LA Fitness — Local services in Orlando

I am writing this review re a recent bad experience I had at LA Fitness. I have been a loyal member since early 2020 and have always enjoyed my visits to the branch. Being a trusted gym franchise with many branches across the country, I believe in the operation standards of LA Fitness and trust that it aims to provide the best experience for its members. However, my visit on Feb 17, 2023 proved otherwise.

On that morning, I reached LA Fitness at 8.10am and started my weekly routine in the pool. There was only one lane open (I was told by the water aerobics instructor, Maureen, that I could only use lane 3) and the rest were occupied by the water aerobics class. I swam until around 8.30am until Maureen approached me and demanded that I was being disruptive to her class and I had to leave the pool. Naturally, I was shocked by this rude demand and rejected her. I told her that I was in an open lane and she had no right to ask me to leave. Maureen then called the manager, Nielsan over. Nielsan came and explained that there was a class going on and I was disrupting their class, hence, I had to leave. I went on to explain that being a member, it is also my right to enjoy the amenities, the pool included. There was another gentleman who was sharing the lane with me, he was asked to leave too, but only after I mentioned his presence to Nielsan. In my conversation with Nielsan, I stressed that there was no sign that says that the pool was closed; the pool was never closed in the past aerobics classes; and I was never told to leave by the other aerobics instructor. Nielsan then raised that LA Fitness has a policy of closing the area when there are classes going on. Again, there was no sign. In my past visits, LA Fitness always put up signs to warn of the closed areas. There was never a sign that said ‘pool closed for classes’. Even when Nielsan showed my LA FItness rules and regulations, he could not point out exactly where it says that members can be evicted or there will always be signs put up.

My concern is, it is very reasonable for me to be evicted half way through my exercise. There was no prior warning whatsoever. Even if the pool was closed, I should be told before I step into the pool, and not half way through my swim and Maureen thought that I disturbed her class. On top of that, I also felt that I was being bullied into agreeing to leave because Maureen only approached me, not the gentleman who was sharing the lane with me. Even Nielsan acted as if he was not aware that there was someone else in the lane, until I raised it. If I was anymore sensitive, I would have assumed that I was being targeted and racially discriminated against.

I made it clear to Nielsan that I was going to write up a complaint. He tried to stop me by not giving me the name of Maureen. It was only after I persisted that Nielsan gave me her name. Being the manager, Nielsan was very unprofessional in the sense that he did not take the effort to understand the situation before taking sides and told a member of the gym to leave. He also tried to suppress the matter by not telling me the name of the contractor Maureen. All of these are very rude, suspicious, and utterly unprofessional.

This will not be my last visit to LA Fitness, I still enjoy my time there and I am simply disappointed that the manager was not fixated on taking care of members’ experience. To be honest, even in my next few visits to the same branch, there were no signs put up that said ‘pool closed for class’. I am very confused at what Nielsan...

The gym itself is very large, and put together nicely, but the management is absolutely horrible. I only leave positive reviews, but hope management reads this and fixes the issue.

I have never in my life, gone to a gym, that lacks so much gym etiquette. You have full grown men who will stack 16 plates on a leg press, and when they are done, will leave each and every weight on the machine, and walk away for someone else to put back for them. I saw a guy do it the other day, and a small lady wanted to use the machine right after him, and couldn't, because the guy was too lazy and disrespectful to re-rack his weights. This happens on a daily basis at this gym. There are gym plates and dumbbells left all over the gym, they are never put back on the racks at all, let alone in the proper place, and many people neglect to wipe down the machines when finished.

Just after the New Years rush came in, I was on the treadmill next to a guy who was dripping sweat all over the treadmill. Once he was done with cardio, there was massive amounts of sweat on the handlebars as well as the buttons. I thought when he got off the machine he was going to get something to clean it off....nope....he went downstairs and did something else. I honestly wanted to flip out at how pathetic and unsanitary the guy was.

As I mentioned with weights being left on machines and all over the floor like a tornado went through the place, a lot of guys at this gym will take dumbbells to a bench to do shoulder press, dumbbell exercises, and back exercises, and when they are done they literally leave the weights on each side of the bench, if not on the bench, and walk away. I was there yesterday, and there was 60 pound weights sitting on a bench, and I figured maybe they went to the restroom or to grab a drink....nope....they sat there for a good half hour until someone moved them to use the bench.

I don't personally blame the younger kids who work here at night for this, even though they also leave dumbbells on the floor, but whoever the GM of this gym is, needs to start addressing this. Is it too much trouble to put signs up to remind people to re-rack their weights and clean the machines off? I have been working out 6 times a week for over a decade now, and have been to gyms in Southern California, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, and a few other cities, and this is by far the worst gym I have ever been to regarding gym etiquette. I have been to a few other LA Fitness gyms throughout the Orlando area, and those gyms are well run, people put their weights back, and know how to actually use equipment.

I only write this because it has gone too far. I understand you can't police everyone and that weights will be placed in the wrong spot from time to time, where a 60 pound weight might be put back where the 50 pound weights go, but this is beyond ridiculous. When you have grown men who want to walk around like they actually know how to work out and use a gym, do stuff like this, it needs to be addressed.

Place a sign on the door or near the check-in area, and put them on the mirrors to remind them to clean up after themselves. The 65 year old janitor shouldn't have to clean up after a bunch of grown ass men.

If this wasn't the only gym in the entire Lake Nona area, I would switch in a heartbeat. It has gotten so bad, that I try to take my gym clothes with me and go to another location based on my sales calls for the...

My unpleasant experience at LA Fitness. I was very excited when I found out a new gym was opening in my neighborhood. I decided to print an online pass for 3 days to check it out with my mother, since neither of us has ever been to LA Fitness. We entered the gym both looking forward to seeing how it is inside and ecstatic to start working out! Upon arrival, we were greeted at the front desk and I showed them my 3 day pass. After a few moments a man by the name of Efrain Alejandro (member service representative) took the pass and showed us to his desk. I thought great, this was the chance to find out if they had specials! He looked at the pass and said this pass is only for one person. I told him that on the bottom it stated it was for me to experience the 3 day pass and a friend, therefore I only printed one pass. He took the pass crumbled it up and threw it in the trash. Which I thought was a little odd. He proceeded to tell us that they had a special going on, the special was 34 dollar monthly fee and the initiative fee was waived. I asked him if the deal was for this weekend only, and he stated it was only today. He took mine and my mother’s ID and began entering information into his computer. I proceeded to ask him questions about the membership, which he absolutely refused to answer, by either changing the topic quickly or ignoring the question. It made me a little frustrated but I put it off, not thinking too much about it. After he entered out information into the computer he printed and gave us both a pass for 1 day ONLY, instead of my 3 day pass. I told him that we wanted to work out and then make the decision on whether to join. He took mine and my mother’s IDs and placed them in his pocket. He stated that he would give them back after we were done working out. This made us very uneasy. I told him I did not feel comfortable and I wanted out IDs back. He took them out of his pocket and gave it to me with a dirty look. After the “complimentary” work out, come to find out, the one day deal only was actually NOT TRUE, but the same deal was going on the next day! Not only was the customer service horrible but to place out personal belongings in his own pocket was outrages to me. I want people to be aware of what is going on at this new gym! Not only did I leave the place feeling uncomfortable, but I left the place without any of my questions answered! I would not recommend this place to anyone unless they begin changing their...