KAL - Spen Valley Leisure Centre

Fantastic experience: Very good

Positive experience: My partner and I have been members since the newly renovated Spen Valley opened. I use the gym. He swims. Overall our experience is good. However I started bringing my grandson to swimming lessons in October and there is a noticeable deterioration in the standard of cleanliness in the changing room, both cubicles and the floor. They're dirty and it smells bad. The other thing are the electronic doors for entry and exit to the gym and pool areas. There's always one that's broken and it can take weeks to be fixed. We pay close to £60 per month. It's a lot of money. I agree with other's disappointment that the café closed. There was a lovely sense of community when it was there, people relaxing over a coffee. It was nice. The vending machines changed that.

Fantastic experience: Love going to work out

Fantastic experience: The staff in the gym are so helpful. As a first time member of a gym they never made me feel stupid.

Fantastic experience: Great equipment

Fantastic experience: Loving my classes

Positive experience: Tuck the girls swimming a few Sundays ago and the refurb looks good and the blow up obstacle course was spot on

Negative experience: Me and another person go swimming here regularly. We have a flexi card each usually enjoy using the service. It is still cheaper to use brighouse swimming baths which is closer even with a flexi card but we don’t mind as it seems a nice leisure centre. On the way there the car broke down, there was absolutely no way to get there from where we was stuck (we even sent video proof via email). We tried to ring on and off but no one was answering. When we finally managed to speak to someone who was quite rude on the phone we was told no refunds under any circumstances. Say for example if you become unwell and cannot attend as you don’t want to pass germs around the facility or even have a serious medical emergency and are in hospital you cannot alter or refund/cancel your booking. This is very strict and shows that this company do not care about their customers or users and are more so about getting as much money as possible. If someone had a bad virus or bug and they know if they have booked they are just going to loose money it’s going to encourage people to come anyway and spread germs. It’s poorly thought out and in certain circumstances this should be considered or a new date should be offered. We definitely will not be returning.

Negative experience: Do yourself a favour and don't join this gym. I was literally HARASSED with debt collection for a payment I had already made—despite providing receipts and bank statements. When my issue was eventually escalated, a senior manager blamed it on just returning from holiday, which doesn’t excuse why my payment wasn't checked before sending threatening emails. They forever bang on about their terms and conditions as to why I can't leave the gym YET they adjusted my direct debt amount to OVER £70 without notifying me which breaks their own direct debt mandate... The staff working there lack braincells. I’ve been trying to leave this gym for ages, and I can’t wait to be done with them.

Negative experience: Have to pay a monthly subscription of £30/month to be able to book online for a public swim or drive all the way there and hope there’s a spaces left and then pay more on top of that already £30, or pay £7/month for a flex card which gets you a discount on a £8 swim. What happened to just booking and paying for a space online like every other swimming pool.

Negative experience: Receptionist was kind however the staff didn’t let you know before hand that the centre would be closing therefore told us rudely to “get out” of the centre.

Positive experience: Been at this gym for nearly 2 years loved it everyone at gym is helpful but recently it's become really bad the toilet are always out of use changing rooms are dirty even tho they have a cleaner there all the time. Also for past year 2 yrs I've been getting NHS discount all of sudden its been stopped as I need to get paid by NHS directly well wer was that policy 2 years ago nd I get told who ever put the code on did it wrong well if tht was the case for past 2 years you been asking for wage slip every 6 months why wasn't it picked up then.

Fantastic experience: Very good

Fantastic experience: I love this place it is very clean

Fantastic experience: Great kids swimming lessons, highly recommend A******

Fantastic experience: Regular user of the facilities - great place to get fit

Negative experience: Reading the other reviews I am not surprised! The customer service at this gym is disgraceful and the team are rude. The cancellation process is ridiculous and I would not return to this gym if I was paid to! The customer service team need some training as priority. Horrendous experience.

