YMCA
reviews and complaints

My son goes to the Petal MS YMCA and has been going since last school year. Since we have enrolled, my son has been hurt on quite a few different occasions. The initial issue is the staff is not watching the kids. They have been left unattended, and have made up games that include possibly harming one another. This last game of “tag with pencils” left my son with a scar on the inner corner of his eye which could’ve caused permanent eye damage. The director wouldn’t even tell my husband what happened when he came to get our son one afternoon, but instead told a younger employee to tell my husband about the incident. This occurred on august 11th. Monday I asked for corporate phone number when a lady told me the YMCA doesn’t have one, but would have someone call me. Tuesday August 15th 2023 I received 3 calls in a row, but I haven’t spoken with anyone yet. I wanted to have this brought up reguardleas of what the directors want to tell me, but I can tell many more occasions like the last that have happened at the Petal location, and even when I’ve brought it up to them, they state they will make changes, but here we are back in the same situation. I’m sure many other parents want to complain, but won’t because this is one of the only daycares open til 6pm for after school care so it best fits my schedule, but how can I keep sending him there if every time he goes, he gets bullied by other kids and the teachers aren’t even watching them to see it happening, so they can’t stop it. Just yesterday august 15th, my son came home and said another young boy punched him 3 times, and the director was no where to be found, instead a young boy told my husband “he had an altercation with another kid” and then walked away. After hearing what my son said about it, he said no teachers were stopping what was happening to him. This is unacceptable. But as a parent, I don’t have many choices for after school care, but they have got to do better than this. I just want my son to be watched and taken care of, and I pay the Y to do that, but they have fallen short. If you have any further questions, please reach out. I have a couple more times this has happened.

My son has encountered failure in the same class multiple times, which raises concerns for me regarding the adequacy of his training. When a child experiences consecutive failures in the same class, it certainly raises red flags. I've attended a total of four classes and have communicated my concerns about the instructor's lack of competence to the director on multiple occasions. The instructor, who might be in high school, appears to lack the necessary experience and patience required for teaching a 3.5-year-old. As someone who was a proficient swimmer and even competed in high school, I find this situation to be disappointing.

The director was understanding and took the step of moving my son to her class. However, this arrangement was short-lived, lasting only for two sessions. Unfortunately, the third session was canceled by the YMCA due to inclement weather, resulting in yet another setback for my son. I had hoped that the director would extend an opportunity for my son to join another class led by her, especially considering the series of failures he had experienced under the previous instructor.

As a result of these circumstances, I've made the decision to discontinue my son's attendance at the YMCA until I can find an establishment that places a higher priority on hiring instructors with more substantial experience. It's worth noting that this situation pertains to level two, even though my son had initially been placed in level one at the director's recommendation due to his comfort in the water and satisfactory performance.

My son is taking stage 3 swimming class for 3 times and still not improving and the instructor say need to repeat stage 3 again.

I tried to reach out to ALEXANDRA HUNTER at Soundview YMCA Branford and I emailed/called and left message but she is not responding. This is NOT the only time I emailed and left message, I emailed/left message before couple of months earlier for other reason But she not even bother emailing or calling back to me. Don't understand how busy this ALEX... NOT responding anything.

I believe it called Negligence and Doesn't matter to what customer is going through.

HOPE someone from cooperate office can see this message and resolve the issue or find someone who is more responsible and effective person.

My 6 yr old was being bullied by older boys. He complained to a counselor who denied his complaint when I emailed the corporate office. Today I find out the same person he complained to about being bullied, threatened to beat my son with their own belt. (Best believe we are going farther then this forum with that complaint)

the Harris elementary ymca summer program will not protect your child. Please be careful if you choose this for your summer program. The email I received back was basically them saying no one remembers him complaining about being bullied but if they do remember anything it's that he is a tattle tale, as though that allows my just turned 6 yr old to be prevented from using any of the facilities I paid 200 a week for him to use. Not to mention the fact that my son was TERRIFIED to go, began disassociating had to go to see his therapist that morning and when I told them... they could care less. I complained higher up... no one cared or replied. So now we have to go social media bc I'll be damned if u not only call my kid a liar but theaten his safety.

The hours of the basketball gym at the Kingsport YMCA have been lessened, but the membership fees are higher than before. At first, closing time for the whole facility went from 10pm to 9pm because of covid during weekdays and from 6pm to 4pm on saturdays. That is understandable because it was due to covid. But , covid is over and the hours haven’t changed back and the gym closes 30 minutes prior to to the rest of the facility everyday. Those 30 minutes a day adds up to about 15 hours of gym time a month that is being taken away from members, but the membership price has not been dropped to my knowledge. That isnt including the hour or 2 hours a day that was taken away because of changing due to covid.The only reason I chose to pay more to go to the YMCA is because of the gym, but with all of the different scheduling that goes in and the hours being taken away every month it’s seeming not worth it. The hours should be changed back to the original time frame prior to covid and gym should close at the same time as the whole facility or the membership cost should go down according to the amount of time that services aren’t being offered anymore.

