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My complaint is against New Life Fitness Center, Two Notch Road, Columbia, South Carolina. Here's my story:
I thought that Jamie, the manager, was explaining to me a month-to-month plan in June 2006 when I first joined. A coworker of mine had introduced me to New Life and told me about their month-to-month plan. That's what intrigued me. After all, in front of the building it says, "month-to-month". They didn't mention that all that meant was that you can pay month-to-month, not that you can have a membership month-to-month. I did a foolish thing.I signed what I understood to be a month-to-month membership, entrusting in the words of the salesman to be the words of the contract.
When I did not go nor pay for a couple of months, I found out that I was locked into a 12-month contract and that until I paid up, I could not use the facility. I saw that I wasn't going to win and, true, it was my fault. So I stepped up to the plate and paid it off.
To make matters worse, I inquired with a young representative (not the manager this time) about having my husband join on my membership but only for the remainder of my contract so that I would have someone to go with. I remember specifically making that my criteria. "Yes", we can do that", he said. I specifically told him that I did not want my husband's contract to go beyond mine because I did not know whether I wanted to extend my contract once it expired. "No problem, he said." And, I specifically remember him asking me how much longer mine was etc. It all sounded like it was going to work out just right. So, once again, we signed.
Well, mine expired June 2007. Assuming his did too, and not being happy with the facilities at Two Notch Road in Columbia, my husband and joined another health club. Five weeks later, I learned that New Life Fitness Center was continuing to take money out of my checking account for my husband's membership (which we understood had expired).
The very next day (Sunday after church) we went to the health club and explained our case to the girl at the front desk (she asked what was wrong since no one else was there and she wanted to help us). She listened to our situation and was very kind and empathetic. She then told us that somebody had made a bad mistake and the New Life would do the right thing. The next day (Monday) my husband went to talk with Jamie, the manager, who told my husband that my husband would need to contact the corporate office, but if he had any problems with the corporate office, to let him know.
So my husband and I drafted a letter to the corporate office explaining the situation. Today at work, a girl named Tammy (she refused to give me her last name) called my office and made it clear that I signed a 12-month contract.period. I had her contact the manager (like he said, "have them call me if you can't get anywhere with them"). Later Tammy called me back and said that Jamie said that he never told me anything about having my husband less than a year. To that I said, "Of course he didn't, because he wasn't the one that signed my husband up." I then tried to get the name and phone number of the owner of the Fitness center. After several tries, Tammy gave me his first name, but absolutely refused to give me his phone number. As a matter of fact, she was threatening me about ruining my credit because I wanted to talk to the owner, and when she saw that I wasn't going to give up, she hung up on me. I then contacted my husband and asked him to go talk to Jamie. So my husband drove a second time to the fitness club to talk with Jamie in person.
At first Jamie DENIED even talking with the corporate office until my husband said, "Well, Rita said that you DID talk with the corporate office." Then he admitted he did, and proceeded to tell my husband that he can discuss it with the area director who will be in town next week.
It's a lot of passing the buck, and even though I'm at fault for the legal part, I'm sick and tired of companies getting away with this type of scamming. It's a "I gotcha" attitude. They tell you anything. Once you sign, they've gotcha, and there is absolutely no accountability for their misrepresentation of the service. Money isn't the issue with me. Like I said, my husband and I turned around and joined a different fitness center. It's the dishonest business practice that doesn't hurt just me, but every tax payer in this country. We've got to start fighting this type of unaccountability and exposing companies for what they really are. CONSUMER BEWARE!
Rita Seaton Columbia, SC
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I go to the gym on Hardscrabble road and I have the same problem. The staff acts like high school kids. I once saw the manager (Kristen I think?) getting her feet massaged by a staff member right at the front desk. So, unprofessional. Usually the staff members are messing with their cell phones or leaning back in their chairs with there feet on the counter, as if they do not care. They are rude and basically don't care for your needs, instead of whipping down the nasty machines, they are talking or rubbing on each other. When I first joined (one month ago) I thought the gym looked really nice and I hardly noticed all these things, but when I started showing up in the afternoon, the place becomes a perverted mad house.
I used to work for New Life Fitness. The company is owned by Korean Mafia= beware
I found this information while looking for Corp info on NLFW. I had recently worked for NLFW and could only do so for a week because of the unfit environment. I heard the same complaints abouts their Monthly deception plan. JODY PARKS was my supervisor allegedly in charge. Now I'm in the process of going through corporate just to receive the check I rightfully worked for. What a totally unprofessional and unethical business model. I've been in sales for the better part of my life and never have I seen a business that was less concerned with it's customers (lively hood) or it's employee's. A very saddening experience to say the least...Thanks JODY PARKS...
