LA Fitness International
reviews and complaints

For almost 6 months (or since Pure Fitness was bought out by LA Fitness), the members have been sold a bill of goods. From promises that the air conditioning would be fixed to promises that the mildewed, smelly, worn carpet would be replaced and everything in between. I had been paying for personal training sessions; however, each trainer, one by one, either quit or was fired, making it almost impossible to schedule an appointment with the same trainer more than twice in a row. When it was Pure Fitness, the trainers were plentiful, accommodating and helpful and we were promised LA Fitness would provide more of the same - it most certainly did not. If a trainer or time slot was unavailable, that was just too bad. I filed a complaint with the BBB, spoke to the corporate office and explained that I continued to pay for personal training but was not able to schedule personal training. After many calls to corporate in California explaining my plight and asking for a refund of my previously paid personal training sessions and a cancellation of my membership, I was advised by Danielle that, although she completely understood my frustration, it was not their policy to do either but she'd see what she could do. After we went round and round, she finally moved a trainer from another facility to the Chandler facility where I had my membership. I was not offered anything else, no free training sessions, nothing. I began training with Ashley and, after a couple of training sessions, she was no longer available on my preferred days. As I was attempting to reschedule, I received a call from Ashley stating that the LA Fitness I belonged to was closing and that I'd have to attend the other Chandler LA Fitness (the one that is packed all the time, even before the other 3 Pure Fitnesses in the area closed and sent their members there); however, she was still not available during most times that were convenient for me. I, again, called Danielle (and her manager, Shawnee Haysum, who had previously advised me that if I ever needed anything further, I should contact her - I left 4 messages and never received a return phone call), again, explained my frustration and again asked that I please be refunded the $800 or so I had paid for training that I had been unable to use, and that I be released from my contract that was ending in 2 months. No dice. I explained that this was a very poor business practice and that, although it kept money in the pockets of LA Fitness in order for them to stay afloat, it was creating a very bad name for them as I, and most certainly others, have and will continue to spread the word about their terrible customer service. I finally got a letter from LA Fitness stating that I would not be receiving a refund or my payments, I would not be permitted to cancel my membership and that nothing further would be done to assist me.

I am a single mother of a two years old baby and also a stay at home mom. Going to the gym is our getaway, therefore I take it very seriously. Tbere has been several times that my baby has been hurt by other kids and even though I have requested for explanations and also talked to management nothing has been done to repair the damage; however, when this happen we take a few days off from going to the gym but nothing gets resolve.

Not disciplinary acctions are taken for those whom suppose to watch our children and care for them.
We as customer pay for La Fitness employees to have their job, so we should too have a appreciation and respect in return.
Also I have seen parents changing their children in the middle of the playing room. GROSS... and diseases waiting to happen (such as hepatitis A) etc.
When all of this negligence will stop? isn't there any other ways to hire qualify personnel?
and impose that hygiene is important too.

Stay away from this gyms training program. The trainers are under paid, even though you pay a heck of alot for training.
The Training Manager will lie to you, train you for the first 3 days to keep you from cancelling your training package.
The TM is not a certified trainer he will tell you he is but he is NOT! He will hurt you due to his lack of training as a trainer then tell you this is why you need a trainer.
He is rude, sexually harrasses women clients and will not deal with any customer service issues.
Sad really because the gym itself is a nice clean gym with up todate equipment.

Enrolled in their Personal Training Program and had problems from day 1. Their on-line documentation showed me having more training sessions than I actually had. I attempted to get it corrected 3 times with no success. And 1 session I did have was done by a person who wasn't even a Certified Trainer but I assumed he was as he was the Manager of the department. He paid little attention to me during that session as well. I showed up for another session and my assigned Trainer wasn't there and no one else took me but it still showed on sessions used. Funny that if I didn't show up when scheduled, I would be billed anyway. They would not terminate my contract and continued to bill my credit card. Still paying too even though I sent a 2 page detailed description to the main office of each and every falsified event. DON'T TRUST THEM AND DON'T JOIN.

