True Fitness — Local services in Boston

I have been a member here since it opened. I also have a Workout World membership for the norwood facility. Golds in open, airy, and even during busy times there is plenty of space and very little waiting for equipment etc...Some of the staff have been there since I joined. They are very good about updating equipment and when something breaks, there is someone there within a day to fix it. The class room is huge and it has a separate women's section. The clientele is mainly male but the women that work out there for the most part are hard core. Love this gym and have made some friends there. I don't care too much about the amenities (bathrooms, lockers etc) because I am there to work out and lift. Locker rooms are simply a place to put your stuff, imo. this is a GYM, not a health club, social gathering place. If that is what you want, this is not the place for you. If you are serious about tearing it up, you won't find a better option!

I'm reading a lot of negative reviews, but keep in mind that Golds does not handle the billing etc...ABC financial does, and they also handle WoW and Blast fitness...so yeah one could say that maybe Gold's could pick a better company to handle their membership billing, but the negative reviews I'm reading relate to ABC financial (which does seem a little sleazy), not the gym itself.

Again, I've tried the competition: PLanet Fitness (lame), WoW...in Norwood is pretty good..Blast in West Roxbury which I would give an F- if possible. At Blast It's not uncommon to see broken equipment for months..and the equipment they have has not been updated for 10 years or so. WoW in Norwood has good equipment but during peak times it gets crowded and there are wait times.

At Gold's you never have to wait for cardio, sometimes you do for machines and benches..but that's part of the deal. And again as far as the 'amenities', not a big deal if you are there to work out and simple need a place to put your stuff...it's not like there are cockroaches or bed bugs everywhere...

Also keep in mind that Gold's in general is geared towards body builders (Arnold put them on the map!) power lifters and hardcore weight training..while they do gratuitously offer pilates, yoga, zumba, etc... that is not their main focus...nor has it ever been. If that is mainly your thing, there are several other...

I liked the friendly people at the gym and the facility was pretty good.

This review is a one because of the way I was treated when trying to cancel my membership. I rarely write reviews, but I do feel strongly that other people should be warned before joining this gym.

If you sign a contract with Gold's, you will be locked into a long battle with billing and your bank if you choose to cancel it. They won’t let you go without many, many hoops to jump through, endless phone calls to billing offices, and illegitimate fees charged to your account.

Gold’s Gym required a "written letter" be sent 30 days in advance to cancel membership, which is standard with some gyms. So, I sent a letter when I wanted to cancel my membership after over a year of being a regular member.

What happened next was the real issue.

Gold's continued to charge me after they received my letter. So, I griped about the additional fee and sent another letter, so it wouldn’t happen again. Surprisingly, I was charged AGAIN. So, I called. They told me that they never received my letters and there was "nothing they could do."

"Nothing you can do?" You could refund my money and cancel my membership like I asked you to according to your policy. After all, I sent you two letters to the address you gave me.

I had not choice but to send a third letter to the exact same address, and I followed up with an email letting them know that the letter was in the mail. Miraculously, they received that one.

Even with the third letter in hand, I was charged yet again for another month’s fee by Gold’s. I was also charged some additional mystery fees as well.

I called the corporate office, and they directed me back to the Gold’s in South Boston to work out my billing issue. They have NOT responded to my email. So, the vicious cycle continues. My account has now been turned over to a collection agency, which has been equally as unreasonable and intransigent in dealing with a simple termination of membership.

I looked up Gold’s Gym online and found out that this was not the first time they’d trapped and robbed their members when they tried to cancel their memberships. I am also following through with the Better Business Bureau.

Think twice...

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THIS GYM. READ FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. The gym has terribly outdated equipment that is almost always breaking down never to be fixed and just taped off. The staff/owners are horrible. I spent well over a year of calling in trying to get a hold of a single staff member. It took 13 months from 3/2021 to 4/2022 until I was able to get someone on the phone. I moved across the country from Boston to CA, and though in the midst of the pandemic the company was unwilling to work with me on their cancellation policy or to honor their own by codes of it (ability to cancel after moving more than 25 miles away--I guess 2000+ still wasn't enough). (after speaking with the owner about this she was very rude and told me essentially "too bad") This gym has continued to bill me to this very day of my writing this review to the tune of nearly 800 dollars in monthly dues and late fees for a gym I haven't used since February of 2021. I have never written a negative review before in my life as usually companies will be compassionate and considerate with their members. This gym is not the case. The owner is extremely rude and crass and will only view/treat you only as walking piggybanks and will do whatever they can to turn you over and take your last quarter. While I am extremely saddened to have had to write this review; that nearly 1000 dollars would make a giant difference in my life today. I hope that this review saves at least one person the pain and suffering I have gone through with this absolutely vile business, which at the time, put the Gold's Gym company name to shame in my view. Best of luck to trufitness, may they learn something and avoid tarnishing yours as well.

EDIT: I was also out of contract and had moved 2000 miles away from the gym. I experienced the same problem as "A" below me where I was still unable to cancel my policy. These people are crooks and the gym is a sham of a business. Do not sign up. Go the extra few miles to a gym that has better business acumen.

EDIT#2: I am looking forward to seeing a response to this review trying to negate and gaslight my experience faster than the year it took me to get a hold of someone on the landline...