Life Time — Local services in White Bear Lake

My husband and I have read reviews about Lifetime having great amenities and classes but having awful customer service, and that has 100% been our experience. We're both tennis players, and I'm a triathlete who is allergic to chlorine, so I have to swim in salt water pools. Unfortunately, the Lifetime in White Bear Lake or St Louis Park are basically my only options, so we're members of an extremely overpriced gym for that reason. While the tennis community is great and has pretty much a similar cost to other tennis clubs, customer service has consistently been atrocious. For example, when we were deciding whether to purchase LT bucks when we first joined, we specifically asked if we could use them for tennis at other facilities. The Lifetime agent got back to us and said that he checked into it and that we could, but we actually found out after buying the LT bucks that we couldn't use them at clubs other than our "home club," even though we're Onyx members. Moreover, the staff doesn't even know how to associate our LT bucks with court reservations. Even worse, when I called White Bear Lake today to ensure there wasn't anything happening in their pool this morning so that I would be able to do my pool workout, the customer service representative said she would check and that there was definitely nothing happening in the pool all day. So I drove 25 minutes to the gym, and lo and behold, the entire pool is reserved for classes until 10:00 a.m. Because of the waste of my time, and the fact that I didn't have time to then drive all the way out to St Louis Park to try to swim there, I had to forego my workout today. When I politely informed the customer service rep of this and that I couldn't workout today, she just apologized and said that maybe it was a meet that wasn't on their schedule. When I told her that it was swimming lessons, she said she didn't know why it wasn't on their schedule then. Additionally, none of the customer service reps seem to know if their pool is actually salt water or not, or how many meters/yards the pool is. This is basic information that front desk staff should know. Finally, about 2 months after we joined our "home club," the person who sold us our membership called me and asked if I wanted to join the club. I explained that we sat down and signed the paperwork in his office and had been members for 2 months already. He clearly didn't remember us or check his records at all before calling. I don't know if it is a poor training program for the staff, but it truly is horrible customer service. That said, the amenities are fantastic. Everything is really clean, the classes are exceptional (especially the spin classes we attend early weekday mornings at Highland Park), and the locker rooms are really nice. Is it worth the insane amount of money we pay every month ($180)? Uh, no. Definitely not. We'll be shopping around, and I'll have to consider whether swimming off-season is worth the money we...

Very irritating experience when I came in asking for a tour. I called first to make sure there was someone there who could specifically give me a tour. When I came in, I was whisked away to an ugly sales office to waste my time discussing how superior this gym is to others in the area...not telling me anything about why I would care. I mentioned that we have family with memberships at this gym, and that's what brought me in, but for some reason it turned into a pre-qualification situation anyway. I had to answer qustions about my husband's job, our history, insurance, etc. before I even got to see the facility. She then let me know the absolute highest rate I would pay instead of the current enrollment special (ignoring twice my requests to tour the facility). When she explained our initial costs would be over $600 for a family of three, she made a comment that the price keeps the club exclusive. I had to hold back the laughter at that point. It's not a country club!! She seemed incovenienced when I asked her to write numbers down for me. On the third request to tour the building, she made an awkward comment about my toddler being asleep (in a small stroller). It would have been nice if she had offered the elevator instead, but at five months pregnant I carried my toddler for the whole tour, adding to my frustration. I noticed the elevator on my way out. During the tour she explained most things require a hefty upcharge in addition to the membership dues of over $200 per month. Pilates, certain yoga classes, swim classes, tennis access, etc are all at minimum, an extra $25 per month, per activity, per person. For reference, my husband has a membership for only $24 per month at their main competititor. Also, there are two all inclusive community centers within 7 miles of this gym that are under $120 per month for a family membership. The only advantage that I could see for this one would be the women's locker rooms were a tad nicer, but just a tad. The White Bear ymca is actually nicer as a facility overall, far more accommodating to families, (and way less stuck up). Honestly, what a joke! A new sales manager might be a good idea for...

I would give zero stars if it was an option. My husband and I joined Lifetime fitness in hope of it being a step up from other gyms just to be brutally disappointed. We went a total of 2 times before canceling. Our sales rep Zach assured us that we would be refunded knowing that we had prior accounts several years ago. My husband received a call yesterday 3/12/18 saying we will not be refunded. To me this is unacceptable if we were told one thing even if it is wrong by the associate please do right and honor your wrong. I spoke with Angel she said she could give a credit on next month's bill if we wanted to give them another chance or just terminate our membership. Which should have been done on 3/7/2018. I said we dont want to give a second chance because our needs at the gym could not be met, we love to play basketball and the two times we went they had a bounce house on one side of the bball court and the other side kids were playing floor hockey. The second time it was reserved for children to be tought to play. The guy teaching was doing nothing but talking to another guy. Angel told me i had to call customer relations which was a nightmare Samantha told me she cant do anything for me and hung up on me before I was done talking. I called customer relations back spoke to Hillary who told me i have to call the facility and talk to the sales manager. Which led me to Becca who said cant do anything for me. I will never tell people to join lifetime fitness in whitebear lake. Please believe i will be reporting this to the BBB. And thanks for the worst experience at...