LA Fitness — Attraction in Houston

DO NOT JOIN THIS GYM. THEY WILL TREAT YOU LIKE DIRT.

This is the worst experience i've ever had in my entire life.

On Monday August 31st, i joined the gym over the phone because of its close proximity to where i live. I had previously been with 24 hour fitness for many years, but i finally gave up on their lack of customer service and member retention.

I talked to the GM of this location, who quoted me a price of $29.99 including Racquetball, and a promo involving no initiation fee. I joined thinking that I had gotten a good deal. He informed me that my profile would be made active in a few minutes as he entered my details in.

Fast forward 12 hours, my account is not activated, and when i called back to find out why, the GM responds with, I'm a busy man, I promise I will have it activated for you in no time.

We visited the gym in the evening and there were several violations that put us on edge. Sections of the gym were unclean, under construction without blocked off signs, and most importantly the kids club access door was propped open, with no visible security.

the next day, I gave them another chance, so i logged onto my app only to find that my account was still NOT SETUP ...at this point i was getting frustrated so i called into the gym to find out the problem. once again the GM explains to me how busy he is...and then after 3 minutes on the phone he tells me he has ANOTHER CUSTOMER to attend to and hangs up, but before he does, he states, "Stay by the phone my man...I'll call you back in 10 minutes". Needless to say, he didn't call me back.

Now we're at Thursday...all I want to do is go to the damn gym and enjoy a workout. I wanted to play racquetball, so I thought I should reserve a court through my app. I go to the reserve court section only to find out that my MEMBERSHIP IS STILL NOT ACTIVATED COMPLETELY. I call the gym AGAIN and politely ask to speak with the GM. As usual he's unavailable and so i leave a message.

He calls me back an hour later and starts off with this: " BRO you CANNOT keep calling me every day up here. I'm a busy man, I have customers all day long. Furthermore you cannot get angry and leave threatening messages with my staff" I explained to him that I did no such thing, and that i just wanted my membership to be complete. With that, he informs me that HE CANCELLED MY MEMBERSHIP. Yes you read that right...he cancelled my membership without my approval, without consulting with me, and without ever setting it up.

Needless to say, I called Corporate LA Fitness, and I expect that proper actions will be taken.

I've never been so insulted, so belittled as a paying customer, just trying to get a workout. Want customer service? Don't go to LA Fitness. You're just a number. They can't deliver on their promises, they don't follow the rules, and god knows if they even clean the equipment.

Dear LA Fitness - Want to stay BUSY? Teach your EMPLOYEES TO RESPECT OTHERS AND...

Update: I said below that the ignorant lady would not last 6 months as usual. Well, she lasted 8 and they sent her off. So everyone called and asked me to come back. So I did. Things are looking normal and it's back to being a solid gym.

I'm quitting after almost 7 years. I've been powerlifting 20 years, so I know a gym is just a gym and has it's ups and downs. It's OK here if you come late and just work around the issues. The equipment is rusted and machine belts are ripping all over the place. I'm fairly sure hasn't been a single piece of NEW equipment in my 7ish years. They did however have someone buy AutoZone brand chrome paint and spray down the dip rack that lost it's coating. No sanding, just awful spray paint. They re-drilled one of the holes in the concrete to secure the machine down and just left concrete dust in a pile. Everything else is either unbolted and sliding around or held by 1 or 2 poorly secured bolts.

The management is usually gone after about 90 days. No one can stick around for some reason. So don't let them make promises to resolve a fee issue. The person that promised won't be there. They will churn members by asking you to sign up for a different plan and cancel your old one to get you a lower rate. The problems comes when they promise to refund the second annual fee, but they no longer work there when it's time to do it. The front desk folks are genuine good people, though. However, they don't get promoted. New people come in every few months as managers. The new Operations Manager Sulette has a complex for some odd reason. I've seen her twice in 7 years, as she just started working here, and she has been rude, agitated, and unpleasant both times. I've gotten to know the desk and training staff over the years and she threatens them for being nice to us after she is rude to members. Apparently, we don't deserve "special treatment" in her words. I would have waited for a month or 2 as she would likely not be here anymore, but I'm just kinda done.

Get used to out of service papers, new management staff every 3 months, awful maintenance on equipment, and extreme chlorine smells through the entire gym when they deal with the pool. The locker room is OK. The bathroom portion is not good because it's impossible to keep clean. Since the introduction of cleaners to spray (only since COVID), I spray and wipe everything before use and you see peoples sweat, skin flakes or something crusty, and rust on the handles and napkins after cleaning. There are not enough bars for all the bench and squat racks so people steal them and don't bring them back to the right area. There are plenty of weights, so that's good. Dumbbells go to 120 max.

The good: The front desk folks Least busy LA Fitness in the area Open til 11PM M-Thu The smoothie bar owner and staff are super friendly and good folks too. The membership was affordable for you and a guest. (~$50 a month) Sometimes even cheaper.

The...

I haven’t been to this location in over a year as a one time guest. However, as it is right near my area of residence, I was convinced to give it a shot and join the gym with a friend who recently moved here. My friend, a new member to LA Fitness, invited me to use her guest pass as perks to her membership. I currently go to Lifetime fitness, but was considering going back to more commercial gym for location and to have join my friend regularly.

Upon trying to use the guest pass, the guest services member presented me with sarcasm in regards to using the guest pass. He told me there was no point in using it if I did not plan to join. I mentioned that I had tried the gym a year earlier and upon the nature of the new circumstances, I would like to consider joining. He mentioned nothing did change. My friend asked since I am looking for a gym I will regularly attend that if I could try it out, in which he replied, "what’s there to try out? Weights are the same everywhere. You got to pay." We understood the policy very clearly, but instead of directly informing, your sales agent chose a rude route.

Although the message was thoroughly understood, the message was untactful and quite appalling. I was embarassed and disappointed. I ended up replying that I will go back to my current gym Lifetime Fitness and he abruptly said "go ahead." I don’t understand his harsh sales tactics and approach to make individuals feel unwelcomed. I felt no need to explain I was looking to join if your team member chooses belittle people who want to use guest passes which are given out for people try out. I understand its a numbers game in quotas and sales, as both my friend and I are very seasoned in business logistics.

My friend went back to explain to your team member there was no need to disrespect someone who was willing to give LA fitness a shot. He apparently “apologized and was sorry” but theres no more time or reason for that. I had left to my vehicle to reconcile how terrible this experience was and still could not fathom the content the sales person had with treating people this way. Nonetheless, I can imagine my 10 minute visit at this location is probably one of the many that happens to everyone to visit. In addition, my friend was very apologetic to bringing me to your facility-- this was a first time visit since her relocation to Houston.

Not only did I have a very disrespectful experience, but the employee evidently failed to deliver the LA Fitness quality we expected. I will probably refrain from ever visiting LA fitness again or any related establishments and hope you internally resolve the expectations and quality you intend on...