After being a personal trainer for 25 years and having trained at virtually all of the other gyms in Ocean County, particularly, the Jersey Shore, this gym has to be, hands-down, the most mismanaged and filthiest gyms around.
You will invariably find upper management M.I.A. should you have any type of concern at the gym. If a machine is broken or inadequately functioning, which, not surprisingly, is very often, the Operations Manager, Eric, seems utterly clueless. Instead of periodically walking around the gym and visually inspecting the weights, dumbbells, machines, and even the pool downstairs, Eric is stationed right behind the front counter checking members in when they arrive with their key tags. Excuse me, but that responsibility is delegated to the front desk help. Eric is the manager of the entire gym, but yet, he only seems to acknowledge what happens at that diminutive front counter. How can a salaried employee purposefully act so oblivious? Such a clarion example of management gone awry. I was wholly shocked to learn that alerting the repair guy of all necessary repairs to the entire gym falls on Eric's shoulder's. But yet, he invariably waits for you to come to him when you see anything that needs repairing. Umm, that's not my job, it's yours Eric. Please remind us once again why we are paying so much in membership fees per month to police YOUR gym? Perhaps, you should share your manager salary with everyone who does your job for you while you sit back and chillax.
The General Manager of the entire gym, Ralph Kistner, reminds me of the captain of the RMS Titanic, Edward J. Smith, who heroically perished with his sinking ship. But, unfortunately, Ralph is no hero. In fact, Ralph is the one who is at the helm of this multi-million dollar behemoth but yet, inexplicably, is steering the gym right down into the abyss. Ralph is his very own iceberg.
While employed at LA Fitness, I personally witnessed Ralph's impotence and inability to manage this gym quite frequently. He'd rather mysteriously “disappear” during his shift whenever a gym member expressed any type of dissatisfaction with anything related to the gym. His repudiation of his appointed authority became so well known throughout this gym that anytime a member had any type of question or concern, Ralph's perpetual pass-the-buck attitude pointed directly to his Assistant General Manager, Tyler Lee Russell. It was invariably up to Tyler to address every single issue in this gym. Pathetically, Tyler's very own ineptitude overshadowed Ralph's ineptness. This imbecilic management duo colloquially became dubbed “The Blind Leading the Blind.”
Moreover, Tyler would rather stand right outside the gym and perpetually smoke cigarette after cigarette throughout his shift. Tyler is second in command at LA but his primary objective is to vigorously reel unknowing victims into the gym to become members. Once you pay your membership dues, you are no longer his concern.
By the way, for an arrogant and smug 21 year old, he's d**n good at ripping you off. He's sneaky and slimy and once you sit in his chair, you, too, will be mesmerized by his chicanery. He can literally sell ice to an Eskimo. Beware, his desk is the second one in the front, right next to the GM himself. If you are sitting in his chair for longer than 5 minutes, it's merely too late at that point. He would have already had you sign away your hard earned money. You know the old adage, a fool and his money are soon parted.
Here's a wise tip though, always use your credit card so that you can later have the dubious charges contested by your credit card company. I spoke at length to current member Sandy who credibly confirmed how the smoke and mirrors technique is perpetuated at LA Fitness. In the end, her credit card company threatened to sue LA and management, fully cognizant of their illicit wrongdoing, was forced to refund the entire amount it fraudulently charged to her credit card.
After going to this gym since last year, I am relieved that my eyes are no longer wide shut. I have seen the decades-old decrepit carpet fraying and unraveling, perilously causing a trip and fall hazard. On a daily basis, dumbbells are left all over the gym floor, when they should remain in the typical designated weight area. I've personally witnessed unwitting members trip over these precariously and negligently placed steel dumbbells. Also, once something is dropped on the floor, such as a piece of gym paper from the dispenser, you will undoubtedly see that identical piece of rubbish in the same spot the very next day.
In a significantly alarming phenomenon, I personally contacted Ralph's, Tyler's and Eric's boss, Mr. Louis Pinto, III, many, many weeks ago to personally notify him about this gym's lack of feasible management. Mr. Pinto is the District Manager for all LA Fitness gyms throughout New York and New Jersey and is the top guy. When you have a problem at any local LA Fitness gym, Mr. Pinto is the guy you contact for resolution. Regrettably, Mr. Pinto has chosen to never return my specifically detail oriented voice mail message. So now, he, too, is intentionally condoning the inmates running the asylum atmosphere at his very own Toms River LA Fitness.
LA Fitness management, it's time to vigilantly do your job. No more abdication. I have spoken to several former LA members who expressed the analogous sentiment I have aforesaid documented. This week alone, over ten members canceled their memberships at this management-neglected gym and every sequential week the numbers of former members augment. I regularly keep track on my Facebook page of these disgruntled former members who contact me about this distinct gym.
In fact, I was just speaking to Toms River Police Officer Miehl yesterday at LA Fitness who, in no uncertain terms whatsoever, admitted to canceling his LA membership predominately because of the incessant mismanagement, filthy and putrid conditions existing and management inexplicably turning a blind eye and deaf ear to viable concerns of its very own members.
Please remember this Eric, Tyler, General Manager Ralph and District Manager Louis, when the customer comes first the customer will last. Us former members would rather take our business to and spend our hard earned money at a gym that actually values its members. You guys have proven time after time that we are effectively meaningless and worthless to you!!
It was crime comited by computer teft by La Fitness!
I paid in total of $2130.00 all together by AMEX and I have proof of that! After I wrote a letter to headquarters requesting that I can't continue my personal training for health reasons and I like transfer my balance that my son can take some training classes my money suddenly disappear ( from the balance that I had there 11 sessions left ) on they computer data base??? WTF?!
That is a Ripoff? or maybe perfect crime becouse no one care?!
Just opened an account with Corey on 2/6/15 for my wife and myself. First time in the gym 2/9/15, and we took our 3 kids to kid play area and hit the treadmill and stretched out. I brought a "Husky" folder with paper and pen to write down our heaviest weight limit for each exercise (all leg machines). We went to use the smith machine to max out on squats. My wife went first and then right when I was going into my turn I had an assistant manager named SEAN HERMAN come to me in a very threatning body stance and yelling at the top of his lungs in front of about 30 people that I am not allowed to "coach" because we have to pay for personal trainers. I was "coaching" because i was writing down our progress. I asked to speak with the GENEREAL MANAGER EMILY, then he said she was fired and HE was the General Manager. Corey was there and watched both of us working out, so i took Sean to Corey and then Corey lied and said he didn't see anything. I said it the situation was bullshit because there is a consumer affair report about the exact same situation happening to a mother and her teenage son. SEAN then intentionally verbally threatened me to take me outside and beat my a** if I had a problem with it in front of Corey. Coming from an experienced fortune 50 Retail store management background, i stated I was shocked at his professional demeanor, and as a BROWN BELT IN HELIO GRACIES JIU JITSU, I would not fight him. I also stated I was a VOLUNTEER SHERIFF OFFICER and I could call the local station on him for CA PC 422 criminal threats which is a FELONY... he quickly refuted his verbal threat and said he was cancelling my account and called me a BITCH in front of my wife, corey and other gym members. For my first time at an LA FITNESS and at the POWAY, CA location, I will never go back and expect a refund which they never gave the mom and her son.
My wife signed me up for membership at LA Fitness. The salesman on the phone tried to get her to sign up as well, she refused, and I confirmed the order, that only I was the one with a pass. We began noticing duplicate charges, and recieved an email stating that she had an account too. i went in person to complain of the error, and they apologized and said they'd get to the bottom of it. A month later we still saw charges so we called the customer service line for LA Fitness, and they too did not help us cancel her membership, but claimed it was. Finally months later my wife noticed again the charges for the account, and saw that they signed her contract with an E*signature. I called the corporate office, and they tried to offer a partial refund, but then 2 days later refused. The use of an E*signature without someones permission is fraud, they did not at all take seriously the criminal offense that it is. Very Dishonest Company, you could not pay me to remain a member here.
All three managers listed have been complained to by multiple club members about other members holding/hogging equipment using sweaty towels while they work out on two pieces of equipment at one time. Aside from keeping other paying members from using the equipment, these rude club members are possibly exposing other members to such things as Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly referred to as “Staph” and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections as well as many other infectious diseases. One such rude member that management is aware of and does nothing to resolve the problem is Joseph Manning, owner of Frater Electric.
I signed up for a personal training contract at LA Fitness in New Tampa a few months ago, the salesperson was Bruno Temesi. I travel for a living, therefore I was going to sign up for a single session per week and use the accrued sessions whenever I was in town. Bruno told me that the sessions I purchased would not expire 30 days after I completed my contract (despite it being written into the contract) and gave me a story about a man who signed up, traveled to India for a year, and returned home to use his sessions because "LA Fitness does not pay attention to the expiration date". This is a lie that was brought up when I asked if I could keep my sessions if I were to cancel my contract.
To add to the issue, the personal trainier did not even show up for the last two personal training sessions I scheduled.
I am the victim of a fraud committed by LA Fitness, McCormack Ranch, in Scottsdale, Arizona. On September 16, 2014, the company created several false membership contracts in both my name and a “family member” (of whom I share no relation). On November 15, 2014, they submitted two electronic transfer funds charges from the LA Fitness Corporate bank in Irvine, California, to my checking account totaling $239.80.
