LA Fitness

The gym and staff at the Clark/Linden, NJ location are nice. However, I made the unfortunate mistake of signing up for a personal trainer with them. The gist of it is, if you choose the 3x/week option, you get a personal trainer that spends 25 minutes…read that again…25 minutes, no warmup, no cooldown, just straight working out, they aren't even in workout attire, just 25 minutes of them showing you how to do the workout. You get all of this for $660…$660… MONTHLY. And the best part is, to cancel, you would STILL have to pay 50% of the REMAINING CONTRACT for the INITIAL AGREED TERM. And their terms are 12 MONTHS ONLY. To put it simply, the total cost would be about $8,000. Whether you cancel within the first month or the 6th month, you would still have to pay either $4,000 or $2,000 ON TOP of the 4K that you already paid for the previous 6 months. Bear in mind that you can sign up for FREE 1 HOUR LONG classes (yoga, cycling, etc) because it ALREADY COMES with the gym membership. Oh, and the $660 for the personal trainer does not include the $40 you'll pay monthly for the actual gym membership. You're better off getting the gym membership and finding your own personal trainer. Please don't sign up for their personal training. In the event that you do make the same mistake, you have 3 DAYS TO CANCEL FROM WHEN YOU SIGNED THE CONTRACT in order to get a FULL REFUND for that INITIAL $660 and STOP all FURTHER PAYMENTS.

LA FITNESS, SMITHTOWN NY. I am writing to express my deep disappointment and frustration, shared by numerous members, friends, and family, regarding the current state of affairs at your gym. It pains me to report that the condition of the equipment and facilities has reached an unacceptable level, severely impacting our ability to enjoy and utilize the services provided.

First and foremost, the functionality of the equipment is severely compromised, with the majority of machines either non-operational or experiencing significant issues. For instance, out of the eight stepper machines available, only one is in working condition, while the remaining seven have been marked for parts or service since December 2023. It is now February 2024, and regrettably, there has been no discernible progress in resolving these issues. This prolonged period of downtime not only hampers our workout routines but also reflects poorly on the gym's commitment to maintenance and member satisfaction.

Furthermore, the availability of essential equipment accessories, such as pins, is severely lacking. Many machines are missing pins, making it impossible for members to use them effectively. This inconvenience forces members to waste time searching for pins or to forgo certain exercises altogether, detracting from the overall gym experience.

Additionally, I must highlight the poor condition of certain equipment, notably the arm curl machine. The cracked leather surface makes it uncomfortable and potentially unsafe for users, further diminishing the quality of our workouts.

Regrettably, these persistent issues have led me to explore alternative gym options, and I am not alone in this decision. Several friends and family members who share my frustrations are also considering leaving your gym in search of better-maintained facilities.

As a loyal member who values fitness and community, it saddens me to have reached this point. I implore you to take immediate action to address these concerns and restore the gym to a standard that aligns with the expectations of its members. Timely repairs, regular maintenance checks, and improved communication regarding equipment status are essential steps in rebuilding trust and ensuring member satisfaction.

I sincerely hope that you will prioritize these matters and work diligently to rectify the situation. Your swift response and commitment to improving the gym's facilities will not only retain existing members but also attract new ones, fostering a stronger and more vibrant fitness community.

Thank you for your attention to these urgent issues. I eagerly await your response and actions in this regard.

There are no paper towels at any of these gyms. Why? Are we supposed to use wet equipment? Every other gym has paper towels everywhere

La Fitness charged my credit card 2 times without my permission. I had a bank card on file for recurring payments and when I relocated/covid reasons wasnt able to visit or pay My credit card i used to set up acct and i stated not to keep card on file to man who set up acct i would be adding my bankcard/another card for reaccurring payments which i did. I only used membership couple of times in over a year. It was very deceiving and disappointing to have this done and then not to be able to get in touch and have to go thru a lot to fix this is frustrating! DONT USE A CARD YOU DONT WANT THEM TO USE TO SET UP MEMBERSHIP! SOMEONE MAY GO BEHIND YOUR BACK AND USE IT WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION! AND IF GYM ISNT CLOSE ENOUGH TO JUST RUN IN TO CANCEL YOU WILL HAVE TO CALL AND REQUEST A FORM TO BE EMAILED. THE WAIT TIME IS LONG AND THE HRS ARE SHORT TO A PERSON WHO WORKS AND ON A DIFFERENT TIMEZONE

