YMCA
reviews and complaints

On Friday, June 9th, 2023 my daughter Antonella Escalera was injured badly and I was not notified about the incident that same day. I picked my kids up through the car line as I usually do and when I approached the front of the car line I noticed my son was waiting alone without his sister, which is unusual since they are always together waiting to be picked up. As I said hi to my son through the window, my son quickly told me that his sister had gotten hurt. I then see my son run to the other side of the field where his sister was sitting alone at a picnic table. I then hear some staff member say, “what’s the hold up, as they were looking confused standing around looking towards where my daughter was. I then see my son again waving the staff down for assistance and I see them starting to walk towards my kids trying to see what the hold up was. I see the YMCA CAMP Staff trying to down play what was happening and I hear my son yell for me to come help his sister. He yells,”she can’t walk.” A staff member then approaches my vehicle, handing me an incident report and explaining to me that my daughter is OK that she had just twisted her ankle, and when they asked her if she was OK, she had said she was fine, and they just left it alone. As I heard my son calling for help, I jumped out of my vehicle and ran inside the gated field to see what was happening. The camp staff, then all run towards my daughter trying to figure out what is happening and why she can’t walk or step on her foot. I quickly asked my daughter what happened and with tears in her eye she tells me that something is very wrong with her foot, that she got hurt earlier in the day playing kickball (her best guess is 2pm but could be earlier). My daughter then states she can’t move her foot or apply any weight or pressure on it. I place her in my car as I try to assess her foot and realize that there were visible signs of swelling on the top of her foot. She was really hurt, she couldn’t move her toes, and was visibly uncomfortable and in a lot of pain. That same night I took her to an urgent care where they performed X-rays and the Doctor stated her foot had been fractured.

I am extremely furious as to how this incident was handled and how negligent the staff was towards my daughters well being. My daughter is now wearing a cast.

I expected a more organized and better trained staff to take care of so many kids at this summer camp location. I am very disappointed by how all of this was handled. On Monday June 12, 2023 I showed up personally asking for explanations and a copy of my incident report. Per Michelle, (the CAMP person in charge) claims she had no clue about the incident and went on to blame other staff members for possibly misplacing incident report on a paper stack in the back office. Apparently, hours of my daughter in visible pain were not enough to wonder if anyone had called her parents. My daughter is 9 years old, a responsible and well trained adult should have known how to handle this situation. I now fear for mine and all children’s safety attending Campo YMCA- Summer Camp.

The outdoor pool recently opened and my child was unable to swim because the lifeguards claim the pool was at capacity. After entering the pool’s splash pad I noticed under 50 people in and around the pool. Before coming to the pool I spoke with the front desk who said they wouldn’t even reach capacity. To conclude the in door pool was only open for laps and water walking. So my daughter and I left because she was sad and began to cry.

Hello,

I started a membership on 4/14/23 in which I was thinking of enrolling my child into camp! I completed the application but I didn’t want the membership to start until 6/1/23 I was charged immediately and it was fine because I said no biggie! I emailed and no response! I finally got a response to call the strafford once in which I did! I talked to an older lady there about canceling my membership and she took all my information and promised a call back! Never received a call back! Call again and they were busy and would call back. Fast forward I ended up going through a separation, I was charged again in May for a membership I immediately called and requested to cancel! Never received a call back again. Emailed and asked for the forms. Finally spoke with Shantelle got forms on 5/19 completed and was told I was outside of my 30 days so I could not cancel. I explained I never used the facility and did not plan to! Today I was charged for a camp $150! Today I’m VERY upset because I’ve cancelled my membership and now today I’ve been told it’s a different form for camp! If I tell you I don’t not plan to use the facility why not give me ALL forms to cancel everything? Im I’m middle of a move and separation and now I have to fill out more forms and then you’re telling me I have to pay for a camp my child won’t attend? Im very disappointed in the lack of communication! I talk to Steele creek branch because I don’t see any registered camps on my account and they provided the forms I need to cancel, well I talk to Strafford and the forms are different! I just complete both! It’s just too much and $300 in fees for a facility we have never even seen! Please can you assistance and at least refunding the $150?

