Crunch Fitness - Hoboken — Local services in Hoboken

Extremely Disappointed with Customer Service (Update Review at the end)

I’m very disappointed with the lack of professionalism and poor customer service at Crunch Fitness Hoboken. I’ve been trying to resolve an issue involving my gym membership through a third-party provider (offered as a benefit through my employer), and my experience has been frustrating from start to finish.

Two months ago, I was told by the third-party provider that Crunch needed to finalize paperwork to reactivate my membership. I reached out to the club multiple times—via messages and emails—and it took 13 days to get a response from the gym manager. That’s completely unacceptable for a basic membership issue and reflects a lack of care for customer support.

This week, I reached out again to the same manager via email to confirm if my membership was reactivated before driving to the gym. After waiting two days with no response, I decided to call the gym directly. The person who answered the phone was incredibly rude and dismissive. They kept pushing me to deal with the third-party provider and made no effort to help on Crunch’s end, even when I explained that the third party had previously told me the gym needed to finish the reactivation process.

When I calmly asked if there was anyone else at Crunch—besides the unresponsive manager—who works with these providers so I could copy everyone on an email and resolve this more efficiently, the staff member became increasingly impatient. He even told me I should “just get a membership directly through Crunch” to avoid these issues. When I explained that my job provides this benefit for free, he still responded with attitude and implied it was my problem to deal with because I wasn’t paying Crunch directly.

After that call, I emailed both my third-party provider and the manager, Tom. Less than 15 minutes later, Tom finally responded, saying that if I re-enroll, my account should be active within a day or two—and that I was free to come in and use the gym in the meantime. He also told me to set a monthly alarm so I don’t forget to check in with the third-party provider to avoid cancellation again, and emphasized that this is a FitOn policy, not Crunch’s.

While I appreciated the gesture of allowing me to use the gym before reactivation, I honestly found the email passive-aggressive in tone. I responded politely, letting him know I would wait to hear back from FitOn customer service as well since it had been more than two days since I re-enrolled, and that I had, in fact, already set monthly reminders—but missed one last month due to the chaos of my wedding and honeymoon trip. As anyone can imagine, weddings are hectic.

At the end of the day, I just don’t understand how a company whose branding centers around being “judgment free” can be so dismissive and condescending toward members who use a third-party service. Whether we pay directly or through a provider, we are still paying customers. We deserve the same level of respect and support as anyone else walking into that gym.

Crunch needs to seriously rethink how it treats people who use alternative membership options—and start practicing the inclusivity and respect they preach.

(next day review) Updated Review – Positive Progress

I wanted to provide an update on my experience with Crunch. After some ongoing issues regarding the activation of my membership, I reached out to FitOn, who responded and clarified that the problem was due to a processing error on Crunch’s end.

Following that, Tom from Crunch got in touch via email and explained that he has contacted corporate, as the issue couldn’t be resolved at the club level. He also took the extra step of noting my account so that I wouldn’t face any trouble accessing the gym in the meantime.

I genuinely appreciate how Tom is now going above and beyond to help resolve this situation. His proactive communication and effort to make sure I can use the facilities without further inconvenience have made a big difference. Thank you, Tom, for stepping up and taking ownership...

I genuinely wish I could leave zero stars for this experience—it was that uncomfortable. A mentor of mine is helping me get back into a healthy fitness routine, and we stopped by Crunch for a simple consultation. What we got instead was a textbook example of poor customer service, courtesy of an employee named Tom.

At first, Tom seemed friendly enough. He greeted us and had us sign a waiver to check out the gym—totally standard. But as soon as we started asking basic questions about the membership, his tone noticeably shifted. He became visibly irritated, glancing around as if trying to pass us off to someone else, only to tell us he was short-staffed.

When we asked about available classes, Tom dismissed the idea entirely, telling us classes "shouldn't be your focus" if we’re just getting back into working out. Instead, he aggressively pushed personal training sessions, which of course came at an additional cost. When we asked if training was included in the membership, he literally scoffed and said, “No gym offers free training.” (That’s not even true—Planet Fitness, for example, does. So, lie number one.)

From there, the experience just tanked. Tom treated us like we were trying to game the system or get a free ride. When we asked about membership fees—again, a completely reasonable question—he condescendingly replied, “Well are you looking to pay like five bucks to be here? Because if you are, this isn’t the place.”

Excuse me?

We were trying to understand what services were included in the price—something any potential customer should feel comfortable asking. His final response? “The fee gets you in the door if that’s what you're asking.” At that point, it was clear we were wasting our time.

I could have gotten more useful information (and a lot more respect) just by visiting the website. Tom’s unprofessional attitude was disheartening, especially for someone like me who's taking steps to improve their well-being. I truly hope management reads this—and that Tom does too. If you're the first point of contact for prospective members, a little basic hospitality...

Freddy Sanchez is the epitome of what a coach should be. He has very strong lifting fundamentals, is fastidious and precise in communication especially when dealing with complex compound movements. A great way for beginner and veteran lifters alike to start, continue or get back into training goals. Personally, I have trained with Freddy for a year and am thoroughly enjoying the competitive spirit he stokes, much needed in a 6 am session. He is equal part patient when dealing with lifts that require time. Recent example is allowing me time to build up to a 3 plate squat by incrementally pushing up 5-10 lbs per week. His defining factor is his wisdom to know when I need reprieve/ deload, rest and when to push to PR.

He is very supportive of maintaining an active lifestyle outside of training sessions. Under his supervision, I have run over 500+ miles YTD and finished my first ever marathon. He checks in frequently outside of class to make sure my runs and other sports haven’t hindered my recovery, if it did, he adjusts the session workout accordingly. A frequent anecdote is I tend to overuse my hip flexors when running, to assuage the overcompensation we would include nordic curls to balance out the muscle activation.

I think a lot of folks exercising here are/ were athletes at one point and want to bring back/ maintain that propulsive spirit, which is admirable. Personally I want the same. The truth is most of us work stationary jobs and over the years we may have retained the muscle memory but not the muscles to execute on them. I think Freddy fully understands this eagerness to excel but helps to temper and hone your adrenaline into a measurable linear progression instead of a sporadic pump that inevitably leads to injury (or worse, giving up). This measured but firm guidance takes thousands of hours of coaching to develop and I feel fortunate to be a...