I contacted LA Fitness and requested to speak with a Member Services Manager. Brittany Benson (480-483-3100) informed me that several sales employees in this LA Fitness location had been recently terminated resulting from an internal investigation of fraudulent membership contracts being created by Griffin Sturm, Pedro (?), and the General Manager, Chris (?). She explained that she would remedy the situation immediately by reversing the electronic funds which LA Fitness had withdrawn from my checking account for the full fraud amount of $239.80, in addition to two unauthorized withdrawals of $30.00 each for membership fees related to the fraudulent contracts.
On November 21, 2014, I did receive two direct deposits from LA Fitness to my Chase checking account for $30.00 each, (totaling $60.00), but NOT THE STOLEN $239.80!! On Friday, November 28, 2014, I filed a police report with Scottsdale PD. After speaking with LA Fitness’ Brittany Benson, the officer tells me that LA Fitness' bank has not yet received the $239.80 from my account, and that as soon as this amount clears their system, they will by issuing my credit. However, my bank confirmed with me that the funds were, in fact, sent and received on November 17, 2014, and I have the transaction numbers to prove it.
LA Fitness printed for me the three fraudulent membership contracts which were falsely created in my name and associated with my bank account number (complete with the obvious plagiarized signatures). They admitted their 100% culpability in this outrageous fraud committed towards me that has allowed them to steal $239.40 from my checking account via EFT (based on the information obtained from a personal check I wrote for my 2-month legitimate membership of $60.00 for the period of September 18, 2014 – November 18, 2014.) LA Fitness also printed for me a Promise To Pay spreadsheet indicating the refund to me had been approved by their corporate bank on November 19, 2014, pending a brief processing period of 1-3 business days.
In summary, as of today, Tuesday, December 02, 2014, I have not received my stolen funds of $239.80, (15 days after this fraudulent transaction), nor have I received any type of apology or my overdraft fees totaling $70.00.
In September of this year, I decided I would give a gym membership one last try. I have had bad experiences in the past and been misled by the sales people -- had information omitted and signed on the dotted line.
Apparently, I'm still gullible enough to fall for the shady deals of big name gyms.
I signed up for a fitness membership -- paid my join fee of $150 (approximately -- it was a "special"). Paid my monthly $50 and thought, hey.. this is pretty great. I was told I could freeze my account at any time if I needed to for any reason and just start back up again when I was ready.
Then my sales man Eddy told me about personal training -- he suggested I give it a try and wow, it was also great! My trainer was fantastic! When he sat me down afterwards, it was, 'here, I'll get this set up for you real quick..' and never once was I showed my agreement. The "Agreement" I came to was a verbal agreement with Eddy. I was told to click boxes and sign on a terminal electronically. Before I did so, I CLARIFIED carefully. This was a big expense I was adding to my monthlies. $180! Yes, it was less than my car payment which was going away shortly. Okay, but I CAN FREEZE MY ACCOUNT at any time, right? Yes, I was told, you can freeze your account at any time. Any training sessions you have on file just roll over. GREAT!
Two weeks later, my fantastic trainer was getting a promotion but my membership didn't cover his services. If I wanted to stay with my awesome trainer, I needed to pay more. Well, I like Ricky a lot, he's really good.. so yes, I'd like to stay with him. $208 a month! WOW!
Then I got hurt. Achilles Enthesopathy. I can't do any impact workouts and training in general aggravates and hinders my recovery because the tendon gets stretched or strained too easily.
So I put my membership on hold. No problem. Super easy!
Until 11/28 when all of a sudden, here comes a $208 charge! I called tonight and was told, "well, no, your training contract is separate from your fitness membership." I asked, "Can I use my training without my fitness membership?" "Nope." "Do I have a different account for my fitness membership?" "Nope." "...so.. I can't use it without my fitness membership.. but my membership is frozen.. Eddy told me I could freeze my account whenever I needed to." "You can.. for your fitness membership.. but the personal training is a separate contract and it's a non-freezable, non-refundable, 52 week contract."
I told the club manager that information was OMITTED when I specifically asked if I could freeze my account. He said, "I can put you through to customer service."
Really.
I called and spoke to "Justin" who told me the same thing. He confirmed my email address and said, "well we have your contract on file here." I said, "I was told I was being emailed a RECEIPT, not a contract. I also agreed to a VERBAL CONTRACT that was different than what you are telling me now. The laws in California where you are incorporated are such that a verbal contract is binding." I was told I could get a note from my doctor and if my injury meets their criteria, I can cancel all future payments. I told him again that's not the agreement I came to and the digital bait and switch was no a good look for them.
When I asked to speak to a supervisor, Justin was magically a supervisor. I had to ask repeatedly for HIS supervisor. Finally, he put me on the phone with a woman named "Lorraine."
She gave me the same spiel. I explained that the thing she's looking at as my "contract" could have easily been switched and based on what the VERBAL agreement was, our contract was in breach and they needed to refund me the $208 they just charged me.
She refused. I asked her for a street address as opposed to the P.O. Box 55088 I was given to send my doctor's note for them to "review." I'm afraid to take a bet on whether my injury will be deemed "disability" or not.
She refused. I told her that the street address of the corporation is not private information and she needed to provide it upon request. She kept telling me she didn't have another address to provide. I told her she needed to put me in touch with her supervisor. Apparently, Zanoni, her supervisor is in Florida and has already gone home for the night.
At this point, I feel completely duped. The agreement I signed was the agreement I looked into the eye of the sales rep and signed for. The agreement I was sent is DIFFERENT and I was told if I didn't like my training, I could cancel in 10 days. I LIKED my training! Why would I cancel?
Except oh yeah.. you guys totally misrepresented my rights to me, to my face and let me sign off on it. Shady Deals 201. I'm a graduate now of the second level course since I didn't learn my lesson the first time.
Please don't sign with LA Fitness. It is big rip-off. Their customer service is very poor and to no help. They are not very clear to make sure they let you know everything about the club and their facility and availability of resources.
They are so enthusiastic and friendly to ensure you signed up with them. That job is done and then you are at your own. Price is not competitive what you are paying, basically you can find better price with more faciltiies.
I joined the brand new facility and am paying full price. Men's room has no hair dryers even after two weeks but I am paying for it. When you ask something to make adjustment they would say, it's not in the contract you signed. Even customer service asked me "Is hair dryer listed on contract". Would you expect these things to be checked in the contract.
This ghettofied gym is the worst! They make you pay first and last month's membership in advance, (which is not my problem) but when you get ready to cancel, they don't let you use the last month that you've PAID for in advance. They cancel your membership immediatly when you request to cancel. The manager who works there, who is a female, but wears a wig and looks like a man, really try to convince you that their practices are ethical, and that you didn't read your contract in its entirety! A bunch of bullcrap! The pool is always getting serviced, and you can't swim, the hot tub is always getting services and out of order. Nothing is ever working. You have these jacked up looking trainers and managers walking around looking like the walking dead! I hate that I wasted my money and time with these uneducated specticles! Do yourself a favor and go to Gym, , or .
Was hustled through a quick check in via Wesley who REQUIRED my drivers license to put info into computer.
I was told to go workout, ( with no introduction to facilities offered) & did so, forgetting that my I.D. had NOT BEEN RETURNED.
NOT WHEN GIVEN, NOT AT ANY POINT THAT DAY OR THE NEXT.
OR THE NEXT.
NOR WAS I CONTACTED,
BY PHONE AS IT WAS APPARENTLY IMMEDIATELY LOST TO THE ETHER, WITH NO ONE NOTICING.
I noticed my missing I.D. within 2 days of having used the gym & stopped by, 1/2 hour before closing.
NO-ONE was working as the gym was 98% EMPTY, with 2 employees sitting down, messing about on their cell phones.
