Membership Terms

Clause 1The short version

This summary is here to be useful, not to replace the clauses below. Where they differ, the clauses win.

Clause 2What a membership includes

Every adult, youth and family membership includes:

• unlimited climbing during opening hours
• free climbing shoe hire, every visit (chalk is $3 and isn't included)
• one free guest pass per month
• 10% off in our retail shop
• 50% off all classes
• your weekly rate locked for as long as your membership continues, under clause 11

Memberships cover entry and climbing. They don't cover gear you keep, café items, birthday parties or private coaching.

Clause 3Fees

All memberships are billed weekly. There's no joining fee, no set-up fee, no cancellation fee and no dishonour fee.

The lower rate is what you get in exchange for committing to 6 months. The week-to-week rate has no commitment at all — you can stop it whenever you like on 30 days' notice.

Our 10% essential services and student discount applies to day passes and 10-visit passes only — not to membership fees. See clause 8 of our Terms & Conditions.

Before you sign, we'll give you a written statement of everything you'll pay: your weekly fee, when the first debit comes out, the total payable over the minimum term if there is one, and anything that isn't included. If we haven't given you that, don't sign.

Clause 4How billing works

• Your membership fee is debited weekly in advance from the bank account or card you nominate when you join.
• You'll authorise this with a Direct Debit Request when you sign up. That request, and the Direct Debit Request Service Agreement that comes with it, sit alongside these terms — read them, and keep your copy.
• Your first debit comes out on the day your membership starts, or the next business day if that's a weekend or public holiday.
• Keep your payment details current. If your card expires or your account changes, update it in your member portal or tell us at the desk.
• Every payment shows in your member portal, alongside your next scheduled debit.

Clause 5If a payment fails

Payments fail for all sorts of ordinary reasons. Here's exactly what happens, so there are no surprises:

1. We don't charge you a fee. Not for the first one, not for any of them.
2. We'll let you know, and your gym access is paused until the payment clears.
3. We'll try the payment again within about a week, and once more after that if we need to.
4. If three payments in a row fail and we haven't heard from you, we'll treat the membership as ended and let you know in writing. Any fees already owing for the period you were a member remain payable.

If money's tight, talk to us before it gets to step four. We'd rather pause your membership under clause 8 than chase you.

Clause 6Cooling off — 48 hours

This is a right you have under the Queensland fitness industry code of practice, and we apply it to every membership we sell. We've chosen not to charge the administration fee the code would allow us to deduct.

Joining before we open

Clause 7The 6-month minimum term

If you took the discounted rate, you've committed to 6 months of membership — 26 weekly payments. That's the number to look at, not a date on a calendar.

You can still cancel whenever you like, on 30 days' notice — see clause 9. If you go before the 26 payments are done, here's what you pay:

• Weeks you've frozen don't count against the 26, and they don't extend it either — the commitment is 26 paid weeks, whenever they fall.
• Nothing is payable at all if you're leaving on medical or hardship grounds, or if we've changed these terms to your detriment. See clause 10.
• When the 26 payments are done, your membership simply rolls on at the same weekly rate with no minimum term. Nothing renews for another 6 months, and nothing needs to be signed again. Cancel any time from then on with 30 days' notice.

On the week-to-week rate there is no minimum term and nothing to pay out — you give 30 days' notice and that's the end of it.

Why we do it this way: charging out the whole remaining contract is common in this industry and we think it's rubbish. You committed in exchange for a discount, so if you leave early you give back the discount. Nothing more.

Clause 8Pausing your membership

Going away, injured, or just need a break? Freeze it.

• Up to 6 weeks (42 days) per calendar year, free. No fee to freeze, no fee to start again. A freeze that runs from one year into the next counts against each year separately.
• Freezes run in whole weeks, minimum one week at a time.
• Ask at least 3 days before the freeze starts — through your member portal or by emailing us. We can't backdate a freeze over weeks you've already had access to the gym.
• While you're frozen we don't debit you, and you can't climb on the membership. You're welcome to come in on a day pass.
• Frozen weeks don't count towards your 6-month minimum term, and don't extend it. See clause 7.
• Injured or unwell for longer? Send us a medical certificate and we'll freeze the membership for the period it covers, at no cost, backdated to the date of the injury or illness. Medical freezes run up to 26 weeks at a time, and we'll extend them on a fresh certificate for as long as you need. Nobody should be paying to not climb because their wrist is in a cast.

Clause 9Cancelling

Cancel by emailing info@gripswich.au, or by lodging a cancellation request in your member portal. Either way we'll confirm it in writing, with the date your membership ends and anything still owing. If we haven't confirmed it, treat it as not done — chase us.

