24 Hour Fitness Consumer Reviews - Page 6

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA -- On November 14th I went to my local 24 Hour Fitness Club (13220 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85254, (480) 951-8883) to try the club using a 7 day free pass. A membership salesperson named ** sat me down and explained the costs associated with joining. He said that today was the last day for a very low initiation fee and I was advised to lock in that rate with a REFUNDABLE $25.00 deposit. If I found the club not to my liking I would just have to call him within the 7 days and just say not interested. He then would release my deposit within 3 days.

Two weeks later I called the club manager, as well as calling the customer service number for 24 Hour Fitness directly to complain and ask why the delay in refunding my moneys. I also emailed my issues as well. I received assurances from both the salesperson ** and the club manager that they would take care to see I would receive my refund. Assuming the funds were refunded to my account I then was hit with a $35.00 overdraft fee because that $25.00 was not returned.

Now I see that 24 Hour Fitness has billed my card an additional $45.97 on December 7th. Again I get hit with a $35.00 overdraft fee from my bank. They have taken $70.97 without my permission plus cost me another $70.00 in bank fees. $140.97 for a 7 day free pass. I still do not know if they will continue to charge my card each month. Calls not returned and no answer from 24 Hour Fitness head office.

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- 24-Hour Fitness focuses on "fitness" but does not keep its own equipment in tip-top fitness shape. The downtown Houston location is a flagship Enterprise with bustling membership. Yet, 80% of their treadmills have something broken. Ear phone jacks, heart rate monitor, programs, even start-stop buttons. When you go to choose a treadmill, you find yourself going from machine to machine. I have brought this to the attention of management numerous times but nothing happens. If the state of the equipment is any indication of the state of their management, then I would venture to say this company is in trouble. Too bad... it is a nice location.

GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS -- Until recently I was able to use group X equipment during the nonpeak hours but management of this Grand Prairie, TX decided to lock up the equipment. When I talked to the manager, she said someone stole the equipment and she decided to lock the group X room and asked her if I can use the equipment. She said “No.” She said, "Either you accept it or cancel your membership." I was disappointed when she said that since I have been a member since 1997 almost 12 years. I don't know why my privilege is taken away because of someone else doing.

ALLEN, TEXAS -- After being open a year, 24 Hour Fitness in Allen installed a large ceiling fan. They keep the fan at a high velocity during the summer and it is very uncomfortable to work out under those conditions. It seriously feels like working out in a 15mph wind. When they first installed the fans they were getting numerous complaints daily, but did nothing to address them. In all fairness, the front desk personnel also said they got some compliments on them. I wrote the company three times and they never responded.

I recently contacted the city of Allen and they said there weren't any ordinances covering the fans. However, they did say if they got more complaints they would look into it further. Call the City of Allen, TX Environmental Services Dept.

I am currently battling with customer service regarding a reserve contract that I cancelled before the due date. Unfortunately, like many others, customer service has failed to cancel the contract and is now asking for money they say I owe. This is a scam, and it is not fair. Customer service is trying to charge me from May to present, when I canceled in May before the membership was supposed to begin. I have received numerous calls, even twice a day, and have explained the same thing to customer service over and over again. Their response is, "I will cancel," but never do. I am calling Consumer Affairs to file a complaint and to suggestions on how to start a class action suit.

INDIO, CALIFORNIA -- I went to get info on prices. As I got there the guy who helped us said he was the manager of the 24 Hour Fitness in Indio, CA. The tour consisted of how big and bad they were compared to everyone else, and how many locations they had. We were members at another club and just curious to see their new facility. When it came down to price he showed us one price, and then when we said that we were members elsewhere, he dropped the rate and I quote "that club will not last, we will put them out of business in 3 months." This was 8 months ago.

I think it's pretty pathetic that a company has to put other health clubs down, in order to sell their product. Not once did he ask us what we were looking for. It was all about how they were going to dominate the area because no one can compete with a 45.000 Sq ft club with a pool, and blah blah blah. Bad business practice. When we told him we were not ready to leave our existing club yet, but we wouldn't mind a pass to try his club out, he said and I quote "we don't give passes out." Very nice.

Be careful when you sign a contract with 24 Hour Fitness. They run this scam (and the salesperson is part of the scam) that you pay the first month and last month up front. However when you cancel they tell you the contract said you must give notice 30 days prior to your "cycle" date.

Well, most people don't know they need to cancel 30 days prior to their cycle date so get stuck with paying for an extra month that they won't use. So 24 Hour Fitness get you to pay for a month they know you won't be using. And when you complain about this they make up a reason why they have this written in the contract and apologize for the salesperson not pointing it out to you. Very clever and very deceptive.

This location is usually a good one. Things are maintained, except the broken lockers and missing weight stack pins, etc. My comment is that it gets scary at this location on Saturdays. I call it ghetto Saturday, because the population changes dramatically and not for the better. I have noticed that the basketball games become very aggressive and hostile on Saturdays. There is lots of yelling, etc., unlike any other time of the week.

The atmosphere of the club becomes more tense and most of the regulars are replaced by imports from other areas. They, the weekend warrior types (don't workout very much), tend to sit on and monopolize the machines for longer periods of time and hold loud conversations like they are at a club with blaring music. Some of them really stink, too. It reminds me of those prison yard scenes on television. After several visits on Saturday, I have stopped going.

WEST SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- I had my membership from January 2009 until I canceled it on March 11, 2009. Despite the fact that my cancellation was two weeks before they were to take money out of my account for the month of April, they opted to take this money out, and begin my "last month" (paid for at the time of initiation of the membership) on April 25th, extending my "membership" out to May 25th.

The staff at the club itself was always friendly and helpful, and it disappoints me that their policies disregard their members' financial lives, squeezing every last penny possible out of the consumer's pocket before they can break free. I most likely would have renewed my membership there after a turn in the economy allowed me to do so.

Their facilities weren't the best - poor ventilation and circulation of air, not enough equipment or space for the sheer amount of people that frequented during busy hours, very tight locker rooms with very little elbow space when busy, and inefficient system of cleaning the machines, among other things. It wasn't worth $32.69 a month, but it was the cheapest club that accommodated my varying free time and traveling.

Upon seeing the charge to my account yesterday, I decided that should I start another gym membership, it surely will not be at 24 Hour Fitness. The friendly staff members do not make up for the sub-par facilities and the pickpocketing management.

Unless you have absolute foresight of your financial situation months ahead of the present, do not choose 24 Hour Fitness. If you do take that gamble, make sure you cancel your membership when the first thought comes into your head, otherwise, they will nickel and dime you until the end.

CALIFORNIA -- I had numerous problems with this company. First, I am supposed to get a discount through my employer and somehow "it was never found" when I first inquired about it. Later I would leave messages for the manager about the same issue and I received no reply. Then, I had knee problems and was not going to the gym and I called to freeze my account.

They claimed that I had to give so many days notice before the monthly dues were due otherwise they could charge me the full monthly dues. And now I unfroze the account and this month I got charged the freeze monthly dues and the regular monthly dues. On top of that I'm paying for the last month, which I am not going to use because I am so disgusted with the they manage their business. Lesson learned: read the contract well.