YMCA
reviews and complaints

This Family Y was destroyed by Hurricane Sally in September, 2020. It was re-opened in March, 2022 but with some unexpected changes. The walking track, which had been in the main room around treadmills and other equipment, was no longer there. Instead, a room had been added with a basketball court. Walkers are expected to use a narrow path around the approximately 65 x 70 foot room.

It was explained to me at the time that the track around the equipment was moved because it constituted a "liability." It's my belief, having experienced this, that walking around a group of teenagers or men playing a game with bodies flying constitutes a far larger liability.

As a result, the number of elderly walkers at the Foley Family Y has been reduced to a few. I have left the gym without being able to walk on multiple occasions and on Thursday, May 26, I complained to a facility director. I was told I could still walk and that she would remove the non-players on the sidelines from the gym.

I felt that would create an unacceptable situation for me, with resentment from the players. I asked again to have the track relocated to its original position and she said repeated the "liability" claim. I told her at the time that, rather than argue the point, I was going to file a formal complaint.

At one time before the hurricane, it was normal to have 3 or 4 or 5 walkers at once in the middle of the day, once early classes end. Now I know of only 2 other gentlemen who attempt to be "regulars."

Members wanting to visit the Y for other services have no such problem and the remodeled facility is truly excellent otherwise.

My husband and I went to the ymca with our young autistic children fyi this was the second time this has happened to us as soon as we got in the pool a life guard grab a toy from my daughter and said it's for the kids having the swim lesson I said I understand the property of ymca and for the kids that are having the swim lesson but you don't get to take a toy from my daughter she and we didn't know anything about the toy other then it was in a bucket and none was around so it was prob left by some other kids that were swimming and they just left it there so we thought it was just left there and we could use it and another life guard told us that we had to stay in a certain area of the pool untill the swimming lesson was done and on the other side of the pool there were to many people in there seemed like way past the limit of people who can be in there and the life guards we're eating pizza in the pool area and not paying any attn to anyone in the pool area and the life guards were just eating and standing around and a man and his disabled wife were trying to get into the pool but she had to use the lift and I don't think anyone helped them I didn't see anyone help them

We are members - me, my husband and 3 kids.

We don't have a time to go with the kids, so I gave my card to my sister and she will go with them to the ymca. The girl at the front desk returned them, because they are 11, 12 and 13 years old... She explained that they couldn't be at the cardio room even with my sister... They can use only the track... My question is : why I have to pay my membership, we couldn't use the y more then month

Thank you

Sonia velev

[protected]@gmail.com

You need to tell your clients to look out for bicycles and pedestrians when leaving the YMCA. I have been nearly run over several times going past there even though I am extremely careful. You need to tell your employees to be respectful of other people.

Board of Directors, I expect a response from you.I put in a complaint on April 29. Do your JOB!

I have spoke to many different employees besides the VP of Operations. The Family locker room is supposed to be for Families and Disabled people. The Facility leaves a lot to be desired. Bathroom/Showers that have many issues. Faucets that are loose and dangerous, Shower levers that are loose to the point the water temperature changes as it falls down. Doors that are missing locks for the shower. Management doesn’t care about the complaints. As a handicap individual we have no recourse to use the Facility, without facing these issues. The Management team along with the VP of Operations don’t care about the members at all. They can send out a thousand emails asking for Donations!

I was planning on a deadlift workout that day when I noticed that a personal trainer and trainee were taking up the entire area where deadlifting is done. I decided to give them their space and do a pullup/deadlift split workout. I put in my earphones and I started my sets. The trainer interrupted my set and told me that I was working out too loud? I was using metal plates but I was by no means slamming the weights down. The trainer was very rude and offered no viable solution to "his" issue. Some days I just want to work out in peace, but all the trainers here have to put their noses in everybody else's business. I read their policies after I was done, and I committed no violation

Ms. Kath is her name she's rude and mean even my friends outside the Ymca complain she made a 1st grader cry over a mistake she made. almost everybody else at Leila G Davis elementary Ymca complains about her and try's to get her fired. she's old and grumpy. everybody who walks in to the Ymca office with Mrs. Kath comes out crying! even other consulters left because of her. please help us!

