LA Fitness

Reviews 3

DR

Drew Olson

Club, equipment, facilities and amenities, 5 star. If this were a big Snap Fitness, Id be in heaven. Im rating the approach. When I signed up, I expected the sales approach and I took the act now deal because it secured me 19.99 for as long as I maintain it, which is phenomenal. Thats pretty much 5 bucks higher than Snap for a full-blown gym. Then came the training representative Nick. I was interested in weight training and he sure had the know-how and expertise for this, so I was willing to listen, but the sales approach was laid on overly-thick and not needed. I was told how his cousin was the GM at another branch that was having a big ol sale on training right now and he jumped on the phone to secure a deal for me, how he was going to take me under his wing and Id be his protege, promised extra training that was off the books, etc. Again, my eyes were on the deal, I didnt need to be sold and really didnt need the dishonesty. He then signed me up. When I asked about the payments he gave me a buzz-word spiel and basically said its a monthly payment process. AT NO POINT WAS I TOLD I WAS SIGNING A YEAR CONTRACT FOR TRAINING! If they have other options, they werent discussed with me and I was shoved into that. He avidly avoided explaining things when I asked, re-routing me whenever he could. Shame on me for not being more assertive since I found out about this contract after what happened next. The first month was fine. Then I came in for a verbally-agreed on time for training, one of the freebies. He wasnt there. I figured Id just missed him or something else came up, and since he was the training staff lead, I could forgive that. Then it happened again. By the 3rd week I approached the front desks and asked the few staff that were sitting around where Nick was, if hed been out sick or on vacation or something... They said, "Oh he doesnt work here anymore. He got promoted and now hes over at the Burnsville club in sales." I was pissed. I told them I wanted to cancel. One of them responded, "Well sorry you cant do that, youd have to pay off half of your remaining sessions in your contract." This amounted to about 795 dollars. I told them I thought I was paying month-to-month since thats how Nick structured his responses to me. They re-iterated the month-to-month *contract and had an attitude of Too Bad So Sad and then proceeded to tell me I could continue with any of the other trainers by signing up for their time on the website. !!! This would garner a 1 star from me and a rage session to corporate, but fortunately one of their staff, Joe, who seemed to have taken over the lead spot after Nick was gone saw what was building up and did step up to the plate to do everything he could for me at that point. For that, Im bumping my review of the staff up to 2. I ended up saving my sessions until the end of my contract so I could use them in rapid succession but during that time the other couple trainers that always seemed to be working the weight floor disappeared and all that was left were aerobics trainer guys. Not really what I wanted, although the guy knew what he was doing. The breakaway is this: 1. Their deal that is "only happening this weekend" is actually "only happening when you sign up", so jump on it if you want it 2. Their payment process for training will not be well-explained to you, so say up front, "I dont want any year-long contracts, what other options do you have?" I should have been more assertive here 3. The training staff will pigeon-hole you to the aerobics nook by the front door most of the time, unless you make them get out on the weight floor where they seem to feel uncomfortable (this was actually told to me by one of the trainers, the hes "not really that guy") Hopefully this helps. Sales tactics that screw a customer will always come back to bite.

A

Anonymous User

**Sauna Review Only** Im a sauna freak and Im currently trying to get other sauna fans to review more saunas online. Come on. I know youre out there. There are more Finns in Minnesota than anywhere else in the country! Spread the word if you find a good one somewhere thats worth checking out! On to my review... The sauna here just might be the worst sauna Ive ever been in. I have no idea who designed this ill conceived project. If I did Id most likely send them an annoying email (Im annoyed, and the would surely be annoyed by receiving my snobby email...). They did everything wrong here: 1. They used those recycled plastic boards for the benches. Horrid! They hold WAY too much heat. Everyone goes to the group class room so steal yoga mats because the benches are too hot to sit on! Also, those boards are not made for heat. Theyre splitting and cracking all over the place. Awful. 2. They used dense tile for the floor. Knuckeheads! Once again, it holds too much heat. Its far too hot to walk on with bare feet so people end up scampering from mat to mat to find the door. 3. Like most public saunas, they dont let you put water on the rocks. Most unknowing people believe the sign that says its a hazard to put water on the rocks. NOT TRUE. Every single electric kiuas (heater) is made to have water thrown on it. All of them. They dont want you to throw water on there because it shortens the life of the heating elements. I guarantee that if they let people use it the way it was meant to be used, that more people would be in there, providing a little extra revenue to make up for that. 4. Its too bright. Saunas should have a very small amount of indirect lighting, if any. 5. There isnt anywhere to rest afterwards and cool down. Lame. 6. They close at 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Lamer. Thats it. Review some saunas people!

GR

Greg Aitchison

I joined LA Fitness in Richfield about 2 months ago. Here are my 3 main thoughts thus far: 1. Im loving the price: Start up fee of approximately $300, then $20/month thereafter which, after I go 8 times per month, will be paid back by my health insurance company. When looking at joining I did the math and figured out Id be saving $2,300 over the next 5 years vs. staying at the Southdale YMCA. Certainly cant complain about that! 2. Im a big fan of how many multiple pieces of equipment are at this location. I have only had to wait for a piece of lifting equipment a handful of times and have never had to wait for a cardio machine or any of the free weights. 3. My one big complaint is regarding the music they pump in from the ceiling nonstop. First of all, at the Southdale YMCA I could at least get a break from tons of extra noise and chatter, workout, and actually clear my brain. But at LA Fitness in Richfield you have no choice but to have their playlist pound at you from the ceiling speakers. In my opinion, if people really want to listen to music theyll bring it with them (iPod + headphones, not all that tough to do). Those of us who just want to workout in peace either need to bring our own ear plugs or go somewhere else, I guess. Secondly, the music LA Fitness plays sounds akin to life at a college frat party. Not all, but some of the music contains pretty inappropriate lyrics. I know some inappropriate garbage already makes it on the radio, but it seems rather tasteless to allow Nicki Minaj and company to sing so openly about sex, drinking, and the like. If LA Fitness wont shut their music off they should at least have the class to play songs of a little more decency.

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