Antelope Valley Family YMCA — Local services in Lancaster

I had an unpleasant experience when I asked the receptionist named John where the restroom was. He ignorantly responded "We don't have public restrooms." I was so taken aback that I was certain that he must have that understood my query so I asked again where the restroom was.

His response again was we don't have public restrooms. I then said "So are you saying that there are no restrooms in this building?" He said "Yes, but we don't have public restrooms." I said "what EXACTLY does that mean?"

He replied "Our restrooms are for Members Only." I said, " And WHY would you just ASSUME that I am NOT a member!?" I then pointed out that I came there all the time and was about to go into a meeting but I need to use the restroom first.

At this point one of my co-members came out of the meeting room to get me and tell me they were about to get started. I said "I'll be there momentarily but I first have to teach this guy about proper customer service."

The self-appointed, presumptious, restroom monitor then pointed to the restroom location. Upon returning I asked for whomever was in charge and he replied that "NOBODY" was in charge.

Only after I persisted did he give me the name of the manager. I guess John seems to think that if his manager is not physically on site that they are no longer "the person in charge."

After looking at the other complaints in regards to the tacky and unprofessional level of customer service that I experienced from John I'm truly not expecting much results from complaining about this so I'm going to take it to the next level and file a written complaint several levels above this one.

If we tolerate less than satisfactory customer service and do little more than whine about it on Yelp then NOTHING will ever change and our complaints will never be taken seriously. Far too often do low-paid bottom rung employees get away with bringing both their conscious and unconscious bias into the workplace which results in discriminatory responses such as Johns.

Also, there is a REASON that John chose to respond in this way and to just ASSUME that I had no right to use the restroom ...even though I come here all the time and he surely has seen me several times!

(Does ANYBODY go into this YMCA from the outside JUST to use the restroom? ...EVER!!?) An idiot could tell from my attire that I was not jogging, biking or meandering around on foot and NOBODY would park their car there just for that reason!

Regardless, the ONLY response should have been "ARE YOU A MEMBER", if anything ...but even THAT would have been a bit much unless he was CONSISTENT ...and we all know that is NOT the case.

Sorry but I shall NOT endure the pettiness of small-minded people who are uncouth and poorly equipped to respond properly to such a...

I really like this gym, its clean and the staff are nice, but two times now Ive had issues with them regarding charges. During the pandemic I was told I wouldn't be charged while they were closed because they were shut down because of COVID and you cant cancel your membership online. Since their establishment was closed, and there was no way to go inside to cancel your gym membership or use the gym, I was confused when I was charged $40 for a gym I couldn't even access and had been placing my membership on hold. After contacting multiple people I was essentially told it is what it is and they couldn't give me my money back. My bad. When they opened back up I really wanted to give them a second chance, because as I said the gym is clean and the staff are kind. When I went in to sign up the last week of June, I was told they had a student discount for full time students at $25 a month. I wouldn't have signed up without this discount. I signed up as normal and signed a contract that stated I would be paying $25 a month. Cue my surprise when I was charged $40 July 2. I went in today to ask why, perhaps there was a startup fee I was unaware of (even though during June they were doing a promotion where you don't pay a startup fee, I assumed there might've been a mistake) I was told they don't even do student discounts and $40 is what I would be paying every month. I told them that wasn't what I was told when I signed up and asked them to pull up the contract, because I signed and agreed to paying $25 a month, not $40. I was told they just don't do student discounts and there was nothing to do besides cancel and refund my membership. I don't really understand how it was even possible for me to sign up under a student discount, nevertheless sign a contract if they just "don't do that" The gym is nice, its not really busy and everyone I've interacted in the establishment was polite. But if you're someone like a college student who has sensitive finances I would steer clear of this place, because they tend to go back and forth on their word and im lucky I ended up getting a...

This gym definitely has its pros and cons, but my overall experience is 5 star worthy. First and foremost, I need to give acknowledgment and give appreciation to Miguel Anthony (the Membership Coordinator) for being so kind and willing to work with me in my unique situation. I highly recommend going through Miguel if you’re considering to join the Y. Other staff members are hit and miss as to what mood you’ll get each day… BUT I personally don’t have anything negative to say about the staff. People are human and people have bad days; it’s not that deep. As far as the gym goes - it’s clean and kept in good condition. My only recommendation (for the Y) is to provide better ways of cleaning the machines in between people. They have foaming/gel hand sanitizer through out the room, but it doesn’t give me a “clean” feeling after using it. Maybe provide wipes or spray bottles would be a better alternative? Just a suggestion. Class options are great and I think the price point is understandable for the options you’re given with each membership. If you have a family, with younger kids, the pool is a great resource. If your kid-less (like me) and just want to hit the gym/classes, you will find the gym to be a little more crowded when the kids are out of school. Lastly, I would like to recommend more equipment (example: squat racks and treadmills) as the Y gains more members. I noticed my gym time being longer than normal as I had to wait in order to use popular machines/equipment. There are signs posted around the gym to remind people to share and take turns but they’re is always that one person who doesn’t care to finish their reps and let others work out. Again, my experience with the YMCA has been great and I’d definitely...