Fitness 19
Reviews and Complaints

My name is Elisa Akpo-Esambe and I was a member of Fitness 19 McIntyre Square, off McKnight Road. They offer childcare and have advertisements saying, "Free babysitting." The room is in the back of the building, right next to an Emergency Exit door that leads to a back lot that is not used for the public. That itself is a recipe for disaster but I met the teachers and watched for a while and everything seemed OK.

When I was in a class they offered one day, the child care teacher came in to tell me my daughter was crying and she couldn't calm her down. She was hit in the head with a toy (I work in childcare, . This should happen developmentally and the teachers should know what to do). I left the fitness class to check on her and a room of 6-7 kids were there with no teacher! She left the room to tell me this, including my then, 6 month old son.

I spoke to her about how she should never leave the kids and there has to be a better way or more staff. She said she's supposed to call up front but they didn't answer... This situation was not an emergency by any means but even if it were, you never leave the children. In licensed facilities, the center would be shut down permanently.

I set a meeting with the manager, Doreen, who wasn't even prepared to sit down with me (she stood up. I requested she sit) but listened and said its common sense and she'd talk to her. I also offered to help one day a week so they could have more staff and offered my clearances and she said, "Oh, we don't do that."

After this meeting, I began speaking with multiple parents. One told me "the one girl left the kids at least 4 times." Another told me a teacher sent her three year old to the adult bathroom by herself, completely out of earshot... 10-15 feet away and she pinched her finger. I wonder about all of the people who belong to the gym or tour the gym, who could easily take her or any of the unsupervised children right out the front door, or right out that emergency exit.

After all this, one week I still decided to go for financial reasons. On a Tuesday, there was a sign out front that said, "Kids room closed. Teacher went home sick." They are offering a service (or are they?) that we are paying for. How do they not have back up staff or two teachers at all times?

The next day, I went back, to make up for my missed Fitness class the day before. When I went to pick up my kids, there was a strange tall man standing inside the room and no teacher with 7 kids. I asked if he was staff and he said no that he was a parent trying to drop off his kids and he guesses she took someone to the bathroom. Good thing he said that because my daughter wasn't there and my 8 month son was stuck between a shelf and a large toy in the corner.

I can imagine the possibilities in a lack of supervision. I'm writing this, knowing you might not want this story because nothing has happened YET. But my son is Epipen allergic to milk, what if he ate a child's snack, or a Lego, or coin? What if the children injure each other? Worst of all, what if someone sees this flawed system and plans to take one or more children? I have to say something to everyone before someone does something bad, not after

I belong to the Fitness 19 - Chatsworth, CA location and am growing more and more frustrated with their lack of open space to do mat workouts. This gym is brand new with a massive entry full of unusable space, yet there is barely any open room to workout on a mat. What little room there is, is usually taken up by a personal trainer. I get it, they need space too, but three times now I've been next to a trainer with a client and get so distracted with how close they are. This is due to lack of space and lack of consideration on part of the trainer.

I have a membership at Fitness 19 in Williamsville, New York. The other night while on a bicycle, there was a dog walking around. I am highly allergic to dogs and have medical paperwork to prove it. I talked to the manager (whose dog it was) and she advised her dog was "hypoallergenic". Obviously, as most people know, there is no such things as "hypoallergenic" if you have dog allergies. This does not seem fair since the dog is "on the floor" where people sit for floor exercises, etc. I want to know what the rules are regarding animals allowed at Fitness 19 but I can find nothing on their website or in my contract. Thank you.

Beware of joining. i would ont go into details of issues that you might face in joining in here, but focus on issues faced if you want to cancel your membership.
in summary - good luck being able to cancel. you will need to request multiple times, but the owner / inc charge will never call you. they will take new members anytime including weekends. forms for joining will be available. but cancellation forms will never be available
for that you are expected to come leave work and come
its been a month since i have tried to get the cancellation done.

any suggestions on what legal options are there to have Fitness19 accept cancellation? and to prevent them from causing this kind of trouble to future customers

Thanks
Rajesh

I live in Fairlawn Ohio and have been with Fitness 19 for years. Went to workout and found building vacant! No notice. Of course this was done 2 days after taking everyone's monthly fee for next month which we won't get to use.
The nearest is now 40 minutes away. I'm done. It's wasn't taken care of anyway at all. Better not see any more charges! I blocked them at the bank!

