Swim Lessons at PG Pool - New Policy 👎

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would definitely make me think twice about booking more private lessons there for sure. In all honestly when we have done private lessons at $40 for 30 minutes we usually end up there for about 2 hours in total. When we come to PG Pool as guests of friends who are members its costs $17 for me and my two kids and we could literally stay all day so... It is a bummer because the young people who do the swim lessons there do a great job and I am happy to support them but I will likely just come as a guest in the future and save myself the extra $$

And I don't think the PG pool allows non members to sign up for lessons out of the kindness of their hearts, this year we have spent around $550 on group and private lessons (the membership would cost us around $770 if we ever moved off of the waitlist) and that clearly benefits the membership. It just seems short sighted to potentially alienate a group of people who are contributing to the pool finances.

So, you are the type of people who were abusing the system and why they instituted the new rules.

When you come for the day as guests for $17, then you are using a benefit of your friends who paid the full membership. If your friends don't want to gift you with the guest passes, then you don't get to go. But you are using their membership to get your visit to the pool.

When you are there for your private lessons, you are paying for 30 minutes. It's not unreasonable for the pool to say that you get 20 minutes after the end of your lesson to finish and then leave the facility. You don't get to stay and enjoy the facility as guests. You paid for lessons, which you got. The 20 minutes grace is to allow your child's instructor to finish the lesson, including it they need 5-10 minutes after class to finish the lesson, or if you, as the parent, need to talk with the instructor after class. Then you pack up and leave. Your class does not pay for free swim time for your child after class.

While you see it as having spent $550 on group and private lessons, most of that amount goes to the instructor and only a small portion of that goes to the club/pool. Your benefit is not that much and instead you and other families like yours increase the crowd size at the pool, take up space, chairs, facilities that members want to use and generally make it less convenient for members. From the membership standpoint, the small amount that you contribute to the club is not worth the hassle of you making the poll more crowded for members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who pays over $1k/summer in membership dues at a (different) private pool, yes the non-members who pay $100 for swim lessons need to GTFO after their lessons are over.

Sorry, not sorry.

There is also the fact that PG pool has a 10 year waiting list. Sounds like some families were trying to jump the wait list and were cheap about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would definitely make me think twice about booking more private lessons there for sure. In all honestly when we have done private lessons at $40 for 30 minutes we usually end up there for about 2 hours in total. When we come to PG Pool as guests of friends who are members its costs $17 for me and my two kids and we could literally stay all day so... It is a bummer because the young people who do the swim lessons there do a great job and I am happy to support them but I will likely just come as a guest in the future and save myself the extra $$

And I don't think the PG pool allows non members to sign up for lessons out of the kindness of their hearts, this year we have spent around $550 on group and private lessons (the membership would cost us around $770 if we ever moved off of the waitlist) and that clearly benefits the membership. It just seems short sighted to potentially alienate a group of people who are contributing to the pool finances.

Members also have to pay for group and private lessons, they aren't included in the price of membership. Most of that money goes to the staff who provide the lessons and the management company that manages them. The pool probably gets a small cut for overhead and facilities, but I don't think it's the cash cow for the pool that you think it is. They were actually opening lessons up to non-members out of an attempt to be as open to the non-members in the community as a private pool can be (is that kindness?). They used to limit the lessons to just members. That's why they also offer swim lap memberships and toddler pool hours to people on the waitlist. These aren't big money makers for the pool, they are trying to be nice to non-members who are waiting for their turn by offering them some (though limited) access when the pool is not very busy. They don't have to do any of that.

Members have been complaining about this for a while. I think if an adult and kid came in early in the afternoon and stayed for an hour or two beyond their lesson, no one would really care or even notice. It's the bringing the entire family at 4 or 5 PM when the pool is at its busiest and staying for supper and beyond, and being really entitled about it, that triggered the complaints. If all the non-members who take lessons do that or even if half of them do, there's no being subtle about it.

[Anonymous]

I hope the people who crafted the new policy at PG are reading this - they will get a warm fuzzy feeling when they realize they nailed it. They are not only putting the kibosh on freeloading activities, but they are also driving the freeloaders away altogether. Mission accomplished.

[Anonymous]

Former swim lesson family, current morning lap swimmer here. Its totally within the rights of the board to put in a new check in/out policy for swim lessons no argument here but acting like the pool didn't play a part in how it got to here is a little unfair. It certainly may have been the expectation for people to vacate after lessons but a policy is something that is written and communicated which it just never was. I also asked at the desk if it was ok to stay after lessons because I didn't want to get in trouble and was told it was fine to do so. Granted the front desk is staffed by high school students but if the policy isn't even communicated to the kids working there then that is on them. If you are going to run your pool in a laissez-faire manner, then that is going to trickle down to the people who enter the grounds.

Feel free to burn me at the stake DCUM...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former swim lesson family, current morning lap swimmer here. Its totally within the rights of the board to put in a new check in/out policy for swim lessons no argument here but acting like the pool didn't play a part in how it got to here is a little unfair. It certainly may have been the expectation for people to vacate after lessons but a policy is something that is written and communicated which it just never was. I also asked at the desk if it was ok to stay after lessons because I didn't want to get in trouble and was told it was fine to do so. Granted the front desk is staffed by high school students but if the policy isn't even communicated to the kids working there then that is on them. If you are going to run your pool in a laissez-faire manner, then that is going to trickle down to the people who enter the grounds.

Feel free to burn me at the stake DCUM...

