LA Fitness International
Reviews and Complaints

I like the LA FITNESS GYM. I joined last year 2017 and joined the facility in Waldorf, Md. The gym itself is nice, and I like the classes such as spin cycle, Zumba and power circuit and Aqua Fit. I also like the fact that it is month to month and I am not locked into a long contract. However, if you JOIN LA Fitness do not sign up for a fitness assessment. That is just a ploy by the sales department to get you to sign up for personal training and that locks you into a contract. That is how they got me. I signed up because I wanted to go to the next level in my fitness and wanted to make sure that when I lift weights I am doing the correct form and plus I thought getting a trainer would help me lower my body fat consumption faster and tone up and help me reach my goals faster. However, this past 10 months, of personal training has been a total waste of my damn time and $. I signed up for 12 months worth of sessions because it was cheaper. however, you are locked into a year and if you are not satisfied and cancel you have to pay out the difference of what you owe which I am not trying to do. The trainer they set me up with was slack, lazy and all he has done is put me on cardio equipment and I told him several times that I do not want to waste 25 minutes of my season doing cardio because I do Zumba, Aqua Fit and other cardio several days a week and during my sessions on want to focus more on strength training and weight lifting but he continued to put me on cardio equipment so I fired him and asked the sales manager for another trainer. I hope this trainer will be better. I only have sessions left until May so I am going to ride them out but once my sessions run out and my contract is up I will never use a trainer there again. The trainers are a bunch of inexperience trainers who just got certified and have never worked at any other gym before. Some are even trainee's and don't have a cert and from what I understand any [censor] can pass the certification test and not be a trainer. They have Master Trainers who are considered expert but they cost a fortune depending on how often you meet with them and they are hard to get. LA Fitness itself is nice and they have a nice sauna, whirlpool and offer Aqua fit classes but the personal training sucks and is a waste of time and I could have gotten better results training on my own. I recently started training with trainers at the company building I work at. the training is free as a company perk and I have to say that LA Fitness trainers have nothing on the trainers at the building I work at. They are much more attentive, they are organize and really work with you on your form. and they are free. If I had known this I would have never wasted my damn $ on these piss poor trainers at LA Fitness. La FITNESS management, if you are on this forum you really need to make sure the trainers you hire are experience and not just have a certification. Also, you need to school them on being professional. the guy I had was so unprofessional that half the time he was testing on his cell phone while I was working out and not watching my form at all and sticking me on cardio machines so he can play with his phone. What a waste of time.

As a former employee of L.A. Fitness at two different facilities in Maryland, I can honestly convey the failed leadership of this company. Both L.A. Fitness gyms were operated under very poor management and unacceptable conditions. Further, the unsanitary conditions in the restrooms, group fitness rooms and main floor were embarrassing. Communication from the group fitness director was very inconsistent and poor. Certain instructors were creating a juvenile hostile environment behind the scenes, joking about it, and creating controversy where none existed. Whereas other instructors maintained professionalism at all times. As such, a few of our best group fitness instructors resigned due to the ongoing egregious issues surrounding. I personally witnessed many members complain about the lack of cleanliness in the restrooms with the GM, only to be ignored and not addressed by the GM at that time. Equipment in group fitness classes used and damaged by other employees who did not have authorization to use the equipment, yet the damage was blamed on instructors who weren't even present in the gym that day. Moreover, when a few of us offered to address these ongoing issues with corporate, we were shunned and disregarded. We even offered to organized a meeting with a power point presentation to highlight why both gyms consistently received a 1 star rating out of 5. But again, corporate disregarded our offer to fly out and meet with these so called suits. L.A. Fitness leaves behind a strong evidence-based record of failed leadership and demonstrates their focus on membership numbers only regardless of countless complaints by members and employees. Myself and a few others who resigned from this company are surprised there aren't more lawsuits pending against L.A. Fitness. Shame on this corporation for bad faith conduct and not honoring their own rules and procedures.

