Gold's Gym Slaughter & South Congress — Attraction in Austin

The gym was useful when I was a member. Plenty of machines and perks; however the sauna was ALWAYS broken. At one point it was broken for 2.5 months. At that time I was moving and canceled my membership. Back in July of 2023 filled out the paper work and all. Not before they spent 20+ minutes of my time trying to talk me into staying. No matter what reason I gave they kept pushing me to stay or place my account on hold even offering me a cheaper membership. I expressed to them the price wasn't the issue I just wanted to cancel and go elsewhere not for any reason other than wanting a change of routine. They seemed very offended by this and became short and disinterested in anything I was asking or saying. Happily canceled my membership after that interaction.

Next thing I know I'm being called every SINGLE DAY sometimes 3 times a day and blowing me up with emails. They kept charging my account and after I spoke with a representative they apologized and said "we will make a note on this account" nothing else was said so I assumed that meant they would stop. It didn't and they kept charging me. So finally I called and made a complaint being told no upper management was available to speak to at the moment and they would “call me back when the GM was around” never heard a thing….and so I canceled my card. Since then they have still continuously called and emailed me. At this point I ignored them almost changed my number so it would just stop. They sent me notifications saying I owed them money so once again I spoke with someone at the desk informing them I already canceled months ago "they apologized once again" in a conniving vindictive way as if I had done something wrong and stated they had no record to indicate I canceled and that I would need to go into the location I originally signed with to go through the process once more but still owed money that I would need to pay before cancellation. Fist time ever hearing about a cancel fee as well as a “final bill” on top of what I owed them for the months I “didn’t pay for” even though I had already canceled months before changing my card. Unfortunately this ticked me off as I was dealing with a family member in the ICU and had no time on my hands to drive all the way to Austin to do this again nor was I going to pay all this money just to cancel my membership a second time. I informed them of this while it was clear I was pissed with them and their ignorance. They basically stated “we don’t make the rules” once I saw how many reviews were similar to mine I knew this was going to be an issue. No one responded to my email about my cancellation and how it was being handled. Now Jan 2nd 2024 I get an email stating they contacted a lawyer to collect a balance of $148. Is this a sick joke?? Is this fun for them to disregard anything they have promised and anything I have mentioned? It’s honestly downright disrespectful. I will NEVER go back to golds as I'm overwhelmed and exhausted with their lack of customer care and duties. This should not have happened especially on more then...

I’ve worked for gyms in the past. LA Fitness as well as Genesis Health Clubs (which is the company that crushed then bought all the Golds gym locations in Kansas). That being said I understand the employee and membership experience of high quality gyms. Unfortunately this location does not provide that experience. If you take away the employee aspect of any gym, they’re all the same give or take a few amenities. In every gym I’ve ever been to or worked at, certain equipment in group studios are off limits outside of participating in a class which is highly understandable. But NEVER until tonight have I seen or worked for any gym that lets employees walk around in workout clothes telling members they can’t stretch in an empty room. I was stretching on the wall and the ShamWow guys walks in wearing blank tank top telling me I can’t be in there. Then we have this exchange of him telling me that no matter what I cant come in there and stretch when the room is not in use and can only be in there for a class. Mind you there's no signs anywhere that say this, and i read my entire membership agreement, not in there either but my membership does include "STUDIO" whatever that is because group fitness was also in my membership. After I finish my workout the shamwow guy is behind the counter. I shared with him these details and let him know that i may be found stretching there outside of class times, of course. Rather than providing any ounce of customer service he instead took my membership info down and basically told me, with extreme confidence, the manager would be calling me to let me know i cant stretch in an empty unused room. Shamwow guy last name was Lopez on his nametag I think it may have said front desk manager which surprises me that someone with -37 out of 10 customer service would ever get a promotion there.

UPDATE I was contacted by the gyms manager, Moses Rodriguez, today and we had a brief discussion resolving this. Due to the fact that my initial review was due to lack of customer service, I have updated the review from 1 to 4 stars, because Moses was so diplomatic and service oriented during our conversation. He assured me that all staff will be trained on this situation. Thank you Moses for being a great representative...

I love this gym. My favorite is the out door area. This gym tends to be super busy post work hours during the week but its nice to not have as many people outside because its still scorching hot outside. Moses, the gym keeps this gym well running during the week with all cleaning stations stocked.

I do think they have room to improve on the weekends because i do high intensity workouts with low rest, but i want to do my part and quickly wipe down machines as i do sweat a lot too. On weekends i frequently find going to the nearest station and spray bottles are out and/or paper towels are out and i say to myself “of course, why wouldn’t this be out?” And its frustrating because i have to take extra time to go to another station, and its super frustrating when the second station is out as well.. has happened a few times now.

I get it with shortstaff housekeeping on weekends or whatnot but as former agm of the Belterra location i’d make sure our front desk would take a quick 5 min to stock stations while keeping an eye on the front desk, as there would be slow times after the morning rush on weekends…it is an open floorplan so wouldn’t be hard to see customers that needed assistance. Especially when there is overlap at front desk with two employees. Unless something has drastically changed with upper management and only housekeeping can restock or something, then i don’t see why this continues to be an area with need for improvement.

Lastly, as former employee i’d always say hi and bye to customers leaving. Even if they had their headphones in, even if they don’t acknowledge me back, even if i’m chatting with another employee.. id pause the conversation say hi or bye and carry on.. So i’d like to shoutout the few employees here who do this. Especially upon exit.. It is a small gesture but makes a world of difference in how you perceive the customer service. So great job to those of you at the front desk who do this, you know who you are!

At the end of the day though this is a 5 star gym and deserves a 5 star...