Copley-Price Family YMCA — Attraction in San Diego

Shameful what bad management and ill-trained staff can do to such a beautiful YMCA.

I grew going to the YMCA. I learned how to swim and play tennis at the Magdalena YMCA in Encinitas as child. Always had great experiences and made me think very highly of the YMCA.

No doubt, this is a great facility in terms of amenities and features, but if those amenities aren't maintained, then was it worth the investment?

Compared to other YMCA's, the big noticeable difference with this location is the general upkeep of the Locker Room. I can't speak about the Women's locker room, but the Men's locker room is not well maintained and generally in poor condition. Looking back, in other locations I recall always seeing the cleaning staff coming in and out of the locker rooms. In all my visits here, I do not recall ever seeing an attendant inside the locker rooms.

In general, they have a good selection of group exercise classes and a good schedule. My wife and I did several classes and enjoyed most of them. The only classes I often found lacking inspiration were the Spin classes. So if you are thinking of joining for that, I wouldn't recommend it.

It's a great facility, but not very large. The weight area is a bit tight and it can get pretty crowded. I found myself doing free weights in the outside workout space to avoid the crowds. Not the best option if its cold or too hot.

What finally made me cancel my membership was that my locker was broken into and everything was stolen. The fact that it happened wasn't why I cancelled, but how it was handled is why I cancelled. My locker was pried opened and the initial statements from the staff member were the following: "Are you sure that was your locker" : while looking at a broken empty locker* "Yeah, this has happened a couple of times in the past few weeks" : So you know it's happening and nothing is done to prevent it? "Well there's nothing we can do": Why even have cameras at all? Why check badges? I'm sure people taking there families there want a sense of security.

In my conversation over the phone, the Director offered nothing more than canned and scripted answers. No empathy (Even if its fake!), no solutions and no assurances. They didn't bother looking at the cameras. They just said the police had to do. SD Police in City Heights has bigger things to worry about then locker room theft. I filed a police report, but of course, nothing was done.

For those wondering...Within 30 minutes of me finding my locker broken into, I had almost $1,000 dollars in charges on my debit and credit cards from nearby places like GameStop, Bob's smoke shop and Vons. Whoever is breaking into the lockers, obviously knows what they are doing and they know the YMCA is a...

Joined and cancelled membership within less than 6 months. My family and I are new to the area so I was very excited to see the YMCA close to our home. However, upon joining and attending several times I quickly found this place to be unlike any other Y I have been a part of (not in a good way.) The first several times I went, the front desk check in person ignored me, so I walked right in without being checked in. Much of the staff appears unhappy to be there and uninterested in members, unless it is to scold them about breaking the countless number of rules they seem to have but are written no where. During family swim, my toddler (under 2) no longer wanted to wear her floatie (which I brought from home) The lifeguard told me it’s required for her to wear it- even though I had taken her into the pool before I even bought a floatie, and the lifeguard those times never said anything to me. I asked him to show me where that rule is written- he then told me, that I just need to have her in my arms. The several lifeguards that rotated in to watch during this family swim were constantly getting onto people- for taking pictures (she was photographing her own grandchildren,) not using pool noodles (?,) and accusing (instead of asking) one child of being under the age limit to swim without her adult in the water- yet she was two years older than that limit. They truly sucked the fun out of this swim outing and definitely do not make the environment feel family friendly like other YMCA’s I have been a member of. I also felt very uneasy about the summer camp working staff. As a former teacher, it was alarming to see 2 out of the 4 staff sitting on their phones, not watching the camp kids during water play on the splash pad outside. Another one had headphones in her ears, lounging in a chair with her eyes CLOSED altogether. There was only ONE teacher actually UP, supervising and interacting with the children. And there were two groups of children- around 20 or more children. This is NOT okay. I also just wasn’t a fan of the outside pool being used for lap swim only. There’s zero opportunity for families to swim outside during the summer, which is obviously a summer activity. This place needs work y’all. Extremely unhappy with...

Avoid this YMCA. Get your monthly membership elsewhere.

Copley-Price Family YMCA is very poorly managed. You never see any leadership mixing with members, it seems they are too busy in their offices.

Overall, there is absolutely no respect for the Customer Experience, the facility is filthy, smells, and staff are a joke.

They are replacing 20-30 year equipment, closing the fitness area FOR THREE DAYS!!!! Any other facility would complete the task overnight, but not the Y. They would rather inconvenience paying members for THREE DAYS. It's absolutely outrageous!!! (See picture)

Management closes the popular Meditation Room regularly for staff events when the Community Room, the Coffee Bar area, and other rooms are available. Management would rather inconvenient paying members than manage the facility correctly. (See picture of recent event)

Front Desk staff 4-6 individuals at any given time are on their cell phones, gossiping, slouching in their chairs daily. No, Hello, no goodbye, nothing!!!

Fitness Floor staff are a pathetic. They are always behind the desk staring at the computer. You ask for assistance and they act like they are being bothered. Some of them couldn't save you in the event of an emergency. For example, Eza walks around pretending to count people, his clothes don't fit, he bends over, and you see his arse, etc. Other floor staff are similar in their overall presentation.

The facility is filthy, dust everywhere, bathroom stained toilets, takes weeks for repairs of equipment and restroom facilities. Management has ONE outsourced facility hygiene individual for the ENTIRE FACILITY!!!! Absolutely no YMCA staff cleans or tidys up the facility. Just completely uncalled for.

70-80% of staff are not Health or Fitness focused, most would be considered obese. So much for leading by example.

Bottome line, I have never seen any manager visible or interacting randomly with members. No name badges, no information center with pictures outlining Management for Members to review.

Just because this YMCA is in an socially and economically disadvantage area doesn't mean the Customer Experience should reflect such.

Avoid this YMCA. Get your monthly...