That's like saying the restaurant never told us we had to leave after our meal! What do you mean we can't spend the night?! The leadership probably didn't know the extent to which people were abusing this loop hole. As someone who has been on boards before, you just have no idea how much behind the scenes decision making goes on, how many people have issues that have to be dealt with and how much people feel entitled to things. It's a lot to manage. I don't know what the impetus was for this new system but I can guess that it wasn't just that the leadership wanted to harass people randomly and unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former swim lesson family, current morning lap swimmer here. Its totally within the rights of the board to put in a new check in/out policy for swim lessons no argument here but acting like the pool didn't play a part in how it got to here is a little unfair. It certainly may have been the expectation for people to vacate after lessons but a policy is something that is written and communicated which it just never was. I also asked at the desk if it was ok to stay after lessons because I didn't want to get in trouble and was told it was fine to do so. Granted the front desk is staffed by high school students but if the policy isn't even communicated to the kids working there then that is on them. If you are going to run your pool in a laissez-faire manner, then that is going to trickle down to the people who enter the grounds.

Feel free to burn me at the stake DCUM...

That's like saying the restaurant never told us we had to leave after our meal! What do you mean we can't spend the night?! The leadership probably didn't know the extent to which people were abusing this loop hole. As someone who has been on boards before, you just have no idea how much behind the scenes decision making goes on, how many people have issues that have to be dealt with and how much people feel entitled to things. It's a lot to manage. I don't know what the impetus was for this new system but I can guess that it wasn't just that the leadership wanted to harass people randomly and unnecessarily.

Actually most restaurants these days do state on their website how long your reservation block is for. I just made a res for this weekend and it clearly stated 90 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former swim lesson family, current morning lap swimmer here. Its totally within the rights of the board to put in a new check in/out policy for swim lessons no argument here but acting like the pool didn't play a part in how it got to here is a little unfair. It certainly may have been the expectation for people to vacate after lessons but a policy is something that is written and communicated which it just never was. I also asked at the desk if it was ok to stay after lessons because I didn't want to get in trouble and was told it was fine to do so. Granted the front desk is staffed by high school students but if the policy isn't even communicated to the kids working there then that is on them. If you are going to run your pool in a laissez-faire manner, then that is going to trickle down to the people who enter the grounds.

Feel free to burn me at the stake DCUM...

That's like saying the restaurant never told us we had to leave after our meal! What do you mean we can't spend the night?! The leadership probably didn't know the extent to which people were abusing this loop hole. As someone who has been on boards before, you just have no idea how much behind the scenes decision making goes on, how many people have issues that have to be dealt with and how much people feel entitled to things. It's a lot to manage. I don't know what the impetus was for this new system but I can guess that it wasn't just that the leadership wanted to harass people randomly and unnecessarily.

Actually most restaurants these days do state on their website how long your reservation block is for. I just made a res for this weekend and it clearly stated 90 minutes.

So people were staying too long and they made a policy.
Sounds like the exact same thing PG Pool did!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adelphi didn’t have a waiting list earlier this year, idk if it’s still true.

(Unfortunately?) they do now! Not sure it'll ever get miles and miles long like PGP, but with the renovation I expect it won't be as easy to get in moving forward.

[Anonymous]

The OP is rabid about this issue. She posts in multiple places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Heads up for any non members who do swim lessons at PG Pool This message went out yesterday...


New check-in policy created by pg pool board: In this session we will implement new sign in/sign out procedure for NON MEMBERS for the remaining 2 swim lesson sessions as well as all private lessons effective July 8th. Henceforth, all NON-PGP MEMBERS will need to sign in and out from each lesson - groups and private.

Please note that this will not affect current PGP Members, as they will have to enter the grounds via the MemberSplash system.

All non-members will need to vacate the grounds and sign out within 20 minutes of the end of the session or lesson. The time-out will be confirmed by the desk staff. While we understand that there are sometimes reasons a child may need more time at the end of the lesson to transition to departure, repeated late departures will result in the inability to sign up for future lessons.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the new policy please contact [e-mail]!

Please get a life. You paid for a 30 min lesson. You want to abuse that. Why do you think you can do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I think it’s helpful. There was an unspoken or defacto policy that you could stay after lessons to chill and not being able to do that would definitely impact my likelihood to sign up for lessons again. I don’t see the harm in posting it. Obviously the pool is well within their rights to crack down and it’s good that they communicated it.

It’s not helpful. You sound unhinged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Heads up for any non members who do swim lessons at PG Pool This message went out yesterday...


New check-in policy created by pg pool board: In this session we will implement new sign in/sign out procedure for NON MEMBERS for the remaining 2 swim lesson sessions as well as all private lessons effective July 8th. Henceforth, all NON-PGP MEMBERS will need to sign in and out from each lesson - groups and private.

Please note that this will not affect current PGP Members, as they will have to enter the grounds via the MemberSplash system.

All non-members will need to vacate the grounds and sign out within 20 minutes of the end of the session or lesson. The time-out will be confirmed by the desk staff. While we understand that there are sometimes reasons a child may need more time at the end of the lesson to transition to departure, repeated late departures will result in the inability to sign up for future lessons.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the new policy please contact [e-mail]!

You must have grown up extremely privileged if you are so upset about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I think it’s helpful. There was an unspoken or defacto policy that you could stay after lessons to chill and not being able to do that would definitely impact my likelihood to sign up for lessons again. I don’t see the harm in posting it. Obviously the pool is well within their rights to crack down and it’s good that they communicated it.

It’s not helpful. You sound unhinged.

Lol, that person does not sound unhinged at all. In fact, they sound calm and reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I think it’s helpful. There was an unspoken or defacto policy that you could stay after lessons to chill and not being able to do that would definitely impact my likelihood to sign up for lessons again. I don’t see the harm in posting it. Obviously the pool is well within their rights to crack down and it’s good that they communicated it.

It’s not helpful. You sound unhinged.

Lol, that person does not sound unhinged at all. In fact, they sound calm and reasonable.

Ok OP