Crunch Fitness - Normal — Attraction in Normal

I joined this Crunch late last year. I have worked for Crunch Fitness in the past (in another state) and am very familiar with it, so when I moved back here to Bloomington, I knew that it would be the gym I would choose. Well, let's just say that all Crunch's are not the same, and this one leaves A LOT to be desired. I initially joined at the top tier (Peak Plus Results) membership specifically because I enjoy the cycling class (The Ride) that is only offered in that membership. However, after a few months, I realized that I wasn't attending the class often at all (the times that it is offered don't really work for my schedule), and didn't feel the need to continue paying for the top tier membership if I wasn't using it for the one thing that I chose that membership for. I went in today to downgrade my membership type to middle tier (Peak) and was told that they now charge a $20 downgrade fee. What??? Charging $20 to try to prevent people from downgrading by essentially punishing them for doing so? That is absolutely ridiculous. A more responsible thing to do would be to work harder as a company to promote the amenities that are offered in the top tier memberships so that people would be less likely to want to downgrade in the first place. But, charging people an additional fee to change their membership to something that better suits them is foolish. Conversely, I'm sure there is no fee charged for people to UPGRADE to a more expensive membership type, is there?! Not good business at all. Additionally, the atmosphere at this gym is not very inviting. The staff are often/usually less than friendly and do very, very, VERY little to acknowledge members or make them feel welcome. Most every time that I go in, there are at least 2 staff members at the front desk, and no one says a thing when you walk in. They just stare at you in silence as you swipe your barcode and walk away. The same as you walk out... just silent stares. This is not common for a Crunch gym at all! The least they could do is acknowledge someone when they walk in. I've worked at gyms for over 20 years and know for a fact that people who feel welcomed and acknowledged report having a more positive gym-going experience and are more likely to retain their membership. Simple and basic customer service is lacking here. Also, the gym itself is not the cleanest. I do understand that it is a high traffic facility, but, in my opinion and from my experience, that is not an excuse. The equipment, locker rooms, and especially the showers are not kept in the best condition or maintained well. All of these reasons are why I canceled my membership today. The $20 downgrade fee, however, was the last straw. I am excited to explore other gym options in Blo-No, because I definitely got a firm wake-up call by this facility that all Crunch fitness gyms are NOT created equal. This one is a...

When I first started going here, I would have definitely given it 5 stars. The staff was friendly and the group fitness classes were good. Then things started going downhill. I never felt comfortable working out in the main area due to the number of people occupying the gym. As I became more fit, the group classes weren't as challenging and they were struggling to keep good trainers/teachers on staff.

Fast forward to November 2021- I went in to freeze my account as I was trying to decide if I wanted to keep my membership. They had me sign with no questions asked.

Come February 2022, I knew that my freeze period was coming to an end. I had found another workout plan that I can do at home and found better fitness results. I went in to Crunch to see about canceling my membership. The poor guy at the desk didn't have a clue what to do about it. Eventually, someone brought out a binder notebook and had me fill out a slot on a paper marked "Cancellation Requests." I was taken by surprise- why would it be a request? Then I was told that I would be contacted soon about canceling.

The next day I received an email from the general manager asking if I really wanted to cancel or if I wanted to freeze my account and asked for my reason why. I told her that it was already frozen (had she looked at my account, she would know that) and to proceed to cancel (for reasons stated above). After that, I didn't hear anything for 2 1/2 weeks. I emailed twice with no response. Finally I received my cancelation notice on 2/25. I was told that I would have no further billing processes and did not owe anything. Imagine my surprise when I saw that my account was charged for my $30 membership at the end of the month. I called and left a message- no returned call. Called again and a girl who answered told me that it's their policy to charge another fee if 30 days notice isn't given and it's on my contract. She told me I could email the GM about it. I did that- no response. I decided to just dispute the charge with my bank. Luckily the dispute was settled within 24 hours. In short, they make it exceedingly easy to sign up and freeze. But heaven help you if you try to cancel. As a small business owner myself, they need to put some better systems in place. I was never asked during my freeze period if there was anything they could do to make my experience better. Not even when I came in to cancel. Instead I had snotty responses from front desk staff. I suppose you get what you pay for. Hopefully they can improve with some things and make the experience better for...

Gave it a few more weeks, they seem to have made an effort to rope off less area for classes and allowed for more room for others which is good. While it does still feel too crowded most days, I can complete my workout without too much hassle or waiting. I've given it a month since original review and removing a star. While they did slightly address my original annoyance that the group fitness classes took up so much space. They now leave the corners open for a bit of extra space for the non-class people so that is appreciated. But then they made the overall problem worse by adding MORE equipment in the past few weeks. There is literally no open space in the gym. Ok, you can use the side room when its not used by group fitness but you'd have to carry any equipment (dumbbells, kettlebells, etc) with you across the entire gym. Why is it such a tall ask to have dedicated open space for people to work out that doesn't involve machines? Pros: lots of equipment...there's your two stars.

Cons: Way too crowded. I started going in the morning at 5:30 AM and its only slightly better than the post 4PM time. The problem is, they make it way worse by roping off a quarter of the gym when they do group fitness, which is exactly the busiest times of day, morning and early evening. When they do this, they eliminate the only open area for people to stretch, foam roll, warm up, do any kind of range of motion exercise. Not only that, some of the group fitness instructors won't even let you access any of the equipment along the wall...swiss balls, medicine balls, mats, etc. Never mind that there are literally only four people in the class and it causes no interruptions to the class, you're out of luck in trying to complete your own workout. I understand they need to do classes but they do not need the entire area they currently use and there is no reason to limit others access to the equipment. The class should take the equipment they need for their class, rope off at MOST 3/4 of what they currently use, and leave the rest open for others. Ironically they have TV monitors inside the group fitness area that say "Please share equipment, let others work in."

Oh, and clips are regularly missing on the squat racks. Problem at most...