LA Fitness — Attraction in Ashburn

I was working out with one of their personal trainers and became injured with a lower back injury. Ok - I’m in my 40s and working on getting back into shape so I tossed it up to age and headed to the doctor after a couple of weeks of it not getting better. I was given very clear instructions to stop going to the gym and head to Physical Therapy due to a lower back injury. My doctor gave me written orders indicating such. So off to the gym I head to discuss with the head of personal training because $260/month is a big deal, handing him a copy of the orders. He asked if I wanted to cancel the year long contract for personal training completely or just suspend it and We agreed to suspend for the six months indicated by the medical orders. Well, they continued to charge me. OK - so I call and speak to the same Director of Personal Training who proceeded to give me an excuse that the billing office is short staffed (not my problem) and in the 7 days between when we discussed my injury at which time I handed him the doctor’s written orders (which he had requested) and they billed me that they didn’t possibly have the time to push a button on their computer to stop from charging me and he had no way of doing it himself (although he was perfectly capable of charging my card initially). He said he would have the charge reversed. He didn’t. So I called to check on it and I was told he had just stepped out for lunch. OK - everyone deserves a break. But they will have him call me as soon as he returns. Well. . . That is the longest lunch break ever because it’s been weeks and I am still waiting for that call. I should have known when they delayed their opening by MONTHS in the beginning (prior to COVID) from when they advertised they would be open and communicated ZERO to the hundreds of members who had signed up during the pre-sale phase. I should have taken the time to read reviews of their other locations prior to doing any business with them as I would have been warned of their shady business practices. As the reviews of the other local LA Fitness locations indicate, this company is not...

I signed up for personal training and was told that if I canceled within 3 days I would get all my money back. I canceled 2 days later and was told I would receive my money back within 5 business days. After a week of not seeing my refund I talked to the staff again and was assured that I would get my money back in 5 business days. After another week of not seeing anything I talked to the manager of the gym and was promised again my money back within 5 business days.

After another week I called corporate and was told by corporate that they would reach back out to me soon. After yet another week of hearing nothing I called corporate again and explained the issue. The woman with corporate claimed my membership never got canceled and that I would need to pay half the money of my personal training fee to back out of personal training. While trying to explain to her the whole story she came back with a nasty attitude saying that I was lying to her and that I need to pay if I want to cancel.

I try going back to the gym to speak with the manager again where it took me multiple weeks to actually get in touch with him. When I finally speak with him he claimed he was under the impression that I already had the refund, but assured me once again that I would see my money back within 5 business days.

They have charged my card multiple times for training I never received and have been promised that the membership was canceled and that my money would be refunded. I have been dealing with this for months with still no end in sight. LA Fitness seems like they are just out to scam you out of money and do not care about their clientele. I do not recommend this gym to anyone. Not only do they not care about their clientele, the gym is always dirty and machines will stay broken for months before getting fixed.

Save yourself the money and...

I debated between one or two stars. I have been a member at the Broadlands LA Fitness for almost 2 years. I was very impressed when I first joined, but it has steadily gone down hill, especially in the last year. There is almost always several machines that have "called for service" and they remain that way for weeks. The same for sinks the Men's locker room and drinking fountains. There is always dirt and dust balls around all the workout equipment, and the hand sanitizers are empty 50% of the time. The steam room was down for at least two months. Except for a few exceptions, the staff seem aloof and rarely friendly. Their lock boxes are in poor repair, many not working. I need to use those because I had my locker broken into and my keys were stolen along with my wallet. I didn't realize how bad it was until I went to the LA Fitness in Herndon. That place was so clean, and they always have functioning equipment, and the sanitizers are always full and functioning. I guess Broadlands does't really care, the place is always crowded, and it is difficult to get my workout done, especially with so much of the equipment always in a state of repair.

Update 01/04/23

It looks like they are trying to clean around the machines a little more. There is not as much dust and dirt. However, their machines still are not kept in good repair. One glute machine has been out of service for 7 weeks now. When I ask about it at the desk they say a repairman comes in once a week and they will check the status. Same answer i get every time I ask. The sauna has been down now for about two weeks. The steam room has been operating but is dirty and has dirt coming down the sides of the tile....