LA Fitness has the rudest most arrogant managers ever. I had never worked in the Corporate environment before, 20 years in the fire service. I became a spin instructor and enjoyed being able to help the members that were so often let down by instructors either not showing up, fired or just sick of LA fitness bull####. They pay $12 for a spin class? Then they wonder why nobody stays, Actually I correct myself, they don't wonder because they don't care. I wish for 2017 they finally go out of business!

You are writing in fear of losing your job. Just google LA Fitness in the realm of gyms. My wife is a fitness and wellness director in the private sector country club environment. She states that LA has the worst reputation in the industry. They've had so many lawsuits it's not even funny. You should be the first one drug tested as it's very clear you used the crack pipe before putting fingers to the keyboard.

The credit card that was on file for my membership had expired. When contacted concerning the expiration, I informed the man on the phone that I also wanted to cancel my membership. He said, "no problem, lets get this card number to cover the last months dues and then I will go ahead and cancel. I received an e-mail stating that my membership was up to date, so I contacted him and he said, "don't worry about that, it is all taken care of for you." Needless to say he lied and I kept getting charged. I contacted my local gym and the girl told me she would take care of it and put in a request to return the charges. Of course that wasn't true either. No matter what anybody tells you, make sure any mailing are certified and you get names and documentation for everything. I will never recommend LA Fitness to anybody, based solely on their business practices.

While attending L.A. Fitness in Burnsville, MN, I was sucked into the personal training by being tricked into signing a contract that I wasn't offered to read. It was a high pressure gimmick, but I accepted my bad luck and tried to make the best of it. I then began receiving awful training sessions, but was told that there was nothing that could be done for me. I was 'given' the option of freezing my account (of where I was still charged a fee) but poor quality staff did not document such freezing and money was continuously taken out of my account. When confronted, they would not even refund the money that was taken from me and would not help me with my complaint. AVOID THIS COMPANY and you will not lose your money or become taken advantage of! The well being of the customer is not of concern, but only money and upholding pointless contracts!

This place is like Hotel California.

"You can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave"...I cancelled my membership in 2006 at least I thought so until they told me thay had been garnishing my wifes bank account for years without us know it. Now conveniently there's no proof that they got any cancellation and we are out the money...Dont worry LA Fitness you'll get whats coming to you...if this business is still open by the end of the year, then I'll have no faith left in humanity...I vow to fight LA Fitness until I die.

Take care! LA fitness offer cash back after 3 months of regular acceptance for you get in there. It is not true; they do not give that and happened with other friends as well. Direct Debit account: do not allow that! Even when you are no longer part of the gym, they keep debiting your account and think it was just by chance, but they are not willing to refund you soon. So, you get a big, very big headache.

Honestly, I do not recommend this company; they do not follow what they offered to get you involved.

I've been a member of the LA Fitness on skillman and walnuthill now since it opened and I have noticed over the past six month's that the gym has been declining in quality. It's mostly due to the lack of respect for other people working out. Example. Put you weights back after using them. Wipe your sweat off the bench that has been used. If these two simple acts would be enforced I'm sure the quality would go up.

I remember when I visited the gym near me, I wanted to check out the prices. I knew I was going to sign up there because there are no other gyms around where I live. I was not able to sign the contract and pay because I was on my lunch break. But when I told the sales associate that I would be back later, he seriously went crazy. He was getting visibly upset that I would not sign right at that moment and was saying anything he could think of to get me to sign. It was a little unappealing to say the least, however seeing him get so aggravated was somewhat humorous. When I came back, he was obviously very surprised and of course very nice. After that it was like I did not exsist. Nice.

Then I was not sure about signing up for PT. The guy doing the selling also started getting visibly upset and continued to insult me and say that I obviously did not care about my health if I didn't sign up.

Speaking of the PT sales rep. All I know is that his name was Louis and he worked at the South Elgin, IL gym. Anyone know his last name, please let me know.