When I explained the problem the mngr (Rich) on duty looked in an unsecured drawer @ the front desk & the desktop of
the salesperson who originally took it, saying to come back Monday, as he wasn't going to INCONVENIENCE an employee who wasn't on duty with a phone call. After explaining that I couldn't legally drive, rent a car for an upcoming trip & was entirely without I.D for ANYTHING he made a perfunctory, disinterested call to said salesperson who said he didn't know where it was. The mngr failed to mention my NAME in this call, or inquire any further; saying repeatedly there was NOTHING he could do-this apparently being a corporate imperative -, in a annoyed tone. When I suggested he at least look more carefully, he pointed to his desktop ( there are NO drawers @ sales desks or secure places for I.D Cards which I was only THEN I formed were INTENTIONALLY KEPT until workout was finished when guests are supposed to request they be given back. Rich pointed to two uncovered I.D.s of other guests just laying o top of his desk as an example. This the norm, while employees wander the entire gym, and literally ANYONE with an eye for identity theft could EASILY steal them. INCLUDING EMPLOYEES. What followed was a sad, infantile, insulting, HORRIFICALLY unprofessional display of twentysomething mngr slouching, whining, blaming ME for this outcome & laughing, saying I probably left it in my car - whichI scoured along with my purse before coming in, even though I KNEW they had it. He said it was my I.D., & basically my stupidity for TRUSTING THEM WITH IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. And WHY does a gym giving a lousy 48 usage pass need to input personal DL info into a computer anyway, when most simply Look at it to verify your name & give it back right away? The desk employee then gangs up on me, saying THEY PERSONALLY didn't create this issue, therefore it ISN'T THEIR PROBLEM & I could basically go get FUCKED, as it was now 6p.m. & they wanted to prove to their last BREATH how little they GIVE A DAMN. THEY ONLY WORK THERE. Even after getting ANOTHER offsite mngr Jada on phone results I same salesperson confirming to her by phone that even though he doesn't know WHO I AM, he now DISTINCTLY REMEMBERS RETURNING the license. So to RECAP: TOTALLY UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED. TOTALLY RUDE CONDESCENDING AND ABSURDLY UNPROFESSIONAL AND DISMISSIVE RESPONSE. POSSIBLE POLICE REPORT FOR GROSS MISHANDLING OF PERSONAL DOCUMENTS. SHOULD I ADD THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN GET A DECENT SHOWER? JUST TRAGICALLY AWFUL. AVOID. JUST AVOID. LOFE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS. SO: TOTALLY UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED. TOTALLY RUDE CONDESCENDING AND ABSURDLY UNPROFESSIONAL AND DISMISSIVE RESPONSE. Not to mention absolutely ghetto facilities. Po So.... TOTALLY UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED TOTALLY RUDE, CONDESCENDING, INAPPRORIATELEY DEFENSIVE, DISMISSIVE AND ABSURDLY UNPROFESSIONAL So, to RECAP: A TOTALLY UNECESSARY problem created by employees; NONE of whom are willing to take ANY responsibilty for, or make a genuine effort to correct. WAS NEVER INFORMED they intended to "hold" my I.D. in the first place. Received COMPLETELY DISRESPECTFUL, CONDESCENDING & DISMISSIVE treatment in response. So, to recap: Entirely UNECESSARY problem created by employees; NONE OF WHOM take responsibility for or do their utmost to correct R IGHT. So to recap; Unecessary problem created by employees, who neither take respi RIGHT. This is relayed by the receptionist who now says that I may not speak with Jada because she has to go SHOPPING. SO to recap; UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED WHICH DOESN'T JUST SCREW ME FOR A DAY BUT FUCMS UP A ANNED DRIVING TRIP could do
The mngr then attempts brush me off again as I've cleary INTERUPTED him I the act of doing NOTHING.
I was excited and knew I needed to get back to exercising so I signed myself and my son into the family plan. Great idea. A little steep for the membership fee - special price $199 and $50/month. Great! The 2nd time we went I thought I'd check out the "Personal Trainer" service. Major MISTAKE". I sat down to find out all about it. They are a reputable fitness club, right? The first thing the salesman did was had me sign the contract and initial 4 check boxes and a checklist all the while stating "let's do this real quick, I'll set up your account and then I will go over everything in detail. I did and he scanned the paperwork into the computer and unbeknown to me folded and stapled it to the inside back copy of the exercise journal. He then went into a long speel on health and exercising and was very personable walking me around showing me 3 exercises and watching me do them. Well actually that was the "Personal Training" service which ended up to $189.00 and $90 /mth for 2 25 minute sessions a month. Who makes $180 / 55 min!!! La Fitness. Unbelievable! SCAM. I could not believe my assigned "Personal Trainer" a 20-year-old covered in tattoos job was just that. After the 2nd session I confronted the salesman to cancel my membership. Actually he turned out to be the GeneralManager but said he had to call his manager. I went to exercise and stopped back afterwards. His manager hadn't called back. He said stop by tomorrow. I did. No response. I called the following day and he told me he'd call me when he got a response. in the meantime I contacted my bank to stop the charges. Meanwhile a month went by with no response from the General Manager.
My 16 year old son signed up for a membership with several friends. When he signed up La fitness would not take my perk discount which we are entitled to. As an employee of walgreens pharmacy, the initiation fee should have been waived and he was suppose to be charged one flat rate. He signed up and I have been fighting with corporate since may 2014 to get a refund that is rightfully due. This company bounces you around, doesn't return calls and makes u completely go crazy insisting they never receive your documents when faxed. This company is the worst company I have delt with in all my life. This may just end up in court. I plan to contact the better business bureau and consumer affairs as well as shame on you channel 12 news!
For me, it is imperative to post this online to warn, not only the prospective employees, but also members about this company. They ONLY care about your money, nothing else. You will be paying exorbitant amount of money for ammenities that you would be able to get at a much more reputable gym cheaper. The sales people only work on EFT, with their wages being illegally below minimum wage. After that, you would have to deal with a Personal Training Counselor, which is glorified salesperson, who after you sign up, has nothing to do with you, as you will be paying for your training monthly with someone who you would never met. Even the trainers are being paid WAY BELOW their worth, as I have met a couple of trainers who are awesome, but are paid a set pay, and cannot build business themselves (due to the structure of the business at gym level). Then you have the front desk staff practically acting like a collections agency in order to for them to keep the amount of hours that they work, and not focus on creating a great member experience. Lastly, you have higher ups that only care about the numbers, NOT the retention of members or the morale of members and employees that are under them. All in all, you have a company who's bottom line is just money, WITHOUT the factor of member experience nor employee retention (as I heard that many ex-employees are happier leaving the company due to the BS that they endured, and the fact that I went from a GROWING company to a company that has such low reputation that I am embarrassed, to this day, to be associated with.). So please DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PLACE AND FIND A MUCH BETTER GYM! You'll be glad you did!
Earlier this year I was looking to lose the baby weight I had gained from having my first child. I discussed with a co-worker different Gyms that we could take a look at. We immediately liked LA Fitness Because it claims to not have a long term contract strictly, month to month, which is something I was instantly drawn to.
We made an appointment to come in and take a look at the facility; not only its features, but the environment as a whole. The first thing that was odd to me was that the price on their website was not the price he told me for a membership. In fact it was a great deal higher, but continued to listen. We ended up not buying that day. Each day for the next two weeks he called lowering the price til we took the bate. When I came in and signed, he stated one price that was not the same as what I saw on the contract... I mentioned it and he corrected himself. (I should have left at this point, it would have saved my a**) Eventually, I signed the $50 and some change membership per month, so that I could enjoy the facility with as many as 2 friends each visit.
My First Visit. I came in for a Zumba class, which was a blast. Probably the best thing about this gym since it is free with a membership, and my guests could attend as well! On my way out I was approached by a personal trainer who had told me of the free training session I have yet to use. I said to myself "why not" signed up with him for the following day and went on my way.
"free" training session. I came in for my "One Free Training Session", the guy I met with seemed great. The session lasted about 20 minutes and I thought that was just a preview of what a real session would be. Once we finished he sat me down with a man I didnt know was a salesman. That salesman was new as I could tell. He offered me many packages for getting a personal trainer. I had wanted a trainer and had some money saved for something like this. I let him know that I would like to do a couple of days a week for three months. He brought his "manager over who convinced me to buy and even gave me an extra day each week for free, I was sold. We went through the contract and I reminded the 2 of them that I only wanted 2-3 months maximum. He said that was no problem, and I assumed he was signing me up for that package since I had politely expressed to him my needs and wants. Once again, as I read the contract this man stated something that was not the same as the contract I was signing. I brought it up and he explained to me that he was newer and is still learning. Once the contract was finished we went over the amount that was due and the amount I would pay per month. It was around 260 per month for 3 days of personal training a week (1 day free). I then asked, will it just stop at 3 months or will I have to cancel? He said I set it up so that you will just cancel it since it will be cheaper that way. He told me that once I cancelled that would be it, no more payments.
2 sessions went by, and at the end of the 2nd one, I told him when I would be in next and he set me an appointment, as per normal. I come in 2 days later for my slotted time and the 2 ladies at the front desk disclosed to me that I was scheduled for yesterday and that since I had missed it, it still counted as a session. I explained why I was upset, and they told me that he was busy with a client and I could not see him today, I asked if I could wait since the session were only about 20 minutes, and they ignored me. I scheduled a session with him for the following day. He apologized repeatedly, but kept saying that he knows he didnt make a mistake and to my disbelief told me the 2 ladies were talking smack about me to him, he even went into detail on what they had said.
I was pretty fed up at this point. I just felt completely uncomfortable going back to that gym. I felt like I would be treated differently because I stood up for myself. I got a call that day from an associate of the LA fitness. Asking me how I liked everything so far and explaining to me the contract in full, "just incase I missed anything" When she said I would have to pay for the full year if I decided to cancel the personal training membership I was appalled, since I only wanted 3 months and that was fully explained to the gym to begin with.
I called the dealership to cancel immediately, and the explained the same to me in a cheery manner, that they would send me the bill.. I ended up paying for 4 months total and then cancelled my card all together.
The payment was due several days ago, and I have gotten over 10 calls aday being harrassed for the money. I called a customer membership office in California for LA Fitness and was told to call coorporate to get everything handled.
If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I am dumbfounded and in total disbelief that I could have been fooled so intensely. If I were to have to pay the rest of the payments that would sum to over $1500 which had to be made within an allotted time.
