You are sacked.
I'm very sorry to say but after these last few years of being a loyal supporter, a helper in a meeting and supporting leaders and members where I can; today this ends.
I'm weary and I'm fed up. Not with my weight loss, I know that is a long journey and is entirely down to me. I'm happy with what I've lost and that I've not continued to get bigger and bigger each year with your support. But this last year completely and utterly takes the biscuit. (No pun intended, apologies)
I joined many years ago as a member and continued my membership on and off for a few years. One of my friends I went to school with encouraged me to come along to her meeting on a Sunday and I really enjoyed it. My friend, Donna got to her goal, trained and qualified to be a leader, opened a new meeting and took over some local ones too.
I joined Donna in her venture of opening a new meeting, even though it was 12 ish miles from home. We had a fab time, built the meeting up from scratch and had lots of lovely new members join us.
I loved Saturday mornings, so much so my mum joined too and she also became one of the helpers alongside another member. We were a fab team, had loads of members and totally rocked Saturday mornings.
Now time passes and life goes on as it does. Donna fell pregnant with a much longed for little girl, and as happens, went off on well deserved maternity leave - some time to spend with her beautiful family. There was a plan and a maternity cover in place, WW would continue as normal.
Or so we thought.
However, WW weren't entirely truthful or even helpful. The maternity cover, decided a Saturday morning wasn't for her after all - so we were left in the lurch with no information, none of the members were informed, no notice on the WW website and we were closed. For 4 months.
The support and information from WW and its managers weren't just a joke, they were diabolical. We were promised vouchers for the inconvenience of finding a new group that didn't materialise until after we were re-opened with much wrangling. Poor Donna kept hearing from everyone and trying to find out info for us, even though she was on maternity leave.
Eventually a new leader was found and our meeting was re-opened. For a while.
We had a leader, Nikki, who was covering Donna permanently and would be up until such time Donna was coming back. Life ticked on, sort of normally. (I won't air my personal views - input here what you like)
So by September, Donna had made the decision not to return for a while, to enjoy her family while they're young instead of dashing around after us! And what a marvellous decision that was, we were all so pleased for her.
WW now decided that Hilsea was too far for Nikki to come and stopped her from coming (or so she tells us - I've got to the point I have no idea who or what to believe anymore!) and organised us a new local leader. I had asked for a contact number for a manager so we could find out what was going to be happening, sadly this was met with a defensive manner and downright aggression, which then resulted in me being ranted at (via messenger - not public forum) by Nikki, until I finally got an email address and an apology.
Sadly this new leader we were getting, despite various promises from managers and other leaders, has not been forthcoming.
By mid October, we were told by our third stand in leader, that there was no new leader and now wouldn't be one till after Christmas at least.
By now all of the members are a little restless to say the least. No meeting materials or actual motivational talks for the last 3 weeks, just excuses from the leaders and no real information as to what is going to happen.
I emailed a WW manager to complain about our treatment; the fact we had no support, no continuity, none of what people actually pay for, and this was met with no apology, no assurance this was going to be looked in to.... No.
Accusations that I am aggressive and abusive and they may close the meeting altogether because they have to look out for the safety and well being of their leaders. I'm sorry what? I haven't been any of those things and quite frankly WW, your attitude stinks. I have been nothing but kind, polite and helpful and don't consider myself an aggressive or rude person at all. That is a most hurtful and untruthful accusation and I'm still quite hurt by it.
Maybe you should send your managers on some kind of complaint handling courses, because that is certainly not how you handle a complaint.
I posted on your Facebook page and was told the issue was being looked in to? Still nothing. I emailed head office with a complaint last week, your automated email said I should hear in 24 hours - still nothing.
We are now on our fifth stand in leader, who burst in to our meeting saturday morning, quite simply looking for a fight. When asked some simple questions about next week, if we would have a leader or cover, who would inform members etc, we were confronted with - 'if this negativity continues I have the authority to and I will close this meeting. I am hard(?!) and I come from Southampton and won't be taking any of your shit.' Oh excuse me, I apologise - I forgot, we are all supposed to be happy about the situation WW have left us in and we're paying for and fear people because they are from another part of Hampshire. Wow. Impressive. Professional. Not.
So WW I'm simply fed up. You cannot organise a piss up in a brewery, you cannot even answer a simple enquiry, let alone a complaint.
To look at the comparison between you and your biggest rival... Look at your Facebook pages - yours is filled with complaints, theirs is filled with anything but. The materials for your plan you have to buy literally everything, they give the information and books for free. The list can go on and on, but however you look at it - the sun no longer shines for you WW.
So... you can poke your loyalty, you can poke your leaders, you can poke your so called managers, you can poke your meetings, you can certainly poke your new plan coming out in January - rendering everything we've ever bought null and void, meaning we all have to buy new products, new books, new literature at extortionate prices.
I am quite literally done.
Yours sincerely, Mrs. B.