Negative experience: The most horrible customer service. They bend their own rules and change terms and conditions as they please. Like many other members that I’ve spoken to over the past week, I’m struggling to withdraw on medical grounds. Council really needs to investigate KAL and their dodgy practices. Sara (who apparently is a manager) is the most unhelpful and nasty human being

Negative experience: I feel compelled to share my horrendous experience with KAL Spen Valley Leisure Centre to warn potential members. After joining the gym, I encountered serious health issues and provided them with a medical note as proof. Despite their terms and conditions explicitly stating that illness is a valid reason for contract termination, they heartlessly refused to accept my doctor's note. To make matters even worse, I recently left the UK for my home country, where council tax does not exist. Despite explaining this to KAL, they stubbornly demanded council tax as proof of my new address, completely missing the point. Their lack of empathy and understanding of mental health issues is absolutely disgraceful. Rather than offering support, they are adding insult to injury by applying a punitive £15 interest charge every week, further exacerbating my financial burden. The customer service is atrocious. They rarely reply to emails, and when I requested a detailed explanation for their refusal to cancel my contract, their lazy staff dismissed me with a rude and condescending response: "Regretfully, due to the amount of emails being sent from yourself, we are unable to keep replying with the same information," even though they never actually answered my questions. A private doctor's letter and a P45 were apparently not sufficient proof that I can't exercise or afford the membership. This gym's blatant disregard for its own terms and conditions, coupled with its callous attitude towards genuine health concerns, is unacceptable. Spare yourself the nightmare I endured and stay far away from this place. There are far better and more compassionate gyms out there. **Rating: 0/5 stars**

Fantastic experience: Lovely gym. Staff polite and helpful

Fantastic experience: Amazing experience I really enjoyed it great facility ok changing rooms and friendly and helpful staff

Negative experience: If you book a fitness class but don't turn up, you get an email threatening to take your booking privileges off you, yet there's no punishment for people who book classes a week in advance as soon as they're released to the app, then cancel 5 minutes before the class is due to happen, potentially meaning that people who were genuinely going to turn up lose the opportunity. If you ever do want to attend a class which is full, I'd advise anybody reading this to turn up to the gym at the time of the class, and the chances are that a few spaces become available 5-10 minutes before the class starts. And if all else fails there's not really any way of knowing that an extra body has snuck into the class. There also seems to be a high turnover of instructors leading the classes, causing inconsistency. There is a cleaner who appears to have a mental disability, which of course is not an issue. But I witnessed the cleaner in question tell another member of staff that they have a cleaner at home. So presumably Kirklees council have deemed this person not able to clean their own home, funded a cleaner for their house, then EMPLOYED them as a cleaner?! It's a huge shame that the cafe has closed and there are only vending machines in its place. I personally love the clientele, there is less of the younger generation looking you up and down compared to more commercial chain gyms. Overall I only go to this gym because of how close to home it is. If you live closer to a different gym, I'd probably suggest you go there.

Fantastic experience: A Fantastic Facility, Brilliant Staff and Fabulous Services.

Positive experience: Swimming lessons good. Sadly only vending machines for drinks.cafe no longer German there

Negative experience: Although this is a relatively new facility it lacks enough equipment and exercise machines and it is too busy, especially since KAL has closed other locations. You are unable to book onto fitness sessions through the app as they are generally fully booked (especially spin and yoga) as soon as booking becomes available, then if you are lucky enough to get booked on a lot of people who booked don't turn up making the whole system a farce. The car park is too small and is often overflowing with people parking on grass verges and walkways. This was obviously poor planning when the facility was built as there is ample space for a bigger car park. The worst thing about KAL though is if you need to contact customer service through email. Their responses tend to be flippant and they do not do anything to encourage people to retain their membership.

Fantastic experience: Great for a work out and swim, just really busy now with other kirklees centres shutting down.

Fantastic experience: Great brand new purpose built leisure centre, 2 swimming pools, gym spacious and clean, changing rooms are clean too

Fantastic experience: Lovely leisure centre

Fantastic experience: This gym very clean and tidy and all equipments in good condition I like this gym and staff very friendly thank you

Fantastic experience: Nice new building

Positive experience: Good gym but not as many machines as other gyms although it’s very clean. For such a large centre the gym is quite small. It would be great if they could have electronic readers to enter instead of physical card. Also if you turn up in the last hour you will always get reminded that the gym closes soon by reception …. Even if you go to the gym at that time every day

Fantastic experience: Great equipment, friendly helpful staff. Parking is a bit of an issue.

Negative experience: So frustrated with this centre.Kidz are being kept from advancing to next stage in swimming classes because there are no spaces available.My son graduated to stage 3 and yet he is still going to stage 2 class.Everytime l ring the call centre or go to the reception l keep getting told the system is down which is clearly not true.We pay an expensive direct debit for these lessons and if you miss a payment you get charged.Its okay for them to keep taking our monies yet the service is stagnant. KAL is now a rip off, not worth it anymore.