Walked into la.fitness and was greeted by an employeer who gave me a detor of the place automatically i was won over by the spa and the pool and then signed up for a membership. after that i got a mock traning by one of the trainers there and it was not all of that, then out of no-where i saw the devil name chuck real name (charles) came and interupt my session with the trainer and insisted on taking over then we went over to the sign in table and he showed me the prices and i was like no thats to much for me he wouldnt take no for an answer so he started stating promises, which he never kept about how they are a family and how their going to be behine me 100 percent and give me a wake up call and a whole bunch of lies. then he said i can cancel which convinced me to sign personal training account i was like ok i can cancel what can i loose. i ended up signing and when i went to cancel the front desk receptionist told me i couldnt cancel that easy because i just singned up i was like ok and paid anyway but then it hit me why should i be abide to something that i dont even want and the fact that he said i can cancel and everything was just a misrepresentation down to the trainers, they arent even anywhere to be seen and even when i first signed up with the personal trainer account the trainer i was assigned to got transfered and that was it i didnt even know the first trainer that gave me a mock training was my initial trainer untill the day i confronted chuck and told him i wanted to cancel and thats when he told me he dont have anything to do with my account, i think that la-fitness is very unfair and a very missleading company they have harrassed me back to back to give them my card over the phone when i was a member with them which chuck said was never going to happen he needs to stop being dishonest to people and the lafiteness as company are very money hungry and maniplutative
I joined la fitness a few months ago at the parsippany nj location. I walked in knowing I wanted to join a club that had a pool and some cool classes i can take advantage of, for a hassle free contract. When I walked up to the salesperson, he said "hey youuu" as if he knew me...I explained why I was there, and told him that I was looking into gyms in the area and wanted a tour of the gym.
He asked what other gyms i was looking into and immmediately responded telling me "dont go there...". When i asked why, he had no reasoning. Nevertheless, he tried to have me join for a year and pay hundreds of dollars, and then even tried to get me to join with a two-year contract. I was def not gonna do that so I left.
I called the next day saying I would just do the 30/month + 99 initiation fee. First of all, i was told i would be charged around 130 dollars, and was instead charged around 170. I honestly couldnt stand the guy, and simply joined because I really liked the gym and what it had to offer. He was a horrible salesman, and kind of creepy.
Anyway, I signed up for my free personal training session and the personal trainer never showed up so a Personal training salesman actually provided my free session and then talked to me for around 30 minutes about why I need a personal trainer. He told me the classes weren't going to do anything for me, and the personal training would help me reach my goals. When he showed me the 52 or 27 week programs, explaining that the 52 week was for people who didn't train before and had fitness goals such as mine. He made it sound like i was getting this great deal too. 6 30-min sessions/month for 160. Eventually I signed up.
It was going great at first. I really liked my trainer. He motivated me and was a great guy with lots of great advice and obvious knowledge on fitness related info. Unfortunately...a month and a half into my contract, he left LA fitness. Then, I realized I was only provided 5 sessions/month. Not 6, as I was told in the contract. This wasnt resolved for 2 weeks and I wasn't able to book any sessions for that two weeks.
Then when I finally did book another session, the new trainer cancelled it 20 minutes prior to it starting...at 8:30am on a saturday. I was livid. I was simply frustrated and no longer motivated to use a personal trainer. How did i get out of the contract? I switched my mailing address to my parents home, luckily they have a home 60 miles from an la fitness, wrote a certified letter explaining my cancellation, with usps confirmation of the address change, and luckily it worked. I am so much less stressed because the buyout for my contract being cancelled this early would have been over 800 dollars. RIDICULOUS.
Anyway, its just not worth it. find a personal trainer on craigslist before being locked into such a crazy fricking contract. I even tried prior to this to show them an email explaining that my employment contract ended and i was jobless...they didnt care at all. Medical letter or relocation far from la fitness is the only way to get out of this contract without paying WAY TOO much. luckily i did get out of it. thank god for my parents shorehouse!
Needless to say, this is my fault, for falling for what I see as an unfair contract. especially when i wasnt getting the services i expected. But it was also a lesson learned. i no longer even bat an eyelash when asked to join a long term contract. my answer is simply NO I don't have the money. Luckily this lesson didn't cost me 800 bucks!
I went to the LA Fitness location in Columbus, OH (Located on Hamilton Road) to inquire about a trial membership for my wife. This was going to be a surprise gift, so wanted to make sure that I was not locked into anything. For all I knew, my wife might cancel it before showing up to the gym at all. I also asked about looking at a trainer for her. Again, to see if it was something she would like to do. I stopped in on my lunch hour, which was my first mistake, because I was short on time. I explained to Steve G., the General Manager and Raphael, the Training Supervisor, what I was looking for. I wanted a trial gym membership, with two training sessions a week. I wanted my wife to try the gym and training out, but be able to cancel if she did not like it. At worst, I would be out a couple months worth of gym and training fees. I signed the agreements and the paperwork for the membership and training sessions during my lunch hour and returned to work.
A month goes by and my wife tells me she enjoys the gym, but would like to cut back on the training. I called Raphael, who said he could adjust the number of training sessions. Another month went by and my wife said she would like to take a break from the training sessions for a while, but still maintain the membership. I called Raphael to have this changed. I received no response. My wife spoke to her trainer the next day about this and he informed her that I signed up for a 52 week training session for $4,320 a year!!! I told my wife this didn't make sense since I told them I wanted a plan that would allow me (her) to cancel at any time, plus Raphael said he would adjust the training session down when I spoke to him last month.
Well, I looked at my credit card statement and Raphael never adjusted anything. I was still charged $360. I went into talk to the General Manager about my issue and he seemed oblivious to the conversation we had when I signed up. Then he said this was an issue with the Training Dept and that I needed to contact them. I explained that I had left several messages for Raphael to call me back, at which point he said Raphael had been transferred and there was no replacement yet. My issue is this...... I did, in fact sign a 1 yr training agreement. Shame on me for not reading the contract all the way through. But this is not what I asked for. I specifically asked for a trial period, which I did receive on the gym membership. But not on the training sessions??? When I brought this to their attention; why would I sign up for a month-to-month membership, but commit to a 1 year training session, they said that was what I asked for. This is not true and makes no sense. I have talked to the GM, the Dir. of Operations and Customer Service in California. No one can help me and they all point me back to the contract I signed. Again, I am not disputing that I signed it, but it is not what I asked for...at all. I think I was taken advantage of because I was in a hurry to get back to work, as I was doing this on my lunch hour. I was hurried through the agreement and asked to sign in the electronic box(s). I understand that I had several days after the agreement was signed to review it and cancel it, but again.....I thought I was presented with an agreement that was for a trial period....which is what I asked for. So now I have a month to month gym membership with a firm, locked in, never to be gotten out of Training Agreement for one year. This is a scam. I went on line and there are dozens and dozens of similar complaints on LA Fitness. Clients go in for one thing and come out with something else. They actually describe the exact same scenario that I have listed in the complaint. If they fail to pay really close attention, they're screwed. This is a deceitful and misleading business practice and LA Fitness knows it, this is why the GM will not speak with me but simply redirects me to the former trainer that is nowhere to be found or Customer Service who just tells me "I signed a contract.
Cancelled membership for three members in our family twice. Sent in the form once and still got charged. Cancelled the credit card, and started getting 5 – 10 calls per day. Sent in another cancellation form. From everything I was reading, cancelling at the club would be useless… they still keep charging anyway! Now, I just spoke to one of their “Operations Managers” who after listening to all of this said he would refund me for all three members for one month, but needed to update my billing information first!! I told him to mail me a check for the refund, and that he doesn’t need updated credit card information unless they’re going to try to bill further! He said OK, then I can’t help you, have a nice day! They are the worst company I have ever dealt with and would not recommend them to ANYONE.
It is LA Fitness's corporate policy that if you have balance due, like I do, they tell EVERYONE IN THE GYM OUT LOUD about it EVERY TIME you enter the building!! And get this: if you don't pay the way they want you to they permanently bar you. Cash is NO GOOD! Never mind that the money isn't due for another month... when I complained about it the harassment INCREASED!! I've already talked with the cops over this and am planning to file at least a BBB complaint today.
I was a lifetime member of Bally's gym. LA Fitness took over the Bally's in MD and agreed to accept my Bally's lifetime agreement. I always received a bill from Bally's and paid it. When LA Fitness took over they did not send a bill. Realizing that I had not received a bill I went to the White Marsh LA Fitness gym to pay my renewal fee of 29.00. Person at the desk gave me a key membership and said that they would mail the bill to my home and that everything was fine. Did not receive the bill and called 2 -3 times, no one would give me information and they said that they would call me back. Never heard from anyone, so I walked to LA Fitness in Towson. Chad Fike the operations Manager said that the last payment was 3/27/12 and my membership appeared to be expired. He advised me to call Corporate which I did. I spoke to a woman named Alex. She said that she would call me back. I called her on 4/25/14, it is now 4/29/14 and I have not heard back from her. Meanwhile I emailed corporate on 4/25/14 and explained my situation.
Today on 4/29/14 I received an email from Jason W. and he stated my membership was expired and suggested I go to the club and renew at the current rates. I purchased this membership in 2003, for 800.00 and have paid every bill since that time. I can provide paperwork on the fact that I received a bill and kept this membership in good standing. LA Fitness took over and agreed to honor all Bally's lifetime members, but they neglected to send a bill out, or even a letter saying that they will not be sending out a bill. I believe that they are trying to weed out the lifetime Bally's because they can make more money selling new memberships at an inflated fee. I did not go to the gym in 2013 because of a foot injury, but I always thought that I was up to date on payment and able to use it again when I was better. Donna Maryland
LA Fitness Reviews
After being a personal trainer for 25 years and having trained at virtually all of the other gyms in Ocean County, particularly, the Jersey Shore, this gym has to be, hands-down, the most mismanaged and filthiest gyms around.
