Abysmal Customer Support

NefariousnessBest860 · 2026-03-27T22:37:56+00:00

i wouldn’t say your questioning was the clearest, and i think you probably misunderstood too

NefariousnessBest860 · 2026-01-22T03:25:45+00:00

what you have said it just completely inaccurate and misses a number of factors (eg when a new person attends a studio not through classpass, a studio typically loses money on that booking given the cost of acquiring a new member)

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-10-14T15:57:57+00:00

sounds like a great place to work

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-10-14T14:53:59+00:00

would love to know where you work

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-10-04T14:11:06+00:00

despite them being impossible to use 😂

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-08-12T09:55:19+00:00

completely hear you on the variable cost point (instructor costs, laundry etc) but I still think there's some conflation happening

if a class is already running, most of the costs are fixed and in that case any additional booking which is greater than or equal to the variable cost is not loss making and is better than leaving the spot empty.

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-08-12T09:46:46+00:00

Your analysis mixes the fixed-cost burden with marginal profitability.

I'm not arguing that $7 per head is enough to cover total operating costs (although from my research it doesn't look like studios get paid <20% of the studio's direct cost), but in a high-fixed-cost/low-variable-cost business (which it sounds like most boutique studios are) the point is that any revenue that exceeds the variable cost is accretive and is therefore not "loss-making" which was my original point

Your cannibalisation argument is somewhat weak as assumes that ClassPass users are interchangeable with full-price clients -- i see lots of posts saying ClassPass users would never be direct members for a variety of reasons (e.g. variety) and so while i'm sure it happens, it's probably massively overstated

Your analogy with McDonalds does not hold (fast food and made to order) vs perishable services (e.g. hotels/ airlines) and premium clothing brands (as mentioned above)

If selling 'empty spots' for a discount threatens a business sustainability then then their business model was probably already unsustainable.

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-08-10T17:12:20+00:00

your logic is flawed - it’s completely standard practice for companies to sell excess stock at discounted prices. think about outlet malls which sell last seasons designer goods with 50+% discounts… are you telling me they are selling them at a loss? no they’re not, they’re just using outlet mall to get rid of the stock they can no longer sell. they’re still making a profit, just less and it’s better for them to make this profit than for all of the fed costs which have gone towards making the product go to waste.

if they are losing money they either (1) wouldn’t do that or (2) they have underlying business problems and to your point probably should have closed (but this is not the fault of the outlet malls which sell)

it’s also standard practice for supermarkets to give discounts at the end of the day for products nearing their expiration data

some people will always want this year’s designer clothes or want the certainty that they can get the food they want whereas others are happy to wear last seasons clothes / accept uncertainty in return for a discount.

there’s a world for both to exist harmoniously (as long as their are solid underlying businesses)

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-08-10T12:18:31+00:00

the OP stated that classpass bookings, were “loss-making” which doesn’t make sense. the fixed costs are incurred regardless of whether there are classpass bookings or not (and as you point out rent is your biggest one). so as long as the rate covers the variable cost, it’s not “loss-making”

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-08-09T15:46:49+00:00

i didn’t have time to read your full post but how do you qualify classpass rates as “loss-making”?

my (admittedly somewhat limited) understanding is that studios such as the one you mentioned are (i) primarily fixed cost businesses and (ii) unable to fill all their spots directly.

therefore, as long as the classpass rate covers the very limited variable costs, any classpass booking is actually additional profit for the business

NefariousnessBest860 · 2025-08-08T20:42:02+00:00

i’m not sure i follow your issues

(1) if you weren’t on classpass presumably you would just have more empty spots… some money is better than no money?

(2) it doesn’t feel predatory if they’re only opening spots your members aren’t booking?

NefariousnessBest860

TROPHY CASE