Retro Fitness — Attraction in New York

Retro Fitness DBA Thieves Gym

DONT BE A VICTIM

The best workout you can do at this gym is a 180 and walk out the door. Dont forget to flex your wallet when you do so.

Before my review lets read a couple of others who have been victims:

Marina B YELP Review posted 11/6/2017 - "The blonde girl at the front as well as the girl with the curly hair are very pushy and rude. DO NOT FORCE people to sign up if they do not want to."

Gerry G YELP review posted 1/2/2018- "My son was invited for a free 'assessment' after which they made a recommendation he sign up for a personal trainer. He was tricked into signing a contract for $5000." After Speaking to Gerry personally myself, his son still had to pay $1200.

Coincidence? I will let you decide, future customer reading this.

Hello, Ciro the owner or district manager, whatever the title is. I want your business to do good but you are not letting me:

Alisa signed up few months ago for a MONTHLY membership. Did not want to be part of the gym for no more than 1 month. I NEVER JOINED A GYM BEFORE IN MY LIFE and when I do decide to this happens. Matter of fact, I did not even use their facility ONCE (because I didnt have time) after I signed up even for that 1 month I wanted because I workout from home and I knew I will not use the gym often enough to justify a yearly contract. I only wanted to test the gym out before my vacation and maybe use the treadmill for cardio a few times to lean up. I came back from my vacation couple weeks ago to find out they had me sign a YEARLY contract that I NEVER wanted because ABC financial keeps calling me every day. Manager Alexandra, owner, district manager and head of customer experience John-Michael from corporate are not taking care of my matter. I do not hold Alisa or Alexandra accountable since she has been replying to my emails and this problem is outside her power. I hold the owner Ciro most accountable for hiding behind the shadows of the manager when a binding contract is in question and treating me like this is a game. I should not have to contact you more than once for this to be solved. When a client from ANY business wants to talk to the owner or district manager for a problem, businesses take it serious. Not this one.

My ~$600 to cancel the contract I never wanted wont save your business. Nor will it upset me. This review is strictly for your future customers. Who might be already deterred by this . Nobody wins and all we're left with is a dissatisfied customer and a very long bad review that cannot be avoided when you scroll down this lovely page that I tried MY BEST to avoid writing. Its been a week now.

Owner/DIstrict manager Ciro:

Before you reply to my review: I do not need your apology to my review to damage control your business. I need you to go be a businessman and talk to Alexandra and John-Michael about my situation and PLEASE have it taken care of. I should not have to contact you more than once for this to be solved and you yourself should know this. I will visit you in person to thank you for the great service you provided me as soon as my schedule allows me to. Thank you.

Oh, I also paid ABC Financial today $150 for the past 3 months to avoid collections. I will be expecting that back too. (especially now after I found out memberships can be frozen)

UPDATE (2 days later):

Want more proof how sleazy they are, future customers?

I found out gyms can freeze memberships so you dont constantly get billed, which in my case gives me more time to figure this out with them.....where the problem lies is the fact I had to find that out MYSELF. They did not offer me this option which clearly shows they do not have customers best interest in mind.

Do this world a favor, future customers and do not give them your money. This type of business practice is not welcome whether they did it just to me or to 100...

I had been with Retro Fitness for over 10 years. I had just moved to a different part of Queens and figured I would try this location out due to is being closer to me than the one on Otto Road in Glendale, NY. When I signed up I was told I had a week pass to give it a go. Great. I came back the 2nd time, on a dead Sunday, and was told that the pass was not meant to be 7 days and even though I was TOLD it was a week pass and was ever TOLD and even signed a form that stated it was for 7 DAYS that was not sufficient and I would not be aloud to workout. After explaining to him that I took time out of my day to come to the gym and I had been a member of Retro Fitness, FOR 10 YEARS, I figured a little courtesy would be extended. NOPE. He stated he needs $17 for the day pass. When he said this I was kind of shocked and asked if he could give a one time courtesy due to being a member at Retro Fitness on Otto since the DAY IT OPENED. NOPE. He wanted $17 for one session. No problem, you made the decision to leave Retro Fitness for good VERY EASY for me and I left immediately. If this is how a member of the gym is treated after being a loyal member for OVER A DECADE I will more than happy to give my business elsewhere and reach out to the Better Business Bureau. I will NEVER step foot inside of a Retro Fitness again. Here are some cons I saw during my 1 day visit.

Most machines I encountered were dirty/dusty/sweat stained Many machines seem to be rusted and have moisture between them (they stick together) Not many lower body machines as I would expect (I think I saw 1 hack squat machine in the whole gym) Weights all over the place and sloppy People taking videos all over the place of themselves with tripod set up. No one puts the dumbbells back to their correct place and are left randomly thruout the gym. Guys taking pictures all in the locker room while people are getting dressed Nasty Smelling/Dirty Locker Room

No response is necessary from the staff as your actions have spoken loud enough. I will tell everyone that asks about Retro Fitness about this experience. I've been working out and going to gyms all over the country for over 20 years and have never seen such a lack of courtesy from ANY gym; let alone one I was a part of over 10 years. I am absolutely disgusted about this experience. STAY AWAY. You've...

If there was a -5, would be the best suitable review. Absolutely horrible experience and I wouldn't recommend this gym to anyone. The only real convenience is the free parking, which is a big deal in Queens area. First of all, I have been with this gym for over a decade, when it used to be Synergy and it was so much better. I have been to Retro in Long for years and in Queens but this Forest Hills VIP branch is really going down hill. They charged me $83.00 for cancelling due to moving which is not mentioned on the contract nor was ever mentioned verbally. This is totally illegal and unprofessional. The staff (Jadi or JS or something like that) couldn't be more rude, non empathetic and unprofessional. I never paid in my life for having to move in another area and giving all the proving paperwork. They also charged my husband $80.00-$100.00 for personal training that was supposed to be 40' that ended up being 30' with the trainer taking my husband to the machines because as per the excuse there is not enough space. The gym is tiny, half the machines not working, and water is dripping from the celling. On top of all this scum and ridiculous fees the staff attitude is unprofessional, not explanatory and they try to make money with a sneaky way and make up fees the last minute. They try aggressively to make money and they don't fully explain their questionable contracts. When we were signing up we had some questions with my husband, we had a bad feeling and the explanations we were getting were very vague. Instead of explaining things to us, the kids who work there made fun of us and laughed as a response to our questions. I was transferred from another gym and was told from Lisa that my transfer was going to take 10 days...it took 4 months!! I was going every day trying to get a resolution, called more than 10 times and they still were not doing anything. They found about the mistake 4 months later and in the meantime they were giving me hard time every time I would go to work out because they couldn't see me in the system. They never apologized, or even said sorry out of courtesy, instead they charged me another 4 MONTHS! because of their late transfer. Cold, not understanding and not caring at all they demanded me to pay for it. Stay away from this gym and don't spend your hard working money, it is not...