I have filed a complaint with the BBB regarding LA Fitness taking money from my acount after I cancelled the personal trainer membership. LA Fitness has violated my rights to cancel the membership within a reasonable, allowable, and allocable timeframe. It violates my right to cancel services I feel are not adequate, reasonable and professional. LA Fitness wants to bind a person to the contract and still collect money; they state that you either have to be sick or dead to get out of the contract, you just cannot cancel the contract because you do not want their service. This is a violation of contract law. I am seeking a lawyer to start a class action lawsuit. Any information regarding LA Fitness contract(s) will greatly help me in my pursuit to sue LA Fitness.

This notice is posted at our local club and it says it is corporate policy. If you abide by it then you are not allowed to open the door at any time to enter rooms. The issue is that they value their defective doors more than their paying members. Bellow follows the note posted on the door. It is in very bold letters and fills the page and you can click on the photo to see it:

All Studio Doors Must Remain

Closed At ALL Times.

Doors Propped Open Have

Already Broken Two Doors and Will No

Longer Be Tolerated. If Anyone Wants The

Classroom Cooler The Lights Will Need To

Be Turned On. These Are Corporate

Policies And We All Must Comply With Them.

Thank You For The Your Support. If There

Are Any Questions Please Feel Free To

Speak To The Management Team.

The gym off California Oaks Road is poorly managed. Half of the people using the gym use no towel at all, leaving a their sweat on the mats and equipment for the next patron to deal with. The personal trainers do not require their clients to have a towel. When I arrive in the morning, various weights from the weight room are scattered throughout the workout areas. Personal trainers leave weights on the floor and never teach their clients to re rack. The head maintenence guy washes the mirrors daily and squeegies the dirty soapy water onto the the newly laid carpet below. This place is understandably filthy. Management does not enforce any of the rules. After years of complaining, I will no longer renew my membership there.

LA Fitness is absolutely ridiculous! Their cancellation policy is set up as a ploy to keep the last month's service charge. I was sharing an account with my brother, and I wanted to cancel. They charge me every month on the 28th and my brother on the 24th.

I went in person to the gym and got the cancellation form. I sent in the form on the 14th, which is plenty of time before the 28th. When I saw that I still got charged on the 28th, I called them up to complain. They gave me the corporate number. When I phoned them, their excuse to having charged me was that they didn't receive the form on time. What liars!

So the second month, I sent it certified and paid almost $5, plus my time at the post office and additional frustration. I have proof that the cancellation form arrived on the 21st, still almost a week before my charge date, yet, not only did they still charge me, they had the audacity to charge me on the 24th with my brother's charge.

I was furious. My brother called up the gym and they told him that he needed to come in person and show proof of the certified mail. I told him that was ridiculously to have to make an extra trip. They do not have a fax number!

I called up a couple of hours later, and the next person told me that I needed to bring in a copy of my statement showing proof that I was charged. At this point I was so mad that I had to go through such a hard time to cancel my service and nobody could give us a straight answer. I asked for the corporate number again and I was told that they do not provide the number. He basically told me that he couldn’t help me and that I need to come in person to speak to the Operations Manager. In this day and age, I have never experienced the need to cancel anything in person-it is usually done via email or fax! These LA Fitness employees do not know what they are doing, nor do they care about the customer.

Then, they told me to come in on Monday to speak with the Operations Manager. I told them there is no way I am coming in. They need to figure this out and call me on Monday to tell me that it is resolved. They asked if I wanted to leave a message for the manager, is this guy kidding me? The manager on duty told me that the Operations Manager was very busy and that I should call back on Monday to follow up. What great customer service huh? This man named Lance in North Miami Beach didn't even care and was practically mocking me. I told him that he needs to make sure that the Operations Manager is aware of my situation and that HE needs to follow up with me! I have already put in enough effort! This business is so ridiculous, they are definitely a case for the Better Business Bureau to investigate. Next thing you know, on Monday when I call, they'll tell me that it is "TOO LATE" again. Who knows?!?!?!

