LA Fitness International review: assault by team member

To Whom It May Concern,

I'm composing this letter to explain an alarming incident that happened at one of your locations in Houston, TX. Before I go into an explanation, I want to first say how dissatisfied we are in the way this matter was handled, the disregard of policy, and lack of customer service to tenured members.

Monday 6/17, my mother Anette Smalls went to LA Fitness location 1555 Eldridge Pkwy/Houston Tx She has been a member at your gym for roughly 15 years and has been going to this particular location off and on for the past 10 years. On 6/17, she forgot her LA fitness keytag but gave her phone number to the front desk to check in. The young man she checked in with was Adrian. As normal, my mother proceeded to follow her fitness regimen and decided to join a class. About 20 minutes into the class, staff member Brittany came to retrieve my mother. She attempted to tell my mother she had to leave the class (which in included in her membership), and did not render an explanation other than being asked to leave. My mother being embarrassed and confused asked repeatedly why she is being asked to leave and still there was no answer other than "you must exit the premises". The staff member then grabbed my mother by the arm to physically remove her from the class. The rest as you can imagine is a nightmare for my mother as she is not being given a reason as to why she is being asked to leave.

My mother called me to come and intervene. After hearing her point of view of what happened, I was interested in understanding why she was being asked to leave as well. After speaking with the front desk and requesting to speak with a Manager, I also called the local authorities as this matter was now heightened. The manager Rendrick came and spoke with me and clarified to me what the proper procedure was for checking in and the mix up that happened. When my mother checked in with her cell phone number, she verified her first and last name. As normal, she proceeded into the actual gym space. According to the manager who got the story from his employees, the extra verification was required because there was no picture associated with her membership. Again, my mother has been a member of LA Fitness for 15 years and going to this specific gym for 10 years. At what point was this photo an oversight that never got resolved by your staff?

The Houston Police came and your staff member immediately ran outside to speak with the officer. Being a business owner, this matter was brought to management attention and should have been handled by management going forward. My mother still being mortified and emotionally scarred, tried to explain to the officer as to what happened. Your manager Rendrick helped to explain as well and a police report was filed.

I'm writing this to request for the termination of staff member Adrian and Brittany. The way this situation was handled was not professional by any means. The physical nature of this was extreme and excessive. While I am seeking legal recourse, I am hoping there is action taken on behalf of your corporate staff. Being a reputable corporation, I'm sure you will do what is in the best interest of your customer and provide training on how to handle these situations going forward. If the requested action is not taken, I will pursue legal recourse.

Regards,

Michael Scott
[protected]
[protected]@yahoo.com