You will invariably find upper management M.I.A. should you have any type of concern at the gym. If a machine is broken or inadequately functioning, which, not surprisingly, is very often, the Operations Manager, Eric, seems utterly clueless. Instead of periodically walking around the gym and visually inspecting the weights, dumbbells, machines, and even the pool downstairs, Eric is stationed right behind the front counter checking members in when they arrive with their key tags. Excuse me, but that responsibility is delegated to the front desk help. Eric is the manager of the entire gym, but yet, he only seems to acknowledge what happens at that diminutive front counter. How can a salaried employee purposefully act so oblivious? Such a clarion example of management gone awry. I was wholly shocked to learn that alerting the repair guy of all necessary repairs to the entire gym falls on Eric's shoulder's. But yet, he invariably waits for you to come to him when you see anything that needs repairing. Umm, that's not my job, it's yours Eric. Please remind us once again why we are paying so much in membership fees per month to police YOUR gym? Perhaps, you should share your manager salary with everyone who does your job for you while you sit back and chillax.
The General Manager of the entire gym, Ralph Kistner, reminds me of the captain of the RMS Titanic, Edward J. Smith, who heroically perished with his sinking ship. But, unfortunately, Ralph is no hero. In fact, Ralph is the one who is at the helm of this multi-million dollar behemoth but yet, inexplicably, is steering the gym right down into the abyss. Ralph is his very own iceberg.
While employed at LA Fitness, I personally witnessed Ralph's impotence and inability to manage this gym quite frequently. He'd rather mysteriously “disappear” during his shift whenever a gym member expressed any type of dissatisfaction with anything related to the gym. His repudiation of his appointed authority became so well known throughout this gym that anytime a member had any type of question or concern, Ralph's perpetual pass-the-buck attitude pointed directly to his Assistant General Manager, Tyler Lee Russell. It was invariably up to Tyler to address every single issue in this gym. Pathetically, Tyler's very own ineptitude overshadowed Ralph's ineptness. This imbecilic management duo colloquially became dubbed “The Blind Leading the Blind.”
Moreover, Tyler would rather stand right outside the gym and perpetually smoke cigarette after cigarette throughout his shift. Tyler is second in command at LA but his primary objective is to vigorously reel unknowing victims into the gym to become members. Once you pay your membership dues, you are no longer his concern.
By the way, for an arrogant and smug 21 year old, he's d**n good at ripping you off. He's sneaky and slimy and once you sit in his chair, you, too, will be mesmerized by his chicanery. He can literally sell ice to an Eskimo. Beware, his desk is the second one in the front, right next to the GM himself. If you are sitting in his chair for longer than 5 minutes, it's merely too late at that point. He would have already had you sign away your hard earned money. You know the old adage, a fool and his money are soon parted.
Here's a wise tip though, always use your credit card so that you can later have the dubious charges contested by your credit card company. I spoke at length to current member Sandy who credibly confirmed how the smoke and mirrors technique is perpetuated at LA Fitness. In the end, her credit card company threatened to sue LA and management, fully cognizant of their illicit wrongdoing, was forced to refund the entire amount it fraudulently charged to her credit card.
After going to this gym since last year, I am relieved that my eyes are no longer wide shut. I have seen the decades-old decrepit carpet fraying and unraveling, perilously causing a trip and fall hazard. On a daily basis, dumbbells are left all over the gym floor, when they should remain in the typical designated weight area. I've personally witnessed unwitting members trip over these precariously and negligently placed steel dumbbells. Also, once something is dropped on the floor, such as a piece of gym paper from the dispenser, you will undoubtedly see that identical piece of rubbish in the same spot the very next day.
In a significantly alarming phenomenon, I personally contacted Ralph's, Tyler's and Eric's boss, Mr. Louis Pinto, III, many, many weeks ago to personally notify him about this gym's lack of feasible management. Mr. Pinto is the District Manager for all LA Fitness gyms throughout New York and New Jersey and is the top guy. When you have a problem at any local LA Fitness gym, Mr. Pinto is the guy you contact for resolution. Regrettably, Mr. Pinto has chosen to never return my specifically detail oriented voice mail message. So now, he, too, is intentionally condoning the inmates running the asylum atmosphere at his very own Toms River LA Fitness.
LA Fitness management, it's time to vigilantly do your job. No more abdication. I have spoken to several former LA members who expressed the analogous sentiment I have aforesaid documented. This week alone, over ten members canceled their memberships at this management-neglected gym and every sequential week the numbers of former members augment. I regularly keep track on my Facebook page of these disgruntled former members who contact me about this distinct gym.
In fact, I was just speaking to Toms River Police Officer Miehl yesterday at LA Fitness who, in no uncertain terms whatsoever, admitted to canceling his LA membership predominately because of the incessant mismanagement, filthy and putrid conditions existing and management inexplicably turning a blind eye and deaf ear to viable concerns of its very own members.
Please remember this Eric, Tyler, General Manager Ralph and District Manager Louis, when the customer comes first the customer will last. Us former members would rather take our business to and spend our hard earned money at a gym that actually values its members. You guys have proven time after time that we are effectively meaningless and worthless to you!!
It was crime comited by computer teft by La Fitness!
I paid in total of $2130.00 all together by AMEX and I have proof of that! After I wrote a letter to headquarters requesting that I can't continue my personal training for health reasons and I like transfer my balance that my son can take some training classes my money suddenly disappear ( from the balance that I had there 11 sessions left ) on they computer data base??? WTF?!
That is a Ripoff? or maybe perfect crime becouse no one care?!
They are thief's!
Just opened an account with Corey on 2/6/15 for my wife and myself. First time in the gym 2/9/15, and we took our 3 kids to kid play area and hit the treadmill and stretched out. I brought a "Husky" folder with paper and pen to write down our heaviest weight limit for each exercise (all leg machines). We went to use the smith machine to max out on squats. My wife went first and then right when I was going into my turn I had an assistant manager named SEAN HERMAN come to me in a very threatning body stance and yelling at the top of his lungs in front of about 30 people that I am not allowed to "coach" because we have to pay for personal trainers. I was "coaching" because i was writing down our progress. I asked to speak with the GENEREAL MANAGER EMILY, then he said she was fired and HE was the General Manager. Corey was there and watched both of us working out, so i took Sean to Corey and then Corey lied and said he didn't see anything. I said it the situation was bullshit because there is a consumer affair report about the exact same situation happening to a mother and her teenage son. SEAN then intentionally verbally threatened me to take me outside and beat my a** if I had a problem with it in front of Corey. Coming from an experienced fortune 50 Retail store management background, i stated I was shocked at his professional demeanor, and as a BROWN BELT IN HELIO GRACIES JIU JITSU, I would not fight him. I also stated I was a VOLUNTEER SHERIFF OFFICER and I could call the local station on him for CA PC 422 criminal threats which is a FELONY... he quickly refuted his verbal threat and said he was cancelling my account and called me a BITCH in front of my wife, corey and other gym members. For my first time at an LA FITNESS and at the POWAY, CA location, I will never go back and expect a refund which they never gave the mom and her son.
My wife signed me up for membership at LA Fitness. The salesman on the phone tried to get her to sign up as well, she refused, and I confirmed the order, that only I was the one with a pass. We began noticing duplicate charges, and recieved an email stating that she had an account too. i went in person to complain of the error, and they apologized and said they'd get to the bottom of it. A month later we still saw charges so we called the customer service line for LA Fitness, and they too did not help us cancel her membership, but claimed it was. Finally months later my wife noticed again the charges for the account, and saw that they signed her contract with an E*signature. I called the corporate office, and they tried to offer a partial refund, but then 2 days later refused. The use of an E*signature without someones permission is fraud, they did not at all take seriously the criminal offense that it is. Very Dishonest Company, you could not pay me to remain a member here.
All three managers listed have been complained to by multiple club members about other members holding/hogging equipment using sweaty towels while they work out on two pieces of equipment at one time. Aside from keeping other paying members from using the equipment, these rude club members are possibly exposing other members to such things as Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly referred to as “Staph” and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections as well as many other infectious diseases. One such rude member that management is aware of and does nothing to resolve the problem is Joseph Manning, owner of Frater Electric.
I signed up for a personal training contract at LA Fitness in New Tampa a few months ago, the salesperson was Bruno Temesi. I travel for a living, therefore I was going to sign up for a single session per week and use the accrued sessions whenever I was in town. Bruno told me that the sessions I purchased would not expire 30 days after I completed my contract (despite it being written into the contract) and gave me a story about a man who signed up, traveled to India for a year, and returned home to use his sessions because "LA Fitness does not pay attention to the expiration date". This is a lie that was brought up when I asked if I could keep my sessions if I were to cancel my contract.
To add to the issue, the personal trainier did not even show up for the last two personal training sessions I scheduled.
I am the victim of a fraud committed by LA Fitness, McCormack Ranch, in Scottsdale, Arizona. On September 16, 2014, the company created several false membership contracts in both my name and a “family member” (of whom I share no relation). On November 15, 2014, they submitted two electronic transfer funds charges from the LA Fitness Corporate bank in Irvine, California, to my checking account totaling $239.80.
