LA Fitness Consumer Reviews - Page 3

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- I recently started working in a new area and wanted to join a gym. There is an LA Fitness very close to where I work in Sorrento Valley/Mira Mesa of San Diego, California. I went in there about three weeks ago just to look at the facilities. I was in no frame of mind to make any kind of commitment because there are a lot of health clubs in the area, and I wanted to check them all out before joining anything. Well, before they would let me even look at the place, they called this salesman over who spent a half hour trying to sell me a membership. I told him that I wanted to see the facilities first.

So he took me around for 5 minutes and then brought me back to his desk and proceeded to try to get me to give him a check and sign a contract. I told him that I just stopped in to see the gym and that was it! After much arguing and aggressive attempts to get me to join right then and there, he reluctantly put me in the computer for a 7 day pass. I explained to him that I didn't have time to try it out right away but that in a few weeks I would. He assured me that the pass was good for 7 days once I actually started to use it.

Well, last night - about 3 weeks later, I went to the gym to try out one of the exercise classes for the first time. They couldn't find my name in the computer, but I didn't want to miss the class so I gave them my info so that they could sort it out by the time the class was over. After the class, I went to see what happened. The General Manager, **, jumped all over me and told me that if I wanted to try out their gym it would cost me $40 for the week, and that a gym is a gym and that I should just go ahead and buy the membership.

I explained to him that I am joining for the classes only, and that I want to make sure that I like them before I commit myself to $149 plus $35 a month. (Do the math, that's almost $600 for the year!!!!) I told him that every other gym gives people a free pass to try out their facilities and asked what the problem was. ** rudely told me that the exercise classes are for members only and that the only way I could try them out was to pay him the $149 and if, within 5 days, I didn't like them, I could get my money back. Yeah, right.

Why not just let me use the free ** pass??!!?!? Then I go on the internet and learn about all the horror stories about LA Fitness never giving anybody their money back or allowing members to cancel their contracts by not processing their paperwork!!! Why should I give these people $149 to try out their gym when they are supposed to give free 3,5, or 7 day passes to do this???!?!?!?!!!

The more I got to thinking about this the more ticked off I became so I called up their corporate headquarters and talked to a membership specialist. He told me that of course I should be able to get a free pass to try out the gym. Then he put me on hold and called ** of LA Fitness Sorrento Valley, the same L.A. Fitness manager who refused to honor my free-pass in the first place. When he came back on the line, the customer service representative was extremely rude and told me that if I wasn't prepared to join the club the day I walked into LA Fitness then I should have never stopped by there in the first place!

Now I was even madder than I was before I called! I asked to speak to his supervisor and the LA Fitness representative REFUSED TO PUT HIS SUPERVISOR ON!!!!! What a way to run a customer service department. They don't even wait until they've locked you into one of their bankrupting/cred-ruining contracts to be rude and arrogant!!!!!!!!!!! Thank God I hadn't paid them anything!

People, do not join this club. Read the reviews. They are only after your money, and once they get it, they WILL NOT GIVE IT BACK, nor will they cancel your membership, so you will continue to have to pay the monthly fee month after month, even after having sent in the paperwork to have it canceled. The staff and management, from local to corporate, are extremely rude and unprofessional. They are today's dishonest used-car salesmen, selling lemons disguised as ball-and-chain memberships to health clubs.

As for the class, it was crowded, nobody looked happy, and there weren't enough weights in the room for everyone to use - and the weights that were there weren't marked and looked like they came off some submarine from WWII that had been lying at the bottom of the sea for the past 60 years! You are better off joining a smaller gym where the staff and management care about their members and know how to treat customers. In Mira Mesa/Sorrento Valley alone, there are lots and lots of gyms. I am so glad ** was such a dick to me because I started looking around and found a gym that was much better, friendlier and cheaper than LA Fitness!!!! YEAH, BABY!!!!

I have been a member of various gyms for many years and am in good shape and good health. After a Yoga class at LA Fitness I became extremely dizzy upon attempting to sit up. I laid back down and waited a minute, but as soon as I started to sit up the room literally began to spin. Several women in the class noticed I was in distress and came to my aid. Since it was very warm in the room, they brought me a cold compress and water which I was unable to sit up to drink. One woman went out to the desk to ask for help. An employee came in, asked me what I had for breakfast and left.

Several minutes later, and not feeling any better, a classmate again went out to the front desk and requested they call an ambulance since it was becoming obvious that I was not going to get up and walk out of there on my own as much as the employees might have hoped. A different front desk person came into the room and asked me what I had for breakfast and offered me orange juice. I told him I did not have low blood sugar and did not think drinking OJ would be a good idea at that point. He tried to pull me up by my arms but I became extremely dizzy again and had to beg him to let go of my arms.

