- People are not accepting COVID regulations
- Gyms are not hotspots for COVID
- Lack of funding and support for gyms have impacted staff and operating hours
While the people would think and understand small business have to alter their trading hours to suit COVID regulations and lack of staff better, that is not the case.
Owners are getting emails, calls, and direct complaints about how their trading hours do not work for their clients, gyms mainly.
Since the re-opening of gyms and recent spike of COVID cases in VIC, gyms have had to shorten trading hours or bring in set trading hours if the gym used to be 24 hours.
Owner of Anytime Fitness Bathurst, Brook Bowyer is feeling the stress, these new restrictions have had on her business and wish it could go back to normal as quickly as it can.
“It is just me right now who has to sit and watch people work out every single day. We have one staff out, due to surgery, another is out for intensive training, and we just had our other staff member move states to study. It is pathetic, as a 24hr gym with 24hr surveillance I still have to sit here and watch two people train,” Brook said.
Having to monitor social distancing and sanitisation of the gym has proven to be exhausting for brook. She misses out on time with her family and its gotten to the point where her health is potentially at risk.
“I have had a few members email me and complain about how the new operating hours don’t work with their schedule, these people have also come in to complain to my face. All I can do is sit there and nod. While I would like to tell them just to cancel their membership and tell them to go somewhere else, the customer service side of me can’t,” laughs Brook.
“It is frustrating how people dare to complain about something so little, in the middle of a pandemic, and they haven’t even been to the gym in roughly two months. We barely have enough money to pay more staff to be here.”
While there is no evidence that gyms are prime hot-spots for COVID, gyms are being targeted more than pubs, restaurants and cafes, top spots for Coronavirus.