Letter to Lifetime

At the suggestion of several people, I am writing a letter to my gym to discuss the situation with the turnover of my personal trainer. I am going to post a copy of the letter with the personal information (names, etc...) masked out. This is what I am delivering tomorrow. My dad wrote it. :)

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                                                            #### ###### #### ###
                                                            ####### ####, MD #####
                                                            January 6, 2010

#### ###########
Owner, Columbia Lifetime Fitness

Dear Mr. ###########:

I am writing to you regarding ### ######. I feel that your sudden and deliberate termination of Mr. ###### after he gave notice was irresponsible and not in the best interest of ###, your Company, or your current customers. In most professional businesses, people are given a chance to make a smooth transition for both their companies and their customers.

I have been a loyal customer since April 2009 and working with ### since then. After several months, I switched from TEAM Weight Loss to One-on-One training with ###. Since then I have exceeded my weight loss goals and overall health goals, due to ###’s leadership and my hard work.

I have been so pleased with ### that I continually refer new customers to your business and at least two (2) and shortly another person will be joining your company as customers. At any economic time, this type of customer loyalty should be understood by you, but especially in these most difficult economic times. I am disappointed in both your decision to terminate him without a smooth transition for your customers and the associated business practice. Giving notice is a professional thing to do, and giving that professional employee time to transition his customers to other Columbia Lifetime trainers would have been a good business practice.

I am deeply disturbed by your handling of ### ###### and that decision puts my faith in Columbia Lifetime at risk. It appears that the only person who acted professionally is no longer at Columbia Lifetime. Your decision places me in a quandary as it makes me wonder why you would make such a decision that clearly is NOT in the best interest of your loyal customers.

Sincerely,


Erin ######

CC: ##### ##########, Head of Personal Training
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Will post a follow-up if I hear anything from the gym...