I contacted LA Fitness and requested to speak with a Member Services Manager. Brittany Benson (480-483-3100) informed me that several sales employees in this LA Fitness location had been recently terminated resulting from an internal investigation of fraudulent membership contracts being created by Griffin Sturm, Pedro (?), and the General Manager, Chris (?). She explained that she would remedy the situation immediately by reversing the electronic funds which LA Fitness had withdrawn from my checking account for the full fraud amount of $239.80, in addition to two unauthorized withdrawals of $30.00 each for membership fees related to the fraudulent contracts.
On November 21, 2014, I did receive two direct deposits from LA Fitness to my Chase checking account for $30.00 each, (totaling $60.00), but NOT THE STOLEN $239.80!! On Friday, November 28, 2014, I filed a police report with Scottsdale PD. After speaking with LA Fitness’ Brittany Benson, the officer tells me that LA Fitness' bank has not yet received the $239.80 from my account, and that as soon as this amount clears their system, they will by issuing my credit. However, my bank confirmed with me that the funds were, in fact, sent and received on November 17, 2014, and I have the transaction numbers to prove it.
LA Fitness printed for me the three fraudulent membership contracts which were falsely created in my name and associated with my bank account number (complete with the obvious plagiarized signatures). They admitted their 100% culpability in this outrageous fraud committed towards me that has allowed them to steal $239.40 from my checking account via EFT (based on the information obtained from a personal check I wrote for my 2-month legitimate membership of $60.00 for the period of September 18, 2014 – November 18, 2014.) LA Fitness also printed for me a Promise To Pay spreadsheet indicating the refund to me had been approved by their corporate bank on November 19, 2014, pending a brief processing period of 1-3 business days.
In summary, as of today, Tuesday, December 02, 2014, I have not received my stolen funds of $239.80, (15 days after this fraudulent transaction), nor have I received any type of apology or my overdraft fees totaling $70.00.
In September of this year, I decided I would give a gym membership one last try. I have had bad experiences in the past and been misled by the sales people -- had information omitted and signed on the dotted line.
Apparently, I'm still gullible enough to fall for the shady deals of big name gyms.
I signed up for a fitness membership -- paid my join fee of $150 (approximately -- it was a "special"). Paid my monthly $50 and thought, hey.. this is pretty great. I was told I could freeze my account at any time if I needed to for any reason and just start back up again when I was ready.
Then my sales man Eddy told me about personal training -- he suggested I give it a try and wow, it was also great! My trainer was fantastic! When he sat me down afterwards, it was, 'here, I'll get this set up for you real quick..' and never once was I showed my agreement. The "Agreement" I came to was a verbal agreement with Eddy. I was told to click boxes and sign on a terminal electronically. Before I did so, I CLARIFIED carefully. This was a big expense I was adding to my monthlies. $180! Yes, it was less than my car payment which was going away shortly. Okay, but I CAN FREEZE MY ACCOUNT at any time, right? Yes, I was told, you can freeze your account at any time. Any training sessions you have on file just roll over. GREAT!
Two weeks later, my fantastic trainer was getting a promotion but my membership didn't cover his services. If I wanted to stay with my awesome trainer, I needed to pay more. Well, I like Ricky a lot, he's really good.. so yes, I'd like to stay with him. $208 a month! WOW!
Then I got hurt. Achilles Enthesopathy. I can't do any impact workouts and training in general aggravates and hinders my recovery because the tendon gets stretched or strained too easily.
So I put my membership on hold. No problem. Super easy!
Until 11/28 when all of a sudden, here comes a $208 charge! I called tonight and was told, "well, no, your training contract is separate from your fitness membership." I asked, "Can I use my training without my fitness membership?" "Nope." "Do I have a different account for my fitness membership?" "Nope." "...so.. I can't use it without my fitness membership.. but my membership is frozen.. Eddy told me I could freeze my account whenever I needed to." "You can.. for your fitness membership.. but the personal training is a separate contract and it's a non-freezable, non-refundable, 52 week contract."
I told the club manager that information was OMITTED when I specifically asked if I could freeze my account. He said, "I can put you through to customer service."
Really.
I called and spoke to "Justin" who told me the same thing. He confirmed my email address and said, "well we have your contract on file here." I said, "I was told I was being emailed a RECEIPT, not a contract. I also agreed to a VERBAL CONTRACT that was different than what you are telling me now. The laws in California where you are incorporated are such that a verbal contract is binding." I was told I could get a note from my doctor and if my injury meets their criteria, I can cancel all future payments. I told him again that's not the agreement I came to and the digital bait and switch was no a good look for them.
When I asked to speak to a supervisor, Justin was magically a supervisor. I had to ask repeatedly for HIS supervisor. Finally, he put me on the phone with a woman named "Lorraine."
She gave me the same spiel. I explained that the thing she's looking at as my "contract" could have easily been switched and based on what the VERBAL agreement was, our contract was in breach and they needed to refund me the $208 they just charged me.
She refused. I asked her for a street address as opposed to the P.O. Box 55088 I was given to send my doctor's note for them to "review." I'm afraid to take a bet on whether my injury will be deemed "disability" or not.
She refused. I told her that the street address of the corporation is not private information and she needed to provide it upon request. She kept telling me she didn't have another address to provide. I told her she needed to put me in touch with her supervisor. Apparently, Zanoni, her supervisor is in Florida and has already gone home for the night.
At this point, I feel completely duped. The agreement I signed was the agreement I looked into the eye of the sales rep and signed for. The agreement I was sent is DIFFERENT and I was told if I didn't like my training, I could cancel in 10 days. I LIKED my training! Why would I cancel?
Except oh yeah.. you guys totally misrepresented my rights to me, to my face and let me sign off on it. Shady Deals 201. I'm a graduate now of the second level course since I didn't learn my lesson the first time.
Please don't sign with LA Fitness. It is big rip-off. Their customer service is very poor and to no help. They are not very clear to make sure they let you know everything about the club and their facility and availability of resources.
They are so enthusiastic and friendly to ensure you signed up with them. That job is done and then you are at your own. Price is not competitive what you are paying, basically you can find better price with more faciltiies.
I joined the brand new facility and am paying full price. Men's room has no hair dryers even after two weeks but I am paying for it. When you ask something to make adjustment they would say, it's not in the contract you signed. Even customer service asked me "Is hair dryer listed on contract". Would you expect these things to be checked in the contract.
This ghettofied gym is the worst! They make you pay first and last month's membership in advance, (which is not my problem) but when you get ready to cancel, they don't let you use the last month that you've PAID for in advance. They cancel your membership immediatly when you request to cancel. The manager who works there, who is a female, but wears a wig and looks like a man, really try to convince you that their practices are ethical, and that you didn't read your contract in its entirety! A bunch of bullcrap! The pool is always getting serviced, and you can't swim, the hot tub is always getting services and out of order. Nothing is ever working. You have these jacked up looking trainers and managers walking around looking like the walking dead! I hate that I wasted my money and time with these uneducated specticles! Do yourself a favor and go to Gym, , or .
I'LL TRY TO BE CONCISE.
I went to this gym for a 2 day free pass.
Was hustled through a quick check in via Wesley who REQUIRED my drivers license to put info into computer.
I was told to go workout, ( with no introduction to facilities offered) & did so, forgetting that my I.D. had NOT BEEN RETURNED.
NOT WHEN GIVEN, NOT AT ANY POINT THAT DAY OR THE NEXT.
OR THE NEXT.
NOR WAS I CONTACTED,
BY PHONE AS IT WAS APPARENTLY IMMEDIATELY LOST TO THE ETHER, WITH NO ONE NOTICING.
I noticed my missing I.D. within 2 days of having used the gym & stopped by, 1/2 hour before closing.
NO-ONE was working as the gym was 98% EMPTY, with 2 employees sitting down, messing about on their cell phones.
