Gold's Gym Willow Lawn — Attraction in Lakeside

Having been a member of several gyms in the past and then previously worked in an industry where I had eyes on the facility side all the major and minor fitness facilities in the greater Richmond area, I saw enough to make an educated decision of which gym I was going to join that met my major needs.

I originally joined the Gold's Gym Fan location in in 2005 and have been extremely satisfied with my experience since. With the opening of the Willow Lawn location, I migrated to the larger facility as my primary gym, however, I still split time between both locations.

The facilities themselves are well maintained and are consistently upgraded. They are constantly bringing in updated equipment and keeping up with the newest trends in fitness. The classes offer a good variety as well, albeit often over crowded, but that shows the sort of demand they have. While other gyms require a pre-class sign up, these classes are first come first serve, so it's sort of a madhouse 20 minutes prior to kickoff.

The overall ambiance was one of the major selling points for me. Each gym has it's own personality, some are the gym rat muscle guy type, some are the soccer mom cardio havens and some are the aging community locations with even older equipment and members. Gold's, however, does a great job of keeping a fresh feel that caters to an age 20-40+ client base that's serious about fitness but also gives the vibe that this is where the "cool kids" go to hang out. It's extremely apparent that this is the place to be when you go in and you constantly run into friends and colleagues.

The staff, like most gyms are on an employment carousel. It's not an industry that holds a lot of consistency or employment longevity, but the general staff is always pleasant when you enter or exit, but beyond that, they are your typical empty shell customer service rep. There have been a few exceptions in the past of employees who have gone above and beyond and most recently, Whit Southall formerly of the Fan location and now currently in the Willow Lawn branch does put in that extra effort. Whit's been one of the rare permanent fixtures who stands out among the empty shells. Whether it's been questions about my contract, updates on the newest upgrades at the locations, tips on fitness or just a friendly face that acknowledges they've interacted with you before and can hold a conversation that reflects such, Whit is one of the employees that puts a consistent face to a business that clients remain loyal to.

My review does reflect a "very good" rather than an "excellent" only because the crowds are fairly overwhelming if you go during peak hours after work (good luck getting to a station or machine around 6pm). Also, the locker rooms are sufficient but bare bones compared to other Gold's locations I've visited, and lastly, upon the opening of the Willow Lawn location, I was told there would be an indoor basketball court. Years later, I still haven't seen it. I've considered leaving Gold's and have shopped other gyms specifically for this lack of amenity, but because of the factors above, I've remained loyal. All in all, Gold's does meet all of my needs and I do recommend it to all friends looking for a new place...

WARNING! GYM WILL MAKE CANCELING A MEMBERSHIP DIFFICULT. UNPROFESSIONAL BUSINESS MANAGER. Membership reps( to aid in cancelation in person) are unavailable to speak to after 6:30pm - prime use of gym. Misinformed Front Desk Poor Customer service Business Manager - Dismissive attitude. Hung up on me.

I joined this gym while on a job working temporary in Richmond- figured it would be a great place for people coming for short term work. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SHORT MONTH TO MONTH MEMBERSHIP with easy ability to cancel- I recommend you DO NOT JOIN THIS GYM. I had difficulty speaking with a membership rep at 6:30pm as I was told by the front desk rep that the membership reps were no longer there for today and I should come back tomorrow. Nobody to handle canceling but plenty to sign you up!!

Canceling- I explained I leaving the state next week and this was my only chance to cancel. The front desk rep was no help. Then a manager overheard my situation and he attempted to help. It was already a bad sign that the front desk was unable to see anyway to help my situation yet a manager had to overhear to get involved.

I attempted to cancel all the accounts on my card- As I was told upon initial sign up that I could use my card for myself and for my friend who would be joining as well that day. So upon canceling I let the manger know I needed to cancel all accounts under my card. He told me that he couldn’t even find my friends name anywhere. He assured me that no other names are coming up under my card or linked to my account so there wouldn’t be any billing to my card and that the other account didn’t even exist upon entering in the system. I found this odd-( maybe a fluke in the sign- up? ) but I trusted him and paid the remaining annual fees and left thinking my accounts were terminated.

2 months later I notice I’ve been billed each month 29.99. I call the gym and am told by a front desk rep that I need to speak with the business manager and that I need to email her my issue and she will get back to me even though she currently was at the gym . Finally she took my call and immediately was met with a cold unwillingness to believe anything I said went down how I explained in the initial exchange of improper cancelation. Instead of being understanding with what happened she was firm in her tone that what happened was a lack of me asking correctly to cancel the accounts back in September. I simply wanted to rectify the proper cancelation at this point and have some acknowledgment that there was error on their end of the cancelation. This was met with more dismissive attitude and an inability to have any consideration of the frustrations this whole dilemma has caused me. My final question how was this all possible that I was never able to see my card linked to both accounts when I initially tried to cancel at the gym and she explained it was for security purpose... security from me the cardholder??? She Hung up on me.

I was put on hold for 12 minutes after this exchange and finally had a manager assist me. I received no refund or even an apology from Golds Gym. Not worth the headache to join this...

I am very sorry I cannot recommend this gym.

The staff was nice, and the facilities were clean. The pool was underwhelming with only 3 lanes and poor lighting, however, the weights and aerobic equipment were in good repair and copious.

The real reason this business is sub-par, and even one to avoid, is their business practices.

I received a message from one of my managers letting me know that we had just landed a large contract, and I would need to ship out for an extended period on Sunday. This was Friday after 5:00pm. I called Golds Gym the next day in order to cancel my contract. I was informed that the only way to cancel was to come in person and cancel.

Hearing that, I knew I would be back in town after 3 weeks for 2 days on the weekend, and determined that I would bite the bullet, and cancel then. What else could I do? I was leaving tomorrow, and had many other errands to run.

The real kicker was when I came back in 3 weeks and attempted to cancel in person (on a Saturday). They told me that I would have to come back at another time in order to cancel. I told them that I was leaving town, and would not be back in town this time for another 6 weeks. They told me they would take down my number, and see what they could do. I never received a follow up call, though, I did receive plenty of invoices.

Finally returning from my extended work trip, I called Golds and asked how I could cancel. This time, I was informed that I must come in during the weekday (between 10:00am and 5:00pm, so you must take off work if you work a 9-5), and speak to one of their membership councilors.

On the bright side, At least I finally had a clear and accurate answer of how to cancel my membership. I followed through with this guidance, and indeed was finally able to cancel my membership. I took the time to read the contract while I was there. It struck me that I had never received a copy, written or email, of my contract after signing up. Anyways, the only way to cancel is to send written notice to an address listed in the contract (which none of the staff knows, except the membership councilors, who will happily file that paperwork for you). Additionally there is a clause in the contract that states you must pay 1 additional payment cycle after you cancel. I'm serious. Read it.

Overall I rate this business as a D+. The community of members are great, and the staff is friendly enough (if helpless to help you cancel). The equipment is even pretty decent. But overall, the underhanded business practices, and the cheaty-face stipulations in the contract make me hesitate to engage with them, or encourage others to do so.

In a day and age with exceedingly long terms of service and contracts, you have to take some belief that a company will watch out for their customers, and not screw you too badly. Otherwise, you will spend your life reading contracts (Or you are a lawyer). I am sad to say that golds gym did not life up to this faith. I only hope that companies like Google and Apple will not act with such vigorous exercise of every stipulation of their agreements. Otherwise, if you're reading this, you're...