I purchased a three year membership for my son. His schedule changed which put him working out at the busiest time. He said it was ridiculous he was waiting in line to work out, over crowded on every machine. The salesperson told me which I purchased the three year membership that I could cancel at ANYTIME and I would be given a credit on any unused months. I notified corporate and they said I would need to contact my local LA Fitness in Keller. Corporate and the local office have done ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING! Would not offer any suggestions other than unless my child became unable to work out due to injury or he moved 10 miles from a LA Fitness that they would then reimburse me. REALLY! The Keller location is full of people that do not have knowledge of what they are selling, they lie to their potential customers to get them to sign up. I would not recommend anyone supporting LA Fitness. It's all about raking in the money and not caring if the machines are available to work out on.

Cancellation is simple

1. Walk into your local LA Fitness and pick up the form, or go online, no questions asked, and mail it in 10 days prior to your next billing (why? So they have time to stop the auto eft) It's self addressed and ready to go

2. You'll receive an email within 5-7 days confirming its cancelled

3. Your done

LA Fitnss has taken unauthorized charges from my account as well. I have a high risk pregnancy. I've almost had a miscarraige, and therfore could not continue with the personal trainer. I followed all of the proceedures to cancel my personal trainer. The gym staff member I spoke with said that my card would be charged the $180.00 for the next month and that would be it. Last night I looked at my online banking statements and found that they not only charged for the month they said they would but also 2 additional months . They even charged twice for one month. I was so upset that I cancelled my credit card. I tried to go on their website to cancel my gym membership as well but there is always an error message stating that I can not acess it at the time. I am so upset about La Fitness.

it must be routine for la fitness to rip people off.. nothing is stopping them. they stole my money and lied.. how can they stay in business. i called everyone never got a call back.. they just don't care about you or fitness just peoples money bottom line..beware

I am going to LA Fitness since it open in worden and England .
Today I asked a question about one Machine from one of their trainer
And he didn't answer it because he had a client that paid him and was waiting
For him. Even for one question you have to pay them to answer it. Which is not
right. The first place they will try hard to get in people in the gym and after they don't
Care about you. Well I am really disappointed today.
Very bad service.
Houma A

I purchased a year of personal training sessions for $40 each week. I only get 25 minutes for $40 which is fine but my trainer never starts on time but always finishes on time. I have to wait fofor him to eat a power bar or make phone calls and it's eating up almost $2 per minute. Management needs to train their employees to start on time! I will not renew my sessions at the end if the year.

I totally understand and relate on the service at that specific club. I'm not going to mention my name fully just because we are still members and don't want to have anymore problems with them. When we signed up, it was with Derrick. We went in to just ask questions about the club. We were looking into a family plan for all of us to join. We have a 20, 19 and 14 y.o. twins that were to join up w/us also. He painted such a great picture of the gym. He said that we could all go w/o any problems and that we were all going to have the same monthly rate, if we referred anyone else to the gym that they'd also rcv the same price we were paying, if we wanted to stop going all we had to do was let them know, if we wanted to take someone off of our account and replace them w/someone else at the same rate we could and also mentioned that our account would be compensated for signing referring people to our gym. He also said that those being referred by us would also be signed up w/the rate that we were paying. NONE OF THAT HAPPENED! When I signed my family & myself up, there were 5 of us. So, when tried to replace someone on my account w/a different person, he then said that it couldn't happen. He said that we could remove them and add someone else BUT, they'd have to be added w/the new, more expensive rates that were going. When we referred 4 different friends of ours, all we went back and asked why our account was never compensated accordingly. Derrick's response was, "I never said that your account would be compensated!" He then offered us a lanyard as compensation for referring everyone. THEN! Had the nerve to NOT give the people WE REFERRED, the same price! After we had told them they'd rcv the same price because that's what DERRICK told us. WE WERE NOT HAPPY! AND STILL AREN'T. The only damn reason we stay there is because it's the only gym that we know of that has a pool. So, as of today, everyone else have dropped their memberships and we are only 2 left remaining in the gym. And yes, the service sucks. Not just saying that to complain, but...it's true. The guys that were there last were more worried about the chics in the gym then attending & greeting us at the desk. We walked in and no one was at the front counter. We had wanted to ask a question re:our account info and never spoke to anyone because no one ever went to the desk the 1hr & 1/2 we were there. As we were leaving we saw someone blond guy w/pimples talking to a girl. nice job guys! and the women's b/rm is always disgusting! The scales are out dated and there should be better representation. There should be people who know what they're talking about and lie to people just to get them to sign up.

