That was a nice gym. I think its still there. It used to be NT$ 10K per year.
I just see nothing wrong with spending extra money on health and fitness. Itās the one area in life that people should allow themselves to break budget. We can easily do without all the gadgets, the brand name shit, the wasted materialism, but donāt skimp on your health. Eat better quality food with good sources of protein and fiber, and work out at a nice gym that has all the essentials to keep you busy year in and year out. Youāre future self will thank you for it.
TRX at home is super cheap and a great workout for the motivated. But come on, how long can a person seriously keep up that routine?
I checked out World Gym, Taoyuan a couple of moths back and had a similar experience. They tried to do a hard sell. When I asked for the price they avoided it and went on with more sales spiel. When we finally got to the price it worked out to be approx. $700 Australian dollars for one year. They also said they donāt take cash up front for payment. I donāt understand this everyone in Taiwan uses cash, I donāt believe is credit cards never have never will. With a markup like that which is twice the price of a gym in Australia I said no I didnāt waste my time trying to bargain. That explains why I only saw 5 people at the gym I thought. Who in Taiwan could afford those prices with the low wage they get here. Now I workout at the local park doing some basic workouts and calisthenics. I would like to join a gym but Iām not a gym junkie, Iād probably go twice a week as the park is a great alternative and you have fresh air. The downsides are the Taiwan humidity and rain.
What crazy cheap Australian gym were you going to? Obviously not one with classes or the equipment equivalent to what world gym provides. Thatās ok if you donāt want that stuff but I suppose you need to compare apples with apples. I just toured the world gym at the Sanduo Sogo in Kaohsiung and it has everything including stacks of classes, cycle studio, lots of equipment, not crowded at 6pm, free weights (not as many as foreign gym goers would like but the Taiwanese arenāt using them so you can go for your life).
In 2014 the Aussie dollar was strong, now itās plummeted so converting the rate you gave back to Taiwan dollars wonāt be applicable now.
The sales process was worse than I could imagine even after reading othersā posts. I was approached downstairs by a rep who offered me a 3 day pass to try the gym. Sure I said, trying is the best way to know if Iāll like it right?
When I went it took 2 hours for them to finally give me the 3 day pass (which included that day, but I was waaay too drained to think about it after all that, 2 hours of gym Chinese arrrggh). Gym tour ok, fitness test insulting (Iām in ok shape so the guy had to find something ridiculous to make me feel bad about). Then the ridiculous pitch where they wonāt tell me the price until I say Iāll sign up (without knowing the price). It went on for so long! My husband and I told the rep weāre serious about coming to the gym and want to join but want to talk it over tonight and do the 3 day trial before signing the contract. That drove the sales guy crazy! I was just upset because they promised me a 3 day trial and then wouldnāt give it to me.
They showed me a price list eventually, 2 year contract at 1888 per month with about 5000 set-up fee. By my refusal to commit this came down to set up of 2888 and 1488 per month. Still too high. I walked out eventually with my 3 day pass and the guy said we could talk about the price more if needed. Actually itās not that I think that price is too high (would prefer no set up fee and told him that though) itās just that I didnāt like the way I was treated and told him so!
However their strategy obviously works and maybe Iām just a silly foreigner who canāt put up with this kind of thing. Itās pretty well known that Australians canāt stand being sold to.
That sounds reasonable. They have one in Xizhi where I live. Itās advertised as the biggest facility in Taiwan, complete with a pool. I wonāt join because I donāt do much weights anymore, I like to switch around on pools, and I prefer doing my running and definitely my cycling outdoors.
I agree that they must be on to something because they opened one (a huge one) in the boonies of Xizhi.
The best thing to do is the join a New Taipei City club then buy the north area membership. 1188 and you can go to any of the clubs in taipei or new taipei city except for the premium clubs like the 101. Iāve since let my membership lapse because I enjoy being outside more, and they donāt take care of the clubs here. People donāt wipe down machines, and they will sit and watch TV on the machines.
Seems high.
Now that I have heard from friends what they pay the most I would pay is $900 -1000nt tops.
My friend signed a 3 year at world gym for 750 a month and a student in Taichung is paying 900 a month on a one year contract. Unless Taipei is just more expensive to sign up
When salesmen pressure I walk out. In fact for me, knowing their scuzzy tactics is what keeps me from joining gyms and buying cars other than private as I dont want to deal with them. Give me your lowest non negotiable price and Iāll think about it.