Never, ever give your credit card to the North Suburban YMCA located in Woburn, MA. Today they charged me $480 for personal training sessions. I do not use their training services, my wife does and she pays for them with a different credit card that belongs to her and which the YMCA has on file. This is the fifth or sixth time that they have charged me for these services instead of charging my wife. Each time we call them and they apologize but then a few months later they do it again. PLUS my wife did not buy $480 worth of services -- they billed me for many more sessions than she bought. It is beyond frustrating. I have never dealt with a more incompetent group of people when it comes to billing, not even at cable companies.

On August 2nd, I contacted my son's basketball coach to ask why I have not received any updates from him like the other parents. I'm divorced to my ex wife and apparently she us friends with the coach. He told me he didn't involve me because I didn't pay for my sons participation. I told him I had no idea what he was referring to. He then said that I had been non existent in my kids life and I was not around or present in thier life. I understood immediately that my ex wife had obviously been telling him a lie when in reality i had a life threatening illness and have been in the hospital for a very long period of time. I was incredibly angry. He then hung up the phone. After that he called my ex wife and said my sin was kicked off the team. Nit only is it not his plac to say those things or to assume he knows the situation but to also kick my son off the team is all unexcusable. My lawyer is beyond herself right now wanting to deal with this but I thought it appropriate to contact you first. His name us Nigel Grant in colorado springs. Co. Please contact me at [protected]. My name is John Varuola. Thank you so much

Complaint against "Tom A Finch Community YMCA", located in Thomasville, NC.

I have only 1 child (son) and for his safety I pushed him into taking swim lessons this summer to protect him. He's 5'8 and is 14 years old and has never been a swimmer, so he had to start in a beginner's swim class.

What made me extremely upset was, when I had met my boyfriend and son at the training,15 minutes later because of my work. My son's first day of training, his (teenaged)coach had him jumping in 10 ft of water! I was in shock and didn't know what to say or do, but I complained the next day, but the lady in charge just blew me off. In a respectful way I mentioned I do not want my son to be jumping in 10 ft of water, I think it's too early. She told me she'll let the coach know if my son doesn't feel comfortable doing anything to not let him. My opinion this was a slap in the face, because I told her what I didn't want for my son and also, do she know how hard it is for one teen to tell another teen that you are scared of the water? Before I had decided to call and complain, my son had told me he didn't realize the water was that deep before he was told to jump in, and he freaked out, another jump he gulped down a lot of water.

I have been a coach for the Vic Coppinger YMCA for a year now for both basketball (6/7 y/o) and volleyball (12-15 y/o). Today (7/29/23) during the tournament play a staff member, Ms. March, was acting very disrespectful and highly unprofessional by cheering on certain teams that she favors and had coached in the past while bragging and hollering for one team to beat another - and when she was asked to keep it professional by other staff members and parents because it was breaking the spirit of the girls on the court playing for them to see this staff member carrying herself in such a manner, she replied that she can do things how she wants to do them! This staff member owes myself, along with my players and their parents a formal apology (along with an assurance that she will stay out of the games and no longer act in a biased manner). This is not the only instance in which this staff member has carried herself in such an unprofessional manner and it is taking its toll on the other family members and players of the YMCA at this Pearland location (Vic Coppinger YMCA). Please feel free to contact me so that I can share with your office the manner in which she treated my players unfair by requiring us to play an extra match against a third-place team just to play another team which had an equal number of wins/losses to have a chance at a first-place finish. Her manipulating the bracket caused my players to be put at a disadvantage and treated unfairly. This is clearly favoritism and with the YMCA being family and Christianity based there is no place for her type of behaviorisms.

Respectfully,

Coach De Leon, M.Ed., M.S., LCDC

I have a 3 year autistic son who enjoys playing in the outdoor kids pool. I was told by staff that he can not swim during adult swim if he is not 2 or under. I sat wresting with my non verbal autistic son, because he did not understand. I think no babies or children should be able to swim. It is unfair to the other toddlers seeing 2 year olds swimming when they can’t.

Gym at The Ponds YMCA in Summerville, SC has Fox News playing nonstop. I asked someone working at the desk to change the channel and they did. Upon my return the next day, there it was again front and center. This makes the environment unwelcoming to me. Political propaganda is not appropriate in a place that should be inclusive for all people. I pay for membership. I should not be subjected to a hostile environment. I stopped using the Gym because I don't feel safe there.

