Our tables rating individual firms will be more valuable to you if you know how the data were gathered and how they should be interpreted.

Opinion Surveys

We regularly survey area CHECKBOOK and Consumer Reports subscribers for their feedback on services they have used. For our survey on health and fitness clubs, we asked consumers to rate their experiences with clubs they had most recently used "inferior," "adequate," or "superior" on several aspects of service, including "quality/maintenance of facilities and equipment," "cleanliness," "adequacy of facilities/equipment for demand," "quality of instruction," "availability of organized group activities," "friendliness," "overall value for your money," and "providing what the sales staff promised." Our ratings tables show the percent of each club's surveyed customers who rated it "superior" (as opposed to "adequate" or "inferior") on each question.

We have included on our ratings tables all of the firms for which we received at least 10 ratings on our customer survey. If a firm is not listed on our ratings tables, it simply means we did not receive at least 10 ratings for it; that fact has no negative or positive implications.

Since many firms were rated by rather small numbers of raters, small differences between two firms in the percentage of raters who gave a particular rating (say, "superior") should be ignored. The table below gives a rough guide to minimum differences you should look for in deciding on one firm over another.

When using these survey data, remember that the questions are to some degree subjective and that the differences among firms might be explained by differences in the personalities, backgrounds, critical standards, and other characteristics of the raters or by biases these raters might have.

Complaint Counts

For firms evaluated in our last full, published report, our ratings tables show counts of complaints we gathered from local Better Business Bureaus (BBB) for a recent three-year period.

You can check current BBB complaint information on any firm by searching the website of the BBB where the firm is located. To view a current report for firms listed in our ratings tables, click on the firm's name and, in the details under the firm's listing, click the link under "Complaints" to go directly to the BBB's most up-to-date report on any complaints about the firm.

When using the complaint information, keep in mind that complaints are not always justified; sometimes the customer is unreasonable. And remember that we didn't have a measure of business volume-everything else being equal, large clubs are more likely than smaller clubs to incur complaints simply because they serve more customers.

We always recommend that you look for substantial differences in complaint counts and rates. We also advise giving little weight to complaint counts if the total count against a firm is less than three or four.

Facilities, Amenities, Classes Offered, Membership Policies, and Membership Costs

The information on clubs' facilities, amenities, membership policies, and membership costs came directly from the clubs' representatives or websites. In December 2007, we sent a survey to each firm asking it to provide details on its club's facilities, amenities, classes offered, availability of reciprocal arrangements, membership costs, and contractual policies. Some of the firms refused to complete our survey or failed to provide membership costs. In these cases, our shoppers attempted to collect the information from the firms' websites or contacted the clubs and, without disclosing their affiliation with CHECKBOOK, obtained the information from the clubs' membership sales staff.

In late February 2008, we sent the sample pricing information shown on our ratings tables to all of the firms and gave them an opportunity to update or correct it for their clubs.

The cost for each profile was calculated by CHECKBOOK from information that we collected from the clubs. We report what we calculated to be the cost (rounded to the nearest whole dollar) of the least expensive method to gain access to the activities desired. For these calculations we did not consider limited-time special offers or offers that are restricted (restricted hours, senior citizen-only, youth-only, etc.). Readers should note that these sample prices are based on the clubs' "regular" rates, and that many clubs offer special discounts throughout the year. In calculating these figures, a number of rules of thumb were followed-

• " The profiles are based on having access to one club only, unless the club offers reciprocal arrangements for free.
• " "Full access" means having the ability to use all of the clubs' fitness and racquet facilities, including, where available: tennis, racquetball, swimming pool, weight room, and cardiovascular exercise equipment. These sample prices do not include court fees, which most clubs charge in addition to membership dues. Other amenities offered by some clubs which require an upgrade in membership were not included unless they are a part of a normal membership.
• " The three-month membership costs presume that the individuals intended to join for that period rather than joining with the intention of a longer membership and quitting after three months (which might have been more costly).
• " The prices in the "Weights only" column are prices an individual would pay if he/she joined a club and wanted to use a weight room only. Most clubs do not offer a discount for such types of membership.
• " Some clubs offer discounts for paying a full year's dues in advance; our cost profiles do not reflect these savings if a monthly payment plan was available.

While the figures on our ratings tables represent our best calculations, you might be able to figure a lower cost. Also, prices change frequently and there are often specials. So be sure to ask any club that looks good to you based on non-cost considerations to calculate for you the lowest cost arrangements that will meet your needs.

Timeliness of the Data

All of the data must be interpreted in view of timeliness. Our customer survey data are from surveys conducted from September 2003 to December 2008. Survey respondents were asked to report on experiences in the preceding year. Our data on complaints for the BBB are for a three-year period dating back from a date between January 7 and March 28, 2008. The data from our survey of firms were collected from December 2007 to March 2008.

Our ratings tables include firms for which we collected 10 or more ratings on our customer survey during the customer survey period mentioned above, but we do not report data for periods prior to firms' changes of name and ownership. As a result, some large firms are not listed at all. If only name or ownership changed, we do report the data. Changes subsequent to the dates listed above may not be taken into account.

Top Ratings

We give checkmarks to firms that score highest on a scoring system that we devise for each service field. Our scoring systems weight the various data in our tables and text based on our subjective judgment of their importance. Since the scores are based entirely on information presented, you can apply your own subjective judgments, and decide whether you prefer firms we have not given checkmarks. Where we do not have important data on a firm, we cannot give our checkmark.