Pasadena LA Fitness Manager, Bonaventure, is sorely lacking in professionalism, customer service skills and basic competence. I have observed him on several occasions making aggressive sexual remarks and unwelcome physical advances towards female members. Many members--male and female--have commented that he creates an "uncomfortable and hostile gym experience" and demonstrates an appalling lack of maturity and respect for patrons. In fact, I was told by an LA Fitness employee that he is surprised Bonaventure has not been fired.

In addition to making inappropriate sexual remarks towards female members, Bonaventure makes threatening remarks towards patrons. I was using a balance ball during my workout and he said "I better not use it in a certain location or else you see what will happen!" I told him that, as a paying customer, I will workout where I please. I also reminded him that he needs to work on engaging customers in a more professional and courteous manner. Bonaventure appears painfully unaware that his hostile behavior and threatening remarks can be grounds for public complaints with the city of Pasadena, the Better Business Bureau and legal charges against LA Fitness.

Mike Fite, the training manager at the Palm Harbor LA Fitness had me sign the wrong contract. He admitted to the mistake. I was even told that my money would be refunded but this did not happen. LA Fitness cares nothing for customer relations. I was told by corporate that they would not refund the $210.00 that was wrongly charged to my account because I used my sessions. Yes, I used them I was wrongly charged and Mike admitted to charging me wrong and still I was not refunded! NEVER NEVER give this awful comapny access to your credit card. They infuriated me so I just want to warn all other out there STAY AWAY FROM LA FITNESS.

my husband and I belong to LA fitness in Boca Raton FL on Glades and 441.

The place was never really clean but in the last month it is filty. Everyone is complaning.we have 8 people on our block alone who are very

discusted with the gym. The carpets need to be changed and the machinery

is old and falling apart and keep on breaking.The new soap cleaning dispensers are a joke. you do not get enough of the germ cleaner on the

paper towel to clean the equipment. The equipment itself if dirty, never

gets cleaned by the staff.the staff management doesn't look like they even

care about trying to fix up the place. Everyone pays good money to go to

the gym and we do not want to come home with germ infested hands and clothes. We along with our neighbors are really thinking about going

someplace else, with another gym.

Club does not monitor wether members take showers before entering Hot Tub and Pool Area.
As a result, the majority of members do not shower. There is a sign in small print that has to be read up close to decipher. The Club also states that the Tub is cleaned and drained on a weekly basis. The Cleaning people are unaware of any such process.

I have been a member of this club for 3+ years. Sometimes I wonder why I continue, but it is close to home for me and never crowded in the mornings when I go in to lift weights. However, I also take spinning/cycling classes and this has been where there total lack of maintenance and zero training for staff comes in. The equipment in the cycle rooms is OLD and needs replacing. It doesn't work as it is intended and they do nothing about it. I see the maintenance guy in that room every Monday morning and he is always on his phone and just walking around the room playing with the levers on each bike -- as if you could tell if they are in good working order by doing that. One day I asked him directly if he had ever been told of the member complaints about the lack of maintenance of the equipment -- he said he never had and told me he would look into it. That was a couple months ago and nothing has changed. The other issue here is that LA Fitness does not require any training for their fitness instructors. When a couple of the cycle instructors quit, they took a couple of two hundred pound ladies who had been in the classes and made them instructors -- please! They have had zero training and have no idea what they are doing. Plus - it is a little hard to get encouraged by a person who weighs over 200 lbs who is on the bike and barely making the wheels spin because they don't have the energy to push anyone to work hard. These people took a CPR class and were immediately put into the classroom - NO training. If any of the members complain about the room being very, very warm and could we please get a fan in there -- the response is that that would be a corporate decision and if they did it for this club, they would have to do it for every club, blah, blah, blah. No one on staff wants to take responsibility for making things better for members. You are lucky if you get a staff member to do anything more than grunt at you when you come past the front desk. Most often they don't even look up. I also belong to 24 Hr Fitness and they know me by name there and always know which class to sign me up for that day -- and look like they enjoy what they do. No so at LA Fitness -- everyone who works there looks pretty miserable. If they don't hire some more talented instructors and get more updated equipment, I won't be renewing my membership. I often wonder how this club stays in business with the lack of members -- I am in there in the mornings about 6:30 am and there are about 20 guys playing racquetball and only about 15 others in the rest of the gym. Weights, etc. from the night before are left all over the place - nothing is ever where it should be. Something is definitely wrong with the business model in this place and it won't be long before they will be out of the Portland area I would imagine.