I spoke with someone on the phone to cancell my membership because of my shoulder and arm pain.I been told to email letter of cancellation and been PROVIDED WITH EMAIL ADRESS. Unfortunate don t remember person name.Next morning I am calling to confirm and spoke with Bentz who is a robot, who tells me they don t accept cancellation by phone. I am asking him to ask who was talking on phone with me yesterday and he did not want to spent even minute .Very mean, unprofessional and has no idea how to talk with customer.He was asking name and I dont remember name.He told me if HE WILL PUTTING ON HOLD HE WILL NOT DO ANYTHING, LAZY and have no idea with customer care.
I was on hold for a while.Never recommend this place

I paid for full membership and benefits but it seems to always be a problem with one employee named Kenny at the Gardena location. I come with my friend at 9:30 pm and this employee always questions me and on my membership and says we need to come together and all this nonsense I was not told about during my signing. Now my friend feels very uncomfortable coming here because of this employee and he is my workout partner and the reason I got this full membership but now I regret signing up and would thinking about taking my money elsewhere.

Every time I work out, which is a few times a week, they are vaccumming or mopping right around me. The vaccume throws so much dust around. I am highly allergic to dust, I work out hard, so I am breathing hard, when this vaccume comes around me I have to leave as I get asthma and my eyes start to itch. Same with the mopping, I am breathing hard and then someone starts mopping where I am stretching after I run, so the smell of the cleaner bothers me when I am breathing hard. This happens every time I am in the gym. Its nice to have the gym cleaned, however maybe when its not open or closer to close time.

It was 11:10 the gym closes at 11 the employees there usually let's us work out a little bit after hours. I was finishing up my workout and the employee that was working that night turned off the lights. I asked him if I can use the scale and he said to me "get the [censor] out" I responded " what the [censor] did you say to me". We argued back and forth, and then he walks up on me in an aggressive way and I felt threatened so I stepped up to him in a way of defense. It spilled outside and I told him I was going to report him and he threatened me saying he was going to break my arm and I said "do it" and he walked away.
His description: Caucasian male, mid 20s, square framed glasses, shaved head, and he's from Europe.

I signed on over a year ago, had not used my membership in months then got hit with the membership fee + other fee that overdrafted my bank account over $100. I went into the gym to cancel my membership and the man that helped me was very rude to me and my friend that was with me. Telling me i needed to work out to keep up with my kids that were probably running circles around me (I'm 5"7, 130 lbs) like he was saying I'm fat or out of shape. Kept asking why i was cancelling and getting very rude when i kept insisting i wanted to cancel not keep the membership. Telling me that i could not get refunded for the amount that fitness 19 took out even though i cancelled the membership the same day the money was drafted. This happend at the Edmond, Ok location at 15th and boulevard.
I would like to get refunded the money

I come to you to avoid a major future issue and or issues. Including legal, non-legal, and or discriminating.
Everytime I go to your gym(Fitness 19 Buena Park) different classes are active, but only one instructor raises her volume of her music and leaves the doors open. I have to avoid using some of the machines close to the class, because I cant hear my music, news, anything thru my hearing device. My volume is in the highest level.
Well, this morning around 8am I wanted to use some of the cardio machines and I couldn't hear my music. I can only hear her voice and her music. So, I closed her doors. She came out with another female yelling at me in front of few members. Telling me "DO NOT CLOSE THE DOORS, IT GETS HOT!" Which I responded I cant hear my music. She shrugged her shoulders and pointed towards the front desk, placed some weights to keep the doors opened.
I complaint to a gentleman in the desk. He instructed me that I shouldnt close the doors. I should tell a fitness 19 employee next time. And to do so in the future.
This instructor is the only one the puts her music very loud. Cant she just turn her volume down? And close her doors. She gets hot ...? Portable fan? Nothing?
She represents fitness 19. I really hope we can resolve this issue without a hassel.

Fitness 19 in oceanside ca. Joined for new sauna. Yesterday they said contractor was fixing it...same problem today. It heats up and turns off! Basically you start to sweat and then your sauna session is over. About to quit. Two of my kids use their daycare and i pay my membership fee as well...i expect a working sauna. This is just getting ridiculous. Many others have complained as well!

