Gold's Gym — Attraction in Arlington

Short story- I had been trying to cancel my membership for MONTHS, and the GM hadn't responded to at least 7 attempts of me calling, stopping by, and emailing him, but continued to bill my husband for my membership (which he had no authorization to do). The gym frequently does not open on time (my husband has stood outside for an hour waiting on it to open), equipment is often broken.

Long story- I signed up for a membership in December 2017, and was told immediately after that the membership did not go through and I needed to come back in for it. Following this my upcoming body scan appointment was cancelled (with no explanation, just an auto-generated email that the appointment was cancelled), my card was never charged, and I began receiving emails asking me to come into the gym and join. Hence, I was under the impression that my membership did not go through.

Then in March, 3 months later, my husband’s credit card was charged $20. It was charged again, $59 in June. I’ve been trying to get in touch with the general manager, Keith Marder, for months to get this sorted out. I’ve tried on at least 7 different occasions, via email, in person, and phone. My husband is in the gym 5 days a week and has spoken with staff just about every week about this- the front desk staff confirmed with him that they did indeed relay the message to Keith, but we still never heard from him.

Keith finally got back to me last week on the 16th, conveniently one day after the new billing cycle started. He was rude and unapologetic. When I asked for contact information for customer service, he refused to give it to me, and told me we could schedule a time to call customer service together. I explained that I wasn’t comfortable with that, since it had taken him MONTHS to get back to me the first time. He rudely responded, “Well ma’am, I’m on the phone with you right now, and I’m telling you that is what we can do.” When I told him they were never authorized to charge my husband’s card (I had given them my credit card initially), he told me that because it was an add on and my husband was the primary account holder, that he assumes responsibility for the payments and they could legally charge his card. My husband never signed any paperwork authorizing an add on to his membership. I don’t see how he can be financially responsible for something there is no documentation of him ever authorizing.

Keith finally cancelled my membership, and I received notice that we will be billed again on 8/15. It seems very convenient that he returned my call one day after the new billing cycle, so that there would be one more payment in August.

There are plenty of other things to complain about with this gym. On at least 12 occasions over the past year it hasn’t opened on time, and my husband along with many other members have stood outside, on some occasions for over an hour, waiting to be let in. It is actually a joke with the morning gym goers- if they go a month without an incident they...

I have contacted this gym in-person, over email, and via the phone multiple times to no avail. THIS GYM IS TAKING MONEY FROM MY ACCOUNT WHEN I WAS TOLD I WOULD BE REFUNDED AND THAT MY MEMBERSHIP WOULD BE CANCELLED. I just had another $40 taken from my account when I was promised that my membership was cancelled……..Firstly, I entered a Gold’s Gym on a Sunday around 5:30pm, knowing it would close at 7 and desiring to quickly work out. I just moved from DC and was trying to use a guest pass but was told by a high-level employee that I could not use a guest pass because I only have a DC license, not a VA license. In reality, I could have paid simply $20 for a one day pass and worked out there. But, I was not told of this $20 day pass. Instead, I was told I needed to sign up for a membership…So, I did, and I worked out there, but this gym did not have the equipment I was accustomed to and the equipment I love. I realized I made a mistake and came back the very next day in-person to cancel the membership. The man working there looked me in my eyes and said the account was cancelled and that I would be refunded the $93…This was on a Monday. That Friday passed, and another $40 was taken from my account as if were still a member. I called, and this gym still had me listed as a member apparently but promised that would change… A week later, I called again and was told my membership was “pending cancellation,” but then another $40 was taken out from my account on November 8th….How is this gym’s computer technology so bad? I emailed their support multiple times and never received a response as well.....I have been dealing with this since October 22nd.…It is November 16th…..Other gyms have better equipment and space and technology that can fix these issues in a more...

[3.5/5] Pretty standard gym shenanigans that are pervasive across the industry, so unavoidable but unfortunate nonetheless. E.g., in the year of the Lord two thousand and twenty-four, EFT/automatic bill payment cancellations here still require one month’s notice. There’s no reason—aside from the gym and their billing services provider (ABC Fitness Solutions, LLC) blatantly wringing an extra monthly payment out of their patrons—that a cancellation can’t be immediate and with the final payment prorated to the millisecond…surely we have the technology…

Naturally when you sign up for a month-to-month personal training or club membership this isn’t honestly advertised (if mentioned at all)

Separately, for some reason, a ton of people (sometimes seemingly most) here don’t wipe down their machines after using them. Spend half an hour up on the stairmaster looking down onto the cardio and cable weights area and you’ll see what I mean. So if you are an anti-wipe enthusiast prospective club member, you may find your community here. Cleaning staff does come around every once in a long while to wipe some machines down at least

Can’t complain about the machines or weights, and the location is the best in the area

It beats paying an honestly insulting eight (8) times as much at the L*fetime Fitness 500 feet down the road which doesn’t even get you a lap pool or...