LA Fitness — Local services in Port Orange

New Year’s Eve was supposed to be a time for reflection and celebration, but my experience at LA Fitness was ruined because of Chris, the operations manager. I came to get a workout in before closing, and when the staff announced the gym would be closing in 10 minutes, I rushed through my sets to finish up.

As I was wrapping up, a staff member politely informed me that it would be my last set. I respected that and finished quickly. Afterward, I went for a brief 20-second set, but then I was called to the register to scan my QR code. The staff member, Bobby, asked for my phone number. When I asked why, he repeatedly refused to explain, which made me feel uneasy. Despite this, I complied, and he issued a warning notice, saying my membership could be canceled if I stayed late again—even though other members were still using equipment and leaving at the same time.

Then Chris got involved. Without understanding the situation or asking what was going on, he immediately yelled at me to leave. When I calmly tried to explain and pointed out that others were still working out, he accused me of “running my mouth” and escalated the situation unnecessarily. His aggressive behavior and unwillingness to listen were shocking, especially coming from someone in an operations management role.

I felt humiliated and disrespected but chose to come back and apologize—even though I wasn’t in the wrong. Bobby, the staff member, handled the situation professionally and spoke to me respectfully, but Chris refused to engage maturely. He didn’t care about resolving the issue, only about asserting his authority.

To make matters worse, I was unfairly charged for the next month’s membership ($42) even though my account was canceled by their decision. Additionally, I had to pay an $80 reinstatement fee to continue using the gym. Both charges feel unjustified, as I believe the cancellation was unwarranted and the situation was mishandled entirely. I also feel that Chris and the staff took advantage of me because I’m 16 years old. They likely assumed I wouldn’t cause a scene or take the matter further, and that made this treatment feel even more unfair and disrespectful.

Chris’s behavior was completely unacceptable. Operations managers are supposed to lead by example and resolve issues professionally. Instead, Chris demonstrated unprofessionalism, arrogance, and a lack of respect for members. I understand that it was New Year’s Eve and the staff wanted to go home, but that’s no excuse for yelling at a paying member, treating them disrespectfully, or mishandling the situation.

To the higher-ups at LA Fitness: Chris is not fit for an operations management role. If his first instinct is to yell at members and cancel memberships over minor misunderstandings, he’s doing more harm than good to your gym’s reputation. I strongly urge corporate to investigate this matter and provide a fair resolution, including a refund of the unjust charges and an acknowledgment of how this was mishandled.

Chris, if you’re reading this, I hope you take time to reflect on how you treat people. Your behavior ruined what should have been a positive experience, and no member deserves to feel the way I did. I hope future interactions with members will be more respectful and...

Had an absolutely horrible experience with the General Manager Named Chris. I would provide a last name or initial if it was given but he refused to provide that information.

All I wanted to do was cancel my family plan as I was the primary card holder. I had already spoken to Chris the week prior to make sure that the canalization would take effect before I was charged for the next month.

He told me that it was taken care of only for me to discover a new charge to bank account in the following days.

I re-entered the gym today to resolve the issue and was instantly met with hostility.

He was immediately rude,

interrupted me multiple times,

Despite my multiple attempts to de-escalate the situation, he continued to act belligerently saying, "I am only matching your energy."

I even tried to apologize if I did anything to upset him and told him I don't want any anger or hostility. Only for him to continue yelling and gaslighting me.

He said he had zero recollection of talking or helping me prior.

He claimed that this problem was entirely my fault.

He claimed that even though I was the card holder of the account, I had zero control over the activity of the other members of my family plan.

He claimed the only way for the other members to be canceled was for them to go to each of their own local LA fitness's and cancel it themselves.

When I told him I wanted to speak with corporate, he attempted to physically grab a piece of paper out of my hand. (the paper contained his first name and phone number.)

At this point my problems were three fold.

I have multiple members tied to my account that I cant cancel.

I have already been charged money for these inactive members. (even though I already attempted and was told they were canceled.)

I have been treated extremely rudely by the senior staff member.

At this point my only option was to call the corporate office and explain the situation.

They instantly told me that as the primary card holder, it was indeed MY RESPONSIBILITY and I had every right to cancel the other members on my plan.

The corporate office wasted no time canceling the other members and providing me a refund.

I want to state that never before have I ever felt such hostility or anger coming from any other employee at this location or any other location I have visited. The corporate office was very professional as well.

It is really a shame because LA fitness is a great gym with a great environment.

Although it is clear as day that Chris, the GM at this location, has some serious anger issues and has no right to be working in...

I never do reviews but this one had to be done. This is the only "decent" gym close to where I used to leave and that is the only reason why I started my membership here even after a bad experience at the beginning. I toured the facilities and got my 3-day pass on February 25th which I used from 25-28th! When I came in on March 1st, they changed their memberships to not include free guest passes (which it did when I toured and they guy had told me that it was included). Even after talking to the General Manager (Case I believe is his name), the associate told me that it couldn't be done. I went to the parking lot and called corporate offices and they fact checked and got in contact with the Regional Manager and they were able to add it in. After a couple months of traveling around Florida and going to over 10 different LA/Esporta Fitness, this location has the worst manager of all. I had to move away for personal reasons and I called between 7am-10:30am in different occasions to cancel my membership and I was told that the manager was either occupied or not in yet so he would call me back when he could. I called 4 different times including yesterday at 9:43am. I finally get ahold of him today because this time I call around 3pm and he tells me (in a bad attitude) that the membership could not be cancelled over the phone, that I had to do be in person or print a form and send it to Corporate Offices in California. I agreed to send the form but asked if we could do something about the charge that they just did today because I had called on various occasions and I haven't even been to LA in months and he proceeds to tell me (in a bad attitude again) that he it is "untrue and unreal" that I called because he is there 5 days a week from 9-6 "regular business hours". I called yesterday at 9:47am and he wasn't in yet, at least that's what I was told by the nice associate that I talked with yesterday. I proceeded to end the call and call corporate offices and they cancelled it in 2 minutes. Nothing against LA Fitness as a company, nor the other associates this is a review for the General Manager of this location. He is not meant to work with customer service, much less as a General Manager. I hope he takes into consideration being a bit more friendly and less confrontational...