Workout Anytime Snellville — Local services in Snellville

DO NOT JOIN THIS GYM

Due to the pandemic, the gym shut down in April. They paused payments in April. They reopened in May. I received a partial charge for the month of May in the amount of 15.38 on 5/19/20 automatically drafted from my WF checking. I came into the club and made the decision the cancel my membership to be precautionary. I was told by the employee onsite that I would have to call at their payment services company, ABC Financial Services, and given their business card. I obliged and took the card. When I called and spoke with the representative, I was told that the club’s policy was to accept online cancellations through an ABC Financial account tied to your membership ID. I said no problem. I went online and filled out the form on my account. It informed me that I would need to pay a final 30 day monthly fee of 19.00, and gave me the option to pay immediately or let it auto draft on the usual day. I chose to pay it online immediately, through the ABC Financial portal, on 5/24/20.

On 7/17/20, almost two months later, I saw a charge of 19.00 posted from ABC WORKOUT ANYTIME. I called ABC Financial again. Their representative instructed me to go to the gym directly. I went into the gym today at 1pm, and their employee said his records indicate my cancellation was only effective July 3rd, and therefore I needed to pay ANOTHER monthly fee.

When I pulled up my ABC Financial account to show the two payments in May, indicating my cancellation had already been paid, he shrugged and appeared to not care.

This has to be the most predatory form of automatic account drafting I have ever seen. DO NOT give this business your hard earned money OR account information under any circumstances.

I am highly disappointed in the difficulty they impose to prevent cancellations, the poor customer service and overall shady business practices they choose to allow.

I have already contacted my banking institution, and I will be filing a complaint with the state as well as looking into legal action against this...

UPDATE The WOAT Snellville experience rollercoaster continues. It was good for a while, but feels like it has fallen WAY off in owner/leadership capacity. Have you ever gone to a failing Subway franchise, where they start rationing the napkins and don't hire enough people, so the line is too long, and they'll only give you the minimum required number of tomatoes that are strategically sliced paper thin? That's my WOAT Snellville experience of late. Things I've experienced over the last few months

Equipment broken for months at a time, when only a single bolt was required. Inadequate ventilation. Many patrons have cultural reluctance to deodorant, so they workout, and the ventilation is so weak it can't mitigate the humidity, and makes the stench unbearable. Weight disarray. The weights are a mess. No one puts them back, and neither does staff, nor do they encourage members who don't. It's clearly skeleton crew staffed anyway. Rules schizophrenia. Rules at the club are applied like Oprah's diet. They aren't enforced for months and months, then when it's so out of control it's affecting the experience, they are over enforced like a power hungry HOA president. Absentee ownership. If you go to Chamblee-Tucker, you'll often bump into the owner. I've never seen the owner in person at Snellville. Probably explains so much. This is the heart of the rules problem. The owner is clearly ignorant of the day to day, so whoever fixes all problems with conspicuous over correction.

The way a business is run affects the entire experience. This should be one of the best WOATs, and it's not as bad as the infamous Panama City, but it's well below the waterline. That's why I moved membership away from this one.

†* I can tell REAL changes of late. It had a stretch where it was a terrible location, but as Workout Anytime locations go, this is now solidly...

The OTHER Workout Anytimes I frequented were indifferent; I put up with it because I want to work out at odd hours. But THIS store is surprisingly good. Not just adequate, but a positive experience.

While many businesses are still crying "waah because covid" to justify horrible service, years later (let's be honest, it always was mostly an excuse to cut corners), this particular store seems to bend over backward to make you glad you're there.

For example, they actually leave the door visibly unlocked during the day, so that you can walk right in and just scan your fob or app to work out. No struggling to get the scanner IN the door to pick up your bar code. And unlike the others I've worked out at, there's almost always someone there, and they are INVOLVED in the goings-on: Not hiding in the back and hoping you won't bother them, or sneaking out and coming back later to clock out, but walking around ensuring everyone's happy, saying hi when you walk in, et cetera. They seem glad if you have a question to ask, or want some other service. They don't pester if you just want to work out and go, but they're quick to give help when you seek it.

Their corporate provider did just switch from all the TVs to some sort of ridiculous, SHORT loop of "nitro circus" nonsense that I suppose they imagine will get us "pumped", but actually is boring and repetitive. While a normal cable network could distract you from a long run on the treadmill, watching this stuff makes the run tedious. So cue up your phone with your favorite audiobook, or something else to keep your mind off the run. The TVs are now a waste.

As for the facilities, they are decent. The weight machines are clean, bright, and mostly in good shape, though my favorite treadmill — the one under the Air Conditioning vent — has broken buttons and creaks like an old-timey sailing ship in a storm when I run on it. But I needs me that...