Every week since Oct 2021 Tricia the Aquatics Director interferes with our Deep Water class. She turns down our music, and threw equipment at my instructor. On [protected] she scheduled a water class to begin the same time as my deep water class, and interrupts my class telling us to move. On 4/28/2022 a life guard named Rachel screamed at us at the top of her voice to move and again interrupted and stopped the class. Why would they schedule classes to overlap and then be extremely rude to members participating?

When I talked to the director last fall about this issue, her response was that she would just cancel the water classes.

Our holiday programme arrived this morning around 9.35am this morning with 26 children and 6 staff (qualified swim school teachers) we were meet by the center manager Cameron who was very rude and arrogant. He refused to allow us to enter basing his decision on us having to make a booking.

I advised him that i had emailed the center on Tuesday 19 April advising that we were intending on coming along today, followed this up with three phone calls to the center only to get no email response or any staff member answer the calls.

Cameron proceeded to say well "you can see we have staff here" so I don't believe you. This is your fault as a programme organizer you should know better then to just rock up and expect us to let you in!.

Actually no this is your responsibility as a center manager to ensure that all contact forms, emails and phone calls are responded to in a timely manner.

We are also rate payers and could have entered the facility individually with smaller groups but this was absolutely disgusting behavior to display as a center manager and needs to be addressed.

Cameron was in no way willing to allow us in even though the pool was not busy. After several minutes of our children standing outside lining up and Cameron becoming louder, and rude in the way he was speaking to us we decided to leave and go to another Council owned pool who welcomed us . When we were loading back onto our bus a neighbor approached us and apologized for how rude Cameron was also saying that the center is terrible and very rude not only to us but to local people.

This is definitely not the kind of attitude and a way to promote a community based leisure center.

There is a theft problem happening at Central YMCA! Lockers in the mens & womens locker area are being broken into while they are locked! Things are being stolen like purses, mens wallets, car keys, house keys, credit cards, debit cards, checks, and personal items and using them for criminal activity! Why hasnt the YMCA emailed all of their customers letting them know of the criminal activity taking place in the locker rooms to warn us and protect us?

I signed up a private pickleball lesson for 4/6/22 at Y Silver Spring, MD. On that day the class was cancelled due to a fire hazard in their building. I was told by their staff that everything had been cancelled.

I called them many times afterward to ask if I would be getting a refund or credit for the canceled session. The receptionist had no idea how to handle the situation except transferred my call to the director whom I have not been able to reach successfully so far. I left him a couple messages. Also left my contact info at the front desk reception but nobody, including the pickleball instructor, ever returned my call. I sent several emails and also posted questions on their website but no response so far. I don't believe how unprofessional they have represented and how they do business.

To Whom It May Concern:

On Friday March 5th at 5:30 pm, when I went to pick up my children from After School at the YMCA program, Mrs. Doreen, YMCA Director; informed me that my son, Joel Hooks (5 years old) had run out of the classroom and was nowhere to be found. I did not receive a phone call or any kind of notification for this incident, until I came to pick him up. There have been several incidents where I have not been notified of anything that happens with my Joel until, I come to pick him up. Mrs. Doreen informed me that it is best that my child takes a month-long break to improve his behavior, which I thought was a good idea at the time.

Mrs. Doreen assured me that my children would not lose their spots, especially because, both my son and daughter went to after school. She stated they would be able to attend after school, after Joel’s 30-day probation was completed. Within the last two months, my son’s behavior has improved, and he has been in therapy every Tuesday at 6pm with his counselor Ms. Shannon, who has even stated he is doing much better with his behavior and becoming better with his words on how he feels about things. He is also meeting his grade requirements in school, and he is learning to read and follow directions when asked. He has not had a tantrum or any emotional outbursts, since then and with him being able to see his father on weekends, that has improved his attitude and spirit as well.