Several more minutes passed and my classmate went to the desk to see where the ambulance was - and found out they had not called one. At that point, after three employees coming in and asking me what I had for breakfast and 3 requests for an ambulance, she stood there and insisted that they call 911 which they reluctantly did. The strangers in my class were more concerned about me than any of the employees were.

After many medical tests it was determined that it was an attack of vertigo. However, it just as easily could have been a stroke or heart problems causing the neurological systems and the staff would have no way of knowing that. The delay in calling an ambulance could have been life threatening.

Several days later I received a call from the Manager who sounded like a 15 year old girl. She said she was in Key West over the weekend and just found out about the incident. She was calling to see how I was feeling. When I told her what happened and suggested she review emergency procedures with her staff so they would not leave the next victim lying on the floor for 40 minutes before they call an ambulance she told me that her staff told her: "An older woman took a yoga class that was too much for her but she wouldn't stop and they called an ambulance right away."

I explained that this was not the case and instead of acknowledging that this was a training opportunity for her staff she insisted that her employees version of the story was correct. Needless to say, I quit LA Fitness and am now working out at a gym where an owner or manager is always present. Now I am waiting to see how many months it takes before they stop charging me.

LACEY, WASHINGTON -- My kids who are thirteen and sixteen, after visiting their new facility (Lacey WA) in June of 2008, convinced me to sign them up for membership. On July 13, 2008 I finally agreed and went to check it out. Their representative ** who had just joined them offered to give me a tour of the facility. I refused the tour and replied to him that my sons have already checked it out and seem to be satisfied, and after all they are the ones who will be using these services. I was only interested in their membership plans. At this point, he said he is so new and does not have enough information, so he will get his manager ** to further help me.

I opened my conversation with ** by saying that "now that the school is out, my kids would like to stay active, and that they'd like to join the L.A. fitness. What are my options?"

He came up with several scenarios and finally we agreed to get two individual memberships, one under my name and the other under my wife's. He further assured me that each of our kids would be eligible to come with us on each individual membership. So in the end we would all (four of us) would have access to the facility. I repeated the terms verbally, and he even asked me again for the kid's ages. He further explained that the thirteen year old would not be able use the swimming pool by himself. The rest of the court including basketball and racquet ball would be okay.

Starting July 13, we went to this facility, usually three of us, many times and were welcome without any issue. After eleven months and many visits, always with my kids, they started recognizing our faces. I always took my kids so they can work out and play while I often waited, and occasionally worked out myself and played with them too.

All this time they never mentioned a single thing and treated us well except last month when they dropped a bombshell and said that our membership is only limited to me and my wife. I was shocked and surprised and told them sole reason for the membership was those kids. We wanted to keep them occupied and active. They promised to fix this issue and assured that we should not have any problem.

Every other time after that, especially whenever there was a new person on the front desk, they would stop us and go through verification process. At some point it got old and I was really annoyed and threatened to cancel my membership. Right after I signed the cancellation notice, they started treating us nasty. At one point they said they they'd call police if I attempted to enter with my kids.

I remember during our visits, one time they were offering an individual membership with two guests for $49.00 a month. Whereas I was paying almost $80.00 for our membership which included my wife. However, my wife never once visited the facility.

I asked this question to the general manager who happens to be same guy **, "Why wouldn't I have gotten the cheaper membership and would have brought my kids with me as guests if I hadn't understood the membership the way I did?" He just sat and lied to me in my face cold that he does not recall any conversation or agreement to allow our kids.

So I asked him again why for last eleven months they never mentioned anything? Speechless, no response: They would to lie to you and give you and implied impression that would otherwise be untrue. Please don't make a mistake as I did of not reading the contract and completely understanding it.

ARIZONA -- First let me say if you are looking for a gym research information on Rip Off Report etc to see if this is a gym you would want to be involved in. La Fitness is a horrible gym to get involved in and I'm not talking about their equipment. I'm referring to how they hit your bank account wrongly, cost over drafts, and won't cover it. Mislead you. When you ask for the corporate number they give you this (949)255-7200 in which it will tell you to press 3 for a operation manager. Which is a manager at another gym.

I called this number trying to get my accounts straightened out. The manager at another gym let me say this before I get into what happened after not getting things resolved with this manager. I decided to call back because I knew something wasn't right and this wasn't the corporate number the representative told me they can't give us the corporate number. Now to get started with what happened before, I got started 5 of my family members and our 2 friends asked if we could wear clothes in the pool. They said "that's not a problem."

