Powerhouse Gym 24/7 — Local services in Birmingham

I initially started shopping around for gyms because I was a bit sick of my old gym (Planet Fitness). I was coming off of having my appendix out a few months prior and had been cleared by my doctor to begin exercising again. I generally wanted to get back some of the fitness I had lost and work with a professional.

I found Powerhouse Gym in Birmingham, and it checked all the right boxes on paper. It was a very clean facility, and it seemed like most of the staff was incredibly nice and professional. I asked if they could help me with personal training, which specifically for me meant paying a trainer a lot up front to get a plan and then slowly scale back how much I use the trainer as I recovered (most likely scaled back to every 2 weeks or so after an initial few months of heavy use).

I was either lied to or the general staff that works there is not very knowledgeable on the product that they offer.

I played phone tag training organizer for a long time (and ended up telling her my goals about 5 times which she forgot every time), and was assigned a trainer to work with. I had expressed to both people I had talked on the phone with for scheduling what my fitness goals were. When I arrived, the trainer again asked me what goals I had. He seemed confident he could help. It was a very nice workout, but then it turned a bit odd. He started telling me he couldn't help make me a long term plan. He then said that I should buy some sort of extra supplement that he sold and that I could pay him in advance in a 20 for $80 deal ($1600 for someone that didn't help me)

I assumed it was just a case of a personality clash. After another few weeks of phone tag I was finally given a call by another trainer. I told him what my fitness goals were and he stated that he would call me back in a few hours to set up a time….after a week I called the person that scheduled training again who did not get back to me.

I decided to talk to the manager. I was about a month and a half in of having absolutely no help with my long term goals. He was very nice and apologetic, and was especially concerned that I was considering cancelling my membership. He made sure I was called on Monday, and on Monday I was told that they needed to know all of my fitness goals….AGAIN.

At that point I quickly told her that I was terminating our business relationship and cancelled the gym after work. I asked the manager to call me later.

I received a call from the manager, who began lecturing me about my poor decision to cancel. He insisted that I had hung up on his trainer, and that I was essentially trying to cheat the trainers by getting a plan that I could work even if I wasn’t directly with the trainer. I expressed again that I felt ripped off and that I hadn’t even received nutrition advice...he stated that they don’t even give that type of guidance as they are not licensed (misleading me from the start). After having him raise his voice to me a bit, I told him that I couldn’t continue my relationship with his gym and that it had been a thoroughly unsatisfactory service experience. I also expressed my displeasure that he had specifically called me up to lecture me about how wrong I was, versus trying to address any of my concerns or perhaps try and win me back.

In short, I have never experienced such miserable service and never been made to feel like I was such a low priority. If you are looking for a premium gym experience, I would recommend a planet fitness over this place...and I’m sure there are better options in Birmingham. I hope this review perhaps saves you from having to find another gym at the end of 2 months and saves you the $250 fee I had to pay to get out of my contract for a gym that didn’t do ANYTHING to help me.

I’m sure now that a post will go up below mine, saying how wrong I am and how they are sad to see me go. But let me ask you this, do you really want a gym that is going to take time out of its day to lecture you on how wrong you are to not like it and not even attempt to make...

It’s a decent facility and in a great location. But, the steam room almost never works and this is a large reason why I even joined this gym. Thinking about canceling at this point. It’s extremely unfortunate and hoping that things get fixed soon.

Update. I came into the gym in January and asked the front desk about the cancelation process because I was moving in March. The guy at the front desk told me since I was under contract, I did not have to cancel and that it would just end at the end of my contract. I have now moved about an hour away and they are still charging me $60 a month. I called yesterday and was basically told too bad and that my membership cannot be canceled until their general manager is onsite. Today, I called again because I hadn't received a response and the person over the phone said "you will not be getting a refund because you didn't cancel and my general manager still isn't here so tough."

Rude. Disrespectful. Lack of customer service. I will be in that gym in the next 24/48 hours trust and...

I have been a member of Powerhouse gym in Birmingham for close to three years. I find it to be Birmingham's little secret. It's very conveniently located in downtown Birmingham directly across the street from one of the city-owned garages where you can park for two hours at no cost. The cleanliness of a health club is very important to me and, in this regard, Powerhouse of Birmingham is certainly above par. I have been a member of clubs that did not maintain their equipment, but, this club is not one of them. I also like the fact that they use top-of-the-line equipment. I don't care for the "big-box" health clubs that lack intimacy. Powerhouse is cozy, yet, has everything I need which includes weight machines and a wide variety of cardio equipment. One other thing I like about the club is that the people who work there are professional and friendly and there has been very little turnover in full-time personnel in the time I have been a member. My only regret is not...