14/02/2025
Weโve been screwed over, and left in a bit of a situationโฆ ๐ณ Thankfully, itโs now partly resolved.
Short Version - Owner of BodyDoctors has dissolved his business, not told anybody about it and left us without a venue, despite taking our monthly rent, and asking for more, and still, as of Tuesday 11th Feb, insisting he is in talks with the landlord to let us use the building - something we know is not true because the landlord has been in there since Monday ripping the place apart and intending on using it for their own storage. After spending the last 3 and a half days constantly speaking with every venue, sports hall, primary / secondary, function room, commercial property lettingsโฆ we are finally moving forward securing a venue for this upcoming Saturday, with potential for other weekends also. Itโs been stressful and exhausting but Iโm trying to stay positive. We had no notice, no acknowledgement and still no apology from the gym owner for his actions! He has shown no care or remorse for what he has done to us and left us in a very difficult situation. Luckily, thanks to the guys down at Hartlepool Dodgeball Centre, theyโve managed to save us for this weekend. Therefore, everything other than the re-location can go ahead as planned.
Long version - We always set-up our equipment on a Friday evening, usually accessing the venue at around 6:30pm after the last gym class. We had a message off the gym owner saying we couldnโt access til 8pm because he had โbitsโ he needed doing. When we finally got access to set-up, all of the gym equipment was gone and the venue was left in a state. I messaged him straight away and asked what was going on - to this day, he still hasnโt given me an explanation. Just fobbed us off with excuses! After constantly messaging him over the past weekend, it became clear he wasnโt coming back to this unit. Since the end of October, weโve rented the space from him every weekend and always paid in full and on-time (weโre also paid up until atleast the end of Feb, with him having knowledge we were supposed to be there til 9th March). Despite the constant lack of cleanliness, the constant rubbish being left inside and around the building and the lies, we carried on. We even provided our own small heaters because he had disconnected the heating, which left the building freezing. The guy has always been a bit edgy, but never would I consider him to leave us in a situation like this. Since Monday, I have tried tirelessly to find us another venue. I have contacted every sports hall, function room, primary and secondary school in the town and have had no luck. Most venues havenโt got availability or donโt do inflatables. Which brings me to nowโฆ thankfully, yesterday afternoon, Hartlepool Dodgeball Centre over West View were able to held a helpful hand and save us this weekend, with the potential for further weekends after a review. Iโm glad to announce that all birthday parties and general admission sessions for this Saturday can go ahead as planned, but in a new location.
Please understand, this is now not about us as a business making money, this is about keeping the reputation Iโve worked so hard to build for this business. I am not one to let people down, customers that have used me past and present know that, and Iโll stop at nothing to make this work. And until yesterday afternoon, I was running out of options.
I will of-course keep you updated and posted as the beginning of next week commences.
Staying positive ๐ช
