Gold's Gym Austin Highland — Local services in Austin

Let me start at the beginning… during the summer Eva’s grandson was coming on a daily basis. She was able to control all children except her own grandson, who was allowed to be unruly and abusive to other children. This only stopped when the school year began and I can only assume he started attending school.

One week ago, I came to the gym with my 3 year old daughter. When I picked up my daughter, a movie was playing in the room that had some robots or something of the like on the screen. My daughter was the only child in the room. She was cowering in the corner with her hands on her ears saying over and over “scary scary scary.” I told her that it is obvious that my daughter is scared and she acted confused by this observation and obviously never took the time to even ask my daughter what she was afraid of, which she was easily able to explain. I told her that it was the movie and she dismissed the observation. I asked her at this time to please not show any movie’s with robots because she specifically fears robots.

On the 16th, again, my child was the only child in the room when I picked her up and AGAIN a robot movie was on the TV. I confronted Eva and told her that I had asked her not to put movies on the TV with robots. Because my daughter was not paying attention to what was on the TV but rather playing with something else, Eva dismissed my observation again by saying that “obviously this is not scaring her” which should not have had anything to do with a parent’s request.

On the 17th, Eva had the movie “The Night Before Christmas” playing on the TV which is a PG rated movie. Even an employee of the gym, a trainer, walking into the room said something about how “creepy” that movie is. I mentioned that I know and that I would not even watch it and Eva spoke up saying that it is fine for children and that it is just a holiday movie. Thankfully, my daughter was not looking at the TV but rather was playing at the time. This movie is completely inappropriate for children of the ages that enter this room throughout the day. That same night, my wife had to get up with my daughter 3 times due to bad dreams. My daughter RARELY has bad dreams and is a rather brave little girl (even compared to my 6 year old son) and did not want to stay in her room due to her fears that night.

Looking back, I feel that I should have said something prior to now but I do not make complaining a habit and normally am able to overlook small issues. I normally don’t have to take things to a manager to get issues resolved but am normally able to talk to the person involved and resolve it at this level. This was not the case as each time I tried, I was dismissed. This; however, is too much to allow to continue. Again, I have chosen to not allow my daughter to be subjected to this type of treatment and will not return to this location until I am notified that this issue has been COMPLETELY revolved. I have spoken with Carol, the manager, and she told me that she is looking into the matter and will notify me of any changes made.

I thank you for your time and your efforts in taking care of this problem.

Update:

Since leaving this location, my daughter is now even afraid when we enter a grocery store over items that would seem everyday. When she walked into our living room this morning a children's program was on the TV. Because there was a character that somewhat resembled those on The Night Before Christmas, she began to shake and say "Scary Scary!" This is not my daughter's normal behavior and this did not start until she entered the Kid's Club at this location. We are now concern that she may need counseling. If this is the case we will hold Gold's Gym...

I joined Gold's gym to rehab a spinal injury after about a year in physical therapy. I made the mistake of purchasing 13 physical training sessions.

I had no idea what I was in for.

SPOILER: $1,051 in charges I never authorized. $600 of which I got back, after metaphorically crawling through glass and eventually Karen-ing my way to Brian Perry the manager. $451 they've still kept to this day.

I have, to date, been charged $149, $360, $451, and $600 for personal training since I signed on October 9, 2020. The $149 and the $360 are what I agreed to. ' What they don't tell you, is you're secretly signing a contract to put you on the hook for seemingly random amounts of money each month.

On Nov 25 I was charged $451 (when you exclude the monthly gym dues, which are totally fine and dandy). On Dec 26, I was charged $600. I was never even issued an invoice for the $451. They just charged my card with no receipt or invoice. If I'm lying, I challenge Golds to furnish proof that they issued a sales receipt for the $483.46 (again remember, roughly $30 of this is just the membership dues and that's cool) or any kind of proof of purchase.

I told my trainer and the fitness manager who signed me up I was only interested in the 13 sessions, and wanted to re-evaluate after that. Did they do anything about it? Nope. They didn't even know.

As Dawn Walker the Member Experience Manager said: "well, you signed a contract".

I never used those personal training sessions I didn't ask for. I never scheduled anything. It would cost golds gym NOTHING to refund me for these services I never used or asked for. But, Dawn and the rest are not interest in the ethicality of what Gold's is doing. They are only interested in the Ben Shapiro-style "well you signed a contract" side of things.

So, be careful what you sign. They won't be honest with you about what you're signing. They'll SAY you're purchasing 13 personal training sessions, while having you sign 5-6 long documents that they know you don't have the time to pour through in detail. Then when you say "hey that's not fair, I didn't want to buy this" they'll tell you to go kick sand.

I eventually got someone at corporate to refund the $600, but to this date I still have not been refunded for the $451 they tried to sweep under the table by keeping off the books (and not sending an invoice or receipt for).

I doubt I'll get my money back. Don't sign anything here, it's a dystopian...

This Gold's is the closest to my home...but I prefer to drive further to other locations to workout. I generally workout M-F between 9a - 12p. I've tried various times in that time frame...all are busy. I THINK the sweet spot is like 10:45a - 11:30a. There is not directly anything wrong with this location, at all. I think it has a great layout and flow, a little crowded as others have said. I think that is perhaps due to them trying to have enough equipment for people. Also, why do people not re-rack their weights? I'm not interested in moving 200lbs of weights off a machine so I can use the weights for my 5'1" frame. I LOVE the variety of workout areas this gym hosts. It really is a great gym. Mostly I am writing this review in the event someone is looking for a more chill location.

It is clean, a good size, decent amount of cardio equipment. Only 4 stars bc they do not have a single elliptical with incline (maybe I am very old school to prefer an elliptical with incline). If it's not a heavy cardio day for me, I will choose this location due to proximity. BUT they seem to ALWAYS be busy. Which is great for the gym...just not ideal if you don't want to wait for machines. I won't even attempt to enter the free-weight area...as the intimidation level is so high and it's alway packed. People like to stand close by, overbearing, while you are working out, urging you to finish up and move along so they can take up the space and look in the mirror. I prefer a more chill vibe in a gym and this gym does not fit that bill, for me, personally. Probably bc I am older. I did visit this location one Saturday, early evening, hoping it wouldn't be as busy...that was the most packed I have ever seen it. They had club music pumping through the sound system, which is a great motivator...it was just too busy for me to workout.

If you are looking for hot people and possibly a date..this is a good location...