Richmond Olympic Oval — Attraction in Richmond

The Fitness Center would be out of business in less than a year if it wasn't heavily subsidized by tax payers.

I've genuinely never seen a place with so much random nuts a bolts, pieces of the racks and broken mirror constantly just laying on the ground. All the while hundreds of thousands has been spent on overly complicated cardio equipment with feature I've never seen anyone use, novelty equipment like the rope machine/body fat scanner, the new Precor machines that are mostly broken and is almost a downgrade from the previous machines.

The Oval as a whole is decent place for the community but the Fitness center is extremely mismanaged and insult to tax payers plus a liability due the gross negligence. To be clear the issue seems to be the management and not the other employees.

Edit 2023-12-28 for Oval response:

Can you elaborate on which part of my review is misinformation. I don't believe you could provide any type of maintenance record showing the gym equipment has been maintained properly, but I can assure you that people can walk into the Oval any time and find broken pieces of equipment.

The broken mirror for example took multiple months to fix and you just let pieces of it fall off during that entire time. Any member can attest to that.

The PDF you linked shows $16,844,247 in expenses, $17,571,433 revenue and $8,048,501 Memberships, admissions and programs. I'd also encourage you to show the financial figures of the fitness center compared to any of the other community centers.

I do agree that you certainly have a diverse amount of poorly maintained and selected equipment. For example the rope machine originally mentioned you saw that no one used it so you got another one.

Edit 2024-08-07 :

I happy to announce that after this becoming the most popular review backed with plenty of evidence the Oval has managed to do a complete 360. They’ve once again ignored what everyone was asking for and spent thousands only to deliver pennies on the dollars for all the members and Richmond citizens that fund them.

What the Oval has done:

Bought some of the most expensive bars and rack available but somehow said there wasn’t budget to fix the Back Extension that had one broken plastic part. Somehow managed to choose the smallest J-Cups available that isn’t even lined properly. Some of them already has a bar shaped grove filed out of it Brought back the landmine attachment that was destroying the bars. Only to have people use the new Eleiko bars on it. Every other gym in the world uses beater bars for it but the Oval is so flush with cash that they use brand new thousand dollar bars. Had rack on top of a accessibility ramp only to put another rack on top of the ramp with a bar sticking half way over it. Had a bench hanging over the lip of the floor only to put another bench hanging over lip of the floor. Some ended up with 50% less dedicated flat benches after spending all this money. Bought a bunch of Technogym stuff only for 3/4 of the pieces to be break. The Smith machine randomly has a cable and has been broken for more than a month. Randomly put in a section of turf but refused actually fix all the tiles floor that bubbled up and is a tripping hazard.

What the Oval hasn’t done:

Lube up the cable machines, you can hear and feel the entire guide rod being pulled up with the weights. Fix machines in a timely manner. Most machines takes a month to fix even the most basic part. The Hammer Strength seated calf raise had a bolt missing a nut and it took 4 days for someone to put it back on. Buy decent equipment(from cable attachment to machines) suited to what the members want.

To summarize: People who didn't care about the bars could have had membership fee not increased for a while. For the people who do care about the bars they’ll be bent with knurls filed off within a year like the old bars. Truly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory this is the true Oval Experience.

Also most of the buttons don't work on 2/3 Assault bikes and 2/3...

I initially intended to leave a brief review of Oval as I generally find the staff, classes, and free parking quite positive. However, after an extremely disturbing experience with a receptionist named Brendan Man, I feel compelled to provide a detailed account. Due to a health emergency, I called to cancel a class late. Brandon repeatedly lectured me about their cancellation policy, despite claiming he'd canceled the class (which he hadn't). His attitude was racist and entitled, making me feel like a nuisance rather than a valued customer. When I sought clarity, he referred me to his team lead, Zed, who acknowledged Brandon's dishonesty but stated that any consequences for Brandon's behavior would remain undisclosed.

I have recorded evidence of the conversation, totaling approximately 19 minutes, which the staff was aware of at the time:

At 1:26-1:29 minutes, Brendan Man explicitly confirmed the class cancellation and advised me to provide at least three hours' notice next time. When asked how to predict sudden illnesses like food poisoning or diarrhea, he dismissed my concerns.

At 1:32 minutes, Brendan Man repeated the policy, disregarding the issue of unforeseeable circumstances.

At 1:50 minutes, I offered to comply fully with Oval's policy if Brendan Man could personally guarantee liability for any health issues arising from attending despite illness. He avoided answering this directly.