The only gym worth joining if you want a legit gym with no bullshit is Formosa Fitness.
You better know how to squat, OHP, and Benchā¦ this aint a fuu fuu gym.
I was a member for several months and unfortunately had to stop going after I messed up my shoulder and hip.
Iām now doing Barstarzz routine in the public parkā¦ because its free and pullups are a legit exercise, no doubt about it. ā¦
but its really fān annoying when the octogenarian posse invade and use the poles for some kind of massage therapy rubbing their backs into the poles and the whole area is full of a gossiping powwowā¦or see a 90 year old fling her leg up over a dip bar to do some ballerina stuff.
I dont mind little kids climbing on stuffā¦ atleast they are doing SOMETHING with the equipment that it was meant for.
But doing dips towards a grandmas smelly feet, not so much.
I join this gym and sheās asking me to pay 2000+ monthly but I told I know a Friend who signed up also for membership and only paid 1700, so she look it up and comeback and say āooh since you have a friend signed up also for membership we will give you the same price what she pay for monthlyā
The gym is totally sucks! , dark , ugly shower which I did not use, I rather take a shower at homeā¦The reason why I join the gym itās because of the group class, I Was expecting a great Cycling class but I was disappointing! First, I donāt mind the 80ās music but I feel like itās not a spinning class at all , I feel like I was in a room with a group doing Kareoke session 
The equipment for Bodypump class is also outdated,
but after my work out I realised āhey, Iām in Taiwan! Iām no longer in Singapore 
Wow. thatās expensive.
My wife and I were paying like N$588 per month a few years ago.
NT$1700 is even still a rip-off.
Yeah, I was already happy to get this price as I was paying monthly fee of S$170sgd -NT$3800 a month in Singapore so I was like oh wow! S$79 sgd- NT$1788 was already a good deal for me, so I signed for a 1 year membershipā¦ then I got disappointed when I read this threadš¬
Just sign the membership 2 days ago 
I pay only 1388/Mth and I can use any branches islandwide (except the āTop of the Classā Elite branches in downtown Taipei) ā¦so Iād say yeah, they ripped you off.
When I signed up, the WG employee told me I could cancel my membership by canceling my credit card (and get a new one) and that would end my WG payments/usage of WG.
Fyi, for one WG, you should not pay more than $1288. $1188 is common too.
Yeahā¦cancelling the card is the best way to get out of the contract without any repercussionsā¦My 2 year contract has already ended but the payments are still getting deducted from my card unless I go in and personally cancel my āsupposedly activeā membershipā¦so what Iām doing right now is freezing my membership every 2 mths by filling out a form and mailing it to their HQ in Taichung. Apparently, I can do this infinitely as Iām no longer bound by a contract.
That sounds like a good way to get the collection agency after you. I guess itāll work if youāre leaving here permanently.
Iāve seen rates as low as $800 a month and Iād never pay more than that. Thatās on a 3 year contract though typically.
No one said anything about not paying off the last balanceā¦ why would a collection agency be after you?
I may have read into it incorrectly
As was said āWhen I signed up, the WG employee told me I could cancel my membership by canceling my credit cardā. Which seems to imply cancelling the credit card cancels the contract
My read on that conversation is that her English is ok on a technical level, but sheās been told or trained to ask questions in a certain way, probably taking the original Mandarin and directly translating it into English
As for dark and disco-like, which location did you visit? The one at Taipei 101 is very bright and donāt recall overwhelming music, except nearby the class room. The one one Tienmu is dark, but again, donāt recall much blaring music (guess because the class room is on 2nd floor whereas the free weights are on the 1st floor). The one on Minsheng Dunhua also sort of darkā¦
Generally donāt pay too much attention to the quality of the equipment unless there is an obvious problem. Mostly use the free weights and the treadmill as a warm up. The treadmills at all three locations Iāve been to are in decent shape
Found a place (MyWay) just next to my office, on Bade Fuxing, underneath the HSBC. No monthly contractā¦ load up your membership card with some money and you pay ~TWD1.2 per minute. Normally end up paying around TWD90 for a little bit over an hour. You have to bring your own towel though. Not sure if they have any other locations
Cancelling the credit card means that the next month WG tries to charge you, they will no longer be able to since the credit card is no longer valid. This is what they meant by getting out of the contract (which really isnāt getting out of anything, but I guess they donāt chase you up).