Hot tub has been closed for past four weeks and management has no idea when it will open, pool has been cloudy for six months, they can't seem to get it clear. Locker room floors are filthy as well as pool area. They have one man and one woman to clean entire building. I would not recomend any one to join this club. Talked to management many times to no avail. Had to call Clifton Board of Health to get hot tub cleaned many times over summer. Pool temp. varies day to day. Staff uncoperative to complaints. No one seems to care.

During the first week of January 2011, my best friend and I decided to join a gym. Seeing that we passed by LA Fitness all the time and how classy it looked from the outside, we figured we'd go and check it out. We simply walked to ask a simple question and expected a quick simple answer; we just wanted to know the membership fees and if they offered a yoga class and if so, how much. That's it, very simple. They turned it into some big tour and made us sit down at a desk and had us listen to this guy that talked for about an hour about the club then randomly brought over a personal trainer to talk to us and then the personal trainer asked us if he could test our body mass. Are you serious? First off, I came in just to ask a simple question, why am I put through the torture of sitting down to have a long discussion, nevertheless, force a random guy on us to test our body mass? Did I request that? No, I did not. As my friend and I wanted to leave immediately after how annoying and long the process was, he wouldn't let us go. He kept reducing the membership fees just so we would sign a contract with them and even suggested that we put down some money first to "reserve the good deal." Oh.My.God. As we kept saying no and we'd rather talk it over, he then insists on bringing the assistant manager to convince us some more and there, we sat for another hour listening to him persuade us as he kept dropping the price. I wasn't even listening to him anymore at that point, I kept thinking, "okay, you keep dropping the price, does that mean the price you list elsewhere is a fake and is just to get customers in?" After spending approximately a thousand hours there, we finally was released. It felt SO nice to walk out there, I felt like I was leaving prison after 10 years. I was never more relieved. So here's the annoying part ... our visit was the first week of January. It is now the last day of January and they have been calling my friend and I EVERY SINGLE DAY, multiple times each day. Either they're extremely dumb and don't get that we're sick of them or they have some lucky guy that's being paid to annoy people with phone calls or they're just extremely annoying. I never want anything to do with LA Fitness, I don't want to talk to anyone that associates with LA Fitness and I never want to go near that place ever again.

I have often complained about the loud music that ruins the workouts of many members of the clubs and I am always told that the local management can do nothing about it. The problem is intermittent and so I've been able to live with it. But last week, I once again had to complain about the volume of the music that permeated LA Fitness in Blaine, Minnesota. When I walked into the club, the music was exceptionally loud and there were already four members lined up at the front desk asking for the volume to be turned down. I joined the group asking for some relief from the racket and, eventually, I talked to “Brad” who identified himself as the general manager. Brad told me that the volume was controlled at the corporate level and that he didn’t even have a volume control at his location! Brad was also quite rude. Then I called Brad’s supervisor, “Matt”, who told me that there was a corporate mandate regulating the level of music that is played at all LA Fitness clubs. Matt said that he would probably be fired if he turned the music down! So I sent an email to Jill Greuling, Vice-President of Operations ([protected]@lafitness.com). Jill immediately responded and was very cordial. She apologized for Brad's rudeness and promised to take care of the situation. She said that there really is a volume control at every club and that there is NO corporate mandate regarding the volume level of the music. Then I got a phone call from a very cordial, professional individual, Orlando Gonzalez ([protected]@lafitness), who assured me that he would personally contact Brad and Matt and would explain the policy to them. This is not the first time that I've had a problem with the loud racket coming from the music speakers and, despite the positive response from Ms. Greuling and Mr. Gonzalez, I have cancelled my membership. I'm just totally fed up with the confrontations that I've had during my many months as a member at LA Fitness. Mr. Gonzalez has assured me that there will be no problem with my cancellation.