LA Fitness — Local services in Mission Viejo

Rarely do I write bad reviews but man this was the worse experience I’ve had in a long time.

If you are thinking of doing the 7 day trial where they hold their “special” rate for you for $100, I caution you to think again.

July 7th - I was told the $100 would be fully refunded, if you cancel within 7 days. If I were to keep the membership then it would go towards my monthly fee. Jadd the sales manager made it seem like it was a great deal, he even gave me his cell phone number to make me feel like he would take care of me if I were to cancel by the 7th day. Later I found out it was $10-20 a month cheaper if I signed up through email. For personal reasons, I decided not to keep the membership. I messaged Jadd on the 6th day of my trial and then 3 follow ups texts on the 7th day with no response. He was quick to respond to previous messages when it was beneficial to him. I tried calling that day and he sent my call directly to voice mail, giving me no choice but to go in. I walked straight towards his desk as I got in and he could tell I was a little upset so he made the excuse that he was in a meeting earlier. He then told me he would take care of it and handed me a cancellation paper which had no date on it, but said it would take a couple business days before I was refunded, so I waited. After a week, I realized I was charged an initiation fee of $59 meaning they never officially cancelled it. I called back two more times where I spoke to Emma and some other gentlemen both times asking for Jadd. I was told that he would call me back but again nothing. I had to go in another time to talk to someone. This time I spoke with Edward another manager since Jadd wasn’t there. He apologized and said he forgot to cancel the membership. I asked him when I would be refunded but he said he didn’t have the authorization to do so and I would have to wait for their other manager Bradley. I called back the following week and spoke with Bradley. Bradley said he would have to verify with Jadd or Edward and then he would call me back. Nothing…. So I called him again. The receptionist said he wasn’t available so they would pass along my message and he would call me back. Nothing and crickets again. I finally got a hold of him when I tried another time and he didn’t remember who I was and tried to tell me that I was supposed to cancel within 5 days. I was pissed as this point. I explained to him that it was not what I was told. Thankfully I sent over messages to Jadd on the dates I was supposed to cancel or else I don’t think I would’ve gotten a refund. He still wanted to verify and me to show him proof in person, I asked if I could send it to him and thankfully he agreed. He said he was going to follow up with me afterwards but of course didn’t hear back again. The sales team is a joke and more so scammers. I spoke to corporate the following day and thankfully Bradley finally refunded my card.

But this is the most ridiculous experience ever. It took me 3 texts, 9 calls, 2 in person visits, speaking with 3 managers and almost a month of my time to finally get my refund…. August 4th was the end date of this craziness.

This whole experience made me never want to become a LA fitness membership again. So for those that are thinking about doing a trial, don’t sign up for the one where you are charged $100. Learn from my mistake it’ll save you a whole lot of time and frustration of dealing with...

I love this gym even though there's lots of old fogies there but everyone is friendly and the place is clean. Oh and just to be fair, they're not all old fogeys but it's nice to see the old crows getting out of the nest to get their workout in. You know you got your regular California ripped bods and such. It's one of their Flagship gyms with lots and lots of equipment well-maintained and well-staffed. I was formerly a member of Bally's until LA Fitness bought them out and they upgraded most locations. I've been a member of 24 Hour Fitness also and most of their equipment is broken and they just hang a sign on it and never fix it. When I'm traveling I go to the new LA Fitness in Natick Massachusetts and even though it's not as big as the one in Mission Viejo it has individual cable TV monitors on every machine, like the bikes treadmills and such. I have to say it's much more high-tech and though it's slightly smaller it's not very busy because it's new and the pool has a lifeguard which is Massachusetts law. Overall I've been very happy as a member of LA Fitness though some locations are cleaner than others. Hot tip, don't leave valuables in your car or if you do keep them out of sight or maybe in the trunk. I saved over $400 on membership dues by paying three years up front. At the time I joined it was $29.95 per month, however, if you pay for 3 years in advance it was only $19.95 per month and they waived the $100 Initiation fee and my renewal is only $18.25 per month for life (or until they sell the place LOL) which is where I'm at right now it's like paying for 11 months and getting the 12th one free. Oh and I can go to any gym. I highly recommend it. Dues have gone up since I've joined but if you've got the dough ask about paying up front as I did it I just put it on a credit card. It's a pretty good deal and most locations are very clean. Now get out there and get...

After a recent move from Hawaii to Mission Viejo, I am in need of a gym and had heard good things about my local LA Fitness! I was able to download a guest pass (which is good for a week) and went in yesterday for a workout. The gym itself is very lovely. Everything is clean, the gym is spacious and well kept, and there wasn't a crowd to compete with when moving between machines! However, my incredible dislike for this gym comes down to the staff. Upon the completion of my workout, I needed to meet with one of the staff members to activate my week long gym pass. Ryan and I sat down and he began asking me questions about my health goals and explaining the benefits of signing up for a membership. Now, I understand that this is an opportunity for them to sell you on a membership and use a variety of different sales tactics to do so. However, when I told Ryan that I wouldn't be ready to commit financially until I came back a few more times using my guest pass (which is fair in my opinion), he became almost combative with me and very aggressive. I consider myself a fairly easy going person and have worked in both sales and customer service so I don't really ever get upset with staff. But this would be an exception. Ryan would NOT take my no for an answer and kept holding my ID hostage while he berated and shamed me in a variety of different ways. It was not until I finally had to raise my voice that he rolled his eyes, gave me attitude, and finally activated my guest pass. Only then did I get my ID back and was able to leave. I went from being excited about joining this beautiful gym to feeling angry and completely turned off from joining. LA Fitness' abusive and aggressive sales tactics are unjustified, wrong, and need to be seriously...