Life Time — Local services in Montvale

Disappointed After 3 Years at Lifetime Fitness

I’ve been a Lifetime Fitness member for 3 years, it’s been really underwhelming and overpriced for most of my time here and l now I will actually say something about it. I just received an email a few days ago from the GM saying my monthly dues are going up by $30 starting June 1st. Not only is that less than 30 days’ notice, but what if I don’t agree to this new change that wasn’t part of my initial agreement?? Are you just going to charge me without my consent? Every year since being a member I received an email that rates were going up, but not to worry since I was “grandfathered in” to my rate. Apparently this increase is to “cover upgrades,” and I should be so grateful bc newer members will have an even higher increase according to the GM. Some of these new upgrades consist of a working space with a vertical garden. I come to the gym to workout and this place is looking more like a WeWork space rather than a gym.

Don’t get me wrong. $30 isn’t much and I’m happy to pay for a better experience, but this gym is not providing a better experience in my opinion. If anything my experience continues to decline with every visit. It is extremely overcrowded no matter what time of the day you come. They continue to accept new members despite stating that they have a “waitlist”, I see front desk giving new people tours every time I’m in. Why do tours of the gym if you’re not taking new members?? The locker room also always crowded. People sitting around using their phones so you can’t even comfortably access a locker and get changed. It’s mind boggling to me. The sauna which I love to use, also always crowded. Not to mention people entering with their shoes all the time, and leaving their dirty towels behind. And don’t get me started with the children all over the place and sitting on gym equipment using their phones. Maybe I’m biased because I don’t have kids. I’m a young professional and going to workout would be my escape from the stress of work and a busy work day. Coming here gives me more stress. No one ever cleans their machines after use, specifically the stairmaster that everyone sweats all over. The members at this gym have by far the worst gym etiquette out of any gym I’ve ever been a member at and I think a big reason for that is that they aren’t true “gym enthusiasts”. This is more of a family activity center that happens to have a weightroom. The high end premium experience you’ll find at the lifetimes in NYC or Equinox, is simply not here. I’m also flabbergasted as to the sudden price increase when they’ve continued to accept new members even though they said they were putting that on pause. They are way over capacity yet have the gall to increase everyone’s dues. The overcrowded gym is exactly why I put my membership on hold last summer.

I would never write a negative review about any business. I simply just stop patronizing them, but to casually email your members and basically tell them you’re charging them more and not ask them if they agree with the new terms is simply unethical and unprofessional. I will escalate this if my membership is not canceled before payment for the new dues...

After years as a member, I will be cancelling my membership. Let me paint you the picture of the issues going on at this gym. For years the men’s shower pressure was very low and many members complained and management did nothing. Then the gym was doing some construction and the men’s and women’s locker room swapped with one another for a few days. When we started using the women’s locker room we noticed their water pressure was excellent and for years of complaining on the men’s side, they did nothing. Now that everyone knew, they increased the water pressure on the men’s side. Another issue is I just found out that they are increasing my membership dues by $20 again for the second time in the last 2 years from $179 to $200 by an email from manager Joseph Allard stating rate is still $20 lower than that for new members. How can you continue to increase rates when a lot of gym equipment keeps breaking down and you don’t fix it, Showers are always dirty, no staff wants to work there because of the way they are treated, as others have mentioned underage kids all over the place cursing and harassing members, people of color are looked down upon and treated differently by staff, personal trainers charge an arm and a leg for sessions and hardly help any of their client from what I’ve heard, on top of that I’ve seen personal trainers and clients laughing at members who aren’t using proper form to lift instead of correcting them because all they care about is the money they are getting paid, basketball courts are filled with teenagers who will run full court games and don’t let other members play on the court, they have made half of the weightlifting area with like 25 power cages for deadlifts/squats etc geared more towards younger kids and very little equipment and machines for older clients, dumbbell area only has 5 adjustable benches that are always taken, pool with bandaids floating around and kids for lifeguards, no cold water in the showers if you want to take a cold shower, enough is enough

In all honesty, this gym has potential, but when management at the end is a business that cares more about increasing dues every few years to profit off the working class who work hard to come here and are treated like garbage, it’s time to find another gym. Many other members have had enough and are leaving when you start charging monthly dues close to $300 a month soon. I guess only the upper wealthy class will be able to afford...

I'm still fuming after the appalling treatment my family and I received at Life Time Bergen County. As a guest of a current Life Time member, I was initially impressed by the facility, but our encounter with Wyatt in the Kids Academy was a deal-breaker. We will not be back, and we encourage others to stay away too.

Let me first detail the unacceptable treatment of our children. Wyatt checked in our kids at Kids Academy and then demanded that I obtain a guest pass from the front desk. I let him know I am a guest of my friend's, and he just scanned her membership pass, but nonetheless, we went to the front desk for the guest pass. At the front desk, I was then informed this would require a $20 fee per child. This was surprising and contrary to my friend's previous experiences, as she has had guests at Life Time before, and has never been charged when they said their kids to the Kids Academy.

We politely declined and informed the front desk that we're going to collect our belongings from the locker room, then will pick up our kids. They acknowledged this is perfectly fine. Upon leaving the locker room to pick up our kids, we were horrified to find my kids standing at the front desk, looking dejected and confused.

When my kids saw me, they immediately expressed their desire to leave the premises. I learned that Wyatt had abruptly removed them from the kids' club, telling them they had to wait because "your mom didn't pay for you." Furthermore, he did this in a condescending manner. This was not only rude but also humiliating for my children.

While I understand the need for policy enforcement, Wyatt's choice to be rude and condescending is inexcusable. His actions were not only unprofessional but also damaging to young children. As a parent, it's infuriating to see my kids treated with such disrespect.

Unless you're willing to shell out hundreds of dollars monthly to be treated poorly, stay far away from Lifetime Bergen County. The combination of discriminatory practices, rudeness, and unacceptable behavior toward children makes this facility a hard pass...