Anytime Fitness Ponsonby — Local services in Waitematā

I have been an Anytime Fitness member since a while and with my job I travel a lot so I have been to many AT around Australia and now NZ. This is however by far the worse AT i have been to. I have tried to train this morning at 8am and the heaters were on in the gym. Other members complained aswell. There was no way to turn them off and there are no fans in the gym. And staff does not start before 11am- during the week ! - so my performance was massively impacted by the heaters. This gym is also not really women friendly- simple fact there are no hairdryers or a corner where you can get ready. Also when you come in in the morning the bathrooms are extremely dirty, I dont know when it gets cleaned but if you are someone like me who trains in the morning and expects a nice clean and fresh gym this is not the one to go to. I am very disappointed as I never expected to ever go to an AT and experience this. Next time I would rather visit AT in Auckland city as they are much cleaner, air conditioned and equipped with hairdryers. On my first day here when I asked the manager 1-2 questions he also did not respond in a very friendly way. I dont think he likes people that are not local coming to the gym.

My accomodation was around the corner of this AT but probably next time its worth taking the bus to the city for a nicer morning session where you dont have to train in front of heaters and have much nicer and cleaner restrooms.

Edit: Dear Ponsbony staff. As much as you would like to paint your overseas guest as “stupid”- Auckland is not the coldest place I visited. I m in wellington atm-‘colder than Auckland and still the gym is nicely airconditioned. Same in Canberra (pls google how cold it can get there)- colder than Auckland , again gym was nicely air conditioned. If your local member requested heaters for the morning that is perfectly fine, I am warning all non-locals because I finished my week in different AT gyms in Auckland, same city, same temperatures and still- no heaters on. And its hard to give feedback in person when staff does not start before 11. Its clear you dont take feedback on board- extremely unprofessional and confirms my review about the gym. Good luck and all...

I'm currently disputing a debt brought against me by this gym. I got behind in paying my fees, so fair enough they needed to be paid. I rang up EzyPay (who do fees on behalf of Anytime Fitness) to see how much I still owed (they told me my account was closed - fine by me) and then they gave me the amount I still owed and I paid it with my card over the phone. I heard nothing after that for over 2 months, no email, txt, phone calls etc. Nothing to advise me that I was owing anything. That was until I received an email from Baycorp saying I owed them for an unpaid debt with Anytime Fitness. My attitude is if I owe anything, that's fine but I want to know what exactly this fee is. EzyPay confirmed to me that at least from their side, I'm paid up. The info provided to Baycorp in terms of what I owe is vague at best. So I contacted the gym directly. The manager/owner whoever has done nothing but tell me to go back to Baycorp - they've been unwilling to advise me of what this debt is and why they made no effort to communicate with me (my contact details haven't changed) BEFORE passing it onto Baycorp. This was before Christmas 2019 and this gym has since given up responding to my emails. If you want a gym that think's it's okay to bill you but don't feel the need to tell you about it or feel the need to tell you what it is for then by all means join this gym.

SIDE NOTE: I'm now a member of another Anytime Fitness and they're absolutely lovely - this review is about AF Ponsonby, not AF as a whole.

Edit 1 - In response to the owner's comment

Thank you for your reply and clarification - it's a shame that I had to put this in the public arena just to get a proper response from you. But as per my email sent to you, this will be a matter for the Disputes Tribunal. Many thanks.

Edit 2 - In response to the owner editing their comment

Thank you for changing your comment as per the privacy laws - but despite this edit, the damage has already been done. And I have screenshots....

Not a bad gym, but certainly below the standard I would expect of an Anytime Fitness. Most of the problems are beyond what the staff can control: it's a very small space (especially in the free weights area) and becomes crowded even with very few people present. Be prepared to adapt your workout plans because it's very possible there won't be a bench or the dumbbells you want available, for example (or even room to actually move without encroaching on someone else's space). It's also a bit light on weight machines, and what they have is older than other AFs in the central Auckland area. In that regard, the gym would benefit from an equipment upgrade, just to bring it up to the standard of most AF gyms in Auckland. But again, because of the lack of space the gym will inevitably lack certain machines/equipment that most other gyms have.

The upstairs area is more spacious and an excellent, relatively quiet area for doing core exercises and stretches, but given how crowded downstairs is at times, could possibly be more effectively utilised.

Only three showers, so if you do plan to shower and change after your workout, there is a possibility you will have to wait and have to hurry so others don't have to wait (especially at peak times). This is a bit of a layout issue and can't really be helped. To the gym's credit, the showers and toilet facilities are excellent (like a nice hotel) and invariably very clean.

I will warn potential members, however, that the locks on all three shower/toilet rooms do not lock, and have not for months, which is a security issue. It reflects badly on the manager than this has not been fixed.

Overall, an OK/functional gym with a few unavoidable issues because of the space. Would not represent value for money if it was the only AF you planned to work out at. There are others in the CBD which are massively better and offer so much more in terms of equipment, facilities and ambience whether you're a beginner or an...