Positive experience: Started coming here after the closure of Dewsbury but can't say I'm all that impressed. The layout of the gym could be much better to say it's twice the size of Dewsbury, so as Dewsbury is now closed they need to evaluate all their equipment and redesign it.

Negative experience: Absolute garbage is all this booking online, then can’t find it online to book a swim…

Positive experience: It would be 5 stars apart from the sewage smell, and it's far too busy since dewsbury shut.

Positive experience: Gyms ok. Dont like the bicycle seat bench, cant lift the weights for bench press or shoulders because of the shape of these seats. The normal bench is good with square seat where is the spa? All modern gyms have one . Dewsbury is shut Spent millions?

Positive experience: Excellent facility. The Immerse sessions in the pools are amazing! Great lighting and sensory atmosphere! The inflatable was great! Sadly no deep water to swin in when the Immerse sessions are on! No diving facilities either at any time though!

Positive experience: Free parking is what helps this gym get high ranking. The gym is small but adequate. Clean too.

Fantastic experience: Very busy place

Positive experience: Has the potential to be really good but too busy and oversubscribed. Parking is an issue and needs to be resolved. Can never get a space and is a dangerous design with people coming flying round the corner to the exit that have parked in the extra bit. Went to the 19:15 Studio Spin Class Tuesday and could potentially sue for loss of hearing. The instructors head set was that loud you couldn't even tell what he was saying - not only that but I couldn't even concentrate on what I was doing it was that loud . I found it to be highly uncomfortable. What a shame! Will be sticking to yoga with Lucy in future (brilliant class) to Avoid potential mental breakdown from Spin class in future.

Fantastic experience: Awesome for a family day out.

Fantastic experience: Best experience ever! Not been here before and we were very nervous. We'd booked online so went to the desk and explained we'd not been before. The lady kindly reassured us about everything, explaining where to go and what to expect. She explained what would Halen next time we went too. When it was time to go for our session, she took us through the gate and explained again where we had to go. She gave over and above what could be edicts. Excellent service, and we will be back!

Fantastic experience: Architecture sports centre

Negative experience: Over crowded, zero car parking spaces available. Air conditioning doesn’t work half the time. Staff on front desk are very blunt. You can’t book into 95% of the classes. Gym is tiny. The council need to seriously address these issues. One of the worst leisure’s centres I’ve ever been in. Cancelled membership after first month.

Fantastic experience: Staff here lovely, especially Lynn and Alison. Unfortunately, due to I'll treatment from a sistering leisure centre, I have cancelled my membership after only one week.

Negative experience: I had high hopes for this newly built facility, but unfortunately, my experiences have been far from satisfactory. Firstly, the issue of leaks in the building is completely unacceptable. Considering it has only recently been constructed, one would expect it to be free from such defects. Additionally, the failure of the air conditioning system during hot days adds to the discomfort of visitors and diminishes the overall experience. Secondly, I have observed that the clientele at the center seems to primarily consist of either very young school children or elderly individuals. While I acknowledge the importance of accommodating diverse age groups, it seems that there is a lack of facilities or programs to cater to the needs of the broader community. Thirdly, the difficulty in accessing classes due to overbooking is a major concern. This makes it almost impossible for members like me to participate in activities we pay for and leads to frustration. Moreover, the parking situation is hazardous, and I, myself, had to endure the misfortune of having my car damaged while visiting the center, requiring police intervention. Furthermore, I am appalled to learn that the security cameras, which should have provided some level of safety, do not even work. This negligence is inexcusable and raises serious security and privacy concerns for patrons. Additionally, I must express my disappointment with the staff at Spen Valley Leisure Centre. Their lack of knowledge, unprofessional behavior, and arrogant attitude towards customers have been nothing short of appalling. Proper communication and customer service protocols seem to be absent, leaving members like me feeling unheard and disrespected. I firmly believe that Kirklees Council needs to reevaluate its support for Kal Leisure and encourage the center to operate independently as a business entity. This would ensure that customer satisfaction and the wellbeing of clients are prioritised, leading to a more prosperous and customer-focused leisure centre.

Fantastic experience: Great gym and swimming pool

Fantastic experience: Friendly helpful staff, laid back atmosphere relaxing.