• 30 days' notice. Your membership — and your access, and your debits — run for 30 days from the day we receive your notice. You keep climbing for that whole period.
• You don't have to give a reason.
• If you're inside your 6-month minimum term, the discount you've had is repayable under clause 7 — capped at $78 for an adult. If you're leaving on medical or hardship grounds it doesn't — see clause 10.
• You can cancel during a freeze. The 30 days runs from when we receive the notice, same as always.
• Once it's cancelled, benefits stop: no member class rate, no free shoe hire, no guest pass. Classes you've already paid for at the member rate are still yours.

Clause 10Medical grounds and hardship

Your right to end a membership on medical grounds, and to be refunded fees you've paid for climbing you won't get, is one you have under the Queensland fitness industry code of practice. We don't charge the termination fee that code would let us charge.

On financial hardship in particular: come and talk to us. A freeze is often the better answer, and we'd rather have you back in three months than not at all.

Clause 11Your rate is locked

The two things that end a price lock:

• Cancelling and rejoining. If you leave and come back later, you join at whatever the rate is then. Freezing under clause 8 does not break your membership — your rate survives a freeze.
• Changing membership type. Moving from youth to adult, or from week-to-week to a 6-month term, means moving to that membership's current rate.

There is no third exception. We haven't kept a right to raise your rate for inflation, for costs, or for anything else — if our prices go up, they go up for people joining after you.

Clause 12Youth and family memberships

Youth memberships

• Youth memberships are for climbers aged 5–17.
• A parent or legal guardian signs the membership, signs the waiver, and is the person responsible for the payments.
• Supervision requirements apply — they're set out in the Gym Rules and they're a condition of the membership, not just a rule of the gym.
• A youth membership runs until the member turns 18. We'll write to you at least 30 days before their birthday and move it to the adult rate that applies then. Nothing happens silently, but it does happen — and if you'd rather stop than move up, cancel any time before it takes effect and there's nothing to pay.

Family memberships

• A family membership covers up to two adults and their dependent children, all living at the same address.
• Every person on it signs their own waiver and does their own induction.
• One adult is the account holder and is responsible for the payments.
• Adding or removing someone changes the membership — talk to us and we'll adjust it from the next billing week.
• Family memberships include the lot: free shoe hire, the monthly guest pass, the retail discount and 50% off classes.

Clause 13Your membership is yours

• Memberships are personal. You can't lend, share, sell or transfer one, and we may ask for ID at check-in.
• Your check-in code and wallet pass are yours alone. Letting someone else in on them is grounds for us ending the membership under clause 15.
• If you want a friend to climb with you, that's what your monthly guest pass is for — or bring them in on a 10-visit pass, which is shareable.

Clause 14What we owe you

A membership is a service, and it comes with guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law that we can't contract out of. In practice, we commit to:

• being open during our published hours, and giving you as much notice as we can when that changes
• keeping the walls, holds and matting maintained and inspected
• resetting problems regularly so there's always something new on
• having trained staff on the floor while we're open
• telling you in advance about closures we know about, and crediting your membership for any unplanned closure that runs more than 7 consecutive days

If we have to close for reasons outside our control — a government direction, a flood, a fire — we'll pause every affected membership automatically for as long as it lasts, and restart it automatically afterwards. You won't need to ask, and you won't be billed for climbing you couldn't do.

Clause 15When we can end a membership

We can end a membership immediately, without notice, if you:

• threaten, harass, abuse or endanger another climber or our staff
• deliberately damage our walls, holds, mats or equipment
• use the gym while affected by alcohol or drugs
• let someone else climb on your membership
• repeatedly ignore our safety directions or the Gym Rules after we've raised it with you

If we do, we'll tell you in writing and why. We'll refund any fees you've paid in advance for the period after the membership ends — the exception is where you've damaged something deliberately, in which case we may keep what's needed to cover the reasonable cost of repair, and we'll show you the figures.

We can also end a membership with 30 days' notice for any other reason — if we're closing the gym, for example. In that case you're refunded everything paid in advance, and nothing further is payable, including anything under clause 7.

Clause 16Changes to these terms

If we change these terms in a way that materially affects you, we'll tell you directly — by email to the address on your account — at least 30 days before it takes effect. If you don't like the change, you can cancel at no cost before it starts, under clause 10, whatever your minimum term says.

Minor changes — fixing a typo, clarifying wording that didn't change what it meant — we'll just publish here with a new "last updated" date.

Clause 17General

• These terms sit alongside our Terms & Conditions, our Gym Rules, your waiver and your Direct Debit Request. Together they're the whole agreement between us.
• If something we told you at the front desk contradicts what's written here, the written version applies. That said, we stand behind what our staff tell you: if you were told something more favourable and can show us it was said — an email, a text, a note on your account, or the staff member remembering it — we'll honour it.
• We keep your information under our Privacy Policy.
• Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right you have under the Australian Consumer Law or the Queensland fitness industry code of practice.
• These terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia.
• If a clause turns out to be unenforceable, it's severed and the rest stands.

Anything here you're not sure about — ask before you sign, not after. Email info@gripswich.au or grab whoever's at the desk.