I am a disabled veteran that is a single mom of a 12 and 10 year old. I recently found out that the YMCA Richmond has been charging mw monthly for 2 years and when I requested a full refund they refused. I relocated from Richmond to Columbus, OH in June 2021 and prior to that cancelled my policy and they said whenever that is done they send an email stating that. I have cancelled a total of 3 times over the years and have NEVER received such an email. They do business verbally like today I was told my membership would be cancelled as of today but again have no written documentation of that. I signed my daughter up for an art class last year and paid the nonmember fee. The Nationwide Program for 99 percent of their locations state online that it only applies if you use your home facility 50 percent or greater which since I no longer live in Virginia does not give me access to the nicer facility here. I have paid for memberships at Rec Centers here but why would I if I was being charged for a YMCA one? They should send monthly statements to avoid this, The only reason I became aware of their charges is when I got 3 emails requesting another form of payment. My card declined because the one on file expired so I was issued a new one and they do not use the same account number when you get a new card. The account was my child support account and they could easily contact them and be told that I do not receive monthly statements just like the Y doesnt send them I did not use their service whatsoever since I moved here except the art class where I paid as a nonmember. Christian organization with a family mission statement...How so when they are not comfortable giving money back under these circumstances. All of my older children changed their gym memberships around June 2021 so why wouldn't I when I was moving to another state. I emailed them yesterday twice and did not get an email acknowleding receipt of those submissions. They want me to document but they do not...They say one thing verbally and write another in an email to me and on their website. Stay clear of this YMCA!

I went to the YMCA in Kokomo today to try to get a membership due to health concerns. They are telling me that because I live with someone which I am not married to who is not my family that the only way I can get a membership with help since I am on Medicaid and I have been applying for disability for 3 years and haven't worked is to get his information. This is none of their business because he is not my husband or relationship. That is discrimination and I think it is awful. I think this should be changed because it's not my fault that I cannot work and it is not his responsibility to put out his information to you guys in order for me to be able to get a membership to help with myself..

Staff or members were supposedly complaining about me and my kids sitting in the restroom charging our phones and relaxing since we don’t have our own home we found the downstairs to be more quieter so we stayed downstairs. The fat black ugly manager harassed us for two days about people complaining and they were lying saying my kids were running without shoes on ppl here at this gym are liars and bullies. I told him no problem and we’ll go upstairs and proceeded to walk away and he was blocking me like he guarding a football trying to stop me from using the gym plus this was my home gym and I won’t keep it when I get my apartment I will join LA fitness. Not a good experience and this is the first YMCA that has an issue with its members sitting in the restroom for peace and quiet. Staff too loud and ghetto and the kids upstairs are monsters. How can someone complain about me and my kids sitting in one bathroom quietly be a problem to the whole facility?! Rubbish ppl and to the people that complained screw you!

Then he tells me he would restrict my membership? For what? Cuz I’m not kissing your [censored] because I’m homeless and happy because we did nothing wrong and my kids which are teenagers are old enough according to Florida Statue to be left by themselves. Just ignorant and stupid ppl

I was incredibly unimpressed with my experience with YMCA summer power registration. I was told that I requested on April 25th that 5 weeks of summer care that I was on the waitlist for as well as some being active were cancelled "per my request". I made no such request and now I only have 3 weeks of child care for the entire summer and am now scrambling to find child care. I was told to re-register for the days that were cancelled but now those dates are no longer available to even be waitlisted for. I don't what happened but someone cancelled my child's child care and I am very upset that I now have to deal with someone else's mistake. Attached are all of the dates that my child was active for that I no longer have. I have zero evidence of a cancellation request because I did not give one. I should be confirmed for 5 weeks and waitlisted for the rest. I have attached screenshots. I have cancelled nothing.

Yuma Regional is advertising how great their Doctors are. That is an untrue statement. Dr Soliman is part of your group and actually allowed a friend to die by not making sure his catheter was changed often even though he had solid red in the bag, he would just say come back in 6 weeks. Dr Soliman should not be allowed to practice on anyone.

Second: you have Todd Runyan as an Orthopedic Surgeon when in fact he is nothing but a sports med assistant. He performed surgery on my thumb and in doing so drilled through my wrist and broke it. Then put a pin in my thumb and didn’t even note that in my medical records, I was allergic to what ever the pin was made of and my thumb swelled very large which put me in the hospital. Runyan was called 3 different times to come to the hospital and pull the pin and he refused. I had to travel to Phoenix to a hand specialist and they had to reconstruct my wrist and fuse my thumb. My new Dr said Runyan shouldn’t be allowed doing surgery on anyone and should have his license revoked. I filed a complaint with the AMA and as usual, they did nothing.