When I explained the problem the mngr (Rich) on duty looked in an unsecured drawer @ the front desk & the desktop of
the salesperson who originally took it, saying to come back Monday, as he wasn't going to INCONVENIENCE an employee who wasn't on duty with a phone call. After explaining that I couldn't legally drive, rent a car for an upcoming trip & was entirely without I.D for ANYTHING he made a perfunctory, disinterested call to said salesperson who said he didn't know where it was. The mngr failed to mention my NAME in this call, or inquire any further; saying repeatedly there was NOTHING he could do-this apparently being a corporate imperative -, in a annoyed tone. When I suggested he at least look more carefully, he pointed to his desktop ( there are NO drawers @ sales desks or secure places for I.D Cards which I was only THEN I formed were INTENTIONALLY KEPT until workout was finished when guests are supposed to request they be given back. Rich pointed to two uncovered I.D.s of other guests just laying o top of his desk as an example. This the norm, while employees wander the entire gym, and literally ANYONE with an eye for identity theft could EASILY steal them. INCLUDING EMPLOYEES. What followed was a sad, infantile, insulting, HORRIFICALLY unprofessional display of twentysomething mngr slouching, whining, blaming ME for this outcome & laughing, saying I probably left it in my car - whichI scoured along with my purse before coming in, even though I KNEW they had it. He said it was my I.D., & basically my stupidity for TRUSTING THEM WITH IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. And WHY does a gym giving a lousy 48 usage pass need to input personal DL info into a computer anyway, when most simply Look at it to verify your name & give it back right away? The desk employee then gangs up on me, saying THEY PERSONALLY didn't create this issue, therefore it ISN'T THEIR PROBLEM & I could basically go get FUCKED, as it was now 6p.m. & they wanted to prove to their last BREATH how little they GIVE A DAMN. THEY ONLY WORK THERE. Even after getting ANOTHER offsite mngr Jada on phone results I same salesperson confirming to her by phone that even though he doesn't know WHO I AM, he now DISTINCTLY REMEMBERS RETURNING the license. So to RECAP: TOTALLY UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED. TOTALLY RUDE CONDESCENDING AND ABSURDLY UNPROFESSIONAL AND DISMISSIVE RESPONSE. POSSIBLE POLICE REPORT FOR GROSS MISHANDLING OF PERSONAL DOCUMENTS. SHOULD I ADD THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN GET A DECENT SHOWER? JUST TRAGICALLY AWFUL. AVOID. JUST AVOID. LOFE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS. SO: TOTALLY UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED. TOTALLY RUDE CONDESCENDING AND ABSURDLY UNPROFESSIONAL AND DISMISSIVE RESPONSE. Not to mention absolutely ghetto facilities. Po So.... TOTALLY UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED TOTALLY RUDE, CONDESCENDING, INAPPRORIATELEY DEFENSIVE, DISMISSIVE AND ABSURDLY UNPROFESSIONAL So, to RECAP: A TOTALLY UNECESSARY problem created by employees; NONE of whom are willing to take ANY responsibilty for, or make a genuine effort to correct. WAS NEVER INFORMED they intended to "hold" my I.D. in the first place. Received COMPLETELY DISRESPECTFUL, CONDESCENDING & DISMISSIVE treatment in response. So, to recap: Entirely UNECESSARY problem created by employees; NONE OF WHOM take responsibility for or do their utmost to correct R IGHT. So to recap; Unecessary problem created by employees, who neither take respi RIGHT. This is relayed by the receptionist who now says that I may not speak with Jada because she has to go SHOPPING. SO to recap; UNECESSARY PROBLEM CREATED WHICH DOESN'T JUST SCREW ME FOR A DAY BUT FUCMS UP A ANNED DRIVING TRIP could do
The mngr then attempts brush me off again as I've cleary INTERUPTED him I the act of doing NOTHING.
I was excited and knew I needed to get back to exercising so I signed myself and my son into the family plan. Great idea. A little steep for the membership fee - special price $199 and $50/month. Great! The 2nd time we went I thought I'd check out the "Personal Trainer" service. Major MISTAKE". I sat down to find out all about it. They are a reputable fitness club, right? The first thing the salesman did was had me sign the contract and initial 4 check boxes and a checklist all the while stating "let's do this real quick, I'll set up your account and then I will go over everything in detail. I did and he scanned the paperwork into the computer and unbeknown to me folded and stapled it to the inside back copy of the exercise journal. He then went into a long speel on health and exercising and was very personable walking me around showing me 3 exercises and watching me do them. Well actually that was the "Personal Training" service which ended up to $189.00 and $90 /mth for 2 25 minute sessions a month. Who makes $180 / 55 min!!! La Fitness. Unbelievable! SCAM. I could not believe my assigned "Personal Trainer" a 20-year-old covered in tattoos job was just that. After the 2nd session I confronted the salesman to cancel my membership. Actually he turned out to be the GeneralManager but said he had to call his manager. I went to exercise and stopped back afterwards. His manager hadn't called back. He said stop by tomorrow. I did. No response. I called the following day and he told me he'd call me when he got a response. in the meantime I contacted my bank to stop the charges. Meanwhile a month went by with no response from the General Manager.
My 16 year old son signed up for a membership with several friends. When he signed up La fitness would not take my perk discount which we are entitled to. As an employee of walgreens pharmacy, the initiation fee should have been waived and he was suppose to be charged one flat rate. He signed up and I have been fighting with corporate since may 2014 to get a refund that is rightfully due. This company bounces you around, doesn't return calls and makes u completely go crazy insisting they never receive your documents when faxed. This company is the worst company I have delt with in all my life. This may just end up in court. I plan to contact the better business bureau and consumer affairs as well as shame on you channel 12 news!
For me, it is imperative to post this online to warn, not only the prospective employees, but also members about this company. They ONLY care about your money, nothing else. You will be paying exorbitant amount of money for ammenities that you would be able to get at a much more reputable gym cheaper. The sales people only work on EFT, with their wages being illegally below minimum wage. After that, you would have to deal with a Personal Training Counselor, which is glorified salesperson, who after you sign up, has nothing to do with you, as you will be paying for your training monthly with someone who you would never met. Even the trainers are being paid WAY BELOW their worth, as I have met a couple of trainers who are awesome, but are paid a set pay, and cannot build business themselves (due to the structure of the business at gym level). Then you have the front desk staff practically acting like a collections agency in order to for them to keep the amount of hours that they work, and not focus on creating a great member experience. Lastly, you have higher ups that only care about the numbers, NOT the retention of members or the morale of members and employees that are under them. All in all, you have a company who's bottom line is just money, WITHOUT the factor of member experience nor employee retention (as I heard that many ex-employees are happier leaving the company due to the BS that they endured, and the fact that I went from a GROWING company to a company that has such low reputation that I am embarrassed, to this day, to be associated with.). So please DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PLACE AND FIND A MUCH BETTER GYM! You'll be glad you did!
Earlier this year I was looking to lose the baby weight I had gained from having my first child. I discussed with a co-worker different Gyms that we could take a look at. We immediately liked LA Fitness Because it claims to not have a long term contract strictly, month to month, which is something I was instantly drawn to.
We made an appointment to come in and take a look at the facility; not only its features, but the environment as a whole. The first thing that was odd to me was that the price on their website was not the price he told me for a membership. In fact it was a great deal higher, but continued to listen. We ended up not buying that day. Each day for the next two weeks he called lowering the price til we took the bate. When I came in and signed, he stated one price that was not the same as what I saw on the contract... I mentioned it and he corrected himself. (I should have left at this point, it would have saved my a**) Eventually, I signed the $50 and some change membership per month, so that I could enjoy the facility with as many as 2 friends each visit.
My First Visit. I came in for a Zumba class, which was a blast. Probably the best thing about this gym since it is free with a membership, and my guests could attend as well! On my way out I was approached by a personal trainer who had told me of the free training session I have yet to use. I said to myself "why not" signed up with him for the following day and went on my way.
"free" training session. I came in for my "One Free Training Session", the guy I met with seemed great. The session lasted about 20 minutes and I thought that was just a preview of what a real session would be. Once we finished he sat me down with a man I didnt know was a salesman. That salesman was new as I could tell. He offered me many packages for getting a personal trainer. I had wanted a trainer and had some money saved for something like this. I let him know that I would like to do a couple of days a week for three months. He brought his "manager over who convinced me to buy and even gave me an extra day each week for free, I was sold. We went through the contract and I reminded the 2 of them that I only wanted 2-3 months maximum. He said that was no problem, and I assumed he was signing me up for that package since I had politely expressed to him my needs and wants. Once again, as I read the contract this man stated something that was not the same as the contract I was signing. I brought it up and he explained to me that he was newer and is still learning. Once the contract was finished we went over the amount that was due and the amount I would pay per month. It was around 260 per month for 3 days of personal training a week (1 day free). I then asked, will it just stop at 3 months or will I have to cancel? He said I set it up so that you will just cancel it since it will be cheaper that way. He told me that once I cancelled that would be it, no more payments.
2 sessions went by, and at the end of the 2nd one, I told him when I would be in next and he set me an appointment, as per normal. I come in 2 days later for my slotted time and the 2 ladies at the front desk disclosed to me that I was scheduled for yesterday and that since I had missed it, it still counted as a session. I explained why I was upset, and they told me that he was busy with a client and I could not see him today, I asked if I could wait since the session were only about 20 minutes, and they ignored me. I scheduled a session with him for the following day. He apologized repeatedly, but kept saying that he knows he didnt make a mistake and to my disbelief told me the 2 ladies were talking smack about me to him, he even went into detail on what they had said.
I was pretty fed up at this point. I just felt completely uncomfortable going back to that gym. I felt like I would be treated differently because I stood up for myself. I got a call that day from an associate of the LA fitness. Asking me how I liked everything so far and explaining to me the contract in full, "just incase I missed anything" When she said I would have to pay for the full year if I decided to cancel the personal training membership I was appalled, since I only wanted 3 months and that was fully explained to the gym to begin with.
I called the dealership to cancel immediately, and the explained the same to me in a cheery manner, that they would send me the bill.. I ended up paying for 4 months total and then cancelled my card all together.
The payment was due several days ago, and I have gotten over 10 calls aday being harrassed for the money. I called a customer membership office in California for LA Fitness and was told to call coorporate to get everything handled.
If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I am dumbfounded and in total disbelief that I could have been fooled so intensely. If I were to have to pay the rest of the payments that would sum to over $1500 which had to be made within an allotted time.
