices seem ok. My school is up front about prices in the same way. I am not really in a position to comment on anything else regarding Rob Lock's in general as it seems a very different world of martial arts to the one I am training in.
    I think you might be pushing it to try and find somewhere that also includes free weights. I would probably agree at this point that you should prioratise finding a training environment you are really happy with and if it has free weights see it as the icing on the cake. Otherwise I feel it will really limit your range of choice. My gym fees at the Halesowen leisure centre are £27.50 a month but that was when I signed up a few years ago and I think its a couple of £ more than that if you sign up now but still under £30 as far as know.
    Please let me know what the Cradley people have to say --and good luck.
     
  13. Aegis

    Aegis River Guardian Admin Supporter

    Sadly it's becoming more and more common, but it's a very bad sign in my eyes. If a school won't disclose their prices on their website or even over the phone when asked by a potential student, then they almost certainly know that they're looking to gouge as much profit out of their students as they can, which I feel is a very bad start to a teacher/student relationship.
     
  14. micmacimus

    micmacimus Valued Member

    So I went and checked my gym, as I hadn't checked their website before I went and tried them. They don't advertise their prices. I pay $50(regular price is 60, but they sort you out of you're a student or similar) a fortnight for unlimited gym use (they have a reasonable range of free weights and some machines, nothing huge tho) and unlimited classes. The gym is open 5 days a week, closed Friday and Sunday, and have one kickboxing and one bjj class every day with some added classes like lunchtime bjj, sparring on Saturday arvos and Thursday nights with a pro MMA fighter, and wrestling classes. They also regularly have pros come in, we've had Olympic competitors in wrestling and judo, which they don't charge members any extra for. So all up I think they're pretty good.
     
  15. micmacimus

    micmacimus Valued Member

    So I went and checked my gym, as I hadn't checked their website before I went and tried them. They don't advertise their prices. I pay $50(regular price is 60, but they sort you out of you're a student or similar) a fortnight for unlimited gym use (they have a reasonable range of free weights and some machines, nothing huge tho) and unlimited classes. The gym is open 5 days a week, closed Friday and Sunday, and have one kickboxing and one bjj class every day with some added classes like lunchtime bjj, sparring on Saturday arvos and Thursday nights with a pro MMA fighter, and wrestling classes. They also regularly have pros come in, we've had Olympic competitors in wrestling and judo, which they don't charge members any extra for. So all up I think they're pretty good.
     
  16. joness

    joness New Member

    Prices for Martial Arts Concepts - Halesowen.

    The prices are very over the top and I do not favour this for a children's hobby.

    If you are an adult who lives and breathes martial arts, it's okay.

    Prices for children;

    1st Stage - £100 PCM

    2nd Stage - £120 PCM - After about 3 months

    3rd Stage - £150 PCM - After about 6 months.

    The place has a very hard sales team and prices are not available outside of the meeting room.
     
  17. Langenschwert

    Langenschwert Molon Labe

  18. Aegis

    Aegis River Guardian Admin Supporter

    Wow, that's very expensive indeed for group lessons.
     
  19. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    God damn. To he'll with that.
     
  20. Faisal Amin

    Faisal Amin New Member


    ---------------------------------------------------------

    :-( Wish I had seen information on this forum before joining. Martial arts concepts (Black belt academy in Stourbridge, Halesowen and Dudley) is a rip-off company. I have lost £580 in one month. I went to their Stourbridge center. They asked for a fee of £200 per month for 2 kids and a deposit of £395 which included first month's fee. When I decided to walk away they offered a reduced fee of £160 per month and first payment of £350 if signed up immediately which I accepted. I had to buy gloves and pads etc which cost another around £80. After 3 weeks they asked for a meeting with another instructor from Halesowen named Leslie. She said that in order for kids to progress to next level (they cleverly name it an "Upgrade") a new fee structure is required. I refused to accept that. She said that in order for kids to progress further towards black belt, more investment is inevitable otherwise they would not make any progress. I stopped going there immediately and raise a complaint via email which they never responded to. By that time they had taken another payment of £160 for next month. However, they are very cunning to take your sign on Standing order form rather than direct debit so you cannot ask for refund via bank. Reported the case to Citizen advice bureau and they referred to Trading standards and sent letter via recorded delivery. Its being investigated. If more people will report them then they will definitely take immediate action. They never gave me a fee structure upfront. So according to them the monthly fee I was paying was for attending the class only. To progress towards black belt, there would be additional fees per month which was never mentioned when I signed it up. Obviously after paying a large deposit, normally people would agree to increase in fee to avoid losing their deposit if they stop going there. If after reading this you are still tempted to go there then make sure you have everything in writing. Also on their website they offer a free one month lessons (as I came to know later) but I was never told at the time of joining. They will show you photos of Bruce Lee and how their top instructor was directly trained by Bruce Lee's student blah blah ... all lies ..
     

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