Club Pilates — Local services in Union City

I joined early and was it a bit frustrating in the beginning? Yes. It was. So I see all these low rated reviews and I totally empathize because it was a rough start. But as with grand openings, sometimes growing pains ensue. It definitely was a challenge in the beginning to book classes because there was more demand than classes/instructors.

It took a good conversation with Celeste, the studio manager. She took the time, despite all the customer service questions and complaints she was fielding, to have a conversation with me. She didn't rush through anything. She heard out my frustrations and she answered every single one of my questions. She promised it would get better and it totally has.

Classes can be booked, but the standby lists works 90% of the time. There are cancellations and no-shows at times, and you get into classes. I'm glad I stuck through it. it's been 5 months of consistently going to Pilates.

The instructors are great. They have different styles but all do a great job of guiding you through the movements. There seemed to be a shortage of instructors in the beginning but they were great with temps filling in from other studios while they get ramped up. The only regret I have is that these temporary instructors will eventually leave us! Amy has been great!

The front desk ladies are always friendly and make you feel like part of the community every time you enter the studio.

I'm glad I...

Be cautious before signing up. The "unlimited" membership isn't truly unlimited; you're capped at 15 classes a month. Worse, it’s nearly impossible to enroll in the classes you want. I found myself on waitlists with 10-13 people ahead of me, even during off-peak times. If you work full-time and need peak-hour classes, good luck. The only solutions offered were to be patient and hope people cancel, or to show up and see if there's a no-show. This wasn’t feasible for me since I won’t invest in a 30-minute round trip for a "maybe."

The contract locks you in for 3 months, so you can't cancel early. Additionally, if you cancel a class with less than 10 hours' notice, you're charged $15, and a no-show will cost you $20 per class.

While the people are nice, the coaches seemed inexperienced. They guide you verbally without demonstrating, and the classes didn't seem structured. If your goal is weight loss, this might not be the place for you. With the constant waitlists, you're unlikely to attend more than 15 times a month. The workouts, while relaxing, didn’t make me break a sweat—it felt more like a mix of yoga...

Unfortunately, the management is sketchy and dishonest.

I signed up for a membership and was told I would be able to take the intro class since I was brand new to pilates. They add me to an intro class but end up canceling the reservation and rebooking me. Then, the night before the new intro class, they text me that my reservation was canceled because I’m not allowed to take an intro class since I already had a membership. Why waste my time, string me along, and add me to two different intro classes then?

This made me uneasy about the studio so I decide to cancel my membership. The contract states that California residents have 5 days to cancel for a full refund. I send my cancelation request on day 3 and they respond ignoring this clause and tell me I have a 3 month commitment I must pay for. I point out the 5-day cancellation policy and they ignore me for a few days but eventually issue me a full refund.

It really seemed like they were hoping I hadn’t actually read the contract or would just be too confused to question them. Throughout this whole process, they never apologized once. I would...