Life Time Athletic

Reviews 3

SH

Shane Westmoreland

Lifetime Fitness had the potential to be something great. With a price point higher than any other gym in the area, one would assume their goal is greatness sadly it is not. We had joined Lifetime for 2 very specific reasons. We were drawn to the gym by the convenience of their "spa," and the variety and superiority of their trainers. Unfortunately, these are the two things that eventually caused us to leave the gym. When we first joined Lifetime around 18 months ago we were excited to have the chance to get a workout in and use the spa. As physicians, time can be a commodity we do not frequently have. However, we quickly learned the only thing "spa" like was the name. They turn over stylist as frequently as a cosmetology school. The skill of the staff likens itself to a late night beauty school drop out movie. The "spa" staff is rude and disobliging. The towels they place on your face and around your neck have a putrid smell of decomposing diapers left to soak in warm swamp water with mosquito larva. On one occasion, we had family in town for a special occasion and had booked a number of spa services with several different stylists. However, the entire experience was ruined, as we had to listen to the spa manger sit at the front desk and babble on and on, grumbling and complaining like Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka. Apparently an employee did not show for their shift and it caused her world to shift off its axis. The way she cantankerously whined, you would have thought she was drugged at a party and someone stole her kidney. It would have been more pleasant had she stayed home and watched another season of "My So Called Life" reruns. Her attitude, too short jean shorts, and chunky black flip-flops did nothing to enhance the "spa" experience. The second reason we joined lifetime was for the training. We were looking for a specific style of trainer to help increase our endurance for a competition we had coming up. We were initially happy with the trainer we selected and were sad to know that she too eventually left the gym (see the theme). Unfortunately, she decided to leave a week after we bled out another near $700.00 for more training. The gym decided to randomly pair us up with a different trainer who simply had a style of training that was not compatible with our needs. At this point, we thought it would be best to just cancel the personal training and look elsewhere for a trainer. To our surprise, the training manager and the club manager thought there was no reason to return any of our money. Even though we had signed a training contract with a trainer that was no longer employed at the gym. After being members for around 18 months and paying more than $4,000.00 in dues and training fees it would have been easier to sun bath in the artic than it would be to get a return call from management. It seems when you have a problem or concern; management is "busy" or "sick." They made several empty promises and the only "solution" they offered was, "try another trainer." Our fitness goals were not such that we were interested in bouncing around from trainer to trainer. Throughout this experience, never once did they offer anything that resembled an apology or attempt to understand where we might be coming from. In fact, their "retention specialist," did not even ask why we were unhappy. Disjointed, marginally qualified managers, run the entire place, driving the entire operation off a cliff like they are Thelma and Louise. So from the person who used to handout Lifetimes business cards and tell EVERYONE about the gym, I will now discourage anyone from setting foot in that place. If you expect a level of service that might accompany a $140.00 monthly fee, you will not find it at Lifetime. If you are interested in shoving $1,700.00 a year into the pockets of a bunch of folks who would rather play in traffic with a blindfold than ensure you are even marginally satisfied with your experience, I suggest you check out Lifetime Fitness in Fairfax.

A

Anonymous User

Not Happy. I had passed by Lifetime Fitness several times before deciding to call and ask them some questions about membership. I spoke with Draz (sp?) who was very salesy (read: pushy) and wanted to push me through the process. I had seen the interior, the equipment, etc. and felt comfortable with the decision regardless of the pushiness of the phone call. The problem I have with this location and Lifetime Fitness in general is with a lack of transparency in regards to their cancellation policy. When I signed up for a membership over the phone, Draz explained to me that I could cancel at any time. What he failed to disclose to me is that there is a 30 day cancellation policy. So, you must cancel 30 days prior to the billing cycle or you will be charged regardless. In my case, I had to move out of state to a state that lacked a Lifetime Fitness, with short notice and was not able to give them 30 days. This means that I was charged an extra $80.00, which is a fair amount of money to just throw away. After calling the gym to express my dissatisfaction, I was told that there was no flexibility regarding the policy, and that the terms of the cancellation policy were in the agreement that I signed and to call their corporate office. I did call the corporate office, and the person I spoke to was equally apathetic. I take full responsibility for not being 100% clear on the terms of cancellation, but at the same time, I feel like I was verbally misled by Draz over the phone. You must also cancel in person, or via mail, which isnt a problem as long as you just send them a letter to avoid the hassle of them trying to convince you not to cancel. The facilities are pretty nice and clean, I appreciated the fact that it is open 24/7. However, the staff is fairly apathetic and not overly friendly or helpful unless you are signing up to be a member. I will say that the ladies that clean and fold the towels are friendly, so shout out to them. The reason I am writing such a long review is because I worked in customer service for a few years, and learned that service really is all about the customer. If they have a problem, you listen to them and dont blame them for their problems with the service you have provided them. The majority of customer service problems arrive between a dissonance between expectations and reality. In my case, I was expecting to be able to cancel at anytime because of my phone conversation, and was told that actually I would have to pay for next month regardless, and that I should have read the terms more carefully. Lesson learned. tl;dr - I cant recommend this gym if you might be moving in the near future because of their cancellation policy. I also feel like they arent customer service oriented based on the response I received when voicing concerns with their policies. Read the terms of the agreement very carefully before signing, dont allow yourself to be pressured into signing up for a membership like I did. Shop around and see if maybe a mom and pop gym might meet your needs, and provide you with an overall better experience.

LU

Luke Lancaster

The physical gym is pretty nice, and there is an abundance of equipment. However, the staff seems to have a hard time resolving issues with their clients. For quite some time I was seeing a personal trainer here that I really loved. Unfortunately a few months ago she had to quit, and I still had many sessions left to be used. I wasnt impressed with any of the other trainers in terms of their knowledge to help me reach my specific goals. I found my own PT on the outside, and asked for a refund or for a credit that could be used toward my monthly fees. Even though my PT quit, I was told that there was no way for me to use the hundreds of dollars I had already paid them. Eventually, I found another gym and quit. I turned in my cancellation letter, and was told that my membership would end by the end of the following month. To my surprise, it was not. I called and they advised me that it was because the letter had to be faxed or mailed, not handed in. Again, I faxed the letter and assumed it would be cancelled. It wasnt. Ive called and was told that the new policy is that cancellations have to be mailed in via certified mail. Ive called the GM over 4 times, and left messages, but like the rest of his staff, he seems incapable or returning phone calls. I definitely do not recommend doing business with this joint. I had to call my credit card company and provide them with documentation of my attempts to cancel in order for them to return my fees, because Lifetime has such poor business practices that they seemingly cannot work out issues with their own customers. Shame...

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