I joined in 2011 or 2012
In 2016 I paid 1000 per month for 3 days a week of personal training.
Trainers would change if they could not work in my schedule. Fine with that.
Today the original trainer was there and took time away from a person he was training to correct and criticize my actual technique.
I said to him that I'm about to leave as I was finishing up my routine and that he has a client and I don't need his input.
He became angry and told me he hopes he never sees me in that gym again, and don't come back.
Friggin Weird.
I couldn't believe I was hearing this bs from this so called professional trainer... was it a threat? What will happen to me if I return. I felt unsafe and threatened.
I was going to go as I was leaving anyway, I couldn't let it go after all these years this was the worst.
I went to the front desk but two of the managers were busy selling their bs training packages to people who looked older than me.
I'm not there to be a body builder, just maintain my good health into my retirement years. I'm definitely not at that gym to be verbally abused and possibly threatened by some thug.
One of the managers asked a younger guy at the desk to go see what I needed.
I told him I'd like to have that trainer repeat to management what he said to me.
The younger employee confronted the trainer and with clients all around us the trainer didn't even blink an eye and began his nasty abuse all over again and even added that I've been working out all these years and look at him, he hasn't changed a bit.
Could have been a compliment if it came from anyone else.
Needless to say this all went nowhere and when I went back to the front desk and asked to cancel my membership I was told they couldn't do that and I would have to come back next week and ask someone else.
La fitness is now called esporta and I felt that i should post this to add to what I see are loads of complaints.
I've learned a valuable lesson, if a muscle head oaf talks to me at a gym, run for the exit.
Oh, and do not look for ethical management style at La fitness or esporta or whatever they call themselves.
Thanks for reading. And Buyer Beware

I would highly reccomend Liz at the Ventura Location. Very engaging and not afraid to make you sweat

I have been a loyal member of LA Fitness for two decades (that's 20 long years people) and for a long time they were really good. Great staff, great classes, great members and I was a member at a time when I really needed it in my life. In the last 10 years it has gone WAY downhill. Classes were cut and not replaced, classes that existed were terrible with teachers who were not nice, the staff turned over and the new people are mean as snakes. When COVID-19 started and the governor closed the gym down our memberships were all put on hold which was great, but when they opened back up (with no prior notice) I had already decided that I wasn't ready to go back into a germ-infested gym and I wanted to put a hold on my account - so I did and LA Fitness charged me a full "pro-rated" unusable month anyway. Less than 2 weeks later the gym was mandated to close again and I was charged again to spite the closure. I called the gym to complain and talk to a manager about a refund and someone named Kelly who was the supposed manager was super nasty to me because I wanted a refund on an overcharge they committed. He was belligerent and hostile and right there I decided I was done so I cancelled my membership. Now, Kelly told me he would credit/refund my money and that was over a month
Ago and it hasn't happened. LA Fitness will tell you to call (but nobody answers - its a recording) and they will tell you to email (which I sent over 30 emails over 60 days and not one response) all so they can avoid refunding your money because they are going bankrupt. So, after multiple civil attempts to get my dues back which were overcharged, I went to my credit card and filed a dispute. I also went through several ridiculous hoops to get my membership cancelled as well because there is no way I'm ever going back to an LA Fitness - they couldn't pay me to go back. These people are the worst at customer service - especially for a 20 year member. Do yourself a favor and go to a small boutique gym or better yet - walk or run outside in the fresh air (with a mask - 6 ft. Apart from others). These people are horrid.

WORST GYM EVER! DO NOT SIGN WITH THEM! THEY ARE NASTY LIERS!
Back in May I signed up for a regular gym membership. Then Jay, (the personal trainer) talked me into signing up for a personal training plan. May I add (a senior citizens plan, when I'm 28 years old.) He had me quickly sign everything because he was in a rush to leave that afternoon. I am well aware that I signed a contract so I am responsible. However, it is rude of Jay to tell me "Well you signed it so now you have to pay!" Aside from the fact that he lied, he promised me a friends pass and I was supposed to be weighed every so often. None of this even happened and when I questioned the staff about it they did nothing. I then spoke to the manager and explained my issue he told me I can cancel the personal training with a doctor's note. I went ahead and got the note. Jay then comes to me and refuses to submit the note to corporate claiming corporate will not accept the note because it doesn't have the proper wording. If you ask me, he does not have the right to make that decision. Jay does not work for corporate. Corporate has to be the one to refuse my doctor's note.
With that, not that it is any of jay's or corporate's business, my note was from my neurologist. I suffer from seizures and have been since the age of seven. My doctor is currently changing my medication. Jay has no right to bully me into staying committed to a contract that he lied to me about in the first place.
I was originally a member of CKO Kickboxing when I lived in NJ. I never ever had an an issues with them and I was with them for over three years. I completely regret signing with LA fitness. The staff is rude and nasty and I dread going to their gym to work out every day. If I am paying for a gym I expect to be treated with respect and most importantly, I should be paying for a plan that is not going to put me at risk.

