Gold's Gym Richmond — Attraction in Glen Allen

If I could rate this in negative numbers I would! Their sales staff is out for themselves. One specific sales associate named Chris (no longer working there) gave very misleading information and told me that "he would make it happen" if I wanted to cancel my contract early as I asked him several times before signing if that was something that I could do. Then emailed back and forth when I decided that the gym was not working out for me (due to uncomfortable encounters with a male trainer there who made a point to bother me while I was working out, lack of equipment in the ladies area, etc) and when I mentioned our prior conversation about how he mentioned he would "make it happen", that statement was completely avoided by emails from him (he probably did not want to put anything in writing). Went to the gym and talked to a manager named Tim to explain the situation and was told first of all that he, myself and the sales associate should have a" sit down" to work it out- completely unprofessional way to go and not my job to be included when he is talking to HIS employee about a customer complaint, on TOP of that was told that I would be contacted by the following Monday at the latest and was not. Was then later contacted by phone from the sales associate who told me that he would cancel my contract and would send me a confirmation via email which I never received. Found out weeks later that my card was still being charged, so I called and spoke to abother manager named Gloria, who told me that my contract was never cancelled and would not even take the time to let me explain to her what happened and said that she could only go by what the contract stated- again poor customer service, called corporate and am now dealing with that, only to be told that my complaint has to be handled by email.

I will never use this gym nor let any friends or family use and and will be happy to let everyone I know, know about the shadiness that I have experienced there. This has been an absolute nightmare to deal with all because of poor sales training for their staff, misleading communication and over promising only to un-deliver...or should I say not...

I can't wait until the day when I can cancel my contract and not have to deal with this place anymore. The gym is fine and the staff is decently nice (some nicer than others) but oh my goodness when it comes to getting anything financially corrected, forget it. I got a new debit card when my old one expired and I went online and saw that it allowed me to change my payment info. So I changed it and then got an email a few days later that there was a problem processing the payment. I logged in online again and saw that my $9.99 didn't go through and I was charged a late fee of $20. I called and was told that if you update your info online, it doesn't save, you have to go in the location in person and update it or call. I provided the person on the phone with my new card, they charged the $9.99 and I was told the $20 would be waived. After about two weeks, the late fee was still sitting on my Golds Gym account. I called again and there were no mangers available so I had to call some third party company that handles that stuff and they were able to remove the fee but stressed this could only be done through them once. The next month, I get another email stating there was a problem with my payment again. I log in, and again the $9.99 and another (different) $20 late fee was on there. I called again and they still had my old card on file, turns out the last person didn't save it, they charged it the one time. I was told this new $20 would be removed but then I checked my bank account and I was charged the $9.99 AND the $20. I called AGAIN and was told that the manager would refund it. Weeks passed, still nothing. I call again and I am told that a manager will refund it as a one-time courtesy (yeah I know but where is it). It has been a month since then and still nothing so I just called again and was told I will be called back later. It is so frustrating to deal with them and I will not be renewing my contract and I'm sure cancelling my membership after this year is up will be an equivalent pain in my ass. Don't give the option to update payment info online if it doesn't actually update the payment info. Idiots. I'll probably be dead before I get...

Difficult to deal with; high rates and long-term commitment for nothing that special

In February 2017, I tested out 3 gyms in the area: Gold's West End, Gold's Willow Lawn, and Crunch Glenside. Gold's West End was by far the worst option of the 3.

I tried their 7-day trial advertised online. After sitting through the typical tour/sales pitch, I was required to actually SIGN a FULL CONTRACT for a regular membership to start the trial. The plans they offered had a 1- or 2-year contract and range from $30-$40 a month plus sign-up and annual fees. After signing up, I visited the gym twice. It's a pretty typical gym and provided everything I needed, and was on par with the other gyms I tried. No complaints about their facilities, although I would argue that you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere.

I tried to cancel my contract on the 4th day of the trial at the gym in person, but they said I needed to come back with my copy of the contract. Why, I'm not sure. So I came in the next day with my copy of the contract and a written statement that I wished to cancel the membership within the 7 day trial period. 4 days after cancelling, I was charged the $60 sign-up fee. I called to confirm that my membership was indeed cancelled and that the $60 will be refunded next week, but it's still doesn't make sense that I was charged in the first place.

Every interaction throughout the trial process felt like a struggle (and sometimes, a trap) with the staff at Gold's West End. Even if their rates had been more reasonable and if they had offered a more flexible month-to-month contract (like the other two gyms I tried), I would not sign up with this gym. The trial process and membership rates at Gold's Willow Lawn (completely separate franchise) and Crunch Glenside were very reasonable, and I would recommend either of those over Gold's West End.

My advice to management: Get rid of the contract-signing requirement for the trial, and make the interactions with staff easier and more straightforward. In order to win people's trust (and money), you can't make them feel like they are being schemed or tricked before they have even...