When we wore clothes in the pool they kicked us out saying "you can't wear clothes." Talk about misleading!!! Now back to the billing situation. We asked the representative if we could all be billed on the 6 of each month. He said that isn't a problem. And set it for the 6. We noticed the account was negative 45 dollars on the 3rd of the month because 2 passes had gone through on the 3rd which was a 34.99 dollar pass and a kids pass for 10 dollars. We called the representative trying to get it fixed and she said she will talk with Bank of America and get things resolved so the bank won't charge us the 35 dollar fee for each pass.

Well when the 6th came everything looked right in the morning. We put the money in it covered the 2 passes from the 3rd and a pass that came though on the 6th but the 4th pass didn't get covered. We noticed the bank had taken 70 dollars for bank charges. But the representative reversed the 4th pass but still those bank charges were still there. And when the 5th came through a few days later it didn't get covered. And the account inquired another 35 dollar charge plus the pass didn't get paid once again so that's 1 pass that got screwed.

When we called ** to get this resolved she would no longer respond to our calls so they gave us this so called corporate number which it's not and we pressed 3 to talk to an operation manager. He didn't fix the bank charges but he says he updated the 5th pass so we won't be charged.

We decided to change 2 of the passes 2 WellsFargo and put them on hold since I was going through surgery. For 24 dollars the passes would be on hold for 3 months.He says "that's fine" and it was set for the 6th for 24 dollars. The other 3 passes since Bank of America was still over drafted they decided to cancel their members pass and he agreed they are now canceled. When the 6th came 3 passes were charged to the bank of America and 39 dollars plus 24 was charged to the wells Fargo. Plus they continued to try to hit our other 2 friends accounts that had canceled their passes as well. Don't trust this gym...

DALLAS, TEXAS -- From the start, it was clear that joining this place was a HUGE mistake. Initially joining was just a preview of the hell I was going to have to endure. It was obvious that the person who signed me up was just happy to get his commission. He promised little things, like a free gym bag, shirt, and 3 free sessions of personal training (which was the only thing that I really cared about) but got NOTHING. I decided to just go ahead and pay for sessions and signing up for personal training was the ONLY time they were ever nice to me, which only lasted for those 30 minutes.

The trainers just seemed to want to get the training over with and I never got weighed in or the body fat. Apart from that, the trainer frequently decided not to go to work but failed to call her appointments that day. When I showed up one day at the time the trainer told me she had booked me, I found out she had not even actually scheduled me. Fed up with all that, I decided to cancel.

I was told to cancel I had to send a written notice to the corporate office and then I would just have to pay half of the remaining cost (because I was still in contract) the next month. I called up the gym to find the address and the trainer. Told me I had to talk to the manager of the personal training, but she wasn't there. Then when I finally got a hold of her, she told me that I did just had to send a letter and reemphasized that they were just going to charged me half of the remaining balance and I would have 6 months to use my sessions.

The next month I was charged full price because it was in the middle of a billing period and I was like OK that fine, next time it's going to be half. So the next month I was STILL charged full price and I decided to call the corporate office that told me there was no such thing as half price paying and it was 60 days to use my sessions. The corporate office suggested I call the gym again to figure it out. So I called back but I did NOT want to talk to the same person but they directed me to her anyway. She told me she was going to call her friend in corporate and have it taken care of.

So I talked to the operations manager because I wanted to just cancel my entire gym membership since I was going to college and I told her about how I hated them and just wanted to get it over with and she was like "Oh I'm so sorry. How can I make this better? I'll just cancel this for you right now; it's called an immediate cancellation, so that you don't have to worry about it anymore. I don't want this to be a hassle for you any longer." Supposedly, she was canceling it while I was still on the phone. Silly me, I took her word for it. A week or two later I got a phone from someone else saying that it's not immediate. It takes 15 days and they will probably still bill me.

Once again, I called the gym to talk to the girl who told me she was going to take care of it but the receptionist answered and told me there had been no cancellation, of course, the manager was not there and they took my name and phone number and she would call me back in an hour.

Convinced I wouldn't receive a phone call, I called corporate again in hopes that they would be able to help me out. When I got a hold of someone, he told me they had not received any notice from the gym but when I told him about the immediate cancellation they had put in he was kind enough to just cancel it for me and even waived the 30 day notice period. Now I hope this is really the end of it but will not be surprised when they call and give me some other **.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY -- On joining the gym, personal trainers, like vultures, would relentlessly hover around trying to get me to sign up with them. They promised me the "moon and the stars" in terms of results. I succumbed to their persistence, consoling myself that most Hollywood stars look great, thanks to their personal trainers. Maybe I'll look half as good under supervision. Nothing could be further from the truth - not at this gym.

