Vent Fitness — Attraction in Town of Guilderland

I would like to increase the rating, but unfortunately it seems who ever manages these gyms does not care about the customer experience. If this person walked throughout their own gyms, they would see the mess that plagues nearly every VENT location. I found out recently all locations are owned by LIA, which sort of explains some things... I'll just leave it at that to be nice. There is a reason all the "real" lifters aka power lifters and body builders have left most every VENT location for ABC fitness and BEST fitness. This gym's members disrespect the gym, and the owners let them do it... you have to proactively make it loud and clear when you break the rules you get punished... just like the 50 dollar fines for speeding in school zones that is going on currently. See below for the detailed break down of what has ruined VENT fitness. I am planning to take my money elsewhere soon. I've attached pictures of VENT's use of your $25 a month, mind you that one of the power racks no one was back there lifting or using the equipment (and weights loaded on nearly every machine, and racked in all the wrong locations making it a pain to get the weights you need off the rack). I cleaned up everything for the staff that day, and have been doing so when I'm there which ruins my workout in terms of getting out in a timely manor.

THE GOOD: Friendly staff, plenty of weight equipment + cardio equipment, also a pool/basketball court (for those interested).

THE BAD: 8 out of every 10 members don't put their weights away when done and have NO CLUE WHERE to put their weights (bumper plates and regular plates mixed on the same rack in all different variants of 45/25/35 mixed together), it says "bumper plates only" by the power racks at guilderland and people can't read apparently, weights sprawled all over the floor, when the equipment breaks it takes weeks if not months to fix, no real maintenance staff from what I'm seeing (no one is inspecting the equipment, and it's very obvious as cables snap on people mid lift by the cable machines and loose bolts on a bunch of the benches/equipment which is a major safety hazard), who ever is "fixing" stuff clearly isn't that skilled at it (I turn screws for a living, I can tell), not a single staff member to be seen teaching the members gym etiquette (putting their weights away, fining them for breaking the gym rules etc.), guilderland location seems to have a broken flusher on one of the toilets (there's always a nasty turd floating in the toilet because no one can figure out how to flush it lol), there's usually piss all over the floor by the urinals on the weekend and clearly no one is cleaning the place on the weekend (seems to be all locations). At guilderland there was a sink broken for 3 months, a soap dispenser hanging from the wall for months, multiple broken equipment that gets "fixed", then the "out of order" sign is put back on it a week later... probably because no one is properly fixing this stuff. Hire some real maint ppl please... this is getting...

My opinion may be biased as I train and teach classes at Vent, but I have worked at other Health and wellness facilities and have worked out at numerous other gyms in the Capital District as well as Hudson Valley.

Well here is the skinny, scoop or nowadays “tea” on Vent Fitness.

Vent Fitness has some of the best and educated trainers I have seen. You have a great mix of Veteran trainers like Beth, Terry Mike and Doug to trainers who have been in the game the last few years like Sam, Josh, Anthony and all are led by Mike Finley who is down to earth as it gets. I have witnessed them work with their clients and all are well respected attentive and help their clients achieve the goals they set out for.

The group X classes have a great variety of formats as well as instructors from Zumba Jay, Charolette, Janelle, Jeannine and many others who all have dedicated members who take what ever class they teach no matter the time.

The equipment on the floor is plentiful and like most gyms between 5-7pm the floor gets tight and has a good amount of body builders or aspiring body builders on the floor. Don’t let that turn you away as these guys and girls would be more than happy to help you with an exercise if asked. I know I have talked to plenty when I am just working out and they are more than happy to share or help.

If you are looking for that boutique studio Vent has the E3 Studio which will get your heart pumping and the sweat leaving.

In my opinion the cost of Vent is very reasonable with all it offers. I have been a member down state where membership was much more for much less.

As for some of the bad reviews which seems a few years ago talking about the staff. I have had nothing but good experience with the staff from the cleaning crew especially Ray, who gives Vent the white glove treatment, to the Highs School/college age kids. I come and go at different times and faces change so not everyone knows I work their, but I am always greeted with a smile and a hello and goodbye. If some of the bad reviewers can remember a time when they had their first job, sometimes it takes time to warm up to it, and with Rob and Ryan leading the way the transition is smooth.

If you ever had any issue Gina L who is just a super person, and runs Vent like Dalton ran the Double Deuce in Road House will always help ya out.

Anywho I have worked out at all the Vents, each is unique in its own style and design but the people remain the same, which is dedicated to its...

Pre-Pandemic Vent would have normally received a 2 Star rating but with the actions of Vent Fitness within the last year, I wish I could give them a 0 Star rating. After shutting down the gym back on March 16th 2020, Vent Fitness decided to charge my monthly membership fee the following day after they announced on Facebook they would be closing until further notice. Then when gyms were allowed back to open at 1/3 capacity, they decided again to charge people a yearly fee regardless if they felt safe to go to the gym or not; knowing that nobody was allowed to use the gym for half a year. At this point, I decided to freeze my account and wanted to wait until I felt it was a safer environment before I returned to Vent Fitness. A couple months went by and unbeknownst to me, my account was unfrozen and I was charged another monthly fee. My assumption was that I would have had it frozen until the pandemic was over so I wasn’t going to get repeatedly charged every few months, but that wasn’t the case. I tried to reach out about all the preposterous fees and never received any justification for this matter. After a few more attempts to get clarification, I received a couple emails saying I would be credited with one month free (The money should have been put into my banking account rather than credited) and that the monthly fees would be increasing more than 30%. I called recently to confirm I had some credit towards the gym and was told I had no such thing. The employee told me that a manager would get back to me and I never received any call from Vent Fitness. Regardless of what any employee of Vent Fitness says, the way they practice business is unethical and borderline criminal. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you why Vent Fitness would receive a 2 star rating before the pandemic started. I’ll keep it short and sweet. Vent Fitness decides when it wants it’s already paying customers to actually use the basketball court. They would rather have a random person spend money to rent the court than to let the paying members use it. Too many times have I walked into the gym to play and was told I couldn’t even though I paid my monthly membership. Again, poor way of running a business. In conclusion, you are better off spending your hard earned money on literally any other gym in the area. Most other gyms provided the same equipment, charge $10 a month, and won’t put you through torture like Vent...