LA Fitness — Attraction in Atlanta

UPDATE: In June 2018, this LA Fitness upgraded a good portion of their fitness center. New equipment and treadmills. New flooring and wall coverings. A much needed improvement to the previous state. The treadmills still only get about 8-10 channels on the TVs, but at least they work.

The locker rooms could still use improving, but at least I know that ownership is trying to keep members happy now with the areas they have updated. For several years, I've been a frustrated member here, and I thought that ownership would eventually make a slight effort to improve the experience at this location. Sadly, they have done very little. As many have already pointed out the bathrooms and locker rooms are very ill-maintained, especially if you go on a Sunday morning. Clogged toilets, clogged sinks, broken locker latches, mildewy showers... many college frat houses have better facilities.

Then there's the treadmills. Today, there were 5 totally unusable treadmills. Evidently, repairing these treadmills over and over and over is ownership's solution to the problem, rather than buying much-needed new equipment. There are still other treadmills that are "usable" but other aspects of them do not work. For example, the front panel is non-responsive to button presses, or the TV does not work (not to mention even if the TV does work, it only gets about 8-10 channels). And still others make rattling sounds or shake violently if increased to running speeds.

The ellipticals and the strength machines are in somewhat better condition, but these are also older and becoming outdated.

So why am I giving the gym 3 whole stars? Because it's actually better than other gyms I've joined in the past (Bally, LifeTime, and Anytime) in terms of trying to fleece its members by selling personal training and upgraded services or by just being complete jerks. That and the price is affordable to join.

However, as time goes on, if the equipment is still not replaced I will be forced to remove stars and consider discontinuing...

UPDATE (2 weeks later): I didn't receive any information from them, I still can't cancel online, and when I called this LA Fitness to ask them to please cancel because I'd left town they told me that cancellations can only be done in person due to LA Fitness corporate policy. So now I have to find an LA Fitness in my area and cancel there. I had my credit card invalidate the charge they made, and needless to say won't be signing up for LA Fitness ever again.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: The staff are actually really helpful, but my guess is higher LA Fitness corporate is ruining the place:

1. I was just in town for a week on a business trip and was told that though they don't offer weeklies (which I would have paid for), I could sign up for a membership and there was a 7-day trial period during which I could cancel for free. Turns out, when it came time to cancel, the online cancellation option says "You can't cancel now; call your location" and when I called the gym they told me they don't actually have the power to cancel my membership; I'd need to wait until Monday when the manager is in (which would be beyond my 7-day trial period). Both times the front desk folks were very helpful (shout-out to Mina who's going to try and text the manager), but it seems like their hands are tied by a bad policy system from corporate.
2. The gym's definitely seen better days - the bench part of two of the bench presses are wobbly, the smoothie stand seems to be perpetually closed, and there was a smashed baby cockroach on the floor next to the T-bar row this morning. I'd guess that the folks working at the gym are doing the best they can with an overly-limited budget; hopefully the gym gets some investment to...

This gym has an excellent variety of equipment, membership is super cheap (if you pay more upfront when joining), and the guest policy is very generous.

Some pretty significant issues though.

The gym is gross. It smells. Some machines, like the step machines, are sometimes soaked in sweat and never get properly cleaned... so they stink. The bathrooms are disgusting. I barely ever use them, but one day I went into the men's locker room bathroom and one of the toilets was plugged up and all backed up with toilet paper everywhere. I brought my girlfriend once and she was like "It smells in here!"

They are horrible about maintaining the gym equipment. Last time I went, 3/5 of the step machines were "scheduled for maintenance," meaning they weren't functional. The paper towel and cleaning solution dispensers are regularly empty or just not working. There is also too much equipment in the space, so when it gets busy there's no where to walk and you'll find yourself awkwardly having to step around other people working out.

Lastly, the wifi is so bad it's essentially non-functional. My cellular data works 100x better. If you're on a wifi-only or limited data plan, you're essentially screwed.

I put up with all this because the place is a short walk from my building, and because I need proper squat racks and barbell weight lifting equipment for my workouts. If there was a cleaner place with more space nearby, I would go there, even if it was...