Steel Fitness Riverport — Attraction in Bethlehem

This is going to be a long one! I joined this gym back in June and I was very clear with the front desk employee that I was shopping around for gyms and was ONLY interested in a month to month. He then told me what the month-to-month charge was, and I happily signed up for one month, so I thought! After a few workouts, I realized that the facility itself was extremely hot in temperature. I went to the front desk in the middle of my workout to ask about the temperature and I was told that the AC has been broken for weeks, but that they were working hard to fix it. The only place I felt comfortable working out, was outside and that should say something because it was June. After doing two or three workouts in the month of June, I realized that I was avoiding that gym because of the temperature so I decided that I wanted to cancel.

The day that I went to cancel the Manager Michael was at the front desk. Michael and I had had a few really good interactions before so I sheepishly told him that I wanted to cancel because of the AC. He then changed his entire demeanor and became cold & looked in the computer and said to me well that’s not possible because you signed a one-year agreement - I was SHOCKED. I told him that there was no possible way that I would’ve signed up for a one year agreement when I was very clear with his employee that I only wanted a month-to-month But regardless of what my contract was, it was inhumane that the temperature in the gym was hotter than outside. We ended up getting into a pretty heated disagreement, I apologized at the end, and I felt like we left it on OK terms, and that he understood my reasons for leaving. To make a long story short, I went to the gym in person to speak to Michael on multiple occasions, because after I called the gym after our disagreement, one of the employees, looked at my profile and said that they didn’t see any card linked to my account so They were under the impression that Michael had in fact, canceled me. I was happy to hear that and I left that gym alone. Come to find out that I have been charged every month including this month of December even after Michael himself has said to my face on multiple occasions that I no longer have a card linked to my account. I obviously don’t work there and I do not know how their system works, but he did not seem to, be interested in looking into it any further, and just kept telling me that I was canceled. Finally, I spoke to an employee named Victoria on the phone who was smart enough to ask me for the card number itself that was being charged. Lo and behold I had a separate account where my phone number was wrong, my name was spelled, wrong, and card was linked to and being actively charged. I asked her if she could please have Michael call me back when he was in that day and of course he did not. I called again today to try and speak to him but unfortunately he was not in for the day yet. After reading multiple reviews above mine I am starting to notice a pattern, that seems a little funny. Not only is Michael, extremely unprofessional, and a terrible face for the gyms brand, he is a liar, and he does not know how to do his job, as well as his employees apparently do. If I was the owner, Tom, yes, I am speaking to you, I would really think twice about the people that you have working for you. I am a huge word of mouth type of person, and I will tell absolutely everybody that I come into contact with to stay far far away from that gym! Do not trust them! If I could give them zero stars, I would

In response to owner comment: Hi, yes I understand the ac difficulty however your manager Micheal has already verbally told me that he would cancel me. Since this was not done I have been charged for every month since. I do not want a membership for Allentown as it is way too far from me and my busy schedule. I need for someone to issue the refund I am owed for months July - December or I will be in contact with the BBB. There is enough evidence in these reviews as well as testimonies from previous members of...

Gym was alright at first, I liked the outdoor area and the fact that there was a sauna was nice because not many gyms in the area have one

First issues came along when I paid for a parking pass, i was told by front desk staff that I was good to go and the next time I went I received a parking ticket. I asked the front desk about it and come to find out they didn’t enter my information for it and when I brought the ticket to their attention they basically told me to call the parking authority and deal with it myself and blamed it on staff being new/not trained. I didn’t bother dealing with parking authority because the ticket was only around ~$30 and it said any dispute would have to be dealt with in person and with my work schedule it wasn’t worth the hassle at that point. It would have been nice if the gym had did something to reimburse considering it was completely their fault but nothing was done.

My friend paid for the parking pass the same day I did I believe, and luckily for him I told him to double check before he parked too ensure they did it right and of course his was also not entered/entered wrong.

Sauna was alright some days but overall it usually had a funky smell I never noticed in other saunas and I’d see/hear about towels/water bottles left in the same spot for couple days in a row. I get sometimes if things are left behind you may not want to throw them out but you’d figure by end of the day by closing time if nothing is claimed it would be removed. A lot of equipment, mainly cardio, seemed to have some sort of issue or another, either buttons were broken, tv screens wouldn’t work, or machines would simply not turn on.

Next issue came with membership renewal. I honestly forgot when I had gotten my membership, I thought I had initially signed up month to month (maybe around April 2023) but then signed up for a year up front around May/June 2023. I called around the end of March of 2024 to see if they could ensure my membership wouldn’t auto renew. Not sure who it was exactly that helped me (didn’t give a name) but they said that it seemed my membership would end around the end of June and that it would NOT auto renew. My friend who also attends this gym told me later on it actually does auto renew (he was under the same premise that it didn’t until he actually talked to a manager about this). I spoke with a manager about this today (4/24/24) and was told that the staff was new and they made a mistake when they initially told me it would not auto renew, which confuses me because I never said who it was so unless every staff member is new this wouldn’t make any sense. I’m not doubting at all it was a new employee, but still, seemed a little odd. Manager told me that the auto renew date was actually April 15th and would look into it (I haven’t been charged yet as of 4/24/24 thankfully, but now I’m nervous because i don’t know when it will go into effect, and considering I was initially told end of June it seems pretty wrong to now say that due to their mistake I have to pay up).

It sucks because this gym does have a lot of potential, but considering what seems to be a lot of the staff not being trained on basic things, such as membership renewal policy, and the cleanliness/up keep of the gym could use some work, it made it hard to want to...

I'm Vamseedhara Vemuri, from Lehigh University. I joined steel fitness last summer because our gym will be closed.

I was told that I needed to pay 60$ for enrollment by the manager at that time and as I have joined in the middle of the month (June) that would be free. But I wasn't told that a 60$ extra fees would be levied on every member in the month of July. It was not mentioned to me by the manager (Tyler) but later he said it's mentioned in your enrollment form and you've signed it. So, I kept quiet and paid the amount.

While I was leaving the steel fitness the manager at that has told me that he could freeze the account until I get back w/o paying anything extra. I also got text messages from steel fitness that I can join back for 10$ a month in November and December but no reminder was sent to me saying that I have to start paying the membership fee or terminate the membership fees to avoid fines. No reminders were sent too. Absolute fault on your side. You guys had my email ID too. But no communication about it.

Now, in the middle of January, I get a call from a person named Clara saying she's from twin oaks (legal department) and she represents Steel fitness saying that I evaded the payment and I need to pay a fine and actual membership fee of 79$. What happened was the credit card that I used initially to pay the membership fee was replaced by the credit card company due to a disputed transaction. After speaking to Olivia she said she could waive the late fee but she can't waive the actual amount and the present manager rejected to consider waiving my fees because I had nothing in writing. So I paid the 60$ for not even using the gym and I was forced to pay and left with no option. Now, again I'm being asked to pay for the month of February too because I haven't given a month of prior notice. That's 90$ payment for me without using the gym and your inability for communicating well to customers on time and amongst yourselves.

As you know, I already paid for December and January without using the gym, It doesn't make any sense to pay for February. Now thinking about it, it's not right to pay even the 60$ because I was clearly misinformed by your representative named Tyler and also present management didn't remind me. If you don't waive the money off, I'd be left with no other option but to pay you for the month of February too. But I'll make sure that none of my friends from Lehigh will be signing up with you...