This is the Worst club I have ever joined. Customer service is rude and uneducated. They do not solve complaints and no one takes responsibility for being in charge of the facility. The group exercise classes on the evenings and weekends run 50% of the time. The other 50% the instructor doesn't show up to teach the class. Join at your own risk because if you wish to cancel, for being treated rudely and not getting services promised, you already paid a hefty registration fee in addition to monthly dues. If you call corporate to complain about the conditions of the club they "apologize" and then state that they cannot contact someone locally to address your concerns or give you a refund.

First of all- you should not have let your underage son work out there in the first place. This person who signed you us was wrong to break the rules but so were you. It seems to me you were both at fault. However at the end of the day, as the mother, you should have been more sensible.

As for the person speaking on behalf of LA Fitness, are you a representative of the center, if so, not a professional one or good one for that matter First you do not bad mouth others when you don't even know if this person "Ed" was the individual who helped this woman. You should have just apologized and left it at that. I recently joined the Bristol location and so far I found the staff to be very professional, understanding and helpful. Kudos to Derek and Jeremy.

Your [censor] son probably got hurt because he's an idiot. Where were you when he was injured? Don't expect the gym to babysit for you. Also, your grammar is terrible.

I recently joined at this location and had the misfortune of dealing with ED. I almost didnt join just to spite him. I have never encountered such a pushy sales person in my life - and i do purchasing for a living! The gym is nice, but the people who work there leave alot to be desired! The trainers seem to be just as slimy...

On behalf of LA Fitness I apoligize for the incompetance that is our Bristol Location. I'm guessing you dealt with ED (Otherwise known as ### to our members). Each club is run differently and Bristol is one of the worst. I'm not suggesting you to come check out a different team or club, as I'm sure your experience with us would prevent that. I would like to stress that the other clubs in your area, S.Windsor, Newington, are actually staffed by people who care about their jobs. Some of us do actually go the extra mile for our member's do not pressure our appointments and are still very succesful within this company. I truly apoligize for what happened to your son and wish your family the best. Unfortunately I can not post my name or title for obvious reasons. It just saddens me that in some locations the best we can offer our members is a team of shady used car salesmen.

I have been a La fitness member for over ten years. I ignore them (Trainers) when any of them try to talk to me. I know I few poeple where it didn't go so well. Refering to other complaints Listed to this board and for them personaly. I all so noticed at the club that I do workout alot at. That the sales and trainers come and out about every 90 days. I have some try to talk to last Dec. and by the end of March they are gone. And as of this writing. I noticed this one trainer that made it a habit to shake almost everybodys hand and talk to members is now nowhere to be seen. I noticed this person The first of April now as of this date May 14, 2010 I haven't seen this person for a week. I also agree about the personnel at the front desk. Most of them act as if they could careless that you walk thur the door. I noticed that if they do treat some members with smiles and good day or how are you doing? However when I go they Am lucky if I get the time of day. I aslo belong to 24 hour fitness the personnel there Greet everyone with a smile and call everyone by their first name and even tell you to enjoy your workout and the trainer over don't bother me there as well. I been a member of 24 Hour Fitness sice 1993. La fitness the first time 1994 to 1999 . Now 1999 to present In 1999 I let my membership Lapse for 3 months.

