Studio9 N.C — Local services in Durham

This is a quaint little spot not like your typical gym. They do not have a lot of cardio equipment and their TRX system is tied to box crates. Despite this, I still gave them a chance because of a referral I received from a family member. I was interested in personal training sessions. These sessions were extremely expensive compared to what the gym had to offer. After talking with Greg, the owner he was able to provide me with a discount. I ended up purchasing the Grin9 1-on-1 package that consisted of eight personal training sessions. With the discount, I ended up paying $403.20 for the eight sessions. I chose to do the split payment option.

I was assigned to Tay a personal trainer at the gym. After five training sessions at the gym, I began to wonder what I was paying $400 for. Each training session we did the same warm up routine. The workouts consisted of activities that I could do on my own like jumping jacks, squats, and lunges. I did not get any kind of feedback from Tay about whether I was getting stronger or if any improvement was being made. I also did not receive any kind of nutritional support, so it did not make sense for me to continue training at Studio 9.

On Wednesday October 14, 2020, I let Greg know that I had paid for the eight sessions and to not run my card, which was on file (I KNOW, BIG MISTAKE) anymore. He said that he would not, so I was shocked when I received an alert from my credit card company the next day that an additional $100.80 was charged to my account. I contacted Tay to ask why Greg ran my card again after I told him not to. Tay stated that the POS system they have is setup to automatically renew services. Why I was not told about this the previous night when I stated not to run my card again, I do not know. Tay said that if I did not want to renew, a refund can be issued. I let Tay know that I would like a refund. He said that he would let Greg know and Greg would call me. After playing phone tag with Greg, I texted him and let him know to issue a refund because I did not want to train at Studio 9 anymore, he never responded.

On October 17, 2020, I showed up for my sixth training session and to talk with Greg about this additional charge. According to Greg, the cancellation policy is that you have to let them know 14 days in advance that you do not want to renew services so that you won’t be charged any additional fees. I was shocked that this man said this. He did not mention this the previous night when I told him not to run my card anymore. I was never made aware of the cancellation policy until this day when he told me. Greg became irate and stated you must read the contract. I became livid because there was no contract, he could not even produce the contract he was speaking of. I could tell nothing was going to get resolved so I called my Dad to the gym so that he could speak with him. I wanted a man to speak with a man, I let Greg know this. Apparently, he felt threatened and locked me and my car on his parking lot (after him and his trainers removed their cars from the parking lot) at the gym while he called the police. The police said there was nothing they could do because this was a civil matter. When it came time for Greg to unlock the gate, he said that he did not have the key and would contact his landlord to unlock the gate. I asked Greg and Tay for the landlord’s name and his number so that I could contact him myself. They would not give me this information.

My car was INTENTIONALLY locked on their property for 24 hours until another trainer arrived at the facility the next day. I ended up paying for ten personal training sessions and only received five. I would caution anyone about visiting Studio 9. They have shady business practices and offer inadequate training for the price.

DO NOT leave your card on file. If you choose to visit this studio anyway, only pay in cash for each session. Be very weary when dealing with mom...

I met Greg in February at the carwash. He approached me and introduced himself as a trainer and started telling me about his fitness business. I just recently moved to North Carolina, and was in the beginning stages of starting my fitness journey. He offered me a free session to see if his gym was a good fit for me and I accepted the offer. The following week I reached out to Greg to setup a day for the free training session. Once I arrived I was greeted by his staff and Greg himself with a warm and upbeat welcome. Although, I never told him or his staff but that meant a lot to me because I’m big on first impression. After the workout we went to his office and talked more in depth about what I was looking for when it came to my fitness journey. I explained to him what I wanted and his replied with “I can make that happen”. Next, we started talking about his package plans. The plan he felt that was best for me would cost roughly around 325 a month. I continue to listen to him as he’s telling me what all comes in the package plan, but in my mind I’m I like that WAY too much lol and I’m not about to pay that much for a trainer. Therefore, I informed him that I will need some time to think it over, but I’ll be in touch with him. I believe 3 or 4 days passed by and I reached back out to him and said ok I’ll do it. My initial plan was to do it for a month and learn the workouts, then cancel my plan and continue with what I learn on my own. However, that never happened. The reason why is because within that month time Greg, his staff, and even his clientele treated me as if I was more than just another client or another person with a membership. The way they connected with me on a more personal level was crazy to me, and being fairly new to the area it was what I need at the time. I was able to gain new friendship, workout buddies, and I was also able to find great church going people who introduced me to my new church home. So, I continue my membership with Greg and still having it currently. Greg is truly my brother and I greatly appreciate him and his staff for helping me get where I want to be and more. I highly recommend Studio9 and give them 5 stars. It’s only one way to Grind and that’s the Grind way! P.S. I’m not paying 325 a month...

I am the old guy (83 years old) with a pony tail that you might have seen on Studio 9's website. I have been working with Greg for about two years now so I think I have a pretty good feel for his studio and his ability as a trainer. Below are a few observations that might be useful for others considering using his studio and/or Greg. First is safety and Greg's concern for his clients. Given my age, I was very concerned about Covid-19. During that time period Greg and Bri always wore masks and took special care to wipe things down after each client. Importantly, he also watches out for my "safety" when asking me to do a particular exercise, making sure that I don't hurt myself. Yes, he pushes me, but he is always on the lookout to make sure I don't push myself past what is safe for me. I come home tired, but not hurt. Second, he listens to me and my goals. I said I wanted to strengthen my core, increase flexibility and balance, and have "fun". (It is hard to have fun when you are pushing yourself to your limits, but Greg finds ways to introduce new exercises to keep things "fun". He had me balancing on a Bosu ball playing catch with a football. Now you don't find that exercise in the normal gym!!) Third, Greg has enough energy and enthusiasm for ten people. He is always encouraging me to power through exercises and as a result I feel really good about myself and my progression over these last two years. Fourth, Greg knows his trade. Not only is he extremely fit as an individual, he knows the body and uses this knowledge to tailor his instruction to each individual client. Bottom line, if you are looking for a place to train that is safe, has a staff that really knows what they are doing, cares for each of their clients, and makes the experience "fun", I would highly recommend that you consider trying out Studio 9, conveniently located about a mile south of...