Third: the last time I was very ill and went to your hospital I waited 13 hours, ending up walking out with no treatment. My neighbor waited 11 hours and ended up walking out and driving to Mexico for treatment. While you pushed through illegal aliens, ordered them hamburgers and coke when the border patrol brought them in. They paid nothing while I pay high prices for my medical insurance, then when you charge my insurance it looks like you double the price.

So I am here to tell you and anyone else that will listen if these two doctors are any indication you are all of a sudden great well that is a misrepresentation of YRMC.

An aqua fitness instructor much loved by 2 Ys that he taught at was dismissed by a voice mail message. No meetings, no chance to talk it over, etc, after the 3rd Y which he was new at, called him in after some complaints about his behavior. This new class at 3rd Y never liked him or accepted him. They were used to another instructor and wanted this person gone from the beginning. A small group made waves, he knew they wanted him out, so when he was called into a meeting with the director, he just quit probably thinking he would be gone anyway. He is elderly and not aware of corporate rules, which are fairly new. He was dismissed from all Ys. He didn’t know he would be. He has a huge following and is much loved after. many years (30) with the Y. He is Very Much missed.

My son was approved to swim at the hilltop location since we got our membership in March. He’s never had an issue. Has swam for months alone no issues. Today a lady refused to let my son swim EVEN though he’s been approved. This is redundant. The rude customer service I received is appalling. I pay for my children to have a place to go out of the streets and they pick and choose who to allow to do certain things! IT’s CLEAR discrimination. I will be contacting the state of ohio about this.

URGENT!

I do not know who I would reach out to pertaining what I am about to communicate. Tonight was my first night working the YMCA on Page blvd in St Louis Missouri, also known as the Bayer YMCA, I was just transferred from Mid County YMCA Brentwood St Louis Missouri. My shift was from 4:30m until 8:00 p.m. my assignment is child watch.

The manager was out of town so there were only workers there including myself which made three. I will not be naming any names.

I will communicate to you that the child watch room was appalling when it came to cleanliness and sanitation, the room was filthy! now grant it they recently opened back up after months maybe a year of being closed due to not enough staffing, but that is not an excuse for this place to have been this filthy!

The first thing that should have been done was a thorough deep clean. I saw mice droppings, dead roach, and maybe a spider, the floor was filthy and nasty, the toys were nasty and dirty, there were hardly any toys in the room for the children to play with, there were Legos, puzzles and some other odds and ends. The child watch room on Page Blvd in Saint Louis MO should have never been opened back up because it was not prepared properly, and still isn't.

I have never had a run in with the YMCA, I am on good terms with you all, I have been with the YMCA for years off and on. So this is not one of those emails of someone being angry and wanting to get back. I literally cannot sleep! I actually bring my son along with me to work in the child watch room, I did it at the other YMCA as well, it is encouraged and supported.

While we were in the child watch room tonight I did not want my son to touch anything and he was on the floor, I told him to get up off the floor because it was filthy, children play on the floor a lot they touch objects and furniture and then they put their hands in their mouths that is what children do. I will Not Go Back to work at that place if this situation is not fixed ASAP!

IF THIS SITUATION IS NOT FIXED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE I WILL REPORT THIS SITUATION TO THE SANITATION DEPARTMENT IN MISSOURI BECAUSE THIS IS PUTTING CHILDREN'S HEALTH IN JEOPARDY.

URGENT!

Friday 4/21/23 Hollywood,Fl facility

Ignores numerous complaints about nudity in the sauna & steam room … Specifically the women’s locker room. Some patrons are using using the amenities & making their own rules. The staff is aware of the problem & are not doing enough to stop this on going problem. BODILY fluids are left behind because these women are not sitting on or even carrying a towel to sit on. I’m a EXTREMELY uncomfortable with the way this on going situation is being handled. I didn’t not join the YMCA under those terms & disrespectful conditions.