After dating the woman that would become my wife, I started balancing her checkbook. I noticed a recurring draft on the statement, that had been coming out for several years, and asked her if she knew what it was for. She did not so I called the bank and had her talk to them about it. They said the draft was for New Life Fitness Center on Two Notch road. Since my wife had never had a membership, I called New Life Fitness to find out why the draft was coming out. Found out that my wife's daughter was able to bring in one of her mother's deposit slips and allowed them to draft her mother's account for the monthly membership fee. When I called them and asked them to refund the entire membership amount, they initially refused. When I asked them if they had a signed contract for the membership, they pulled it from their records. I asked whose name was on the contract. It was my wife's daughter's name and signature. I then ask them if the contract also had my wife's daughter's date of birth, along with the date the contract was signed. Turns out my wife's daughter was 16 at the time, and NLFC decided to immediately refund the entire amount paid in, with no further discussion.
I've been a member of New Life for over a year and a half, work out there at least five days a week, and go to the gym on Hard Scrabble. I've seen great results on my body, but the gym is turning into a dump.
The same treadmills have needed wax on them for months. The same elliptical has had the bar broken off the cup holder since I started attending the gym (it's not major, but it's simple, and maybe I'd like a drink...), and one of my favorite weight machines has needed oil for a couple months (when I asked one of the workers why it was sticking, he said they had ordered oil, but in the meantime were using DW-40, but that was bad for it... It STILL sticks, and this conversation was in April). Currently, the hot tub is broken, and "the part has been ordered and it will be repaired as soon as it comes in, " but that sign has been up for several weeks now. I never new hot tub parts were in such high demand, or that shipping could take so long! My favorite thing is how filthy the women's locker room is, and stays. I get it, some patrons are messy, and should clean up after themselves. However, if the staff claims to be cleaning the locker room, I would expect it to be clean when they're done... Nope, not here. A couple weeks ago, I went in to find almonds and trash all over the floor. It stayed there for over a week, THEN, when they were cleaning it one afternoon, they still didn't pick up the trash, or the hair all over the showers. The showers usually have hair, soap, hair elastics, and roaches all over the floor. It's really sucks when it's more convenient to work out before work, but you don't want to shower in filth, and you're paying $40 a month for gross locker rooms and equipment that isn't being maintained.
Thankfully, Gold's is opening nearby, and they were willing to give me the discounted rates ($25), and hold my contract until January, when my NLFW contract is up. I can't wait to be out of there!
Does anyone know the personal trainer that use to work for new life a while back. His first name is either Anthony or Antonio. He got married a while back and moved to the ATL.
MY COMPLAINT IS WITH THE CORPORATE OFFICE.
My name is Chris Jones .I have been a member of the lexington facility for three years along with my wife Erika .We have two daughters that have just taken a genuwine interest in the gym so we want to promote the fitness part of there life through NLFW.Well i checked with the corporate to see what i had to do to get the right plan for our family.They would not work with me at all with our contracts so we could rewrite the contracts that we have now to include our daughters so we wouldnt have to spend an xtra 40.00 dollars per month.Usually a company trys to work with, and help out a good paying customer.Not these people .We were even going to put the remaining time on our contracts thay we have now on the end of the new contract that we would have gotten if they really wanted our buisness.I dont want to complain I just think that our children deserve to attend the gym with us without paying xtra fees per month for nothing because they want write us a contract .I feel its wrong, and its not right.we are responcible for bringing quite a few of our closest friends, and family to this company.Its all about the money not the customer.
NLFW Corporate office is [protected]. The address is 3950 Wilson Ave SW Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.
does anyone know the number or address (or email) to the new life corporate office? please email me at dl@brunson.com
I agree with Brian Dover. I have a membership at New Life Fitness World. I made sure to look at the equipment. I made sure that the equipment was good, that I could go to any location, and that I received a discount because of my job. After signing the contract my expectation was to go in work out and go home. The people at New Life may not be personable but the equipment is good, the aerobics is awesome, and the work-out is a burn out. That is all I am looking for. Now I have seen New Life offer the Month to Month. Jamie may want to look into that because New Life has in the past offer the Month to Month. Now if you are looking for a month to month go to the YMCA. They have an awesome program as well. As for Rita, just know that when you sign a contract at New Life, Gold's ect. it is either for a 1 or two year.
