LA Fitness — Local services in Columbus

Be careful what you do at any LA Fitness. I should have learned my lesson in Chicago, but I decided to sign up here because it was close to my apartment.

LA Fitness the corporation will do whatever they can to milk you of money and intentionally setup hoops for you to jump through that make it difficult to cancel in a timely manner.

I signed up for six months worth of personal training. Training was fine, but wouldn’t recommend or go back myself. At the beginning of the 5th month, I found a new apartment that wasn’t close to this location and my work offered me a membership to a significantly nicer gym.

I went in to cancel my last month of training and pay the early cancellation fee. The early cancellation fee is 50% of your remaining balance. Knowing what LA Fitness had done in the past, I talked to the head personal trainer and the first thing I said was “I want to cancel, I don’t care about the fee, and I don’t care about losing sessions.” She proceeded to launch into sales mode saying that she didn’t want me to lose my sessions even though over-and-over I said I simply wanted to cancel and be done with it. She said she needed to clear it with her boss (why???) and then would cancel.

Knowing LA Fitness, I should have followed up. I look at my bank account one day the following month and I have a charge for the full amount of personal training. I call the corporate office to find out what happened. They cancel the training to make sure I don’t get charged again but say they can’t issue a refund until they corroborate my story with the local club. They said they’d call me back.

Needless to say, that never happened. I call Graceland to find out what happened and she said “I talked to your trainer and he said you didn’t want to lose your sessions so I didn’t cancel it.” So instead of calling me to confirm this, she listened to a third party and thus I was charged the full amount. When I asked to speak to her manager, she said I couldn’t talk to him because he’s very busy and manages 10,000 trainers. Same thing when I asked for his email or phone number. She then proceeded to say she couldn’t do anything because when she pulled up my account it was showing as closed by corporate!

What a racket. LA Fitness is one of the worst out there in the fitness world. Once they have your payment information they could care less about you.

Oh yeah, this doesn’t mention the fact that the place was dirty in general. The vast majority did’t re-rack weights, including the trainers. There was a leak in the roof that took about 8 months to fix. I stopped using the pool because there was always some weird oily film that you could see floating on the top.

As others have mentioned, no one wipes down machines. Equipment would be broken for weeks before it got fixed. Many times things would just get removed and never replaced. The basketball court was so dusty at times it was kind of dangerous to use.

Overall just a terrible experience. I still have 18 personal training sessions left, but I don’t think I’ll ever use them. As I look around and watch the other trainers, LA Fitness appears to be a company that good trainers leave the second they have the opportunity. ...

The gym is great for the price, but the reviews about the equipment are true. Every single time I come (which is almost daily), I have to try multiple machines before I get one that works. This is specifically the cardio machines. Weight training machines seem fine. The ladies only area is a nice touch, but the equipment is lacking. The elliptical and treadmill (there's only one of each) literally never work, there's only a handful of weight training machines and there aren't enough dumbells, kettlebells, etc. I never fully have what I need in there, but it's really uncomfortable being on the floor with other people, especially when it's crowded. Also, the showers are not cleaned enough and the sauna is not always turned on.

For what it is and how much it costs, it's great. If you're not here at peak times then the machinery issues are no big deal.

Now, I have three kids so this is GREAT for an affordable option with childcare. Jayda (Jada?) is absolutely amazing and I feel safe leaving my kids with her. I can't say that for every staff member. They have some members that I won't leave my infant with because I'm not convinced they can handle multiple kids and an infant. I'm a teacher, so I might have too high of standards, but I just don't feel safe with every single staff member. Also, I wish the childcare hours could be extended. It really only works for stay-at-home parents or for parents who only need care a couple of times a week. Three days out of the week there is no care in the evening and one day there is no care at all.

Again, this is a great gym for those on a budget! Overall, these are minor things. First word problems, really. BUT, if you're paying for it, you should have working equipment, competent people to care for the kids and a clean space.

EDIT: Just adding that the childcare continues to be cringeworthy. The other day, I walked in and there was an unknown person sitting at the front desk on their phone. They didn't look up at me when we came in, so I assume they don't work there/wasn't on duty. The girl that I did recognize as someone who works there had her headphones on and was watching a video on her iPad. She didn't notice me, either. Meanwhile, behind them, An older child was sitting in an infant carseat while another older child was swinging it around in circles. Neither adult paid any attention to it. When I picked up my child, they still were not watching the kids. This isn't the only time something like this has happened with the same staff. My kids won't be going to the childcare when these people...

Speaking out additional resources outside of McConnell for those who cannot afford the state-of-the-art facility I recommend Esporta Fitness for positive reasons, perhaps too many reasons to join! I will list below.

I am personally reviewing this facility as an independent offset analyst hoping to guide people with the right referral coming from any other fitness center including The McConnell Health . Membership prices at Esporta Fitness facility, although it is state-of-the-art with three swimming pools such as at McConnell. Bright side is there is alternatives.

I've searched up and down and this facility has a full size pool and in my opinion the monetary value of self-care is invaluable. If you are a non-member and you are looking into gyms with pools for Aqua therapy for swimming in general to join, I recommend and strongly encourage you to swing by this facility to pick up a business card. This business card one free pass/visit for your own evaluation as I posted a picture you can see for yourself. Don't forget to pick up membership pamphlets themselves on your way out.

I will post photos and I will be updating this review as I progress in my journey of physical therapy and Recovery and personal self care including General workout in exercise. Esporta fitness I get five stars it has a full size pool I will add some photos and keep you posted! If you need a referral and having Insurance problems, this is your spot if you need a pool.

The assistant manager (Annemarie) is working so hard to help people maintain their physical appearance and physique including their health upon multiple other things. Annemarie is impacting so many lives and I have to give her credit. I have posted her card as she is the assistant manager. Questions?, she is who you want to call. I give this facility five stars hands down.

Check out the jpg image of the promotion this facility has ongoing currently. $0.22 down oh. This is a January New Year promotion....