I went to the YMCA with my family today and was told I had a $10 charge for a guest from back in June. In June I brought my aunt with me and asked the guy at the desk what the procedure was for bringing a guest. He told us that the charge was $10 and we get 2 guests per year. My aunt paid $10 cash and I then asked if she needed to sign in, His response was no. I had to go over this not once but twice with people today to get this charge cleared. Whoever was working the day that I brought my guest pocketed that money and didn't make my aunt sign in. It was completely embarrassing to have to go over this multiple times with people standing around.

We also arrived just after the pool opened at 2pm and the ladies locker room was closed and they were in the process of closing the girls locker room. Why is the locker room closed if the pool just opened? The girls locker room was absolutely disgusting after it was closed and re-opened. Why is it nasty after being closed for cleaning? Upon leaving the locker room had food crumbs, wrappers and a used tampon on the floor. The showers look like they haven't been touched since we started coming here. I didn't take photos due to the policy about phones in the locker room but I will next time if it's this bad.

Employee racism at camp Kanata made multiple complaints with head counselor and director little changes made and still nothing done to resolve racism at the camp that we almost left since camp started but kept going until the 3rd week. When we got to the camp people gave me dirty looks and hardly taught us anything about the job they overworked us while everyone and the friends at a good time I complained but they blamed my sister for “not stepping up” left us out in important meetings. They made me and my sister feel very uncomfortable.

The morning staff at this location is often late opening the doors in the mornings. I am sitting outside in the parking lot at 5:20 am and there is no sign of anyone opening up yet. The opening time is 5:00 and I have one hour in my schedule to workout which is 5:00-6:00 am due to my work schedule. I will be forced to close out my membership if this keeps on. Cibolo Y is the closest to my house so this needs to be resolved.

On June 22nd A Female Hispanic life guard at the Highland ,Ca YMCA Walked past a Hispanic mother who was pool side with her child during a toddlers swim lesson class and was literally maybe 4 feet away from where I was standing and approached me a African American mother who was also poolside for my son who doesn't like when water gets into his eyes when you takes off his swim goggles and I wipe his eyes and face with his towel at the ready.I was approached and told that I couldn't not stand poolside and had to go sit at the bleachers but I had been doing this with this swim class session since it started at the time 2 class session and the whole swim class session prior.This whole incident was captured on video.I was told this but the Hispanic mother wasn't neither after I was told this did the life guard speak to the Hispanic mother either,I was singled out.When brought to local managements attention an investigation was suppose to take place but no follow up with me accured and for the next two swim class sessions the same life guard is on duty, when I inquired about what the investigation resulted in I was told the ball had been dropped and they will get back to me but gave no explanation as to why I was singled out and couldn't explain why this life guard would take such a blatant discriminatory action nor explained why the video wasnt even looked at to verify my claims thats odd and investigation is suppose to look at all evidence pertaining to a complaint I thought.

I believe you should look into the attitude and actions of Madeline Polestra. She is aggressive ( witnessed her anger with a 10 year old) have recordings of verbal abuse towards me and others. Has verbally threatened me and assaulted me all with in 30 days. I have filed an official police report regarding the same. I believe it is questionable for her to be around kids unless some kind of evaluation for her anger is addressed

I entered the club by scanning the card assigned to me. As I walked toward my destination, the branch manager called my name. I turned around and she asked am I who I say I am. Now she has a picture of me that was taken one week before this happened, and I haven't changed my look. Since my name popped up on her screen, so did the picture of me that they took. So its annoying that she feels the need to verify my identify. I feel picked on, singled out, not wanted.

During the COVid-19 pandemic, we requested the cancellation of our YMCA membership. However, they didn't help us cancel it but put our membership on suspension, and after a few months, they automatically charged a membership fee for ten months without our agreement. When the pandemic ended, we went to the YMCA and asked for a refund. They only reluctantly refunded us three months membership fee. We complained to their manager, but they refused to refund the rest membership fee. We didn't use their facility, and it happened during the pandemic. Could you please help us to get the unfaired charge back to us?

Thank you

Abiding by the YMCAs rules, I informed them I needed to cancel and be refunded $3400 of my $7800 purchase for two children. We have exchanged nine emails over three weeks and the update I received today amounted to, "We have no update, it is pending and requires many approvals." They are quick to take your money but horribly slow at refunding it. Further, they are horrible at explaining the issue in a concise and direct manner. Lastly, when I showed up at the address listed in the signature block of the individual I have been emailing, I was informed they do not actually work there. They will go days, weeks without replying and then give a half answer without any actual concrete action taken. If you can avoide using the YMCA, please do so.