Water and Rock Studio — Attraction in Philadelphia

I have had a great experience with Japheth at Water and Rock Studio and highly recommend them. They are worth your time and money, but be forewarned as a side effect you will probably become too small for your wardrobe and need to invest in some new clothes! ;-) I am totally serious, I dropped some weight and a couple inches off my waist and just bought my first sleeveless workout shirt in 30 years since, all while getting stronger.

Prior to Water and Rock Studio, I was an avid bicyclist, runner, and amateur sports car racer, but suffered a major injury while cycling that required an extended period of inactivity and rehabilitation. I also had a pretty weak core and not much upper body strength. Following physical therapy / rehab for a shattered clavicle (now plated & screwed back together), I wanted to increase core and upper body strength, build endurance, increase flexibility, and learn a bit of yoga.

After an initial meeting, we also identified a need to reduce my stress level and take steps improve my nutrition. My regular one on one sessions tend to check in on personal health, stress levels, and nutrition, and then engage in a wide variety of functional fitness work. It is always changing, so you never get bored or find it repetitive. This can't be understated, as I hated trying to go to a traditional gym and using whatever machines were available - that never worked for me. I have also attended a few of their group sessions, especially the free ones on Saturdays, and find them good as well - to round out my activity each week.

They also work with an informal local network of other health & wellness professionals, which is nice. And they have periodic special events that are interesting.

Reflecting back on the last six months of working with Water and Rock studio, I have to say I have been highly impressed with the result, and it has been worth every penny spent and every minute invested personally. That said, the results depend on your commitment and willingness to try new things and focus on fitness and nutrition every week between your sessions. Although I was often skeptical of some of the dietary and health recommendations for example, I have tried each one just to see and saw some surprising results that have motivated me to keep up with the changes (nothing like positive reinforcement!).

I am now stronger and in better condition that before my injury, my nutrition has improved, my health has improved (for example - my cholesterol was high before hand and is now substantially lower and in the normal range again), I have learned and regularly practice yoga, and my stress level has dramatically diminished. I have not felt this good in many years, and friends, family, and co-workers have all noticed.

I highly recommend Japheth and Water and Rock Studio - give them a try and see...

I've never written a bad review on a small business, or any business for that matter. Worst experience I've ever had with a business, and I was a client for 17 months. No major issues with quality of instruction, the reason for the poor review is the difficulty of ending the contract, even for a long standing client. Be very careful when signing up, there is no notification before the contract renews automatically. I was told that emails are sent to notify clients of renewal, which I never received, but after asking no less than 6 times, the studio was never able to produce one of those emails.

I agree very much with the other poor review on here, Japheth does not take no for an answer. Very aggressive sales tactics. I tried to stop sessions twice, and the entire next session was spent selling me more sessions. I thought this was obvious to both Japheth and I, thought he might offer me a free session in exchange and also as a thank you for continuing to be a client, but no.

This past October I finally decided it was time to stop. Once again, I was told I was "under contract", again this is after no notice of renewal, and also after spending around $2000 at this studio. I refused to pay the last $150, and have now been turned into a collection agency (another first for me) over $150!

In 17 months I was not able to reach my goal (not the studio's fault) but only 2 months after buying the book "Clean Eating" by James Duigan, available on Amazon and most book stores, I've reached my goal. Upon starting training sessions with Japheth, I told him I tend to drink wine most nights. He said this was fine (which I thought was odd) as long as I didn't have beer or spirits. I ran this by a few other trainers and health professionals, they did not agree. Well I should have listened to them. I stopped drinking wine and have since lost 12 pounds! Buy the book Clean Eating, save your money, and avoid this studio and their very arrogant...

Summary: Not customer-service oriented, does not respond to email, call text, do not ever make a error booking with them because they do not care to fix it.

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While the experience and service provided was great, I have the unfortunate experience to work with their scheduling/owner, Japeth Brubaker.

I accidentally booked the incorrect class (Purchased on 5/29 for 6/8 Yoga) I immediately emailed them (2 minutes after receiving confirmation in my email) asking to move the class to the correct class (6/9 Yoga).

No response. I called twice to follow-up. No response.

I went ahead and booked the other class (Purchased on 6/3 for 6/9 Yoga) to ensure I could attend with my friend. I continued to request some type of response on the matter.

I finally received an email on 6/9 stating: we want to help please text or call for fastest response: ###-###-#### | Please note this is after after the yoga class I participated in.

I responded and did not hear back til 6/11 and they texted through what happened to clarify. Then nothing. I followed up. Nothing.

6/18 - I received "Please see our refund policy and call if any questions."

Your website does not list a refund policy. Only the booking process (third party scheduling/payment site) indicates no refunds. 2. No one would respond to me even if I text, called, email. We are now 9 days after the yoga.

6/19 - The sent me a long text indicating that it was my fault for the error on the booking website. WHICH IT WAS. But I did everything in my power to adjust the booking to free up the space in advance.

This is not a customer-oriented organization. I would suggest considering...