I completely agree with the above. Personal trainers there are trained to persuade you into signing up for classes. oh and guess what, they have a special this week, only 25 dollars per session, which is 99.9% off the regular price. I mean my god they just wouldn't stop annoying me and try to get me to sign up.
Even when I brought my brother in for a 1 week free trial membership, we spent 30 minutes just trying to tell the dude that we only want to try the place out for a week, and then we will decide to pay or not. that's that the coupon said, but after being annoyed every 2 monutes and pushed to signup my brother into a full membership, we abandoned this "free" 1 week of triaining.
the bottom line is its a good gym but stay away from the staff and personal trainers who try to suck monry out of you. Just say NO . its not rude, its straightforward "NO get away from me please"

I joined the downey la fitness...staff was unprofessional the lead guy sal charged me way more then what he was suppose to i know i should of looked at the contract but he gave me the terms and conditions one first to sign and little did i know the one with the pricing of my member ship was at the bottom paid it off 2 months later went back to get my own member ship same guy sal offered me a deal over the phone and basically denies is in my face then an hour later my friend joins sal guy gives hima cheaper and better member ship .

pool is unsanitary i got a rash from swimming in it sauna is always packed with people spitting and dripping from pool water when you enter so no matter where you sit your going to smell like clorox

my advise go to pico rivera club huge improvement better staff all in all a better club

if you choose to join the downey club dont sign up with Sal

I am a member to the LA fitness gym and have visited other locations and it is as if they hire off of the same criteria. the trainers hunt you down when you are working out and made me feel uncomfortable. The staff at the Downey location needs to either go to training on how to treat people or fired and hire new staff that enjoy their job. The staff is unprofessional this is from the manager down to the reception desk staff. They charged me for a guest pass just because I did not print one out or called them a day in advance to let them know! I have been a member since 2006 and this is the way a returning customer is treated that is not right but hey they do love to take your money that is when they are friendly.

I absolutely agree that LA Fitness tries to squeeze out money from the customers when they want to cancel their membership. In my case, I wanted to cancel my membership in January 2009. However, when I called the customer representative coerced me to keep my account on hold for 3 months and see how I feel about it during that time. I agreed to what seemed like a courteous and a generous offer. But I was charged for the month of January and February. When I saw the two charges I quickly called the facility and they refunded me back the money only for the month of February saying that I had used the facility on ONE day of January so that fee was right on their part. I agreed reluctantly and didn't take any action against this fee. I was offered a hold for 03/10/09 - 06/10/09. AGAIN I was charged for 05/10/09 and 06/10/09. When I called this time they said, "Well you were given a 3 month hold so since you were given back the money for February, you had to be automatically charged for May." I explained to them SEVERAL times that I have this CONFIRMATION provided to me which is in my email which states I wouldn't be charged until June. But nobody listened! They are a bunch of frauds and there are no other words I have for them.

Umesh Kishnani

I honestly wish it were possible to give this gym a lower rated review. I signed up with the gym a few months ago and with signing up you receive a free personal training assessment. After the personal training assessment, I was pressured into signing up for additional sessions in order to better learn the machines. I asked multiple times if it would be able to cancel these sessions because I have had multiple knee surgeries and have chronic pain. I was told by the 2 "Master Trainers" that I signed with that I could cancel at anytime without a problem as long as I called in before the first of the month. Well, fast forward 3 months, and I'm calling in to cancel because I am in so much pain after these sessions that I have trouble walking for multiple days after. I'm told that the only way to get out of this contract is to pay $900 or obtain a note from a physician stating that I have a disability from the front desk associate. I called corporate customer service twice. The first time I was hung up on and the second time I spoke with a "supervisor" who was supposed to call me back. I never received a callback and called my local gym to get the hours that the Operations Manager would be in. I go in 3 times within this time frame and not only am I informed that the man who I signed up with is no longer with the company, I am also told each time that he is not at the facility, The only times this manager is there are Monday through Friday 9-5. Because I have a job, I had to take off from work to come to the facility 3 times. Even though I was lied to by the people selling me the personal training, I was still told the only way out of contract was to obtain a doctor's note. I did and took it to them. They said that they would scan it in and get it cancelled next day. I get a call later stating that they are unable to do this and I need to mail this cancellation to the corporate office. I have just now managed to get this training cancelled and it took going all the way up the ranks to their Regional VP. The absolute worst customer service that I've ever experienced.

