Sweat Fitness - Queen Village Location — Local services in Philadelphia

I have had numerous problems with this gym since joining earlier this year. I signed up for the month-to-month membership and decided to give the personal training trial a go. One, no one told me about this apparent 60-day cancellation charge if I wanted to stop my membership. What is the point of paying more for month-to-month if you're still getting hit with fees for cancelling? I can understand 30 days maybe, but 60? Two, I WAS told that if I wanted to CONTINUE with personal training after the trial, I had to email the manager, Sam. Apparently, the opposite was true because I started getting charged for the sessions and didn't know until the trainer texted me about not scheduling anything.

The staff did try to work with me and told me to request that my account be paused for 3 weeks so I could use the 6 sessions I had accrued. I didn't particularly want them but thought I might as well utilize them since I was already charged and may continue if I ended up liking it more. After only two or three sessions of the six, I tried scheduling another and was told I didn't have any more left. Confused, I tried emailing Sam to clear this issue up, also asking to extend the account pause so I didn't get charged more until it was sorted out. No reply. I followed up a week later, still no reply. In that window my account was charged again, and I still had no answers. Finally, I sent a third email telling him to cancel the personal training but keep the month-to-month so I could still workout. Somehow that got a speedy response and confirmation, but he just ignored the discrepancies and charges I had asked about initially.

If the lack of communication and shadiness wasn't enough, there's rarely someone standing at the front desk, so any person can just walk in off the street and roam about the gym. I know this because while I was working out, someone went into the cubby (that's well within view from the desk) I had my bag in and ROBBED me of my driver's license and credit cards. They also just straight lied about adding certain amenities I asked about during my initial inquiry, but somehow that's the least concerning thing here.

Now, I'm trying to cancel my membership (or at least start the absurd process), emailed both Sam and Maureen, and after a week I have yet to get confirmation of receipt from either one. I'm not really one to write bad reviews when I experience poor service or have been wronged by a business. I really try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt when it comes to mistakes, but the management of this place is actually laughable. I'd say do better, but it's clear that would fall on deaf ears. If I ever manage to cancel my membership, I'll be returning to the NYSC up the road, which I recommend everyone who lives in this area also do. At least there, your chances of getting robbed by strangers and the business itself are significantly lower.

Edit: After receiving a response to this review about a personal apology, no one ever actually...

I signed up in person, and I opted for month to month so I could cancel if I didn’t like it. No one explained to me that I would still have to pay 2 additional months upon cancellation, which makes no sense to me especially since they charge $35 every two weeks instead of a flat monthly fee. So really they wanted to charge me for an additional 4 billing cycles. I tried to cancel because money got tight, and that’s when I learned about this essentially $140 cancellation fee. I told them this is ridiculous because the reason I chose the month to month option was to avoid this exact scenario and no one mentioned this policy to me during sign up. At this point they convinced me to pause my membership for a few months instead, again no one told me that this would also incur a $5 a month charge, and I didn’t learn about that until it happened. I was also charged a random amount of $19 and some change by their billing company, and when I called to ask what it was, they couldn’t tell me. Once again I tried to cancel because I was frustrated with my overall experience and the lack of transparency, and I was then offered to have the $5 hold fee waived, and also offered 2 free months at the gym when my pause was up. But that doesn’t count towards the 2 months payment to cancel, I’m sure.

I loved Sweat under its former management, I used to pay a flat $50/month and never experienced hassle like this. I was a long time member and used at least 3 of the old sweat locations. Now it’s more expensive, the equipment is far worse, and management seems...

Sharing this on behalf of my partner who I have been trying to help with the awful interactions he's had with Sweat Fitness. Our recent interactions with Sweat Fitness have left me deeply dissatisfied. During my attempts to cancel our membership, we were told that we needed to pay the buyout fee of several hundred dollars even though we've moved out of state which in accordance with their contract voids us of this charge. It's impossible to stay a Member of a gym and crazy to pay for it when you move over 1,000 miles away. The contract says if you move 25 miles away, you do not need to pay the buyout... We have provided statements and documents to prove our new address and everything they need. Instead, they respond send automated replies indicating we owe the buyout fee and provide no actual human communication to resolve this. This is an ongoing issue that we're deeply frustrated by.

Even as a Member, I was dissatisfied. When trying to work out in the gym, there will be classes going on where they will take over the free weights and I'll have to leave my routine to give up gym mats. It's unorganized how they do this.

These incidents collectively highlight a troubling pattern of disorganization and unprofessionalism within Sweat Fitness. As a result of these experiences, I cannot recommend Sweat Fitness to others, and I urge potential members to consider alternatives that prioritize clarity and...