Walked into la.fitness and was greeted by an employeer who gave me a detor of the place automatically i was won over by the spa and the pool and then signed up for a membership. after that i got a mock traning by one of the trainers there and it was not all of that, then out of no-where i saw the devil name chuck real name (charles) came and interupt my session with the trainer and insisted on taking over then we went over to the sign in table and he showed me the prices and i was like no thats to much for me he wouldnt take no for an answer so he started stating promises, which he never kept about how they are a family and how their going to be behine me 100 percent and give me a wake up call and a whole bunch of lies. then he said i can cancel which convinced me to sign personal training account i was like ok i can cancel what can i loose. i ended up signing and when i went to cancel the front desk receptionist told me i couldnt cancel that easy because i just singned up i was like ok and paid anyway but then it hit me why should i be abide to something that i dont even want and the fact that he said i can cancel and everything was just a misrepresentation down to the trainers, they arent even anywhere to be seen and even when i first signed up with the personal trainer account the trainer i was assigned to got transfered and that was it i didnt even know the first trainer that gave me a mock training was my initial trainer untill the day i confronted chuck and told him i wanted to cancel and thats when he told me he dont have anything to do with my account, i think that la-fitness is very unfair and a very missleading company they have harrassed me back to back to give them my card over the phone when i was a member with them which chuck said was never going to happen he needs to stop being dishonest to people and the lafiteness as company are very money hungry and maniplutative
I joined la fitness a few months ago at the parsippany nj location. I walked in knowing I wanted to join a club that had a pool and some cool classes i can take advantage of, for a hassle free contract. When I walked up to the salesperson, he said "hey youuu" as if he knew me...I explained why I was there, and told him that I was looking into gyms in the area and wanted a tour of the gym.
He asked what other gyms i was looking into and immmediately responded telling me "dont go there...". When i asked why, he had no reasoning. Nevertheless, he tried to have me join for a year and pay hundreds of dollars, and then even tried to get me to join with a two-year contract. I was def not gonna do that so I left.
I called the next day saying I would just do the 30/month + 99 initiation fee. First of all, i was told i would be charged around 130 dollars, and was instead charged around 170. I honestly couldnt stand the guy, and simply joined because I really liked the gym and what it had to offer. He was a horrible salesman, and kind of creepy.
Anyway, I signed up for my free personal training session and the personal trainer never showed up so a Personal training salesman actually provided my free session and then talked to me for around 30 minutes about why I need a personal trainer. He told me the classes weren't going to do anything for me, and the personal training would help me reach my goals. When he showed me the 52 or 27 week programs, explaining that the 52 week was for people who didn't train before and had fitness goals such as mine. He made it sound like i was getting this great deal too. 6 30-min sessions/month for 160. Eventually I signed up.
It was going great at first. I really liked my trainer. He motivated me and was a great guy with lots of great advice and obvious knowledge on fitness related info. Unfortunately...a month and a half into my contract, he left LA fitness. Then, I realized I was only provided 5 sessions/month. Not 6, as I was told in the contract. This wasnt resolved for 2 weeks and I wasn't able to book any sessions for that two weeks.
Then when I finally did book another session, the new trainer cancelled it 20 minutes prior to it starting...at 8:30am on a saturday. I was livid. I was simply frustrated and no longer motivated to use a personal trainer. How did i get out of the contract? I switched my mailing address to my parents home, luckily they have a home 60 miles from an la fitness, wrote a certified letter explaining my cancellation, with usps confirmation of the address change, and luckily it worked. I am so much less stressed because the buyout for my contract being cancelled this early would have been over 800 dollars. RIDICULOUS.
Anyway, its just not worth it. find a personal trainer on craigslist before being locked into such a crazy fricking contract. I even tried prior to this to show them an email explaining that my employment contract ended and i was jobless...they didnt care at all. Medical letter or relocation far from la fitness is the only way to get out of this contract without paying WAY TOO much. luckily i did get out of it. thank god for my parents shorehouse!
Needless to say, this is my fault, for falling for what I see as an unfair contract. especially when i wasnt getting the services i expected. But it was also a lesson learned. i no longer even bat an eyelash when asked to join a long term contract. my answer is simply NO I don't have the money. Luckily this lesson didn't cost me 800 bucks!
I went to the LA Fitness location in Columbus, OH (Located on Hamilton Road) to inquire about a trial membership for my wife. This was going to be a surprise gift, so wanted to make sure that I was not locked into anything. For all I knew, my wife might cancel it before showing up to the gym at all. I also asked about looking at a trainer for her. Again, to see if it was something she would like to do. I stopped in on my lunch hour, which was my first mistake, because I was short on time. I explained to Steve G., the General Manager and Raphael, the Training Supervisor, what I was looking for. I wanted a trial gym membership, with two training sessions a week. I wanted my wife to try the gym and training out, but be able to cancel if she did not like it. At worst, I would be out a couple months worth of gym and training fees. I signed the agreements and the paperwork for the membership and training sessions during my lunch hour and returned to work.
A month goes by and my wife tells me she enjoys the gym, but would like to cut back on the training. I called Raphael, who said he could adjust the number of training sessions. Another month went by and my wife said she would like to take a break from the training sessions for a while, but still maintain the membership. I called Raphael to have this changed. I received no response. My wife spoke to her trainer the next day about this and he informed her that I signed up for a 52 week training session for $4,320 a year!!! I told my wife this didn't make sense since I told them I wanted a plan that would allow me (her) to cancel at any time, plus Raphael said he would adjust the training session down when I spoke to him last month.
Well, I looked at my credit card statement and Raphael never adjusted anything. I was still charged $360. I went into talk to the General Manager about my issue and he seemed oblivious to the conversation we had when I signed up. Then he said this was an issue with the Training Dept and that I needed to contact them. I explained that I had left several messages for Raphael to call me back, at which point he said Raphael had been transferred and there was no replacement yet. My issue is this...... I did, in fact sign a 1 yr training agreement. Shame on me for not reading the contract all the way through. But this is not what I asked for. I specifically asked for a trial period, which I did receive on the gym membership. But not on the training sessions??? When I brought this to their attention; why would I sign up for a month-to-month membership, but commit to a 1 year training session, they said that was what I asked for. This is not true and makes no sense. I have talked to the GM, the Dir. of Operations and Customer Service in California. No one can help me and they all point me back to the contract I signed. Again, I am not disputing that I signed it, but it is not what I asked for...at all. I think I was taken advantage of because I was in a hurry to get back to work, as I was doing this on my lunch hour. I was hurried through the agreement and asked to sign in the electronic box(s). I understand that I had several days after the agreement was signed to review it and cancel it, but again.....I thought I was presented with an agreement that was for a trial period....which is what I asked for. So now I have a month to month gym membership with a firm, locked in, never to be gotten out of Training Agreement for one year. This is a scam. I went on line and there are dozens and dozens of similar complaints on LA Fitness. Clients go in for one thing and come out with something else. They actually describe the exact same scenario that I have listed in the complaint. If they fail to pay really close attention, they're screwed. This is a deceitful and misleading business practice and LA Fitness knows it, this is why the GM will not speak with me but simply redirects me to the former trainer that is nowhere to be found or Customer Service who just tells me "I signed a contract.
Cancelled membership for three members in our family twice. Sent in the form once and still got charged. Cancelled the credit card, and started getting 5 – 10 calls per day. Sent in another cancellation form. From everything I was reading, cancelling at the club would be useless… they still keep charging anyway! Now, I just spoke to one of their “Operations Managers” who after listening to all of this said he would refund me for all three members for one month, but needed to update my billing information first!! I told him to mail me a check for the refund, and that he doesn’t need updated credit card information unless they’re going to try to bill further! He said OK, then I can’t help you, have a nice day! They are the worst company I have ever dealt with and would not recommend them to ANYONE.
It is LA Fitness's corporate policy that if you have balance due, like I do, they tell EVERYONE IN THE GYM OUT LOUD about it EVERY TIME you enter the building!! And get this: if you don't pay the way they want you to they permanently bar you. Cash is NO GOOD! Never mind that the money isn't due for another month... when I complained about it the harassment INCREASED!! I've already talked with the cops over this and am planning to file at least a BBB complaint today.
Michael
portland, Oregon
U.S.A.
I was a lifetime member of Bally's gym. LA Fitness took over the Bally's in MD and agreed to accept my Bally's lifetime agreement. I always received a bill from Bally's and paid it. When LA Fitness took over they did not send a bill. Realizing that I had not received a bill I went to the White Marsh LA Fitness gym to pay my renewal fee of 29.00. Person at the desk gave me a key membership and said that they would mail the bill to my home and that everything was fine. Did not receive the bill and called 2 -3 times, no one would give me information and they said that they would call me back. Never heard from anyone, so I walked to LA Fitness in Towson. Chad Fike the operations Manager said that the last payment was 3/27/12 and my membership appeared to be expired. He advised me to call Corporate which I did. I spoke to a woman named Alex. She said that she would call me back. I called her on 4/25/14, it is now 4/29/14 and I have not heard back from her. Meanwhile I emailed corporate on 4/25/14 and explained my situation.
Today on 4/29/14 I received an email from Jason W. and he stated my membership was expired and suggested I go to the club and renew at the current rates. I purchased this membership in 2003, for 800.00 and have paid every bill since that time. I can provide paperwork on the fact that I received a bill and kept this membership in good standing. LA Fitness took over and agreed to honor all Bally's lifetime members, but they neglected to send a bill out, or even a letter saying that they will not be sending out a bill. I believe that they are trying to weed out the lifetime Bally's because they can make more money selling new memberships at an inflated fee. I did not go to the gym in 2013 because of a foot injury, but I always thought that I was up to date on payment and able to use it again when I was better. Donna Maryland