He is excited when he speaks to his therapist explaining that he cannot wait to go back to after school, because he is doing much better. When Mrs. Noreen sees me when I am picking them up, she always asks how his behavior is doing and I am happy to say he has been so good and mindful of how he needs to act in and out of school. Mrs. Doreen states how her and the other staff members miss Joel and cannot wait for him to come back. Mr. Fatik, another staff member, and Joel’s mentor, have asked, would it be ok if he took my son under his wing to help with his behavior, because he used to give his mother trouble and he understand as a mom, what I am going through, at times.

Mr. Fatik has even created a strong bond with Joel and Joel talks about him as if he’s a Big Brother. He also gives Joel snacks and other things on a regular basis. Even when Joel was not attending after school, Mr. Fatik asked if he could buy my son snacks.

On April 11th, Ms. Noreen and I spoke on the phone, and she said that both, Jhene and Joel would be able to return to after school. I also have a text message proving I reached out to ask about how the process was going and if my children would be allowed back into the After School program. On the afternoon of April 12th,

Mrs. Doreen messaged me saying she and Mr. Fatik would call me regarding the children returning to the program. I never received a phone call, message and/or text from either Mrs. Doreen and/or Mr. Fatik.

When I called on Wednesday, April 13 and Thursday, April 14 again, I received no response and was not getting a good feeling about the situation, even though I was confirmed by Mrs. Doreen’s word, that both Jhene and Joel, would be accepted back into the After School program. I texted Ms. Doreen on Thursday April 14th asking for any information regarding the children and the program. On Tuesday April 19th at 2:24pm, I was offered a job and I thought it would be a good idea to text Mr. Fatik to inform him that not only have I not heard anything regarding after school, but now I needed a confirmation of when they would return, because of the new job. On Tuesday, April 19th at 5:31pm, Ms. Doreen stated that my daughter, Jhene could attend after school, but her brother, Joel was not allowed to return due to his past behavior. I made the statement, “Are you kidding me? She gave me her word that both their places would be available for return and now she is undermining what was said, which now jeopardizes my new job.

It is unfair that Joel, a five-year-old who is still learning to control his emotions, would be given such a harsh punishment for his feelings and the fact that the After School program knows he sees a therapist, who helps him become a better person. He has improved so much and has not been given a second chance to prove himself, especially when I was not informed that he was lost and no one in the After School program knew he was even missing, let alone contacted me or anyone else.

Not only is he going to be heartbroken when he learns he cannot attend after school but the fact that his sister can return, and he cannot be with her is going to crush him. He has worked so hard on controlling his behavior, so he can go back to the program, to only now be told by his mom that he cannot return but his sister can. Do you have any idea what kind of setback this is going to create and there is no telling where this can take his behavior or Mental Health? And unfortunately, guess who must break the news to him? Yes me, his mother.

So not only can he not return to After School, but I will also lose the only job that was offered to me since the Pandemic and now it will be even harder to provide for my children. I am a single mother of three. I have no family in the area to help and if this program is supposed to be helping the community, I do not understand where the help is coming in from, because this is not helping me at all.

This is also heartbreaking for me, as a single mother, who has struggled looking for work and I only took the job according to my availability waiting for the kids to return to After School. Just recently, I almost lost my apartment and had to go back into a shelter, which is so dangerous and unfortunate to finally be able to afford to pay my bills and you are now taking that away from me.

I am so disappointed that all my hard work that I put into getting my child help, will now affect his progress when he finds out he cannot return. I just told them that mommy has a job now and those things will get better for us. I was promised my children would have their place back within the program. Now I am starting to wonder if the gestures of the staff of the YMCA After School program was sincere. This does not feel genuine at all. I am very upset on how my son is being treated and the fact that he is only 5, as if every adult listened when they were five.

I would like to speak to someone on the Board of Directors and this should have been mediated between me, the therapist, and the staff. When my son was missing, there was no repercussions for him being lost and no one, including staff knew where he was, but he makes a mistake on his behavior and he gets kicked out of a program, instead of a probation period, which should have taken place for at least a week to see if he would behave or not.

I am very disappointed in how this was handled and unfortunately, I have to tell him this unbearable news.

