Gold's Gym Austin South Central — Attraction in Austin

UPDATE: The internet issues continue to plague this gym. As my original review states, you’ll find the internet connectivity is reliable near the front desk. My word of advice: download your music playlists before you get here to workout. Still keeping 1 star rating.

Also, I’ve noticed blue tape on one of the mirrors near the squat racks that has been there for weeks because one of the mirrors cracked. At this rate, I’m starting to think that will be a permanent new “decoration”, because I’ve seen no signs that it’s being attended to by maintenance staff or outside contractors.

Some equipment also is difficult to adjust due to, what I presume is, rust or aging hinges. One example: The Eagle(?) chest fly / rear delt combo machine’s seat little yellow rod for the seat is so difficult to pull out without some force. The gym management should at least take a clipboard and note the state of each machine in the central area to see if things are degrading or missing weight labels / something else.

And lastly: while the gym manager, Mychal, did respond to my review, he never reached out to me on the phone.

I do want to state that it’s not all doom-and-gloom with this gym: it’s perfectly fine if you want to go, get a workout in, and leave. The front desk, despite what others may say, are friendly and helpful.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: My 1-star rating is not due to equipment variety or the gym as a whole, but it’s due to issues with this gym’s top-level managers. This Gold’s Gym seems to consistently cycle through general managers like they’re seasonal workers. One month, you’ll have one general manager, the next, it’s someone different.

Regardless, the one pattern I’ve experienced time and time again is that the gym’s general managers (not the assistant-level management) will NEVER respond to your email inquiries. EVER. They’re remarkably absent from everything.

The other issue: I’ve repeatedly asked the front desk if the internet connectivity issues in this gym will be addressed. It has been almost a year since I first brought this up to their attention, and the internet is as garbage as the day I asked. You will not have a reliable internet connection near the dumbbell area. At best, maybe near the front desk is where it’s most reliable, and even there, it’s shoddy. Upgrading your internet equipment shouldn’t be such an inconvenience—LA Fitness across the road has reliably great internet everywhere in their facilities, so this lack of want to fix this issue is most definitely a deliberate choice borne of pure laziness. It’s been close to a year already, c’mon.

If the current GM of this gym is reading this, please don’t reply to my review with needing to “disconnect and reconnect to the gym WiFi network and agree to the terms” nonsense. Just get your ISP to come in to fix and upgrade the internet service in the gym, please.

If the issues I brought up are addressed and fixed, then I’ll readjust my rating up...

CAUTION! Think twice before signing ANY contract for membership at Ben White location. Visit another gym or location!

In June of 2018, I tore meniscus in my left knee in several places which required surgery & a longer than average recovery period since I have arthritis & am over age 60.

You cannot cancel a Gold’s Gym membership by phone or email so I hobbled in on crutches to fill out the form. After completing form, I asked young blond associate at front counter if my credit card would be charged again after handing him the form. Twice, he replied “No” so imagine my surprise when my card was charged again!

I went in a second time to speak directly to Manager Sunny Reese who informed me to read the fine print in my contract. Although she could see that I was on crutches, had my knee wrapped, and was in pain, told me that I would have to bring back a written physician statement. She showed no sympathy & took zero responsibility for her employee providing misinformation about canceling my membership.

You cannot call Gold’s Gym’s Customer Care directly by phone. None of the neighboring Gold’s Gyms would give name / number of Ms. Reese’s supervisor, but I eventually found a compassionate manager who advocated for me.

In the meantime, I filed a dispute with my credit card company which credited me back for the two charges that had occurred, but did not identify these charges on my statement as being from Gold’s Gym. By law, when Capital One contacts merchant about a disputed charge, the merchant has 90 days to respond in writing to appeal to have credit card company reverse the credit & charge consumer the amount again.

To make a long story short, Gold’s Gym did not contact Capital One during 90 days so my refund was not reversed. Gold’s Gym then credited $97.40 back to my card in August, but then charged a mysterious (punitive?) $40.00 fee on September 7, after membership had been canceled.

I was unaware that I was credited twice with a refund since “Gold’s Gym” only appeared once on my credit card statement.

After automatically paying my membership for 3+ years (Approximately $4,000+ in dues and personal trainer’s fees) without a single missed or late payment, NO ONE from Gold’s Gym bothered to contact me about this clerical error. Instead, in December, Gold’s Gym sent it to a COLLECTIONS AGENCY!!! (I have an 834 credit Score.) I have been trying for more than a month to resolve this issue without success. “Customer Care” reps only communicate via email and do not sign their names.

If you are considering being a member at this location, READ the contract CAREFULLY. Expect to be charged for another month AFTER canceling membership. Protect yourself by NOT giving Gold’s Gym access to your credit card. EXPECT a MAJOR HASSLE when you need to cancel. Go to another gym where management & staff understand meaning of customer service & are capable of demonstrating a...

• I have not been paid or compensated for any reviews I post. All reviews are written with what I see and experience. *

Dear Austin community, This review is for Gold’s Gym Ben White location. My initial impressions when I walked up to the building were reminiscent of an old department store. The outside of the building looks like it hasn’t been washed in years. The signage is dull and unimpressive. Walking in, you are greeted by some of the friendliest employees that always have a smile on their face. They truly seem to love chatting with customers about their day. The inside of the gym, at first glance, is decent. It’s quite large for a gym and there seems to be plenty of equipment to use for whatever your goals. Walking around, you see 10+ machines (cardio, weight, etc..) that are broken and not usable. Many of these have been this way for 3+ months now. Many customers have tried contacting local management about this with no replies which makes this reviewer wonder if management even cares. It doesn’t seem so. Going around the gym to inspect each machine is full of disappointment. Rust, cracks, disrepair of many things in this gym. One should be glad gyms aren’t inspected by the health department or this location would shut down immediately. Cleaning supplies like paper towels and disinfectant are a gamble as to whether or not you will have them for the day. The locker rooms are not much better than the rest of the gym. The sauna is constantly broken, it looks as if it hasn’t been cleaned in over a year, and wooden boards are broken. You can feel the bacteria in the air. Which makes you wonder how often the showers and toilets are cleaned (rather seldom from the looks of things). The music being played over the loud speaker is extremely loud and obnoxious. If you can hear it over your own headphones, it’s time to turn it down or off. Customers like to listen to their own music and not be interrupted by whatever they decide to blare that day. Overall this business gets a D- when compared to the other Gold’s gyms in the area. But I hope things do get better here and wish management the best of luck in turning it around.

Update 8/8/2024 - The men's sauna still has not been cleaned and machines are all still broken.

Update 8/16/2024 - They have a bad habit of not opening up in the mornings and today was no exception. Machines are still broken. Place is still not cleaned or stocked. Attempts to reach out to management has been unsuccessful.

Update 10/20/2024 - Since bringing these issues to management’s attention, nothing has been done. The sauna hasn’t been cleaned, most of the same machines are still not working and the music is still deafening. It’s a wonder this place hasn’t been shut down yet. They should count themselves lucky they don’t have to follow Texas...