LA Fitness

I have been a member of LA Fitness in Newark since 2021. I have logged back in to change my review because when I first signed up ALL of the staff and facilities were excellent. EVERY time you walked into the building, you were greeted by all staff. Facilities were always clean—custodial staff walked around consistently and wiped down unused equipment and kept the floors clean. Similarly, the bathrooms and sauna were clean, with the staff checking both regularly. The salesperson I signed up with, Brandon, always checked in with me, whether walking up to me to say hi while I was in the gym or a call making sure your services were high-quality. Unfortunately, he moved on. There were others that I did not work with directly, but they were all friendly. However, that all changed late 2022/early 2023, which brought some not so good changes. There has been a high turnover in front desk staff, as well as I have not seen custodial staff regularly walking the floor or in the bathrooms for at least the past 8 months. The women’s bathroom isn’t cleaned regularly. Several times it’s been closed because of a sewage issue, but the gym and locker room were still open. Since June, the sauna has been non operational. Recently, within the past two weeks, the training room has been closed. As for the staff, the people at the front rarely speak—except for ONE young man. In the evenings the operational manager is at the front, and she does not model for her subordinates appropriate interactions with clients. The general manager walks around and only speaks to certain people. He is rude and interrupts trainers while they are in sessions, and does not say “excuse me” to clients when pausing sessions. He walks in between the trainer and client and puts himself in the client’s personal space. This is very off putting when relationships haven’t been developed with all clients. I say all of this to say, that as a paying member, I do not appreciate my money being misappropriated. If I frequented the West Orange, Clark, or Cliffwood locations (which I go to depending on my work schedule), this maltreatment of clientele would not be tolerated—I’m really hoping this isn’t because of the zip code…. There’s no reason that a new club like Newark should be going downhill this fast, especially when you have a faithful membership that enjoy coming to the gym. Since we pay a monthly membership, all of the amenities should be available, and if there are needs for repairs, they should be completed in a TIMELY manner. LA FITNESS is a brand, and it should not matter the location you frequent—we should all have quality facilities and service. Do better! Once the changes for the better have been made, and are consistent, I will gladly come back and revise my review. Until then….