This gym provides an affordable way to exercise. A few of my friends and myself have come in after work. However, every time we go in it in we are discouraged by the dull negative atmosphere. The news is playing on every screen and if it isn't the news then there is some serial killer investigation show. When I've asked them to change the channel on Television they seem to do it very reluctantly. Please help change the atmosphere I know this seems petty, but I would rather pay more for a gym that has fun music, happy T.V. channels, and smiling faces. Thank you

Me and my girlfriend started an account with Fitness 19 due to a promotion, which turned out to be false. After using Fitness 19 for a couple of months, me and my girlfriend were going to cancel our account due to being busy and not having time to go. We were told that we should just have our account suspended to avoid being charged a yearly fee and cancellation fees. We were told that our account would be cancelled after the six month suspension if we did not renew. After about 5 months we noticed a charge from them on our account, so I called my bank and told them it was fraudulent, and they removed it. A month later Fitness 19 charged our account again. We figured it was a miscommunication about the yearly fee and just accepted it. Another month later we were charged the monthly fee for an account that was supposed to be cancelled. We called and were told we could not cancel over the phone. We went in to the office and asked what was going on, and of course, they had some convoluted answer. We told them we wanted to close the account permanently. They said they could do that, and it was a good thing we came in that day because on the following day we would be charged again. They will not reverse charges for any reason. We were told it was cancelled, but because of all the payments that were made, we were able to continue to use the gym for two months, and no further charges would be made. Here were are another month later and they are still charging my account.

I am member and signed up through the Covina location about 8 years ago. My key card number is [protected]. When I signed up, the contract stated that I was a multi-club member. I have worked out at the buena park and long beach locations and never had an issue. I went with my friend to sign up at the brea location on July 5, 2017 because she wanted to join. When the manager noticed my key card I explained my membership and was told by the manager that he would not allow me into the club because of what I pay per month and the manager wouldn't honor my membership He wanted me to cancel my membership and sign up as a brand new member at a much higher rate even though the manager called the covina location and they verified that I was a multi club member. Is that something new to the rules that I was not made aware of ? Can he not allow me into the gym just because I don't pay as much as he thinks I should be paying?
My friend did not end up signing up because of how I was treated and what felt like he was just trying to get more money out of me.
I would like to know if this is allowed and since my membership says multi club member am I allowed to work out at any location or am I limited because of what I pay?

Be careful with this company. They have unfair billing practices and they're sneaky. I put my boyfriend on my account. Around feb/mar of 2017 I told them in person that we were moving and to close my account. He said I would not receive an April bill because I gave them plenty of notice. But I got automatically billed for $12.95 in April. I called and ask them what happened and they said my boyfriend was still on the account. I said well I cancelled my account so how could this be?. He said my boyfriend was separate. I told them that they never billed separately. I just had one account. I don't know anything about two different accounts. I told them that he should have been cancelled at the same time. I was told they would take care of it. Then in May another $12.95 was taken out of my account. I called again. There's a new owner there and he says I have to come in in person. I said I was already there in person and someone goofed and he said he'd take care of it. Then in June another $12.95 take it out of my account. By now I'm pretty mad so I went down there and physically told them to take him off of the account and close it out. This was in June and the 30 notice applies so I still have to pay all the way through July because of the 30 day notice. They will not admit that they goofed up. So I'm charged for my boyfriend for April, May, June, July but cancelled in march. What a scam. Be sure when you cancel to specifically include everyone tied to your account. It's wrong what they did

Fitness 19 had a booth at the college I was attending. I signed up for membership at fitness 19 in February 2017. The first month was free then they would start taking 19.95 out of my bank account in April. On March 16th a 19.95 transaction to fitness 19 was taken out of my bank. Another transaction on April 15th for 19.95 to fitness 19 failed for lack of funds in my account. I went into the Bellflower fitness 19 and spoke to a young man and told him I no longer want fitness 19 membership. He told me he could freeze my account until I was ready to come back then I would not have to pay any membership fees but, in order to do that I would have to bring him my account number and routing number. I did not understand why they needed that information if they were freezing my account. I agreed to come back the next day however I was unable to make it back. By this time there was a late fee charge and apparently when there is money owed on the account you cannot end your membership or put a freeze on my membership. When I went back to the gym I spoke with another person that looked at the computer and said oh I can't do anything until you speak to the supervisor do you want to set up an appointment with him tomorrow? So I set up an appt for the next day unfortunately I did not make the appt. I came back in to the gym about a week or so later and by this time they had taken another 19.95 out of my account plus I owed another 34.95 for the month of April w/ late fees. I spoke to the supervisor David he told me there was nothing he could do. By this point I am livid and I said please give me a paper to sign ending this nightmare. He said if brought him my bank account number and the routing number I would be able to sign the paper needed to end my membership. David the supervisor suggested that after I give him my banking information to call my bank and have them stop payments. I gave him my account number he said he didn't need my routing number because he has the same bank and he already wrote in my routing number information for me. I am not sure if this is legal or ethical? When I called my bank, the bank informed me that they could not stop any payments being made to fitness 19 because they now have my bank account information. Know I have to close my bank account out in order to stop these thieves from stealing money from me. They have failed to provide customer satisfaction and everything I have had to deal with, ( eg., time spent back and forth, harassing phone calls everyday, emails, time spent on the phone with my bank, having to go into my bank, and the headache and stress this has caused for me has been nothing short of a nightmare.