I was not going to write this message, but after some contemplation and boiling frustrations, I decided it might be best to reach out and possibly relieve some concerns. I am not writing this for the purpose of “justice” for myself, per se but for the sake of keeping others from facing the humility I did. Not knowing exactly who will receive this message, I am hopeful it gets seen by the right person/ people.

So here is my story:

I signed up for a membership at the Greater Waco YMCA on February 10th, 2022 in order to have a versatile gym to use at a decent price. This establishment has a reputation of supporting diverse communities, so it baffled me to have gone through what I did. I have a service dog who is trained to perform tasks to alert me of a potential internal emergency in which I would not otherwise be able to catch. This dog is incredibly well-behaved and well-trained. She does her job exceptionally well, but she is still a dog, not a machine. This should be kept in mind with all instances regarding service animals. My first interaction at the gym took place while signing up for the membership. I was told by an employee that the supervisor says they “don’t allow service dogs”. Of course, it is against the law to prohibit service animals in this setting, so I spoke to the supervisor who then told me it would be fine as long as I vested her. Being understanding and trying to show compliance, I went ahead and agreed to vest her all times we were in the gym. I should mention it is also against the law to require proof of identification ( including vests ) for a service animal, but the supervisor thought this would show “respect” to fellow gym-goers, so I didn’t argue. I wanted to show that I was not trying to cause any issues or disruption, and that I simply wanted to be able to exercise somewhere safety. After that conversation, all seemed well between myself and the staff. The first time I went to use the gym, I brought my service dog leashed and vested and went to run on the treadmill. She sat quietly next to me staying alert as she is supposed to. A woman saw her and got excited, and she quickly approached her to pet her. This spooked my dog and provoked her to bark twice. This is an action many service dogs are trained to utilize when their handler may be in danger. I told my dog to stand down and that it was fine, and she immediately returned to a calm state. Soon after this took place, I was approached by the same supervisor who I believe goes by the name, Virginia Salisbury. Publicly, I was spoken to very condescendingly. I was told how disruptive and disrespectful to “her” gym it was that she could hear my dogs’ barks from down the hall. Including the comment, “If that is a service dog, she wouldn’t behave that way.” I turned absolutely white at the fact I was being spoken to like a child in front of all the other people in the gym. I gently attempted to explain the situation and that I was not violating any of my boundaries because my service dog let out a couple of barks, but was stepped over being told it cannot happen again. Really wanting to be able to use the gym, I just tried to be very cautious and watched my back to keep anyone from running up to my dog so she doesn’t get distracted or startled. It happened twice more- by a child reaching with his arms out to her, and while I was using the restroom in the lorckerrooms. These happened different times I went to the gym, not all in one day. The final scenario that took place before I decided not to come back was when I was approached by both Mrs. Salisbury and the "director" whose name I do not remember. I was double-teamed being told that their rights were being violated because my 10 pound service dogs' few, meager barks were causing fear to their customers. Being once again humiliated and not being given an opportunity to speak my position and explain the law, I let them know I would not be returning. After it was confirmed back and forth with the supervisor that my membership would be canceled over email, I have received 3 charges since. Before doubting the validity of my claim, please refer to the attachments from valid sites concerning my rights as a service dog handler. More depth on this information can be found on the website, ada.gov.

Galesburg Illinois Main Street YMCA lady did not tell us that we had to pay for the lockers all she told us is how to get in they took my old lady's stuff out of the locker put the lock back on and all they left was a note where's my old lady stuff I called up there and they said give us a week they didn't give us a week they gave us a day and they didn't tell us that if we're late on the payment that there will be a fee y'all took more money than you should out of my bank some budget cut huh I want to know where my old ladies stuff is they can at least instead of taking her stuff and leaving a note just leave a note on the Locker it is ridiculous that they just take your stuff who gives them the rights to do do that is stealing if you ask me the lady was snobby and rude that work there and didn't tell us nothing I haven't been to YMCA since I was a kid I want my old lady stuff back and took $30 extra out of my bank I don't have that kind of money aren't you guys a Christian company when we called the main YMCA here in Galesburg the person was very snobby and rude

On 3/16/22 my family was informed that the swim academy my daughter was enrolled in was being discontinued. Since then I have been to the Y multiple times to ask for assistance in the following

A) Get a reimbursement of 1/2 of the registration fees for March since they stopped having academy.