Negative experience: Sorry for 2 stars but i do not understand why there is no swimming on a weekend after midday. Very disappointing really as it would be great to pop in for an hour on a Saturday or sunday afternoon. The swimming timetable really needs adjusting properly

Fantastic experience: Friendly staff, we did the swimming, Tuesdays and Thursdays advertise 3 lanes but it’s only 2 very small lanes, so not much room to swim,

Fantastic experience: Really clean. Great facilities and friendly staff.

Negative experience: The children’s swimming instructor Julie is making it miserable for the kids. Thinks that screaming and shouting at them is a good way to teach. My child used to love swimming and now he dreads it because she is unbearable. Also seems like she deliberately holds back with scoring to keep kids on the same level longer if you pay monthly.

Fantastic experience: Very clean and modern pool. The staff were so helpful and friendly. Defo going again

Positive experience: The 3 members of staff on duty this morning 15/04/23 were very helpful, kind and professional. I think some of the other centres could learn from the staff this morning. Thank you.

Fantastic experience: Went on the water assault course. Family of 4 all enjoyed it. Life jackets supplied to those who can't swim a length. Very reasonable price

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym good staff.

Fantastic experience: Staff on front desk extremely helpful. Same for the lady that showed me around. Changing rooms and gym area very clean. Could do with a cool shower option, and a microwave in dining area for anyone bringing their own food.

Fantastic experience: Took the kids here swimming it's a really nice clean pool and changing area on sundays they have a big inflatable in the main pool which is really good! Definitely worth the 30 min drive for us!

Fantastic experience: Great place for kids swimming lessons

Positive experience: Lovely gym and classes ive been there for 6 month only problem i can never get in a class everyone pre books them so there is no chance getting the class you want to work out at . but still a nice gym

Negative experience: Not enough public swim availability. Mainly length swims, with only a few public swims throughout the week (all less than half of the pool) Not every can or wants to do a length swim. Public swims can be for everyone, regardless of fitness, ability or disability. You're restricting who can use the facility by making it almost exclusively length swim. Some people want a leisurely swim, or to tread water for a while. I'm only able to go swimming around once a month on your current timetable. With more public swimming availability, I'd probably go twice a week, if not more. A few people I know have said similar about the timetable. When I do manage to go, the staff were quite helpful and the place was clean and tidy. Shame it can't be utilised better. Similar issues with most baths in the area.

Fantastic experience: Great indoor swimming pool that felt like it was very clean. The pool lighting is perfect and colourful and there are plenty of changing rooms. The downsides are: they only have 4 showers so there's a long wait, and they have limited female only times.

Fantastic experience: Immerse What a laugh well worth a try all round family fun

Positive experience: Quick summary, two pools, a gym, two exercise studios, a cycle studio and loads of classes. Stuff it doesn't have? No sauna or jacuzzi. Can't comment on the prices, I have a membership, and in fairness, that's probably the way to go if you are a regular visitor. The new Spen Valley Leisure centre replaced a swimming pool. The old gym was in a former youth club. Is the new better than the old? For sure. The new pools are smaller but much more flexible. And the leisure centre now has a purpose designed gym. The whole place is modern and fresh. (It's new, it should be!) Changing rooms upstairs for the gym and studio classes, downstairs for swimming. You'll need a quid for a locker, it's refunded when you leave. It can get busy, best check the timetable for swim times and availability.

Fantastic experience: Great facilities, good price and really friendly helpful staff. Easy booking system for classes and swimming.

Positive experience: a place of pain......by choice though so all good!

Fantastic experience: I love going to this gym, everyone is so helpful and friendly

Fantastic experience: Big space with plenty of equipment and very fair pricing plans

Fantastic experience: Swimming lessons for the granddaughter. Great facilities and trainers.

Positive experience: Gym is great but absolutely hopeless trying to get in some classes I just don't know how some people manage to get all classes every week no problem given up now,do use the gym and like it a lot but will not be renewing my membership when 12 month contract ends.

Fantastic experience: Great gym plenty of options with classes and plenty of equipment and obviously the swimming pool is amazing

Fantastic experience: Great place to keep fit ....full classes good to see

Fantastic experience: I swim here Mon-Friday every week. Excellent facilities and staff. KAL card is great value too

Fantastic experience: Best thing to happen locally for years.

