Gladstone Go – Joining Online, Pay-as-You-Go and Eligibility Checks

Problem

You need to decide how customers join on Go Join: what the joining flow looks like, how to handle pay-as-you-go customers and non-members, how to check eligibility for restricted memberships, and where each product is sold.

Resolution

Choosing the membership model

1. Pick linked, shared or primary payee
   • Whether a family or group uses linked members, a shared (group) membership or primary payee changes both the configuration and who is billed. Choose and set this up first: see Group, Junior and Linked Memberships in Gladstone Go.

The Go Join flow

1. Understand what the customer goes through
   • The customer starts as a guest (first time, Guest sign-up form) or, if logged in, buys an additional membership from their account (Sign-up form).
   • They click through the tag groups (member type, duration, facilities and so on) to one membership.
   • They enter their details: name, email, date of birth, phone, address, marketing preference, and any extra questions for that membership.
   • Go checks for an existing account on email + date of birth. If one seems to exist it offers a login button; the customer can still continue and create a new account if they say it is not them.
   • They accept the T&Cs (mandatory); the account is created at this point, even if they do not finish paying.
   • They see the purchase breakdown and pay (card, plus bank details for Direct Debit). The Direct Debit guarantee and mandate are shown at the end. For a Direct Debit membership, Go shows the pro-rata amount paid today and the monthly amount after that. Both come from the price product behind the subscription.
   • For juniors under the own-account age, a parent or guardian is added and set as primary payee (see Go Account Age, Guardian and Shared-Email Settings).
   • Afterwards, the member can send link requests from their account.
   • When joining, customers can delay the start up to the configured limit (for example, 14 days; the Operator maximum start date applies to all memberships). The pro-rata updates automatically. See Go Join Joining Settings in Operator.

Pay-as-you-go customers (non-members)

1. Choose an approach

   • PAYG membership (zero-price subscription sold through Go Join, for example under a "Pay as you go" facilities tag). Customers choose their member type (adult, concession, senior), then PAYG, and go through the full join flow with a £0 payment. They must then log in before booking. This adds steps, but keeps booking restricted to subscription holders. A PAYG membership that gives no discount, restriction or booking benefit adds nothing. Customers with a record pay the default price anyway, so consider dropping it.
   • No membership: customers book directly on Go Book. At their first booking Go creates an account with minimal details (name, email, phone, plus any extra fields such as emergency contact from the guest booking form) and sends the welcome email to set a password. They can use a wallet with saved cards like members. This is quicker for customers and matches most operators.

2. Configure the no-membership approach (if applicable)

   • Tick the non-member price levels on each class and activity price product in Plus2.
   • Remove subscription restrictions on reservations and products that PAYG customers should access (for example, inductions).
   • Check all restricted products before go-live.

3. Adjust messaging if you keep a PAYG membership (if applicable)

   • PAYG buyers receive the standard Purchased membership email and the "complete your membership" exit pop-up, which may confuse them. Reword the pop-up to cover both (for example, "membership or pay-as-you-go sign-up").
   • A separate PAYG email needs a bespoke (chargeable) job.
   • Price levels and ticks on PAYG products are also a frequent source of errors, which is another argument for the no-membership approach.

Eligibility checks (corporate, concession, staff)

1. Create an Eligibility pending status

   • Create the status in Plus2 (Configuration > Membership > Statuses, give it a bright colour). An unused status (for example, Prospective member) can be renamed to Pending eligibility rather than creating a new one.
   • In GMC sub types, assign the Eligibility pending status to subscriptions that need proof (see Configuring Subscription Types (Sub Types) in the GMC).
   • Add it as a deny entry status on the entry point profiles, so the member must see reception before first use. Customers can still buy online, but the status restricts use until staff verify eligibility and change the status.
   • Do not use Eligibility pending where it would block legitimate online booking (for example, members who only use classes).

2. Collect evidence online (optional)

   • Alternatively (or as well), collect the evidence online through user fields in the form profiles (for example, company name and payroll reference on corporate memberships).
   • Add the fields to both the Guest sign-up form and the Sign-up form so existing account holders are asked too (see Configuring User Fields for GoJoin and GoBook Sign-Up Forms).
   • Add a review/expiry date field so renewals can be reported on.

3. Add a reception message for concessions (if applicable)

   • In GMC sub types, ticking concession on a subscription lets you enter a message (for example, "Staff ID required on first visit"). Despite the label Message displayed to member, it is a reception message for staff, not shown to the customer.

Non-members booking online and free events

1. Allow non-members to book online
   • In Operator, open each price level and tick the option allowing online booking (for example, Non-member). The class or activity price product in Plus2 must also have that price level ticked. See Making a Price Level Visible in GoBook.
   • When using Price Level Override, the customer's own price level must still be ticked on the product, or nobody can buy it (see Price Level Override (PLO)).
   • Zero-value events (for example, free talks) can be booked on Go. Customers still enter their details and get a booking confirmation and a welcome email to set a password. Party bookings work the same way (choose who is coming, including juniors).
   • Returning customers who never set a password are told they already have an account and use Forgot password.

Joining in-house

1. Decide where each product is sold
   • Instead of a kiosk, place a tablet at reception open on the Go join page, or display QR codes to the same page. The tablet must not store customer credentials or bank details. The same age, guardian, identity, consent and payment rules apply as for joining at home.
   • Alternatively, use 360 workflows at the desk. You still get automated confirmations and Direct Debit mandates.
   • Decide per product where it is sold: online join (including on the reception tablet), primary payee online, or primary payee via a 360 workflow. Selling some memberships online only (with staff helping on the tablet) keeps configuration simple.

Notes

• Purchase breakdown and new consumer rules: new legislation (expected within months of November 2025) will also require the total amount payable over the full contract. This matters most for committed-term memberships (for example, a 12-month minimum term that must be paid in full), compared with rolling Direct Debit memberships. In 360, selling a committed-term Direct Debit shows staff the earliest end date (for example, 11 months ahead with a one-month cancellation period).
• The old instalments feature (an annual fee split into a set number of payments) does not work with Direct Debit or RCP on Go (see Recurring Card Payments (RCP)).
• There is currently no way to restrict who can buy a membership online (for example, only staff with an eligibility subscription). Anyone can click the button and see prices. A subscription-restriction feature is in development. Until then, use a pending status plus ID checks, or keep such memberships off Go (for example, staff assign them to approved people).
• Staff or student ID numbers can be collected in a user field, but they cannot be copied automatically into the card ID (needed for barrier access) without a bespoke script.
• Third-party apps that use Gladstone data work like Go Book: a non-member's account is created at their first booking, at the default (adult) price level. Check the GMC app settings when testing.
• Juniors who only need to book specific sessions (for example, a children's climbing club) do not need an access subscription: tick only the junior price level on the session's product; the junior price level's age range does the restriction.
• Bolt-ons: Go cannot restrict a subscription so it can only be bought alongside another (for example, a spa bolt-on priced via Price Level Override for holders of a corporate membership). Sell the main subscriptions online and bolt-ons at the desk until this is supported.
• Inductions cannot be tied into the join process. Tell customers in the purchased-membership email that gym access needs an induction, and include a Go Book link to book one. Some sites start gym-only memberships from the induction date.
• What customers can see and do in their account after joining is covered in The Customer's Go Account in Gladstone Go.
• Related: Setting Up Go Join Tag Groups and Mapping Memberships; Troubleshooting: Subscription Not Showing on Gladstone Go; Managing Cards, ID Tokens and Member Status in Gladstone 360; Gladstone Go Operator Configuration Overview.

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