Hello,
I have asked management at Fitness 19 Corona on 6th St. four times in the last year and a half to order another set of 7 1/2 pound weights. I come three times a week and rarely is the one set they have available. I come at times during the day when it is the LEAST crowded because I am retired. It's utterly ridiculous that I go to the gym and go home to finish my arm workout.
I have been a paying member for over eleven years. The Dumbbells can't be that expensive. Every time I asked them to order them, it's been one excuse after another. First they were remodeling the bathroom. Then they were ordering more big machines. Now they are expanding. Oh come on! They need to concentrate more on existing customers, not just on trying to get new customers. Sincerely, Lolly Janoski

I've been a member of this club for over 8 yrs. I am a Kaiser Permanente Sr Advantage insurance member, and I was informed by them that I could become a "Silver and Fit" member, which is FREE for me, and paid thru my insurance.
Over 2 months ago, I tried to change my membership. NO HELP from anyone at Fitness 19. Told me I had to go to Kaiser for the correct forms online. When that didn't work, I called Kaiser's Silver and Fit people. She gave me a membership number of [protected], and called Eddy and his employees, telling them to change my membership, since I'd had no luck in person with these people.

HOWEVER, I've checked in with the employees, they agree that they were called by Kaiser's Silver and Fit. HOWEVER, I'M STILL BEING CHARGED ON MY AUTOMATIC CHECK PAYMENT 3 TIMES: $15, $19, AND AGAIN $15.

I've stopped again in person, left my name for Eddy to call, 3 times, no return call. Finally I reached him after letting their phone ring at least 30 times, today. He was not helpful, and hung up on me.

I will now try to get help from a bookkeeper who is supposed to be able to credit my account with the 3 charges that are mistakes.

Please call me and help me with this problem. Otherwise, I will take legal action, as I'm done getting the runaround on this.

Sincerely,
Helen Schmidt
[protected]
[protected]@aol.com

I went into my local Fitness 19 wanting to try out the gym with my sister who is a member. I did not know of the free trial they offer so i asked how to become a member. The employee spoke with me about their prices and child care provided or members while they work out. I thought it was a good place so i decided to become a member, the employee then got the membership paper for me to fill out and asked for a moment to attend to something as i filled out the papers. I then heard about their free trial before the employee came back to collect the papers so when the employee did come back i told him that i had heard about their free trial and i would like to sign up for the free trial instead of the membership and he said he would get the paper for the free trial when he came back with the paper for the free trial he offered to take the membership paper from me and i said thank you and i asked him that since i was no longer wanting the membership at the moment if he could mark out my bank information before he tossed the paper work and he nodded and walked to his desk and came back within a couple minutes to take the paper i signed for the free trial and i asked him if they still offer child care for the free trial period and he said yes we offer child care for the free trial period but that i would have to pay $2.50 per day and i accepted to pay the $2.50 per day as needed for child care for my son while i came to try out the gym. I used my free trial or a couple days and decided that being a single mother and a full time student with a job i just dont have the time to go to the gym. Today some things did not come out of my bank account and when i proceeded to speak with my bank to see why something had bounced i learned that i have been charged for the membership for the past couple months for $19 plus a one time charge for $50 and another for $40. After finishing up with the bank i went the to Fitness 19 gym where i had signed up for the free trial to speak with the employee who i did the paper work i had asked the employee if he remembered me and he had a puzzled look on his face and i said thats fine and proceeded to tell him everything that i just stated above and he said recalls me wanting the membership but denied that i had changed my mind and no longer wanted the membership even though i told him that my sister was nearby and overheard our conversation we had that day. I accepted that he would not apologize nor admit that there was an accidental mistake nor help me resolve my problem all he told me i could do was cancel the membership and when i requested to cancel my membership the employee then became rude towards me. i would like to request a refund and to i have copies for proof of the transactions on my bank account but i do not wish to post them, i will be willing to email the copies of my bank statement if i may be provided with an email. Thank you.