Fitness Connection — Attraction in Durham

I have been going to this gym for 6 months now. I am still a member, but I am going in to cancel it this week. Let me tell you why:

This gym gets the job done. And it's cheap. Which is great for me. I can go in and get my hour workout completed, and keep it moving. However, it's packed all the time. It's not the cleanest. Weights are extremely disorganized, etc. but that's what you get for a $20 gym membership.

However - let me tell you about their customer service.... Which is a deal-breaker for me: I have a friend that moved to Durham last week. He is an ACSM certified Personal Trainer. He has been a group exercise teacher for Les Mills, Boot Camp, and Zumba at other gyms for over 5 years in NC and NYC, he also worked in Membership Sales for corporate fitness in the financial district of NYC. When I brought him in with me on 12/27/2015 to workout, the girl at the front desk would not allow him to utilize the 7-day trial pass that is listed on their web-site (which he had already e-mailed about before coming to the gym). Why??? Because she said he had to schedule a specific appointment time to come in and speak with someone (Eddie - the Membership Sales "Manager") and at that point they would THEN give him the trial pass. Keep in mind, he was showing her the e-mail on his phone from Eddie where he had already previously inquired about the 7-day pass.

She was extremely rude (African-American Female, long braids, wears red glasses). I asked for her supervisor or the facility manager and she said I quote, "I am the only one here working that can help you." She went on to say the only option he had for today to work was to purchase a $10 Guest Pass. I then noticed a young lady sitting at the membership sales desk, I asked the front-desk girl if she could help me, and she said "no."

SO ultimately, I had to drive him back home since he couldn't come in and try the gym and he went and join Lifetime Fitness the next day instead (where he was also offered an audition to be a group-exercise instructor on the spot). And I went to complete my workout at the North Raleigh location where they actually value their members.

The next day, (Monday 12/28/2015) I returned to the gym and asked the lovely girl in membership if her boss was available. She pointed to the guy behind her (Eddie) and said, "He is the Manager, he can help you." And go figure, what does Eddie do? He starts talking out-loud to me from his desk before I have even sat down or said hello to him, "Wait, wait - before we talk are you talking to me about Membership Options or something else because I handle memberships."

I mean this is absurd, I have been working in Corporate Customer Service in RTP for 9 years - and this staff clearly has no concept or customer service training on how to approach members (similar to stakeholders of a company) that are PAYING THEIR SALARIES via the membership fees. So as I sat down to talk to Eddie, who clearly should not be in a managerial role, he again wanted to 1) Talk over me 2) Talk louder than me 3) Not let me finish a single statement 4) Make it well known, that he had already heard about the situation and that he in in-charge and feels that nothing wrong has happened. He went on to cut me off after every single word I said, because he felt I was raising my voice. Which I wasn't. The reality was, I was making a statement that he didn't want to deal with. Which he had made apparent in his initial "Wait. Wait. Wait." comment in the beginning.

Eventually, I was able to discuss the situation to Eddie. He never once apologized. He stated that the employee at the front desk needs more training, and he would look into it. He tried his hardest to shew me away, and asked that I speak to Jason (The GM?) on the next business day and had absolutely nothing to say or a single care that he had lost a membership to Lifetime Fitness.

I will continue to update my review as to how this matter is handled. And I will post it on every web-site I can. I am also sending this letter to Fitness Connection's/Titan Fitness's...

Please do yourself a favor a read and consider any and ALL reviews regarding this company. Someone elses BAD EXPERIENCE could save you money and time. Before I joined in January, I was looking for a gym close to where I live and one that offered a great rate. This one seem to have what I was looking for but, OMG. These folks are skilled at conniving there members with unreasonable behind the scene fees that they take right out of your bank account and cause you additional headache fees with your bank. And once you realize the unauthorized fees the gym has taken, caused your bank account to spiral out of control, you have a big mess to clean up regarding you're finances and investment. Oh yeah, and be prepared to pay an "Annual Member Fee" right after you join!!! They don't tell you that because it makes no sense to a new member not even there a year yet. I joined on the 25th of the month, of which I was under the impression they would prorate my monthly membership fee since starting 5 days before months end, but they didn't prorate. Anyway, I joined. Not told any differently, I was under the impression I would be debited on the 25th for my next payment. You know. Since that was the day I began my membership, and since they did not prorate, this made sense to me, However, I was wrong. They expected another full payment on the 15th of the month with no credit for the 10 days I've already paid for. The account I gave them permission to debit upon signing up, money was available after the 18th of ever month, so if I was technically charged when I started on the 25th, my account would not have been compromised by these SCAM ARTISTS. Okay, that's one part, the other part is, they charged my account on the 15th of the month, remember my money isn't available until after the 18th, but before the 21st. They were charging my account $20 late fee on top of my monthly membership fee. Caused me out of control fees with my bank. Also, these jerks charged me an annual membership fee after being a member for 3 months. I have never been pre charged an annual membership fee before being a member for a year. BOGUS. They have NO CUSTOMER SERVICE in place, just representatives who were trained to finagle you to sign up, but not trained to assist you in handling unauthorized charges to your account. Also, you can't just easily end your account. No no honey, you go into the gym to sign up, but you can't go in to sign out. THIS IS BY FAR THE SADDEST company I've seen. They will be going out of business soon, trust me. And do yourself a favor, read the other reviews posted. Skip over the ones they coerced folks to write when they give them a free...

BEWARE!! This place/business is a scam and should be reported to the better business bureau.

Bad Business Practices: The staff will pressure you to sign-up right then by offering discounted prices on the made-up membership price. They told me that the membership price is: $299-Upfront + $9.95/month. However, if I signed-up right then then they would knock-off $100 from the $299 fee. So, the effective membership price would be $199 + $9.95/month. At that time I was ready to sign-up. So, I proceeded to electronically sign the membership papers. As I was in the process of signing up the papers, about half way through signing papers, there was a section that stated: There will be $29.99 annually fee added. So, now the membership price would become $199 + $9.95/month + $29.99/year. I told that staff right then that that was bad business practice as the additional $29,99 annual cost should have been disclosed upfront. The staff refuted my comment by saying that's just how they do business. I left the premised WITHOUT fully signing all of the membership document. When I got home, I found on the fitness connection website that their membership rates are $149 upfront + $9.95 + $29.95 annual. I then realized that the staff at the Fitness Connection had jacked-up the membership rated and then offered discounted membership just so I could join right then. Bad business practice. Now this is where things get interesting. About 2-3 weeks later, I get a call from Fitness Connection (not sure if it was the same Fitness Connection location or if it was Fitness Connection Corporate) but the person said that my creditcard number on my membership file has expired and that they needed my creditcard details for me to continue to use the facility. I refused to give my creditcard information and told the person that I had never joined the facility. They tried to find ways to convenience me to provide creditcard details. When I declined all their offers & warnings (about membership expiration, facility usage, etc.), the guy hung-up.

So, to sum it up, I would be VERY careful about joining this club as I think the entire business is full of scam artist who are there to con people into signing up. BTW, I agree with all the 1 & 2 star rating/reviews from other folks regarding this rude staff, old/equipment, and bad business practices in general.

Now, I need to find a Fitness club that is reasonably priced and better managed in Morrisville/RTP, NC area. Most clubs are too expensive and...