Movement Sunnyvale — Attraction in Sunnyvale

I witnessed a Movement Gym Sunnyvale Staff Member shouting and yelling from the front desk to a climber on the wall last night, apparently because the climber was climbing too close to the gym's closing time (the gym wasn't actually closed yet, it was still within open hours). :/ The behavior from the staff was completely unacceptable. That's no way to treat your paying members who just want to climb right up until closing and then head out when it's officially closing time. In terms of customer service, and also just basic social decency, what happened last night was totally uncalled for, period. To that Staff member: next time, you could just walk up to the person to tell them if you feel like they're not permitted to climb 5 minutes before the gym closes (although there's no such rule in our Membership Contracts, I've reviewed it!). There's absolutely no need, zero, to yell at someone 20ft across the room in this situation, causing an embarrassing scene for all. Yeah, the other people around (members and other front desk staff alike) got silent when this happened, it was awkward fr. The climber ended up finishing his climb and got out of the gym before closing. If it were me on that wall I would have given the staff member an earful. It's simply no way to treat your customers like that.

What's even more absurd is that I've never seen this gym's staff shout like this when I think they SHOULD be doing so, i.e. safety concerns. E.g. children running directly under climbers, visible to the front desk staff. I've never seen any staff shout at kids who put themselves and other climbers into harms way. So, why does the staff think it's ok to shout at a climber to quit campusing 5 minutes before closing? Every time I've run into safety concerns (unsupervised children in fall zones, parents refusing to follow gym safety rules -- I'm not even talking about etiquette) over my years spent at this place, it was I who had to walk up to the staff, tell them of the concern, and ask them to resolve it. They don't get trained better it seems. (And don't even get me started on this gym’s philosophy that the onus is on the members to ensure a safe gym. If you look at the responses to these reviews, you'll see the Sunnyvale Gym Director repeatedly replying to similar negative reviews saying members should tell gym staff when they see something unsafe happening. Well here's an idea: how about ya train your gym staff and hold them accountable in ensuring safe conditions for all!)

I really wanted to leave 2 stars, for the other staff at this gym who I've met and I feel are super nice and helpful. But what I saw last night was simply too unacceptable to feel right leaving anything other than the most negative rating I could give.

It's really too bad that Movement's the major player in town for the South Bay. If Touchstone Gyms were to open some gyms here, or even just one, in the South Bay, I'd ditch Movement and sign up for Touchstone, faster than it takes a final...

Sadly, the quality of the setting became bad since Planet Granite changed to Movement. I heard experienced setters left to Mosaic, benchmark, touchstone etc, when the management changed(probably wage issue). Movement hired new 'apprentice' setters with little experience(who's eager to learn with lower wage whatever) and started teaching them. I've been patiently waiting for them to get better, but recent settings are really disappointing. They seem to care more about making Instagram reels than actually setting better. The problem is all the setters are fairly new, and only a few climb higher than v7. They don't seem to understand how the body movement supposed to be for a good climber, therefore set a lot of awkward problems. It is good enough for beginners and I do enjoy some creative problems, but the entire wall of experimental problems is too much. I often see very awkward problems that make everyone break intended beta, or even injury prone. The other type is too dull settings, simple juggy crimps ladder. I heard many strong climbers complaining about it. Bay area is the main indoor climbing area close to Yosemite, where modern US climbing history started. I can’t believe gyms here don't accommodate hard climbers. In result, people stop climbing or go other gyms and outdoors because they can't find interesting problems over v4-5. I'm thinking to change to Touchstone when they open a new gym in Redwood City next year. Touchstone gyms setting has been constantly better. They set the same style on the same wall over and over, even with the same holds.... especially for bouldering, they seem to designate certain walls as 'dyno wall' or 'mantle wall' etc, and set only those styles on that wall. It's good to practice the same style over and over, but imagine you were excited for a new set because you climbed everything else, then only finding it's all the same style. On top of that, they are similar to what's been there before.

These comments are mainly for bouldering, but I find similar situations with rope climbing. Santa clara, belmont gyms are not that different experience either. I really wish they hire more seasoned setters to overlook everything, with proper wage. Movement increased membership fee 3 times last year or so, but they don't seem to pay enough to the setters.

Old review; It's VERY crowded after 6 pm. People get too close to the wall, almost falling on each other. Need sign or announcement to stay 5' away from the wall!! Seriously, they need to open another gym in South Bay...

Edit: After I complained here, some employees started telling people to get away from the wall. Also they're opening a new gym in Mountain View. I appreciate...

This is gonna be complaint regarding an incident that occurred today during a lead check for my friend, which I participated as the lead check partner. Two star is for most of the staff who are friendly and helpful

During this session, one of your staff members revoked my lead permit. The staff member insisted that the “tunneling” belay method was invalid, even after I explained that I learned to lead climb in Europe, where this method is commonly taught and accepted. After that dude made a false accusation, claiming my hands were “always away from the rope", which was a blatantly false observation. It contradicts with the fact that I’ve successfully belayed multiple climbers at your gym, passed others through your belay tests, and caught numerous falls both expected and unexpected without any injury. I would have caused multiple serious accidents through my years of climbing if what dude said was true.

What was most insulting, however, was his response when I asked to retake the test. He casually suggested I come back on Sunday or next Thursday—as if I can easily skip my work just to satisfy the whims of someone playing gatekeeper. My friends also got turned down multiple times when they requested a walk-in test because of "no availability", all while multiple staff chatting and having fun at the front desk doing nothing. This kind of tone-deafness is infuriating, especially when it comes from someone providing a service to paying customers. Would you refund me that one week of membership fee because in reality I cannot fully utilize the gym?

Let me be crystal clear: your staff are not the judges of climbing truth—they are there to ensure safety, not impose rigid dogma or condescend to your community members. There’s a fine line between providing constructive feedback and patronizing your members under the guise of “safety enforcement.” What I experienced today was not guidance; it was micromanagement disguised as expertise.

Furthermore, your entire lead program needs reevaluation. You charge $275 for group lead lessons, yet fail to provide basic support like staff-led lead checks—forcing members to scramble for partners and wait days weeks for a test, while they couldn't practice in real circumstances. And when they finally do get checked with someone they found, they run the risk of losing privileges they paid for because a staff member decides to nitpick their technique. How is that fair? Who would even want to offer help if you all...