Orangetheory Fitness — Local services in Mission Viejo

This review pains me to write, as I have been a long time member, and I have loved my OTF family for many years. I feel this is necessary, as I don’t want the same to happen to other members. I was being charged $169 a month, for my unlimited membership. Unfortunately, I had a severe injury and filed for a freeze last year. I needed to extend my injury freeze for 6-8 months. I suggested it may be best to cancel my membership? The sales rep said, no don’t worry about it as you are on an indefinite freeze, meaning we won’t unfreeze until we hear from you. Well, that wasn’t the case. The following month, OTF began charging me and continued to do so for 14 months. Unfortunately, the charge was on a cc I don’t use regularly and my son in college uses the card. My husband ultimately asked me what these charges were? To my surprise, the discovery that OTF had not frozen my account, as they had promised.

The rep was no longer working there, but I had my email confirmation of my freeze and my request for 6-8 more months. After speaking to Scott, the owner, he agreed in writing, to credit back 7 months and added a 30 class pack worth $515. Today, after patiently waiting several weeks on the class pack to be added to my account, Scott sent me a text stating, “he can’t do a 30 class pack, as corporate only approved a 10 class pack, and HE would have to cover the 20 additional classes.” Ummm, I paid for those 20 classes and more! And why shouldn’t Scott cover the extra 20 class pack? Scott got all of my money every month for 14 months, and he can’t give me 30 classes to use, after all I’m still out over $550, even after using the 30 class pack?!? I’m not ever getting that $550 back. That just went into OT’s pocket. Additionally, Scott said they sent emails and made phone calls, none of which were ever received. Concerned, I even went back to my phone bill and checked incoming calls on the date Scott said they called. Nothing. Scott said he would provide emails and any correspondence, and never did. In Scott’s defense, I thought we had come to a written agreement, so I never pressed the issue.

All in all, this is very disappointing, as every time we sign up for a monthly auto pay we are trusting the service provider to be fair. This clearly was not the case. Today, I told Scott if he can’t give me the additional 20 class pack out of the money I paid him, I’d have to consider small claims. Scott wrote back saying, “small claims is the only way to fix this, if that’s the case I’ll have to prepare my documents.” Well, Scott, you backed out of our written agreement. The ball is in your court now. Please give me some other suggestions. We will see if Scott chooses to make things right or not.

I really question the character of someone who can’t hold their end of an agreed upon settlement, where at the end of the day, they clearly come out ahead. Very shady and sad. You hear these stories all the time, but never did I think in a small studio environment, someone wouldn’t want to do right by their longtime member.

Update: My husband has reached out to Scott, and because ‘he didn’t like’ that I wanted to enforce my right to use small claims, he refused to discuss further. Scott clearly never had the intent of holding his word and he has little respect for his members or their hard earned money. I guess Scott wants to go to small claims for the remainder of the full amount. So nice. Not really sure what he thought my reaction would be to his failure to uphold an agreement.

Update to reply: More lies. We had a resolution. I was wrongfully charged $2366. Account was supposed to be frozen. You credited $1183. You also gave 10 class pack, likely will never be used, as I’m not coming back to a place where greed is more important than the member. No thx. Even so, Scott, you made out in this deal. You also do not want to resolve this. If I ran my business this way, I’d be out of business. The BBB has been made aware. You won’t talk to me to resolve any further, because I made a remark that perhaps I’ll need to use small...

I've been a member at OTF MV for nearly 5 years now. Bottom line upfront: I love this place; it's like my second home.

The franchise owner, Scott, has been able to build a close-knit community of members and staff here. In the 5 years I’ve been here, I've experienced 3 head coaches (Anthony, Nick, and now Eunice--all of whom I love!!), 2 studio managers (Monica, and now Courtney--same here!) and 1 franchise owner, Scott. What Scott has gotten right is the amazing culture he's built with his staff. They are ALL kind, warm, and helpful humans. Period. Every time I walk into the studio, without fail, I am greeted warmly, and with smiling faces, every single time. Personally, this is VERY important to me--whether it’s a doctor's office's front office staff, or a fitness studio, if I don't feel welcome or valued as a customer, I won't come back.

But the two biggest reasons why OTF MV has a special place in my heart is because of this: Healthy escape from COVID and Full body transformation support.