Do not join the personal trainer if you think you will need to cancel. The trainer are great and very helpful tho. It took me three month to finally reach someone that was able to cancel my memberships. Not to mention all the hidden fee they do not tell you about. The first month I was charges just the monthly fee but on the second month I was charged an additional $200. Apparently this is a yearly membership charge, that no one mentioned when I signed up. Like I am not already paying a monthly charge. Ok fine. When I dumbly signed up for a personal trainer. Before signing I ask the rep multiple time if this was going to to be a one time charge and they reassure me that yes it was. And like the saying goes if it is to good to be true then it probably is. I was misleading, at this point I should have been wary and should have cancel right then. But I was motivated and working out with my mom so I kept going. And due to personal reasons I needed to cancel my memberships. This is a hassle. I first went to gym and the reps there seem clueless and reluctant to give me any real answer. I asked if there was a number I could call and they had no clue. I was done at this point and looked online. I file a cancelation online and found customer service email which I had to contact several times. When I finally made a report with the better business bureau. That's when I finally received a call from a Manger and a response from customer service. I missed the Manger's call and I called back several time. But at this point the busuness bureau closed the case beacuse a manger tried to contact me. That manager never reached out to me again. I somehow found a call center and they told me that a Manger would reach out. That when my location manager call and they were finally able to help me. This was my worst experience and just a hassle that was never ending.

On November 22,2022, LA Fitness manager Rita, (she refused to state her full name), at 825 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, PA ******* rejected my entrance to LA Fitness. The reason was very simple: my wife, who comes with me as a guest, did not have the ID on her. I have been attending different branches of LA Fitness in DE, PA and everyone was friendly and nice to me. No one ever rejected entrance for my wife on the basis that she does not have ID on her. Moreover, my wife's full name is in the LA Fitness computer's system, because when I registered to LA Fitness she is the only one guest which I bring on a regular basis. Nevertheless, Manager Rita stated that my wife's name "disappeared" from the LA computer system and it is another reason why Rita could not give us the entrance. In spite of the fact that Rita indeed recognized my wife and admitted it.
Does Rita have discretion to let my wife in? Of course, she did. However, Rita decided to reject my wife's entrance. So, 1 day before the Thanksgiving Holiday, (or "celebration of divine goodness, or the act of giving thanks"), Rita-Manager used her managerial discretion in a wrong way. Rita stated that for her it does not matter whether it is holiday or not. It appears that Rita's goal is not to help and assist clients, but to put clients down and show her power.
LA Fitness in Springfield has a wrong front person, manager Rita. Rita's interactions with clients hurt the reputation of LA Fitness. A good manager also has fully discretion how to deal with situation on case per case basis. Exercising discretion is an integral part of being a manager. Managerial discretion is imperative for LA Fitness. It is very sad that she did not want to exercise her managerial discretion in a right direction. She could simply let us have access to the LA Fitness. Everyone will be happy. It is a win-win situation.
Rita lacks the most basic sense of propriety and kindness. Rita demonstrated passive-aggressive and very rude behavior which made us very uncomfortable.
How Rita treats your clients may impact the way that Rita's subordinates treat clients too. If other employees see that their managers get away with rude behavior, they may copy it. Rita had a choice by setting a good example to other people, but Rita successfully failed to do so.
I have been with LA Fitness for a few years and have never encountered such treatment before. If the LA Fitness upper management is serious about their reputation, we would like to be sure that our concerns will be addressed. My wife and I were appalled at such Rita's behavior. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss matters further and to learn how you propose to prevent a similar situation from recurring. I look forward to hearing from you.
David Romberg, LA Fitness member

I have been a member of LA FITNESS for the last five -year, first as a month-to-month customer and then as a prepaid customer for the last three years. During the COVID pandemic, our local laws prohibited residents to gather in places where people congregate such as churches, gyms, and sport events, as the result of this order, we have been staying home to avoid the virus infection -- since March 2020 to now.
Everyone in our family finally got our immunization shots and decided to go back to the gym. When I made a call to LA Fitness to check on the opening hours and the facility's availability, I was surprised to find out that my membership has expired last month even though we HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE to use the gyms since March 2020 due to the stay-at-home order.
I called and explained to LA Fitness the situation regarding the stay-at-home order that was locally in effect and have told them the reason that I was unable to go to the gym was because all the residents were ordered to stay at home. I respectfully asked if they would extend the membership due to the current situation, LA Fitness said that they would not give any credit, that extension was already given (however, the extension was given when NO ONE could go to the gym due to the restriction of local laws that were in place.)
I know the pandemic was hard on everyone, customers as well as business entities. I also understand LA Fitness has to make money to keep its business going. Every business needs to make profits to satisfy its investor's demands and to keep its stocks price high, however, businesses also need to conduct business with ethics and empathy in mind, I don't ask LA Fitness to be a socialistic business, but please have an understanding that behind all the profits, it is the customers that make possible to existence of any business. The least that LA Fitness could do is to help out its customers during the time of suffering.
Please made your decision accordingly when you are thinking of signing up.