At 2:09 and again at 2:40 minutes, Brendan Man reconfirmed the class cancellation while continuing to evade the key question about handling emergencies and unforeseen events.

At 4:06 minutes, Brendan Man stated cancellations must be emailed to avoid the late cancellation penalty. When I asked for clarification at 4:18 minutes—since this contradicted what I'd previously been told—he promised to follow up either by phone or email.

At 4:55 minutes, I explicitly requested his name be included clearly in his response email. Brendan Man then backtracked, claiming he would inquire internally but not contact me via email directly. When challenged on his contradiction, he placed me on hold.

Around 10 minutes into the call, the team leader clarified that the class had NOT been cancelled, directly contradicting Brendan Man’s earlier statements. Within this short span, Brandon provided multiple false statements, demonstrated unfamiliarity with Oval’s policies, and displayed significant dishonesty.

Oval’s official response attempts to dismiss my concerns:

They claim not to tolerate disrespectful or discriminatory behavior, yet no transparent corrective action has been disclosed. Brandon could easily be transferred to another department without consequence.

Oval states their intention was to "educate" me on policy after granting a "one-time exception," yet in the past six months, I have shown up in person and called twice in total for unforeseen events, and both late cancellations were accepted without issue. Thus, Oval cannot "grant" rights already clearly protected in their existing policy. The term "grant" demonstrates a disconnected, superior attitude.

Oval’s team lead claims the matter was addressed, yet in the full 19-minute call, there is no evidence that Brendan Man's misconduct or dishonesty was directly addressed or resolved.

It is deeply concerning that a publicly funded institution like Oval would protect and harbor staff who demonstrate racist, dishonest behavior, completely disregarding public interest and accountability. Given that this interaction was documented, one can only imagine the severity of potential misconduct if no evidence were available.

I urge Oval to publicly investigate this matter thoroughly and transparently and to take decisive...

The facility is first class as it was the 2010 Olympic venue however the staff at customer service are the least helpful, not understanding and rude people I have ever come across. I asked to use my VMIFF Climbing voucher, that year due to the Climbing wall being delayed in it's construction VMIFF at the OVAL was delayed as well. Due to the Pandemic starting I was not able to use as the OVAL climbing wall was online booking only, I asked the front desk after purchasing an Registration slot when I show up could I redeem my Climbing Voucher? They said they can not process a return so I can not use it. I asked them if there was a way to use it and they said no. A few months later I asked to use the voucher again however this time they took a look at the voucher and said that the voucher has expired and that they would not honor it. I cited the previous reason and they had no intention of helping. The Front desk staff are unenthused with their work and have no place working in customer service, not sure if it is work place complacency or power tripping. After that experience I decided to try a 7 day trial hoping to eventually get a year membership. However I now get another unenthused customer service representative, both unhelpful and obstructive I managed to book only 1 climbing session in 7 days. I mean its a great facility and as much as I want to get a membership there, I have serious doubts in wanting to spend money there. Not to mention my concerns about safety at the climbing wall, as they are understaffed (1), inexperience of staff and can not adequately manage the safety of climbers. People are lead belaying without proper vetting. With the potential of decking and clotheslining for the lead climber. As there is minimal oversight/enforcement of safety rules. Most staff except for the rare occasion have very little to no climbing experience. From my experience working at a climbing gym I can no longer recommend anyone come to the oval other than for their tall walls. I DO NOT RECOMMEND any beginners climbers to come to this location. Not to mention my severe concerns of flaunting COVID regulations as I see basketball players play without masks it is only a matter of time before there are transmission cases coming from this facility, at the original time of this review.

Update: I'm glad that the oval invests in their staff with getting their ACMG certification. As a municipal facility I think it is expected that your staff is certified and knowledgeable. But like all certification it is just a piece of paper, and it is up to the staff to keep current on those skills. However the main point is that it appears your climbing wall is understaffed or have too many responsibilities , as they spend more managing the desk than they do to keep unsafe behavior in check. As I've witnessed over the course of my time at the oval which was 5 consecutive Wednesday nights in a row, by the time I wrote my original review. Furthermore even with your ACMG certified staff, I have witnessed a few lead test that they have performed, and they were sub optimal, with a few safety considerations glossed over, especially clipping errors. Having staff that have worked at the oval for two years prior to working in the climbing area, does not show anything other than time commitment, and seems to me like an arbitrary rule that management has set.

The mask issue that I have brought up at the time, the current restrictions were on group activities, i.e. dance studio dance classes, spin classes, group yoga and that sort. I don't see why the reasons you pointed out in your reply that it applies to running a basketball camp without masks with the points I...