Fantastic experience: My first time here and it was great nice friendly staff and very helpful

Fantastic experience: Love it here, can't wait to use the gym, all very professional and I've been swimming and both pools are fabulous x

Positive experience: Nice, clean, friendly Gym . A place where you don't feel intimidated by working out.

Positive experience: One criticism... They don't honour the army discount card for veterans who served our country. Just a few mile away in another sports centre it is...saddens me.

Fantastic experience: Great pool great staff. Loads of stuff on for kids at prices you wont believe. Have a look.

Fantastic experience: Love the gym its so new, clean, all the equipment needed. Fees are reasonably priced too. Highly recommend

Fantastic experience: Great experience and lovely small pool

Negative experience: Too many posers!!!

Positive experience: A terrific revamp for Spen, with great indoor facilities and friendly helpful staff. I’m really enjoying the classes and the pool, the gym has lots of great equipment and membership is very competitive. There are however a couple of downsides. The reliance on an app for booking does unfortunately make oversubscribed evening classes difficult to access for anyone in the community not tied to a smartphone at 9pm every evening. Sadly the previously well used outdoor playing field facility has been left to “wild”, with rotting football posts and has been lost to the community in the process. What a waste of a great extra facility that could be used to promote team sport, and general health and well-being. Overall a good facility but missing a few obvious wins to make it great. Update Thank you for your response but as you’ll be more than aware unless you have a smartphone and thus the app or at the reception desk 8 days in advance at 9pm there will be no availability for reception to book for you popular classes in the evening. It’s great that they’re popular but the system lacks inclusivity for the whole community. No smartphone no choice of class. Perhaps holding back a couple of places for reception booking would help include everyone

Fantastic experience: Loved my swim,staff are lovely

Fantastic experience: Very nice clean big pool friendly

Positive experience: Redesigned and happy looking. Shallow pool in separate room from deep pool. Parents watch from chairs on the side in shallow pool - not a ton of seating space.

Fantastic experience: Great leisure centre. V new, great classes and equipment. Could do with a clock in the gym floor that shows seconds for those of us who want to do a circuit workout etc.

Positive experience: Would have been more stars, but I can't find details anywhere that say what each class entails & who it is aimed at.

Fantastic experience: Would be nice if you could get the classes that I like aqua fit they are hard to get in once a week would be nice ?

Fantastic experience: Very freindly staff and the gym was amazing

Negative experience: Been on kal spen leisure app now 10 min I am a member only been once to centre I cannot find out how book a swim yet

Fantastic experience: Lovely big car park with a nice little cafe just off the entrance. The swimming pool looks great, a really nice building. Can not give much more information as so far I have only visited to meet with my husband and daughter after their swim. They like it though and plan to go regular for swimming

Fantastic experience: Lovely inflatable play for the older children or active adults. There is also a quieter pool for the non swimmers which has lots of flotation items, balls and other things to play with.

Fantastic experience: I love the new facilities here. They have everything you could want in a gym and it's really clean, with friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Clean, friendly staff. Went to immerse with my son for the first time going, would definitely go again

Fantastic experience: Splash and play today. Lovely for the little ones and not crowded.

Positive experience: Better when it had slide, top box and Olympic size pool tbh.

Negative experience: I joined this gym with high hopes. After one month of opening it feels like there always a problem. It’s taped up equipment that’s out of use, leaking roof, electrical issues and now broken air conditioning. Also whoever designed the layout of the gym have clearly never been to or used a gym is crazy how poorly it has been designed looks cool but the functionality is dreadful. Today I was told no bags are aloud in the gym and to use the lockers outside of the gym. I have my headphones, gloves, water bottle, skipping rope ( ones in there have been knotted and are very short), resistance bands ( can’t use theirs due to the material), towel, key for said locker, card, phone and towel. The issue is you have to scan to get in the gym how am I meant to carry my stuff and scan in and carry all of this around without a bag. When I asked about this the lady said I can have a bag but I have to wear it for the whole period of my workout. 1) multiple small items are more of a hazard then one bag. 2) working out with a backpack on is a risk of hurting myself due to form. I went to reception and spoke to customer service and they all agreed it is ridiculous but it’s in the t&c. I have read them and unable to see where this is. I have now cancelled my membership and am in the process of joining another gym. If you want a small gym with limited equipment and poor customer service this is good for you

Negative experience: Can't deadlift in socks, got to wear shoes. Pretty ridiculous.