GOLD'S GYM - BAIT & SWITCH:
About two months ago my wife and I attended a Charity event sponsored by the Family Promise Organization - a non-profit that helps, feeds and houses homeless families in need. Part of the event was a silent auction. My wife was the high bidder/winner of a Gold's Gym "Gold Membership valued at $750 which entitles you to everything." Keep in mind that my wife was the high bidder and paid very well for the membership - it was not cheap. We were given the Gold's Gym Certificate and it stated that our membership is valid at any Gold's Gym in our area. My wife met with a Gold's Gym Representative at the Glendale location. They signed her up and told her she was good to go and would receive all the Gold benefits and they would process her certificate. When she came back to the gym and tried using her membership card, it wouldn't work and was told that it was because her certificate had not been processed yet, and to give them a couple of more days. This went on for weeks. It turns out they supposedly misplaced her certificate and then needed additional time to process it. What should have taken a few days took almost 4 weeks. Once her membership was active, she discovered that she was not allowed / approved to use items such as Gold's Fit, Gold's Burn, Unlimited Guest Privileges, etc - all of which should be included in the Gold Membership ($750.00 value). My wife spoke to two reps and she was told to speak to the GM at the Glendale location. The GM treated my wife as if she never paid for the membership and decided on what features her membership would include and not include - he did not give her the Gold Membership she was entitled to and paid for. He told her that she would have to pay an additional fee of $30+ dollars to obtain the additional/missing benefits. We both went to the gym again yesterday and spoke to another representative. He looked up my wife's membership status in the computer system and confirmed that she has a hybrid membership that is basically the Basic Membership with a few Premium Passport options added to it. The rep also told us that there was nothing he could do to help since it was the GM who made those changes. Instead of honoring what was donated, the GM chose to downgrade to an almost Basic Membership and expect the winner of the auction to be happy. If my wife had won the Membership for free that's one thing, but she didn't - she paid a very generous price for that membership.
Shame on you Gold's Gym. Please don't offer to help people in need if you aren't going to honor what you donate. That is not charity, that is bait and switch.