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| LA Fitness DON'T SIGN THE CONTRACT! Atlanta, Georgia |
| 16th of Oct, 2011 by User145009 |
It's the old "bait and switch" game that's been going on for years. However, now that Bally's is heading south and LA Fitness feels that it's cornered the market in the "fitness center" arena, LA Fitness feels that once you've signed, you don't matter and, like a recorded message, when a member has a complaint, s/he will only hear, "Did you read the contract?" SO, I am hear to tell you that, when you join LA Fitness, please forego the Personal Training Sales Pitch and DON'T CONSIDER using their personal training services. Once you join, you will receive a phone call within one to days from a Fitness Manager who "wants to ensure that you make the most of your membership with LA Fitness." S/He will invite you to come in for a personal training session with her/him but won't tell you that the sole purpose of the session is to get you to purchase personal training sessions. Once you meet with her/him, he/she will LIE to you--telling you all that he/she will personally do for you (provide nutritional information regularly, e-mail you with fitness tips and work out with you personally) only to achieve his/her goal of getting you to SIGN on the dotted line. Don't waste your time. These folks are trained by LA Fitness to misrepresent the truth--fully expecting that you won't read the contract once you've signed it. If you sign the contract and when you have an issue or a complaint, the contract will become the foundation of LA Fitness' argument for NOT providing you with what the Fitness Manager TOLD you you would receive: "If it's not in the contract, then you are SOL." Save yourself the time, headache and hassle and decline the consultation meeting with the Fitness Manager when s/he calls. There are many members at the gym who would be happy to talk to you about how they've achived great results. Also, there are so many resources on the internet that you don't need to purchase fitness services from any gym. Be friendly in the gym, ask members questions, find a workout partner and you can achieve your goals--without financially committing to personal training sessions. The Personal Training Arm of LA Fitness is not reputable and should be avoided at all costs.
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| THAT is exactly what happened to me! I was very impressed with the "trainer" who I met with and who took me through a workout and was very knowledable about nutrition, different ways of achieving fitness, etc. I was told that what I would have (providing I signed up for a personal trainer) was a "Partner" to assist me in reaching my weight/fitness goals. That the first session would be an assessment and then the "partnership" would commence. When I expressed concern about the cost and contract, the hard sales pitch began. Really, I know better, but they are GOOD. They may not be well trained in honesty but they are quite the salespeople! David, who I met with, emphasized that "HE" would help me reach my fitness goals. And took out the pricing sheet and marked it all up with different ways of paying for the training. We finally settled on a 6 month contract with 3 sessions per month and the 4th as an "Assessment" meeting that was free of charge and came with the training package. He even wrote the amount $120 as what I would be paying monthy. I told him I needed to sleep on it before making the decision. He acted sooo disappointed and wrote his personal cell phone on the payment sheet and made me promise to call him on Sunday, his day off, either way to let him know what I was going to do. Well, I slept on it and based on the information (sales pitch) given to me by David, I decided to go ahead; that it was worth $120 a month for the kind of guidance and support he was offering. I didn't call him but rather went in to the gym (on the "last day") of the special offer and gave the trainer on duty my card info and signed the contract. Then I asked what sessions David had available. What??? Oh, no, he replied, "David doesn't do any training, he is The Manager! But we have many great trainers for you. I should have walked out and probably would have if I hadn't just signed the contract. Believing I had misundrstood and having been made to feel very embarassed to actually thinking I would be trained by the "Esteemed Manager", I decided to go ahead. Ugh! BIG MISTAKE! Not one thing that he promised happened. I never had an assessment and when I asked I was told that David was busy. I wasn't charged $120 but was charged $160 for 4 sessions instead of 3. It seems that if you opt for the 3 training sessions with 1 assessment you are still charged for 4 training sessions and you "bank" the additional one that isn't used. That is if you can get an assessment session, which I was never able to do because I was told I had to book that with David personally and when I tried to meet with him to do so, I was told he wasnt available (this happened several times). In addition, the person you are assigned to train with does none of the things promised during the sales pitch. They basically just show you how to work the equipment and stand there while you do so. And I'm paying $80 and hour for this???? It took me 4 sessions and 2 trainers to figure out this was a complete "bait and switch" scam and by then it was too late to cancel the contract. At first I was so embarrassed to be taken in that I just let them deduct the $160 a month and chalked it up to a lesson learned. But then I got angry. I am not an idiot. This is a well orchestrated sales plan and David played his part beautifully. So I am now taking them to small claims court. I don't care what I signed under extreme pressure, I did not get what I paid for. Period. Because really, who would pay $80 an hour for a kid to show them how to use weight training equipment?? And I would urge anyone else with a similiar situation (and it seems that there would be a lot of you) to do the same...despicable business practice!!! |
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