City Fitness — Local services in Philadelphia

I cannot think of a worse value than CF at Logan Square. First off, my GF and I were completely mislead from the onset which put a horrible taste on our mouths. We were told we could try the executive membership (which includes WeFit) for two weeks or simply do a one week trial of the basic membership. All we had to do was pay about $10. As a rational consumer, I thought this was a great value. So, we proceeded to enroll in the two week offering. Within two weeks, we realized that the WeFit was just not what we were looking for. I went back to speak to the same sales rep and she informed me that it wasnt $16for two weeks... but $16 for three days. And I had subsequently been charged $75. She tried to backtrack and say she told me it was $16 for three days with the option to downgrade to the basic level after those three days. Simply, untrue. That is not at all what she told us. No rational consumer would opt to pay $16 for three days as opposed to getting a week free. During this conversation, I was calm, respectful, but also to the point. I called my GF after this and I did not tell her what happened as I wanted to hear her understanding. She reiterated the understanding I had as well so it clearly was not me misunderstanding during the signup process. Eventually, we got it resolved, but we did miss out on the trial which was a shame (as it was worth $22.50 per person).

CF later asked for member feedback in an email, "We thrive on member feedback and use it to get better every day. We hope you will take a few minutes to give us your candid feedback about your experience with us." So, I candidly provided feedback. While I was very blunt about the rep who "assisted" us, I was honest and did not use hostile language. The VP of Sales used my feedback as a means to portray me as a hostile member and threatened to terminate my membership if I continued this "disrespect" towards staff. Had I known my candid responses would be grounds for a threat, I would not have left any feedback whatsoever. This response employs poor customer relationship management and seeks to shelter the employees and business from honest feedback. (response is attached with names omitted)

Furthermore, the men's steam room was broken for around three months (at least from October - December). I have no idea if it has been fixed yet. No accommodations or concessions were provided to members. Additionally, the massage chairs were often out of service. If you are going to charge members this uncompetitive price, at least keep your facility in working order. Additionally, the treadmills often cut back on speed. Do not expect to perform HIIIT runs on them.

Overall, I am so glad I am no longer a member. Luckily, Planet Fitness opened right across the street. I will absolutely concede that City Fitness is a better equipped facility, but it lacks a faithful sales process and proper maintenance. For $10 a month (compared to $90 every four weeks at City Fitness), Planet Fitness wins hands-down. Hopefully CF will realize that they are losing market share and will take...

2/6/2024 Update: The gym responded that an email was sent out a week in advance about the closure and admitted that they should also have sent another notification closer to if not on that date. The gym didn't send an email out but it would look good for them to just claim that and think other people reading the review would believe them. I checked my email and there are plenty of emails from city fitness however there was no email sent a week in advance with the notification. I wasn't going to provide this update but now I came here on 2/6 to use the steam room as I always try to here. I actually live across anytime fitness and have a membership there because I work out there because of the convenience and then after drive to city fitness and park in front of the loading zone so I can relax in the steam room at the end of the day. Tonight I came and there were no towels (this happens often). I go back to the front desk and see folded towels on the counter. I ask for 2 towels and the employee (he) first told me no they can't right now. And then said I can have 1. I said that I use one for the steam room and need 1 after for when I shower. He said sorry other people are taking more than 2. He asked me how long I'll be in the steam room for and I said 15 minutes. 15 min later I come out and there are no towels. I put my clothes and jacket and jeans over my wet sweaty body and walk out of the gym sweaty into the cold. What's the point of paying $75 a month to have to always hope for the best on my way over here? More times than not there's always an issue from the gym being closed, the steam room being broken, and no towels being available. I can't justify paying for city fitness anymore because I'm paying $75 a month to use the locker room amenities to relax and instead I leave here annoyed.

The staff at this gym except for Walter are all incompetent and do not know how to proactively communicate when the gym closes early. Management also does nothing to reach out to many many messages. This is the second time I've showed up at the gym and find out it's closing early due to a planned (key word being planned, it's not a surprise and they even said they are aware ahead of time) power outage at the sterling. It's the second time they can't communicate out that the gym is closing 1 hour and 45 minutes early and I show up just to...

Been a member a little over a year. It’s pricey for what it is, but certainly gets the job done and beats planet fitness.

There could certainly be more attention to detail in the cleanliness (especially showers and cardio equipment) and customer service if you’re going to bill me biweekly at that price tag with an annual “facilities fee”. There’s usually a weekly email letting you know something is broken or out of service (towel dryer/washer, saunas, ect.) at a least one location, and they have a very strict freeze policy (i.e. you don’t really benefit from it unless you plan your travel around their biweekly fee schedule).

As there are so few options for gyms in this city, especially with multiple locations, they have the market cornered. Their classes are good, but be warned: their “thrive” program is a scammy upsell, if you’re going to pay for training you should likely pay for a certified trainer who can give you personalized attention, and if you need group training look into F45 to get real value, time actually spent training, and quality of workouts for your bucks.

If you just need a gym with a few classes, decent amenities, and multiple locations around the city, this is kind of the only option in Philadelphia and it’s sufficient.

Don’t count on them to be open during or sometimes even just near a holiday or anything too traffic causing in the city as they’ll take any chance they get to close early/not be open without batting about your fees. If you ever need help and someone tells you “I’ll pass this along to ‘the higher ups’ and ‘corporate’”, just know that is the end of them pretending to solve your problem and nothing will be done even if you follow up. They your dollars more than you, but that’s business right? They certainly have the infrastructure to be a great gym if that was the goal their goal.

Again it’s a good gym and better than planet fitness but it certainly seems their focus is on marketing/creating content to appear that they provide a better service than actually deliver on.

Logan square is my favorite location because it has the least claustrophobic locker rooms; there are some locations I avoid if I plan to use the showers or sauna as it’s too awkward of a lay out (looking at you...