Maybe you have or haven’t heard about it, but recently a gym in Australia banned a member for taking pictures of other gym members and then posting humiliating comments about them on his Facebook page. People saw the Facebook pictures, complained to Reddit (the police of the internet), and the justice was swift. That got us thinking about how to go about banning a gym member that has broken your rules. Below are some simple scenarios where a membership needs to be terminated with advice on how to terminate it.

Member Doesn’t Pay Membership Fee But Keeps Showing Up to Class

This is by far the most common reason for having to ban a gym member. Someone decides that they don’t want to keep paying their membership dues, but they still come to class as if they had paid them. The first thing you need to do is let the member know that they’ve want over the grace period and that they’re now no longer able to enter your business. If they insist on coming to classes are don’t listen to your front desk staff, you can contact your business’s attorney to draft a formal membership ban.

Male Member is Obnoxiously Flirting with Female Gym Members in a Habitual Manner

Unfortunately, obnoxious flirtation with female members is one of the main reasons why females quit gyms. They don’t want to be harassed when they’re trying to get in shape. If one of your members has been accused of being too flirtatious with members, the first thing you should do is let them know they’ve been warned. If you have a member code of conduct(which you should), show them that they are violating a specific rule and let them know that if it happens again, they’ll be asked to leave the gym permanently.

Member Intimidates Other Members While Using Machines/Weights

Last but not least, you have the gym asshole. The guy who doesn’t let others use his bench between sets. The guy who intimidates smaller guys into getting off machines so that he has use them. This is the worst type of member. Whenever he is in the gym, you’re going to see people grab their things and get out. The best thing you can do about this type of member is ban them as quickly as possible. They’re toxic to your business and the longer they stick around, the more members you’re going to lose. Make sure you have a clause in your gym code of conduct that gives you authority to ban members based on business owner discretion. Then take your jerk member aside and let him know that he was been relieved of his membership. You might want to have some of your bigger trainers with you when you kick him out, because you can guarantee he’s going to get all huffy puffy. Don’t worry, it’s just a show. Kicking him out is saving your business.