Healthy Escape from COVID

What impressed me so much about Scott and why I hold him in such high regard is that he decided to go against the grain during COVID and stay open for as long as possible, also while adhering to all the regulations that were imposed at that time. Orangetheory was the only thing that kept me sane. So many of us members wanted to keep coming because we wanted to work out and we wanted our community during those isolating times. Scott did everything to keep his doors open and keep the community together. As a business owner, it's obvious he wanted to keep his doors open but we members begged him to do what he could to make it happen and he did. Huge positive impact on my mental health at that time that I am forever grateful for.

Full-body Transformation

Anyone who has known me for the past five years has clearly seen the transformation my body has gone through. Of course, that has to do with my own discipline, but a huge part has to do with OTF and specifically MV's coaches. Because of the size of the classes, you get awesome coaches who push you to do your very best, whatever your best is that day. You get that with a personal trainer too but I'm not willing to pay the money. I don't ever push myself nearly as hard when I'm working out on my own. Plus, I don't have to figure out what workout I'm going to do. That's the sweet spot OTF strikes: I get the personal trainer feel at an affordable price, someone tells me what to do and pushes me hard, and I'm in and out in an hour.

Two more points about OTF MV are their coaches and their openness to feedback. I've been lucky to have awesome head coaches thus far. Eunice is a burst of energy that I look forward to when I come in. I love that they have a diverse set of coaches, so whatever personality you have or whatever mood you are in, surely there’s going to be a coach that matches. Sometimes I want a really loud class. Other times I’d rather have a quieter class. I know which coaches to pick for how I'm feeling. But net-net the point is with the full body transformation is that the coaches knew what my goals were, and they all pushed me and supported me to get there.

In the last 3 years, I've lost 24 lbs and 11% body fat.

Lastly, OTF MV is open to feedback. Anytime I've had a suggestion, or I wasn’t particularly happy with something, I could go to ANYBODY on their staff and give them my feedback, and either change would be enacted or there would be a good reason as to why things are the way they are. I truly love that about them, and that is to Scott’s credit, that all of his staff are open to taking feedback. I feel like they genuinely care about their members.

And to Orangetheory as a brand, I’ve visited other locations when I’ve been on business trips, and I have to say that the experience for me has been very positive and consistent in terms of feeling at home when I walk in. And the OTF@Home workouts are amazing now!! This is my community. These...

Orange Theory is amazing. I’d like to outline several reasons why anyone looking to increase their quality of life should join Orange Theory. First, a bit of background. My wife and I have two children. We have an eight year old daughter and a six year old son. Our son is autistic. Three years ago, we walked into our son’s checkup and his pediatrician informed us that we need a lifestyle change to keep up with our son. Our boy is athletic and incredibly strong. So, we decided to start a new path. My wife was first to join Orange Theory. I decided to run around the hills of Mission Viejo. After several weeks, my wife noticed a significant increase in muscle tone, energy and happiness. Finally, she convinced me to join. I was nervous at first. After that first session, I was hooked. Here are the reasons why you should join Orange Theory:

The trainers are incredible. Shari, Shana, Nick, Ashlee and Anthony are unbelievable. They are positive, focused and dedicated to YOU. I always feel like the trainers care. The trainers are also give you confidence to push when you are feeling tired. The energy in their voices keeps me motivated.

The front desk are always respectful, friendly and fun. They too, also care about your fitness journey. Whether it’s a smile or simple greeting, you feel welcome.

The equipment is clean and easy to use. I never feel like it’s old or beat up. High quality is the game for Orange Theory.

Your confidence will grow. Whatever your level or goals are? The trainers will work with whatever you need. I love that I’ve grown. My body has changed. It’s amazing.

Suggestions:

Add pull up bars. I really want to train for a Spartan. Speaking with several other members, they too would like pull up bars to help with other muscle groups.

Maybe a weekly or monthly health check on goals. Communication would increase the intimacy. Maybe a 5-10 minute check in.

Maybe a guided pre stretch routine to help prevent injury. I know time is a factor but it could be good to help people BEFORE the session.

Overall: I can’t recommend this enough. We now have the energy to keep up with my son and daughter. My wife and I are training for a Spartan race and Orange Theory in Mission Viejo is a huge part of that goal. We can’t thank the trainers enough. Whenever someone asks us why we seem so relaxed and fit we usually smile and say,”we aren’t in therapy, it’s...