Gold's Gym Austin South — Attraction in Austin

I have been a member of Gold's Gym, attending this location, for 7 years. I always have paid a year at a time and although the gym itself isn't that great, I (like others have mentioned) love the group classes. I have really enjoyed Kelly, Megan and Leslie. However, in February of 2016, I had my 4th baby. I didn't even attempt to come back until May of 2016 and after that point, my attendance was sporadic. In the fall, I stopped going altogether because they dropped the only morning class I could attend (due to my baby's nap schedule). In January of 2017, I started attending sporadically once again, but there were entire months when I didn't come.

The trouble is that in this time when my attendance was non-existent to sporadic, they were enrolling member children. Anyone who didn't enroll their kids (or new members) would have to pay a fee of $12/child per month! Unfortunately, I missed the enrollment period. They claim that Gold's corporate emailed all members to let them know of the change, however, I did not receive any such email. When I was told I would have to start paying the fee, I tried to explain my situation to the GM. I don't know if he was sympathetic or not, but he said he couldn't help me. He claims that he filed a request for an exemption for me with Gold's corporate and was rejected. I also emailed and messaged (on FB) Gold's Gym and was met with the same response. So even though I have been a member in good standing for 7 years and was a member during the enrollment time, they were unwilling to extend a little grace for me and allow me to be grandfathered in along with other members. I had simply been absent and had missed the opportunity to enroll! Had I known that I needed to enroll my kids or face a stiff fine, I would've done it in a heartbeat.

I've been appalled with Gold's customer service at all levels of this process. From the people at the front desk who never told me that I needed to register my kids, to the GM (Nick) and his indifference, to the lack of understanding in their non-existent customer care department.... Gold's does not care about taking care of its members. It's clear to me that they are more interested in their bottom line, and when you can bring in new members who have to pay $12/per child per month, I understand why! After fighting this in every avenue available to me, I have finally conceded and joined the YMCA. Their monthly fee for me an my kids is less than what Gold's wanted me to pay and the facility is MUCH nicer. I would've stayed a loyal Gold's member for 7 more years, but it's clear that customer care is at the bottom of their...

If I could give this place negative points I would. First of all, I have sent people there with the 7 day pass and all of them have commented to me that the gym staff gave them a hard time about working out there. So I decided to bring a friend with me one day and sure enough, they almost didn't let her work out! They were extremely rude. Next, I was there with a friend who IS a member and we were working out together. She has been a member of Golds for 8 years. Something went wrong with her membership and she owed a balance, which she paid when we got there. Her friend who works for golds at another location was looking into what had messed up so she could get it fixed. It was not a money issue, she was not trying to work out for free. While we were working out, the GM who we had never met before approached us. Didn't say hi or anything, just said with a bad attitude "did you pay your balance?" She said yes and that the guy at the front said it was okay for her to work out today. He nodded and started to turn around then I guess changed his mind, started a scene and told us he wouldn't leave our sides until we left the facility. What happened to "hello my name is "so and so" and I'm the GM here. Do you mind coming into my office so we can talk about your membership?" He was extremely unprofessional and rude. I contacted corporate so that I could go ahead and cancel my membership, which they allowed but they would not refund my money that I paid for through May. I told them I would not be working out there, that I was uncomfortable, and I'd like to get a membership somewhere else but I'd like a refund for the last month that I will not be attending golds. They would not give me a refund. Not only that, but they didn't even ASK ME what happened at the golds I was a member at that made me feel uncomfortable! They literally couldn't care less about the customer service at their locations. I finally told someone what happened and she was like "I'm sorry?". Nothing. They probably won't even call to talk to them about...

This is the worst Gym I have ever been to. I joined this Gym when it was called World's Gym in 1992. My wife and I recently switched to Life Time because the cardio equipment is old and not maintained. The elliptical machines shake, clank, and jerk. Moreover, some of the controls on many of the elliptical machines do not work. My wife injured her hip running on the treadmills because they are so poorly maintained. The treadmills are unlevel, shake, and some were stuck in an incline or decline. One time, my wife was running on one of the treadmills and a corner fell to the floor. Before we quit, my wife and I worked out early in the morning, and many times, there was no toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms. Moreover, the bathrooms were always filthy. The spin room has really bad ventilation so I tried to leave the door open during the class, but the spin instructor, Kathy, insisted that it remain almost completely closed even though one or more of the attendees often wore heavy perfume/cologne, which made it difficult to breath especially when you are gasping for air during the class. Kathy, the spin instructor, made comments about how the loud music during the spin class had damaged her hearing, but when I asked her to turn it down, she refused. On at least two occasions, when the Gym was supposed to open at 5 am after a holiday, we arrived at 5 am along with about 20 members, and no one showed to open the Gym until about 5:45 am or 6 am. On one of these occasions, the spin class was canceled so my wife walked in the spin room to spin by herself and Kathy made her leave and would not let her workout in the spin room by herself because she said it was a liability issue, which makes no sense in light of the fact that members workout by themselves all the time in the cardio cinema room. I complained to management many times to no avail. I am so glad we switched Gyms. I just wished I would not have...