About 3 years ago, I joined Bally Total Fitness. I chose Bally’s for a few reasons. For starters, at the time, there weren’t a lot of other clubs in the Portland metro area (24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, etc.) so my options were limited. Secondly, I knew someone that worked at the gym that used to be up the street from me (I since then have moved).

I’m lucky enough to get reimbursed for some of my dues through my company. Every December, I have to fill out an expense reimbursement form with my monthly dues on them. This should be easy right? Unfortunately, it’s a battle each and every time.

First of all, their website is horrible. Let’s count the ways. First, as a web developer that is interested in standards based development, I can see that their site break rules left and right.

No DOCTYPE is defined, deprecated elements are used, tables are used for layout instead of CSS (in their defense, this site uses tables for layout but I’m working on a CSS version layout), inline Javascript functions are defined on the page instead of in separate files.

Next we move the account information section. There is a link that reads “Show me my account information.” The link is a Javascript popup window (this is a classic abuse of a popup window) that has a form with two fields; membership number and last name. Can you see the security flaw here? They gladly give out account information (albeit very limited) to anyone that can match the two criteria. Think this is hard to come by? Think again; both the membership number and your full name are printed on your gym card. If you lose it, anyone can easily type in the information into the website and away they go. That’s like printing your PIN number on your ATM card.

The information that is listed in the membership information screen is less than useless (maybe that’s why they use such shoddy security). I can make a payment and I can see when my next payment is; and that’s pretty much it. Nowhere on here can I get an itemized list of my monthly dues for the year.

Not finding any pertinent information on their site, my next option is to contact them. Right under the “Show me my account information” link is an extremely useless bit of text. It reads “Please contact member services if you have any questions about your account.” That’s it. No number, no nothing.

The CTO/CIO responsible for web application development needs to run, not walk, to the store to get Steve Krug’s book Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. These amateurish mistakes can be easily solved by reading and applying the Steve’s knowledge in web usability.

Since, no number is listed for Member Services, I have to look for one. There is a Contact Us link at the bottom of the page, which is one of the saving graces of the website and it usually appears on every page.

I click on the Member Services link on the contact form (one click too many) and I’m given 3 ways to contact them. Mailing address, email, and a telephone number. One quick look at the telephone number and I see that it’s not a toll free number (1-562-484-2980). Why oh why is the telephone number not a toll free number?

If I’m not pissed yet, I certainly am now. However, I want my money so I call the number. It’s busy. You read that right. It’s busy. This is 2005, no one should ever get a busy signal when attempting to call customer service for a national company.

So I wait 15 minutes and try again. This time, I’m given the standard “All agents are busy” stuff. Fine, I’ll wait. I end up waiting 30 minutes (on a toll call) to talk to someone (which could have all been resolved by having the information on the website). When I finally get someone on the line, she tells me that she has to print out the information (all 3 years worth – for some reason they can’t do it on yearly basis, which is absurd) and send it to me via snail mail.

For a minute, I thank the heavens because I believe that I have invented time travel and have ended up in the year 1987. Unfortunately, my visions of being richer than Bill Gates vanish as the words sink in. She has to mail it to me. No fax, no email, no nothin’.

By now, my calm has seriously been damaged and I want to reach through the phone and strangle the lady. How can a corporation be so incompetent?

I’m glad my membership expires this month, because I’m certainly not going to renew it.

Let this be yet another lesson, if you piss off your customer, they will go to a competitor’s product.