Orangetheory Fitness — Attraction in Los Angeles

I took a class with Orangetheory Sherman Oaks about a month ago which was actually quite nice, but that is not what this review is about. The reason for the one star is the bait and switch marketing tactics of their memberships. Initially, I decided to hold off on a membership because I still had a lot of Classpass credit to get through. A representative from Sherman Oaks, Jessie, then reached out via text with a promotion to start my membership. The pitch was "Your first month of Premier is FREE with a purchase of a heart rate monitor... the premier membership includes unlimited classes a month and the heart rate monitor is originally $130 however I can add $30 off for you." This sounded like a decent proposition... I buy their hardware for $100 and I get a month free of classes. No additional information was provided in that conversation regarding spending more than that $100. I agreed and signed their lengthy contract, which I thought was just a recap of what I was told. What Jessie didn't tell me, was that I was committing to paying for a second month up front in the contract. You would think that would be something to disclose... perhaps by saying, sign up for 2 months and get the first month free. But no, so much easier getting people in the door by leaving that crucial detail out. Two weeks later when I was about to start my first free month and buy the heartrate monitor, Kim reaches out to me asking for updated credit card info for the $130. I was like $130? I was told $100. Kim explained that the promotion had ended for the $30 off and they actually needed $130 now. This is where the unnecessary drama started. I said no, I'm not going to pay more than I was originally told. After much back and forth over text, they relented and offered me the heart rate monitor for $100. It was THEN that they decided to tell me about the "2 month commitment...since you are getting the first month free". I responded that it had never been disclosed in our conversations that I was committing to two months. That's when they switched from text to only phone calls. It was explained to me that the contract mentioned those details. I then asked why that wouldn't be mentioned in the initial sales pitch. They apologized for the miscommunication, but felt it was still on me for not reading every word on every page of the contract. In one of these phone calls, I spoke with the manager, Yash, who admitted to the initial non-disclosure (since all of it up to this point was in writing) and apologized. Unfortunately, the admittance was hollow. I asked Yash to simply honor what I was initially pitched by his representatives. His response: "Our system won't allow us to do that". We ended the phone call after the total stalemate. Why would anyone want to sign up for a membership with a business who withholds information to get you in the door? It felt like a classic bait and switch operation. For the record, I would have considered a two month commitment if that was actually disclosed before signing a contract. I wasn't looking for freebies but I was looking for honesty and integrity. I got neither of those from...

I am giving them one star just because I liked the coaches. Otherwise do not waste money buying their heart monitor (which should be free in my opinion if you’re paying $129/ month for 8 classes or even $199/mo for unlimited classes. The monitor doesn’t work and the staff will give you a bunch of excuses for not working during the workouts. The staff brushes off your concerns and tell you we will look into it, but don’t despite you telling them that what they are doing is discouraging. I tried calling a few times to cancel my membership and they do not answer their phones. Sadly they charge you $12 for a trial class and then $129 the same day if you sign up for the membership. They expect you to read the fine print so don’t expect them to also tell you that when you decide to cancel it must me “30 days in advance” PLUS ONE ADDITIONAL MONTH OF MEMBERSHIP. What a way to trick and lie to customers. I promise you the staff won’t tell You this and they rush you into signing the membership. So don’t bother going there. Regular gyms have classes too and are way cheaper and you can go anytime and work out at your convenience with access to more equipment. Although I was never late I saw someone that came 2 min into the class started and they sent her away. You could tell the poor lady has frantically rushed in so she wouldn’t have missed the class but the staff were so unapologetic and turned her away. Like really? Even if she was 10 minutes late, they shouldn’t have done that to her. I finally got a hold of someone today and was just requesting to refund the charge for this month since I had been trying to call them In over a week and was told they can’t do anything about it and would try to see if their manager would be able to refund me. I’ll wait and see when and if I hear back cause the girl helping me couldn’t even day when that might be. She said you might get a call, text, or email but didn’t want to give a timeline like maybe today, tomorrow or...

They keep deleting my reviews, hopefully I can warn at least some of you who will be able to see it.

Heartbreaking and Disrespectful Experience

I came to this location for the first time because it was closer to my doctor’s office, hoping for a positive experience. Unfortunately, what happened was deeply hurtful and left me in tears.

I struggle with social anxiety, so even getting to a class is a big step for me. When I arrived a bit early, I felt cold in the lobby and asked if I could warm up on a treadmill. The room was empty, but I was told, rather abruptly, that I couldn’t. I respected the rule and waited elsewhere, trying to stay calm.

Later, I got on the treadmill at 6:24 and quickly took out my phone to send my boyfriend the address so he could pick me up after class. Almost immediately, I was approached by “coach” Stephanie Griffith and told I couldn’t use my phone. I tried to explain, politely, that I was just sending a quick text and would put it away. However, I was repeatedly told “no” in a way that felt harsh and dismissive. I became overwhelmed and, out of frustration, expressed how upset I was, only to be asked to leave the class.

The whole experience was extremely embarrassing. As someone who already finds it difficult to attend classes due to anxiety, being treated this way in front of others felt like too much to handle. I cried all the way home, and it has made me feel unwelcome and disrespected.

I’ve never had an issue at any other OrangeTheory location, but this encounter has led me to cancel my membership. It’s heartbreaking that something meant to be positive turned into such a...