I was actually going to join that exact same New Life Fitness because of the month to month option! I saw the sign the other day and was so excited! I was burned like this in the past with Golds Gym in Lexington and ended up paying a $2, 000.00 dollar "Fat Tax". Because of the nature of my job I sometimes can't get to the gym for long periods of time and a month to month option would greatly benefit me. (Side note: They will say ANYTHING to get you to sign that contract) I was going to look at their website just now and saw this on the Google search page. Thank GOD I did! I will definitely look elsewhere or just get a home gym system. That way I can afford to pay a little extra to get a quality home gym and chalk it up to signing a "month to month" contract with Golds or New Life. The best way to keep from getting screwed by gym's like these are to never go inside one. That's the sad truth.
I love the NLFW on Two Notch! I've been there for four years now and I've enjoyed my time there. Michele is an excellent class instructor (Body talk) and the staff seems to be very polite. When I intially joined, Rasheed was my personal trainer. OMG, where is that hunk of a man? Lamont took care of my contrat when I signed a second time around. Very nice man and sexy too! Now I have a had a small complaint, and that is the bulb in the sauna is always burnt out. LOL, I wouldn't mind it if Rasheed or Lamont was in there with me.
Burn me once shame on you, burn me twice shame on me. Read what you sign...especially a freaking health club membership.
Rita, this is how health clubs operate. Its not just NLFW. I have never heard of one truly being month to month. I had the same thing happen to me but I was a minor when I signed the contract so that took care of that. Also, the sales staff is usually paid commision based off the value of a contract.
The idea is to get a 1-2 year contract because most people have great interest initially, but after the novelty wears off quickly find excuses not to utilize the facilities any longer. Allowing people to cancel after only a few months would be a bad and unprofitable business model.
You should never join a health club and expect a great level of service on any level. The best I ever dealt with was Gold's in Rock Hill. The staff greeted you when you entered and said goodbye when leaving. A very simple gesture that seems to be beyond the staff at NLFW Hardscrable or Gold's Two Notch. The Gold's(RH) also would get young college or HS kids to come in and clean equipment and rack any weights left out. In return they got to work out for free and the place was spotless. If the staff saw a customer leaving weights unracked, they would approach him/her and tell them why it was important to do so. If the behavior continued, the clients membership was suspended until they decided to be considerate of the other users.
It is unlikely, in my experience in Columbia, to find service of that kind. I have been to both Gold's here and NLFW and they are about the same in that respect. Facilites are about the same unless you live in Irmo or Lex. and can get to Gold's.
The moral of the story is: Join, exercise, and dont expect much beyond a monthly draft.
I googled New Life Fitness World because I was thinking about joining the Two Notch Road facility. After I read the initial complaint, I chalked it up the user not reading what she signed. Yes, there is a moral obligation to tell the truth on behalf of the salesman, but she had a personal obligation to read what she was signing (twice).
I will never patronize this facility - Jamie, perhaps you need some customer service training. You NEVER call your customer a liar and especially not on a public forum. You speak of her being unprofessional, but she was the customer. It was your job to be the professional and it sounds like you bitterly failed. Most "professional" businesses have discretionary funds for the cases where the customer is absolutely wrong but doesn't understand it. The high road would have been to let her out of the situation and preserve your reputation.
Ironically enough I stumbled upon this site in an attempt to figure out how to cancel MY month to month membership which I also got at the Two Notch location which turned out not to be as described. Front desk staff is very young and unknowledgable when it comes to company policy. I have made multiple attempts to cancel my membership. Each time I was told a manager would have to return my phone call. Not one ever has. Not discouraging anyone from signing up with New Life, just encouraging them to read the fine print.
Rita needs to learn to tell the truth, Rita joined the club on a 12 month discount membership through her job. She never had a month to month membership, after becoming a member of New Life she brought her husband in to join several months later. He got a discount add on 12 month plan, they decided to join another health club while they were still members of New Life. I'm sorry she chose not to tell the truth, they came in on a Sunday and yelled at my staff which was very unprofessional and rude. They demanded that I be contacted on a Sunday, which is my only day off. I contacted them the following Monday, reminded them of there agreement which they paid off and left. We hope that they are happy were they are, and wish them much success.
I did the same type of month to month membership about a year ago with New Life Fitness on Two Notch Rd. Jamie the same Manager referred to explained everything to me clearly and even helped me cancel when my job required me to move to Atlanta. I have since returned and have lost 34 lbs will training with Mike Waldron one of there personal trainers. I have never heard of anything like this before.