24 Hour Fitness — Local services in Carlsbad

I’m writing to express my deep disappointment with the experience I had at your Carlsbad 24 Hour Fitness location today. I have been a loyal member of 24 Hour Fitness since I was 13 years old—20 years of continuous membership. Over the years, I’ve proudly referred dozens of friends, family members, and coworkers to the club because I believed in the brand and what it stood for. Unfortunately, that trust was lost today.

While in the Carlsbad area for work, I decided to beat traffic and squeeze in a quick workout. I took the time to change out of my work clothes, grab a coffee, and prep for my session. I searched for the closest 24 Hour Fitness via Waze, which led me to the Carlsbad location. Upon arrival, I scanned in as usual, only to be denied access.

I have an All-Club Access membership, which, in my experience, has always included Super Sport locations. I’ve used it without issue at multiple Super Sport clubs including La Mesa/El Cajon, Costa Mesa, and Irvine. However, the front desk attendant seemed confused about why my membership wouldn’t work and had no explanation. He called over Sebastien—whose title I believe is Membership Advisor or a similar role—for assistance.

That’s when things went from confusing to outright frustrating.

Sebastien informed me that I’d have to upgrade to a $290/year plan to access this gym—despite the fact that I’ve been paying $29/year for two decades. I calmly explained my long-standing relationship with the company and asked if there was any sort of trial or courtesy access he could offer. After all, isn’t it reasonable for a loyal member of 20 years to expect the opportunity to try the gym before being forced into a 10x price jump?

Sebastien was curt, dismissive, and completely unwilling to accommodate or even empathize. There was no warmth, no gratitude for my long-term membership, and certainly no attempt to problem-solve. He declined to let me try the gym, didn’t offer any temporary pass, and made no effort to retain me as a customer—just a cold, transactional push toward an upsell.

This wasn’t just a case of poor policy—it was a failure in basic human decency and customer service. Sebastien’s attitude was rude, unkind, and lacking in any sense of care or hospitality. He didn’t try to meet me halfway, didn’t show any flexibility, and frankly, treated me like a number rather than a loyal member with a two-decade history with your brand.

This is not how a company should treat its long-standing members. If this is the standard of service you’re providing—especially from team members like Sebastien—I will think long and hard before renewing or recommending 24 Hour Fitness to anyone else. What could’ve been a moment of brand loyalty and goodwill was instead a completely avoidable negative experience.

I sincerely hope this feedback reaches someone who values customer loyalty and understands the importance of treating people with basic respect and kindness. The way I was treated today makes me wonder if your company has forgotten the very people who built its foundation.

I’d appreciate a response regarding how this situation will be addressed—both for my own experience and to ensure others are treated with the courtesy and respect...

Don’t get me wrong, the gym is very nice and sanitary; with that said, the weights are very rarely where they should be.

The facility itself is state of the art: All the machines are very nice, the dumbbells/plates are all new, and there are so many variations of every machine. The locker rooms/bathrooms are also very well kept. In fact, I have never seen the bathrooms look dirty regardless of the hours. A sauna would really make this gym special, but that’s neither here nor there. If you are into cardio machines, classes, or weight lifting this gym pretty much has it all.

With all that said, the free weight organization is an absolute dumpster fire. I understand there is a high school literally down the street and from 3pm-9pm is basically 100 teenagers running around and leaving their weights all over the gym; but, the staff doesn’t seem to do anything about it. It is so frustrating trying to find the weight you need when it’s either tucked in a dark corner of the gym, or there is a group of boys with 30 dumbbell’s surrounding them. I watch kids deliberately place weights in the wrong spot and move on like it’s no issue. Every squat rack or bench rack doesn’t have the weight organizers labeled so there are 4 different plates on each rung. Also if you need a 5lb plate GOOD LUCK! You will scour the whole gym and find there are maybe six 5lb plates in the entire gym.

I do like this gym a lot! I really don’t think it wouldn’t take much from the staff to reinforce the rules and keep the weights organized. Unfortunately, I find myself leaving here really hot with the slight urge yell at kids who have awful gym etiquette.

Update: Added a photo on a very slow Friday afternoon to show an accurate representation of the weight rack. To make things worse, I watched one of the personal trainers purposely put his weights in the wrong spot due to lack of organization. The best part is, he did it as I was reorganizing the dumbbells and did not bat an eye. I think it would take me about 1 hour to fix the underlying issues with the dumbbell’s to avoid this problem entirely. Regardless, the $7 monthly membership increase could have been used to hire someone who can clean up the weights in...

I would like to start off by saying this gym is big, well stocked with machines, and is kept very clean… at least in the mornings. Once the 100+ high schoolers come in around lunch time and the maintenance guy Daniel leaves, it’s all downhill from there.

I have been a member since 2006, since then staffing has been cut to 10%, no longer offer towel service, no longer have a pool or sauna (at this location), and not even open 24 hours anymore. With all these price cuts my memberships have nearly doubled all while having negative return to the members.

I can deal with all this understanding the times we have all gone through, but what really prompted me to write this review is the fact that the MANAGEMENT refuse to turn the AC on and the fans up during the summer! I get trying to cut cost but wait till you have someone collapse generating a lawsuit all because you want to save a little money. It’s to a point that labor laws should be enforced for the sake of your 2 employees. The management is awful!

On top of they they also refuse to lubricate the tracks on the 4 cable pulleys in the center of the gym. Adjusting the track up and down is a work out in its self. I’m there every morning so I know when the last time they were lubed.

Update -- With all the reviews talking about the lack of cleanliness they just decided to take out the majority of cleaning stations... that makes perfect sense... whos ever bright idea it was to remove cleaning stations in that gym, has to be the dumbest person in the room. How does that person have a job in management. The last two years have really made me question my 16 years of membership at these gyms.

The started cleaning the urinals only once a month so most of the time you have to hold your breath...