Gold's Gym — Local services in Crofton

We've used this gym for about a year. At first, I had no issues with the gym - everything was great, and the staff was very professional. However, since COVID this gym and their way of handling the situation has gotten out of hand. I have had to contact this gym 4 times to try to get my membership cancelled and my annual fee waived and the experience has been painful. I never want to use Gold's again, nor will I refer friends/family to them.

Here are my attempts at cancelling my membership:

I called the gym and spoke with someone at the front desk. They told me that in order for me to cancel my membership I need to cancel in person, or I need to write a letter and mail it to them. I found this hysterical - in the age of the digital world, I am not sure why they don't allow anyone to cancel memberships online (I mean, the answer is a bit obvious – it’s because they don’t want anyone to cancel, they want to continuously bill people.) The person I spoke with also mentioned that the billing manager or the general manager need to be there when I cancel because they are the only 2 individuals that can cancel a membership (both of them normally work M-F, 9-5). Ironically, most membership holders also work M-F, 9-5. So, basically – if you want to cancel your membership, you need to do it via snail mail, or take some time off from work to cancel.

Two days after my first call, I drive over to Gold's and got there at about 4 pm. I usually work until 5 pm but was able to ask my manager if I can step out to take care of this. Luckily, I got to the gym at 4:15 pm. When I got there, I caught the billing manager as she was stepping out for the day. I told her that I wanted to cancel my membership and she started processing the cancellation – this part was shockingly painless. During the cancellation she mentioned that I need to provide a 30-day notice to cancel the membership and I will also be charged with an annual membership fee because that falls within my cancellation period. I found this to be a bit ridiculous considering that we are in the middle of a global pandemic and I didn't feel comfortable exercising around others. I asked her if the annual fee could be waived and she said that she couldn't waive the fee - only the GM (Anthony) could waive it. She gave me his phone number and said that I can call him next week, when he gets back from PTO.

Yesterday, I called the front desk again to speak to the GM. I was told that he was busy, and I could leave a call back number. I did not receive a call back from the GM.

I called again this morning (9:45 am) and spoke to a woman who explained to me that the GM was not in the office yet and he will call me back when he gets time. This frustrated me and I explained to her that I should not be expected to call back/exert this much effort into cancelling my membership and getting my annual fee waived. Rather than providing a solution, this person kept arguing back with me explaining that she couldn't do anything and that I needed to wait for the GM. I asked for her name and told her that I would leave a Google review. She refused to tell me her name and told me that I do not need to know her name and hung up.

Overall, this process has been frustrating, overly complicated, and handled in an unethical and dishonorable way. There are processes put in place that make it very difficult for the customer to manage/cancel their...

I tried to get the 7 days pass to try the gym at the end of February. But the salesman talked me into getting membership because it was cheaper before the end of the month and that I could cancel any time. I worked out for about two weeks and went back today to cancel my membership since I had to suddenly move out of state. While I was waiting for help a lady greeted me and asked me how she could help me, I let her know I wanted to cancel my membership and inmidiatly someone else that was sitting inside the office asked me why? I gave her my ID and it took her at least 5 to 10 minutes to find me. She had to walk away from office to the front desk to find my info. After a while she came back with I guess the termination of contract paperwork. I asked her how many days did I have to work out and she said: "you are getting billed in the beginning of this month and your memebership will be cancelled on April 28. I asked why? This lady put her hands on the desk stood up from the chair and on a really high tone said: "am the general manager and am telling you thats how it works!!". To what I responded while in shock of her reaccion and lack of professionalism " I don’t care who you are all am asking are questions regarding my account because I was told something different. She said: "come with me" who told you that!? Alex!? Ok so he let him deal with the situation, and put the paperwork on his desk, got his attention and left. I asked him about what he told me when I was signing in, about cancelling any time; and he went completely in a defensive mood. Loud "Saying I never told you that, I told you 30 days after you cancel!". At this point am aggravated at the lack of professionalism and the way I was treated. So I said you know what whatever is only 20 bucks, he went thru my billing cicle information and said: see, your service fee will hit on April but I will not even charge you that because is not fair for you to pay it if you just cancelled. Horrible experiense, specially from management so not really surprised about other employes. Now am not a fool, and if I haven't been at the gym for over a month why would I wait until the end so I can get charged again? I was given the wrong information just so they can make the sale. Could anyone please make sure that service fee doesnt get charge to me and that is not another lie? Anyone other than the rude "general manager". Wish I read the reviews about this GYM before...

Before assuming I'm one of those people who just leave negative reviews because "I didn’t like" something, please note that I’m a Level 7 Google Maps reviewer.

I wanted to share my experience, but first, I went through other negative ratings here and it’s no surprise that most of them are about cancellations.

Here’s my story: I went to this gym last week Thursday for the first time to learn about Compel Fitness, their pricing, packages, and if I could start in October. Turns out, I needed to become a gym member before I could start training. Fair enough. So I told the front desk and the Compel Fitness person that I’d come back in late September after I made up my mind. However, they both pushed me to make a decision that same day and become a member. I said no. Then the Compel Fitness guy tells me there’s an offer: first month $3.23 pro-rated, and the second month free. After confirming this multiple times, I thought, “Okay, worst case, I’ll only be out $3.23 if I decide not to continue,” so I signed up.

But in 2 days Saturday morning, my card got charged around $34! When I went back to ask about it, the front desk person was the dumbest person and offered no help—he just told me to come back on a weekday to talk to the manager. When I did, guess what? The manager was the same guy who initially signed me up. He claimed he would never do this mistake and he told me I’d be charged in two days and that it was on paper. I can handle mistakes, but I can’t stand dishonesty. If I knew I’d be charged a full month right away, why would I have agreed to sign up when I knew I am not coming that month?

I even spoke with the GM, and he wasn’t helpful either. In the end, I didn’t get a refund due to their 30-day cancellation policy (which they conveniently never mentioned). But now, after reading other reviews, I’m worried this shady, unreliable facility will keep charging my card, so I’m taking it to my bank and blocking them.

This place seriously needs customer service training. They need to explain important details, like cancellation policies and charges, at sign-up, not just stick it in paperwork. Even their app and membership cancellation letter are as vague and unhelpful as their staffs. You can’t get any useful info from them at all.

Don’t trust any response from this location trying to “help” or clarify—they clearly only care...