Ever since I quit my employment with the YMCA of Kanawha Valley in West Virginia, I have felt discriminated against when I continue to take my children and go work out. I was a member months before I started working at the YMCA and I continued being a member after my resignation. The manager, Anne Abdul-Jalil, gives me hateful looks and stares at me when I am working out which makes me incredibly uncomfortable. I explained the reasons for my resignation, and stayed two weeks with no problems. I have tried being friendly with Anne since I continued going to the YMCA as a customer, but she appears to treat me with contempt and anger. I also feel she is turning some of the other employees against me, and doesn’t make me feel comfortable while I am a paying customer. I enjoy going to the YMCA and my children enjoy the daycare; working out and keeping myself healthy is an important part of my life. I would like for Ann, and the other employees to not make me feel as if I wronged them for quitting my employment, and treat me and my children as any other customer with a monthly membership. A lot of people have quit during my employment with the YMCA, and it seems as though I am the only one they hold contempt. Also, because of this I have noticed while my daughters are in the day care, the anger is also being taken out on them. Once, when I was finished with my workout, I saw Ann walking out of the daycare. I said hi to her, and she gave me a hateful look, and walked away. As soon as I went to pick up my children, the day care worker started talking bad about one of my daughters. The worker was angry with my daughter for not wanting to play with another child when my daughter already told her she did not want to play. I spoke with my daughter when we got home about the situation, and she told me the child kept following her around and my daughter wanted to play with her sister. I feel like if the child had a different parent, the staff wouldn’t be treating my children, or me this way. I love going to the YMCA and just want myself and my children to be treated like anyone else.

YMCA Flushing branch NY. It opens at 6:30 AM. in April 2023. The light bulbs at the Gym are flickering and I could not concentrate on my working out and it also hurts my eyes.

It exits a few months and nobody fixes it. It is better to take out the flickering bulbs.

A little bit darker Gym is better than flickering lights Gym. Please fix the lights

at the gym.

04/02/23 - 3:20

I showed up at your facility with my 3 boys ages 10, 8, and 5 like I have for years now. I gave the old lady behind the desk my ID like I have everytime I have come to this establishment and she said she can't let me in the building because I am on the sex offender registry loud enough for my kids to hear it. So not only did I have to leave, I had to answer questions from my little boys that I should not have to answer at there ages.

I understand policies, but if that was always the policy then why have I been able to take them swimming at the Cottonwood YMCA for the last 4 years? I have been on the registry for the last 13 years. With out incident by the way. I have pages of court documents that prove I have been through therapy and can be around kids. I did not do anything to justify the ladies rudeness or for her to flat out say it in front of my children. I have rights to sue for discrimination and slander. There was no reason for her to treat me the way she did, and say that in front of my children. I want someone from the YMCA to contact me. We need a resolution or I will be filing a law suit. Please call me [protected]

'm writing this for immediate response ASAP

I sign up for a family membership around 6pm today, and not even 30 minutes after my children had two adults yelling at them and making them feel very uncomfortable and unsafe. The first man is the night manager I spoke with him and he apologized and realized they were new and did not know the rules to walking a certain direction on the track hr allowed them back so I went out to my car the next is a black lady about 6:30ish bent over in my son face pointing and yelling at him saying he could not sit there and he knew better my son tried to tell her they were new but she kept yelling and making faces at him making them not want to stay or come back. I DO NIT UNDERSTAND why am adult would show such behavior to minors at the YMCA facility it's UNACCEPTABLE I AM VERY UPSET I still haven't gotten a response from anyone in HR

It is the second time when in a Friday evening the pool staff falsely used lighting strike to close the pool for the day. this YMCA is right between two other at less than 5 mile distance and neither of the other two closed. I called both and they said they were tracking lighting the closest at 120 miles-so no need to close. I used two phone Apps that tracks lighting and both coincidentally showed the closest lighting at 120 miles. So no reason to close. These kids that manages the pool coincidentally did it right after completing their swimming lessons (which they get money from) and then closed the pool right at 6pm for a supposed lighting that never happened and said that they will close for the day. Last time happened on March 24th.

Very disappointed about this YMCA branch. First of I sign up the same day I cancel my membership- yes the experience there was that horrible. Mediocre quality, dirty locker rooms, poor hygiene, dirty facility, outdated equipment, people yelling, cursing and using foul language while you are working out. Not enough equipment. Crowded. Staff inconsiderate. Very little to none group exercise classes which are a joke. Do your research well, they are all about the $$$ and don’t care about their members. Anyway they charge me an activation fee and month fee for using this facility for 1 day only. I communicated with them and from what I gathered they want to eat up this money. I told them since I’m not coming back again I can pay for 1 day membership only- they seem they don’t want to hear about that. Absolutely unacceptable, disgusting the way they treat people. I was told I needed to wait- I understand the game they are playing is to make you wait longer/time waster so that they can take your money from the draft from the bank. FYI-I check with my bank the transaction didn’t go through, which means it can still be cancel. Also they claim to be Christian based- this is only for Show- unsure if that’s there business strategy to use religion to make money- definitely the fruit of the spirit is not present there! This YMCA branch should stop using religion to sell their services as they are a misleading and misinforming the community about who they are really about.