Brickhaus Fitness — Local services in Carol Stream

This gym is a decent gym. It has its pros and cons.

Pros: -- There's a lot of equipment. There are really no complaints I have about the gym lacking machinery needed to work out a certain muscle or muscle group. The gym absorbed the equipment from Retro Fitness when it closed, so it has a variety of machines. They even have an area with punching bags, which is nice, even if I don't use them personally.

-- Hours. While the gym isn't open 24/7, the hours are still nice, being open until 11 pm on weekdays and 10 pm on weekends. Although I wish they'd stay open till 11pm on weekends.

-- The gym is big. The gym has two main areas connected by a hallway; the front and back of the gym. There's also a small room with some exercise equipment in it.

-- Locker rooms. The gym has decent locker rooms with locker storage, showers, and toilets. These are a newer addition to the gym, and not having them before wasn't the most convenient.

-- Location. This really only applies to me, but the gym is a block away from where I live, so the proximity is convenient.

Cons: -- Very crowded certain times of day. The high occupancy usually dies down in the evenings after 8 pm or so. Weekends are less crowded than the weekdays.

-- Lack of maintenance. The machines are constantly dusty, the padded parts of machines and benches are ripped or torn frequently, and the walls of the gym below the mirrors are busted up with holes and nicks all over the place.

Two machines were previously missing their pins, so to use them you had to steal a pin from another machine, causing the pinless machine to rotate throughout the day. It was that way for several months and no one that worked there ordered new pins (makes me think no one was maintaining the machines otherwise it would've been noticed) so I ordered my own and brought them in. You're welcome Brickhaus.

Cable machine clips go missing a lot too. People like to remove them and throw them where ever, making it hard to find them when I need them. I would appreciate the gym maintaining the machines by zip tying the clips to the cables so that they can't be removed. I also had to buy my own and bring them to the gym because I was tired of not being able to find clips in order to use the cable machines. Again, you're welcome Brickhaus.

To be fair, though, when a cable machine breaks or a padded part of a machine completely tears, the gym is pretty quick to get it repaired, which is nice.

--Lack of supervision/Culture. Male teens and twenty-somethings often take off their shirts and flex or work out shirtless in the back area of the gym. It wasn't a problem until a few months ago. People started doing it and realized there were no consequences, so the frequency of it happening increased. Went from once in a while, to once a week, to now almost once a day. A lot of people go shirtless in the locker rooms or the small side workout room, which is fine. However staff does nothing about people going shirtless in the main areas. There's only one person running the place and they sit at the front desk, out of view of the back of the gym, unaware of what's going on.

People also record themselves a lot on their phone, tripod, etc. so you may end up in someone's video in...

I’ve been a member of this gym since 2017, even back when they were at their previous location. They grandfathered me into the new location, and I stayed loyal through the COVID shutdowns—even when they continued charging me while the gym was inaccessible. I reached out at the time, and they promised a refund, but I never received it.

Recently, I noticed they increased my monthly fee by $20 without notifying me. That was the final straw. I belong to multiple gyms and only used this one sparingly, but I still wanted to support it because of the cool atmosphere. Unfortunately, the lack of transparency and questionable business practices make it hard to trust this gym. I can no longer recommend it.

I’ve been trying to resolve an issue with my card being charged, and your customer service has been completely unresponsive. I’ve contacted you multiple times, yet I still have not received a proper response or resolution.

I need my card declined on your end so that I am not charged again. This should be a simple request, yet I’m being ignored. If this is how you handle basic customer concerns, it raises serious doubts about your business ethics.

I expect a response immediately and for this issue to be resolved ASAP. I shouldn’t have to leave a public review just to get your attention, but clearly, this is the only way to make you take action.

If this isn’t resolved soon, I will be left with no choice but to escalate this further. Do the right thing and handle your customers’...

(I am changing my review from 3 to 4 stars. I am adding a star because the manager worked to clear up miscommunications we originally had. Also because my person trainer is amazing!)

I love the atmosphere and the equipment! It's so close to my house too! The membership payment options are pretty easy for almost any budget!

I just started my personal training with Zach and it's amazing so far! He is very dedicated and passionate about it, always learning more to be a better trainer!

One MAJOR thing that I deducted stars for originally was the lack of communication at sign up. They really push you to sign up for personal training right away. I should have been more saavy in reading the page they gave me; it was a contract. No refunds if I couldn't pay or changed my mind. Payments are AUTOMATIC! And the contract puts all liability of any kind on you, leaving them scott-free. So Be CARFEUL!

But I love this gym and most of the people there are friendly and happy to answer questions about equipment, form, or supplements (which are sold there as well). And the locker rooms have showers; very convenient!

Also they allow guests on Wednesdays (I think it's free but I can't remember totally if that is true) (and the guests' first visit is free and any day you choose). I...