Defined Fitness Bosque Club — Attraction in Albuquerque

This gym is close by, and I was interested in personal training. I also thought it might be less packed than other places. It turned out that being unable to get to a machine was a common issue (often b/c they allow members to "hold" 3 or 4 stations at a time to do supersets), but that's not the reason for my rating.

My rating is because the place is just terribly managed, especially with respect to personal training. It is hard to attribute this to the general manager since they can't seem to keep a general manager for any length of time. I attribute that to poor, or nonexistent, corporate leadership.

I paid for 3 months of training, with training twice per week. So that's eight sessions per month. I explained my availability with both the training manager (Silas) and the trainer assigned to me (Trinity), and neither said it was a problem. In fact, the trainer said "that's perfect for me." I guess it wasn't so perfect, given that in the first month, I only received 3 training session, two of which were back-to-back on the same day because my trainer had to reschedule a session.

I explained up front that having some type of program or purpose for the training was important to me. I didn't just want to come in an do a trainer's exercise of the day. It should be thoughtful. The training manager laid out this multi-month plan and said that was how it was going to work. Obviously, he either didn't share that with his trainers or he didn't have effective expectations that they'd use it.

My trainer would not schedule set times/days of the week, preferring to schedule the following week, one week at a time. So there already was no plan. He canceled or rescheduled multiple times. He lied to his training managers stating that I had canceled; however, I produced all the text messages which indicated that I never canceled...I merely offered alternate times for when the trainer canceled. By the last week of the month, I had trained 3 times rather than the 8 that I paid for, and I had been ghosted by the trainer who had not responded to my rescheduling texts from the last session, which he had TWICE canceled.

So, I talked to the training manager. We discussed assigning me a different trainer. None matched my time availability. He tried to make me feel like that was my fault, as if my availability was unreasonable. I was available at 6pm or after Tu and Th; at 630pm or after Mo and We; 3pm or after on Fridays; and anytime on weekends. Unless trainers only work bankers' hours, that is a reasonably flexible schedule. Having exhausted that option, I asked to cancel, which required a $100 cancelation fee. Keep in mind, I only received 3 of the 8 sessions that I paid for AND I was charged a cancelation fee...not because I didn't want to train any longer, but because Trinity constantly canceled (for things like dinner with nana and tending to "Thanksgiving things") and because there is unduly limited trainer availability.

The money really wasn't the issue. In fact, I was financially prepared for, and fully committed to, a lengthy (at least 1-2 years) personal training journey. The problem is the principle. Extremely unprofessional behavior, followed by being charged a penalty of sorts for not getting what I bargained for. Additionally, there has been no indication that they have addressed the underlying issues.

I have tried contacting the corporate offices. I wanted to ensure they knew of the issue and I thought I might even explore training at another of their facilities that did have the trainer availability. I also mentioned that the general manager, who said he couldn't even get corporate to respond to him--that's a moot point now, though, because he has departed after a very short tenure (as seems to be the typical pattern there). The corporate phone number takes you to a voice mail box that "doesn't accept messages", so there is no way to contact them.

UPDATE: Owner replies, "sorry to hear of your frustration" but not sorry about their actions. Contacting me would show seriousness; posting a cookie-cutter...

!!!DO NOT USE THIS GYM COMPANY!!!

My husband and I signed up for a membership with Defined Fitness about 2 years ago. In the fall of 2021, I physically went to the Bosque location to cancel our memberships. I spoke with a girl at the front desk who advised me I could avoid paying the cancellation fee and freeze my account until January 2022, then I'd have to call and cancel the memberships in January to avoid being charged monthly. I paid $40 to freeze the accounts.

January rolls around, I call to cancel the membership, I spoke with a general manager named Anthony. He advised that he would send over the paperwork for cancellation. I checked my inbox and spam folders everyday and received nothing. I called again when they charged me for the 2 memberships. I advised that I was supposed to receive cancellation paperwork and never did, which was on purpose, I'm sure.

I was charged again in February and March. I spoke with the same manager, Anthony, he acted as if he didn't remember that we had spoken. I told him I wanted a refund for the months I had been charged for, as I had been trying to cancel our memberships since JANUARY! He advised that I had to pay $75 to cancel the memberships and that he AGAIN would send me the cancellation paperwork. So, I have to pay $75 because you don't know how to train your employees to do their jobs properly? Okay? I pay the $75 (which was worth it to me to be done with this garbage company.) I'm told I will receive cancellation paperwork again, never got it.

I am charged AGAIN this month for the memberships I just paid $75 to cancel. I finally spoke with a competent manager named Glen, who refunded me for April and sent me an email that served as a cancellation confirmation. This company is training scam artists, BEWARE!!

If you have had a similar experience at ANY of these locations, PLEASE report...

Pros:

The gym itself is spacious and fairly clean. The front desk folks are friendly and the teachers for the classes are pretty legit.

Cons: I would like to preface this by saying I regret not listening to the other reviewers about some of the nonsense that occurs at Defined fitness. I have never had an experience like this with a business before. When I signed up I was told about an opportunity to get 3 fitness training trial to see if it was something I’d be interested in. I decided to go for it and sign a contract which I deeply regret. I will say my trainer seemed knowledgeable and personable however communication and trying to schedule appointments was impossible. I had to reschedule because of getting Covid and my trainer didn’t respond to me trying to schedule an app so I had to go through his boss. I was stood up the first time because of a computer error and then the next time because my trainer was out of town. Nobody communicated with me. Another trainer messaged me the day before asking if we could reschedule to which I responded in confusion because she was not my trainer. She said to disregard her message. I don’t think anyone communicated with her either. After that I decided to get out of the contract because it was more stressful than anything else. I canceled on the middle of July however I was still charged for fitness training in August. I have been trying to get a refund but with very little luck. My form was apparently “lost”. I am very disappointed and unhappy with the fitness training program.. I am happy to update this review of the money ever returns but at this point I wouldn’t hold my breath. I feel scammed and frustrated.

Update: my money was finally returned so I am changing my review to 3.5 stars. I do appreciate that at the end of the day defined fitness stayed true...