Speakeasy Fitness - Los Angeles — Attraction in Los Angeles

Unhelpful, misleading, and just not a good option for new gym goers.

Having never been a member to a gym before, I was nervous to give one a shot after hearing all of the horror stories from other people about canceling gyms, bad experiences, poor service, etc. I saw the awesome reviews here and decided to give it a shot. The website made it clear how easy it would be to cancel if it wasn't for me and the pictures made it look really nice plus it was great that it was a newer space. I called and asked if there was someone who would be able to help show me around and how to use equipment and stuff and LIE #1 they said yes -- come on in and ask for Mark. So I did.

Took a trip out and Mark helped me at the front. Turns out, the gym tour was self-run. They don't show you around or talk you through their amenities or anything. You have to know what you're looking at out the gate. Regardless, the space seemed nice and if I could get someone to show me how to use the equipment and put together some kind of fitness plan I could probably enjoy it! So I decided to sign up for the free 14-day trial period. After that, it starts billing monthly. There were other monthly options and Mark told me that after the 14-days I could switch to a different membership plan if I felt a different one was better suited for me.

LIE #2 Turns out, Mark failed to mention that if you sign up for a trial run, you can't use the gym after 5pm which he miraculously remembered right after I signed the agreement (at 5:35pm). So yeah that would have been nice to know. But he did at least recommend a personal trainer which he said LIE #3 could give me a free session or something with the membership to get to know the space and equipment. Contacted the trainer who has his own rates and seems to run independently from the gym. The prices were also just not doable for me right now on top of a monthly gym fee.

After the experience up to that point, I started feeling very uncomfortable with my decision to join this place. I decided this just wasn't going to work for me and for right now I just needed to cancel the membership since it wasn't something I'd be able to use. The agreement said I had to give 14 days written notice so I emailed the contact in the agreement LIE #4 and the email address was unregistered.

LIE #5 HERE IS A QUOTE FROM THEIR WEBSITE FAQ AS OF 08/03/2023: "If you can't make it in, log-on to your member portal online to process your cancelation". Logged into the portal, and couldn't find the place to do that. In a separate document it says they require you to go into the gym to sign something in person, which they also said when I called into the gym asking if there was an email I can send my cancelation notice to or how to do it online. I completely understand why gyms get such a bad reputation now. People and places like this who take advantage of people who don't know any better. My bad.

Overall, no idea how they expect people to trust them when they have outright lies on their website and in their documentation. I'm glad others can enjoy this place but they need to make it more accessible for people who are trying to get more into fitness, they need to be more honest about their policies, and just generally don't try to scam people into a trial using questionable sales tactics. So off-putting and makes me not able to trust anything else...

DO NOT GET A MEMBERSHIP HERE! There are so many things that are an issue that I'll make a list.

CROWDS. Like many gyms, Speakeasy can be crowded. Unlike other gyms, Speakeasy is crowded from open til close. I've worked out here at 5:30 a.m. and the squat and deadlift racks are packed for hours. I've worked out at 2 p.m. and the place is still crowded. And don't even try to work out from 4 p.m. till 8 p.m. Massive crowds, groups of 3-4 gymgoers around 1 machine, and so many people that getting a full leg or arm workout will take 2 hours with all the waiting you'll do.

MUSIC. While the setting of Speakeasy is aesthetic, once 4 p.m. hits, the employees crank the music to nightclub levels, despite 95% of the people working out wear earbuds. You can't talk to anyone around you and you'll get hearing damage if you want to hear your own music. It makes no sense to have the music so loud that you can't hear the guy two feet from you asking if you're done with your set.

DISORDER. I've worked out at many different gyms but Speakeasy is the worst with the upkeep of their gym. Machines break down regularly, the bathrooms are dirty with the soap dispensers being broken and non-functional, and the worst part is the free weights. They are consistently out of order and mismatched. You want to grab a pair of 35 lb. dumbbells? Well, good luck! You'll spend at least 5 minutes wandering around like a moron, trying to find the weights you want and many times, you'll find only one. Maybe because this gym is in the hood but the gymgoers here are rude and have no etiquette. You'll find random dumbells scattered around the gym, and people leave plates on machines constantly.

PRICE. Months ago, the price for membership was around $30. It dropped to the $20s for awhile. It currently sits at $9 per month. The owners have gotten so greedy that they've lowered the membership to a level where everyone in a family can afford it. This makes the gym so crowded that it's impossible to get a full workout in in under an hour. Accessibility is great, but only to the point until everyone is pissed because there's a half hour wait for a squat rack or free weight bench.

EMPLOYEES. A few of the employees are relatively nice, but half spend so much time on their phones that they don't even acknowledge your presence when you check in. You could literally walk in with no one even noticing. I've never heard anyone greet or welcome me to the gym or ask how my workout was. At other gyms like 24-Hour Fitness or Planet Fitness, the employees greet you and ensure you are happy with your experience. But, I guess that's what you get with a $9 gym...

DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS GYM!!! I wish I could give negative stars. THIS GYM WILL SCAM YOU! Myself and a few people I know were told our contracts were for a specific term but we were actually put into year contracts without our permission. If you try to cancel they WILL ignore your calls and give you false information. Even when you go in and have someone do it physically and buy it out upfront, they will say it's cancelled but it's actually isnt, then they will continue to ignore you. I checked online to make sure and it still said it will charge me on auto renew even after I went in person and was told it will 100% be cancelled and that I would receive an email confirming that. I never received the email obviously. I was just charged for the months remaining but no cancellation was put through so if I didn't check, it would have renewed. I put in another cancellation request after that online since the payment was made and even now it is still pending and wont cancel. They are ignoring all of my calls and now I will have to go in AGAIN. This is absolutely absurd and disgusting behavior.

Not to mentioned they constantly change their price, so they may charge you 30 a month or 40 but on their website it'll be around 14 or even 10 l've seen.

Their "buddy pass" is extra money and and only good for the weekends. They WILL add that to a different contract without you knowing as they did to me, They'll also try to get you to buy an additional membership instead of the "buddy pass" DON'T DO IT. I did and as I mentioned, they put that into a year contract I did NOT approve and told me it was month to month and I could cancel any time, obviously not true.

In addition to all that, the bathrooms are always dirty, it's always extremely crowded at any time of day, even 10pm. The one singular good thing is that they do have decent equipment but they're always taken because it's so busy and sometimes they're broken.

IMPORTANT: if you're a woman please be careful because one of the staff members will start uncomfortably hugging you if you're just being nice and greeting them at the desk as you pass on the way in.

DO NOT SIGN UP YOU WILL...