B) 1st of April they had not stopped the bank draft of $60, so I am now paying for something I can not use.

C) During the multiple attempts to get a hold of a Manager of this facility to assist me in changing the swim academy to a different facility. Each of the attempts to get a manager to get a hold of me I was asked to leave my number and they would contact me. I have never received a call. I had to finally go to the other facility and they were great in assisting us in the change over.

D) As of this point my daughter can not start the new swim academy till 4/12/22.

One of the reason's I chose YMCA was the benefit of using a Y when out of town. When I inquired at the YMCA in Santa Monica about being able to visit their Y and use it when in town, which isn't often, they told me NO!

I'd have to buy another membership and pay a $100.00 sign up fee...or could go to a neighboring Y and pay $28-$30 per day for a visitation access.

I only use my local Y sporadically, so they have made money on me over the years. I'll bet if you look at the overall rate of usage of all members, you'd find the same. If they won't allow access to a visiting member, then they ought to not have access and use of the name YMCA. Poor policy decision.

I believe Mr. Bennett lacks the proper training in regards to handling after school issues in regards to parent concerns or complaints. I have written a few emails to his manager Mr.Cory Johns in regards to his passive behavior. He is bully, shows no respect to others, ignores serious bullying issues and does not take concerns in regards to my children seriously. Taunted my children in front of their peers as well as gives out constant demeaning remarks about me to my children and during me voicing my concerns or complaints. Mr.Cory Johns repeatedly keeps ignoring these issues as well as to why I feel Mr. Bennett acts in this disrespectful manner they are a reflection of your organization and such behavior is very distasteful, foul, demeaning, threatening from Mr. Bennett's behalf from his actions shown he does not respect others personal space or value parent concerns. Every complaint has been taken for a joke and considered nagging from the comment that was made by Mr. Bennett yesterday while I was trying to speak with Walker Middle school front desk personnel who informed me that she was working with the program from now on she agreed to speak with me while trying to voice my concern after Mr. Bennett refused and told me to speak with Mr. Joe Arana. He repeatedly invaded my personal space as well putting his hand in my face several times and would not allow me to speak with the front desk. As well as he forced himself in between us to stop me from giving my concern after I was told by Walker Middle front desk personnel that I could from what she informed me is apart of your program now. Mr. Joe Arana the counselor whom I was told to take my complaints

to by Mr. Bennett have not had a great experience either after reporting to him my daughter was threatened at the program and called vulgar names repeatedly by a group of girls in the program and the only response to the matter was she needed to mind her own business in which she already was when they started to antagonize her all of whom are upper classmates. Something seriously needs to be done in regards to their behavior. It's very unfortunate that these are the actions of adults who instead of taking accountability for their behavior they manipulate and fabricate lies to make it seem they were trying to assist from the beginning and that has not been the case including dishonest about a made up story I threatened a child in the cafeteria where there are video recordings and when I told Mr Johns to review the footage of that day he won't see any actions from myself that would validate the lie told by your programs after school counselors.

The pool area is either closed down ,not any staff to monitor the pool area, sauna is not open due to a class or not staff. It's not fair for the pool open for class but can't use the Sauna while the class is going due to no staff. I have only specific times to go into the Sauna and it's not fair I can't go into the Sauna while a swimming class is going on. It's for my heath and benefit. They take your money every month. I wouldn't suggest No one waste their time and money if the whole facility is not operational under the excuse of staff shortages. If your looking to swim ,use the whirlpool or Sauna thus is not the place to attend.

On 3/15/22 my locker was broken into and wallet was stolen containing all of my credit cards and identification.

When I approached the front desk about it. I was met with an attitude like “this happens all of the time and there’s nothing we can do about it”. I was also told that “it wasn’t our fault” meaning the YMCA’s fault. As a member for over 10 years this makes me extremely uncomfortable and now I don’t want to return as a member. I don’t feel safe going to the YMCA. I also don’t feel like my belongings are safe.