The minute I signed up, the hounding stopped, in fact, it was impossible to get a trainer. They'd fix an appointment but the trainer wouldn't show up or he'd be there but was booked to train someone else. I could not believe the managerial inefficiency and breakdown in communication in a corporation this size. I can only conclude that the steroids must have eaten deep into their brains.

The platoon of "General Managers" were super quick to re-schedule me without the slightest thought that there was a value to my time, having forgone other activities and appointments to be there. But finally, after a month, I got a regular trainer. He was OK, actually quite good, discussing my fitness goals and having a program we could work with. Things were going dandy for about three months. I was looking and feeling better, and then it suddenly stopped. He just disappeared - no call, nothing.

Then one of the other trainers told me he had bad grades... Oh, did I mention none of the trainers were certified? Most were college kids trying to make a buck and workout for free. But I did get a replacement trainer, then another, then another. Each one had his own style, no system whatsoever. There was nothing personal about it either, they took no pride or commitment in their work, only wanting the $6 commission for each workout. I was getting frustrated and lost all motivation. I hated going to the gym.

In the meantime, the population at the gym was exploding, between 5 and 8 pm it was a zoo. There was a wait for every piece of equipment, yet they were aggressively recruiting more members - fresh, unsuspecting blood.
After 8 months and as many trainers later, I moved to New York, while still working in New Jersey. My commute is an hour and a half each way; I didn't have the time or energy for the gym. So, get ready for this - I told them I wanted to leave. I don't blame you for laughing now.

The Operations Manager, very diplomatically, went through the fine print in the “iron-clad” contract, at the end of which I realized signing up with LA Fitness was like checking into Hotel California. "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" - contractually, at least.

Bottom line is, I have to continue paying $153.44 a month for the next 4 months. My ideas of having a dream body have long evaporated. The whole experience had left me $1800 poorer and with a very sour aftertaste about gyms in general.

There is another clause where you have to inform them, in writing, 60 days before the end of your contract that you want to leave. Otherwise, the contract is renewed and you'll have to keep paying for nothing till the end of your days. A fool and his money are quickly parted, I guess. "A wise man learns from his mistakes, a wiser man learns from other people's mistakes." Hope you learn something from mine... Stay away this place.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA -- DO NOT SIGN UP FOR PERSONAL TRAINING FROM LA FITNESS.
LA Fitness facilities are OK but their Personal Training is a major ripoff. They charge major bucks for training and then pay the trainers next to nothing. As a result trainers leave with high regularity. In 6 months we had 4 different trainers with large gaps in between while LA Fitness searched for replacements. We ended up receiving only half of the promised training and LA fitness refused to issue any refund.
LA FITNESS PERSONAL TRAINING SCAMS THE CLIENT AND THE TRAINER.

CENTERVILLE, OHIO -- It happens all the time: No paper towels or soap to wash your hands, no toilet paper, trash cans overflowing, trash everywhere. Weekends are the worst, but it happens during the week as well. And the employees/management just don't care! This facility leaves a lot to be desired. Not recommended!

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS -- If you want somebody that steals your money, go to LA fitness. They help stealing your money. If you want to pay $150.00 money although you cancelled, and you don't owe any money go to LA fitness. If you don't have a friend and nobody calls you, cancel your membership and first day of next billing period after you cancel, don't worry. Every state every location calls you within 3 days. Doesn't matter you are crazy or not. Actually, it is much more than that. It is a big fraudulent company!

This is to serve as a notification. I recently was inquiring about the brand new LA Fitness that was to open in McCandless, PA. One thing that I thought was a bit unusual is that they were trying to get memberships in a local park and indicating that if you gave them your credit card information they would "hold" the offer for you. Ahhh, that seems a bit skeevy to me as I neither signed a contract and I would be giving my credit card information to a complete stranger over the phone. Now I will have to admit that setting up a tent and marketing in an area where people were working out is smart.

Secondly, I was informed that the gym would open at 5:00 am. I told the sales representative that I thought that was great as I am an age group triathlete and would need to get in a workout before work and one after work. I asked about the pool and the hours only because I had done some research and seen this on other LA Fitness sites. That is when the record scratched. The hours of the gym ARE NOT THE hours for the pool. I was then informed that the pool would not be available EVER until 6:00 am because they had to have a lifeguard on duty.

Well, I currently belong to a gym where I am in the pool at 5:05 am and there is a lifeguard in the pool. I was not aware that lifeguards could not work until after 6:00 am. Anyway, the whole reason I would look at that facility was to be able to have a pool and if the hours do not work for me then the membership is useless. I would ask about all of the amenities and ensure that they will be available when you intend to use the gym or you have a useless membership.