This LA Fitness location has horrible customer service. It's a shame the manager Jen hasn't been through a Ritz Carlton class on customer service because this place could be run so much better. As a 5+ year member, I called to try and swap out one of my kids on my family plan since they only let me put 4 of the 5 of us on it in the first place. My oldest is out of the area and can't use the facility. The answer was NO changes. So in the end, they chose to lost the $75+ a month I was paying by having me quit, which makes no business sense whatsoever, especially with the costs of acquiring new members. NO one seems to care and Jen just says, "feel free to call corporate, I'm on the regional committee so I'll get it." So confrontational by implying 'it's not going to do you any good.' Hey, as a business owner I'm just trying to help out your poor policies. It's one thing to scam LA Fitness and try to add a friend to a family plan, but quit another to drop/add a family member who can never use the facility.

I aslo was pressured into a personal training member ship and now am stuck for a year. The only way they say I can cancell is by paying a lump sum of money, which I think is BS. I want to ONLY have membership. But it seems they pressure you into signing up, and at a few of the clubs I workout in the staff has been no help when I havea question about a machine, unless I work out at my "home club, " which is far from my home now. I am NOT impressed with LA Fitneess and have let all my friends know through emails, test messages, linked in, myspace and any groups I belong to.

The management is absolutely the bottom of the barrel and not properly trained! I have had several terrible situations with the management here that have lead to screaming matches.

I joined the South Windsor LA Fitness with great optimism a few months back. As one might expect, when you first join a gym you are overly excited at the prospect of getting in shape/healthy, and tend to overlook some of the finer points. Well, here I am more than six months later, cursing myself for not being more observant when I first enrolled. While I have lost 12 pounds, I credit it to having the best Exercise Companion to help motivate me.

At this point, I am 100% certain they are going to mysteriously shut their doors one day and walk away with my deposit money. Here is what I have observed:

-> Most of the equipment is broken or in disrepair. For example, the padding on most machines is torn or worn through, making it very uncomfortable during certain exercises. Additionally, the pins used to select the weight on a number of machines are missing, so you can only do 20 pounds (the minimum weight).

-> Look at the ceiling in the atrium/lobby area. There is excessive water damage with apparent mold/fungus. I worry that people are mistakenly thinking their wheezes are from a heavy workout – when it could be from breathing toxic air.

-> The temperature in the Cardio area is exceptionally hot. As an experiment, I brought a thermometer and recorded an amazing 87 degrees. They have one fan to cool the area and it is completely encased in dust.

-> They removed most of the paper towel dispensers and alcohol solution. At one point these were conveniently located throughout the facility. Now, you would be lucky to find a towel to even clean your machine after use.

-> The music is exceptionally loud. Sometimes, it is so loud that I can’t even hear the person on the treadmill next to me.

Overall, this place just seems to be going downhill quick. It is not clear whether management is really interested in maintaining the facility. They really need to wake up and take care of their current members.

Just try and cancel your membership. They will fight you tooth and nail. AND call your house day and night too. After cancelling 3 months ago, they still call us 5 to 6 times per day on the phone and BUG you. Just cancel my membership and leave me alone!

My husband and I joined LA Fitness and then we got him the Body of Change membership, which is their personal trainer thing. Well, he was given a new trainer every time and then, the last trainer of his got fired and no one ever called anc scheduled sessions for him.

Meanwhile they continued taking out $100 a month for the membership and the service they were not delivering. We even called and complained about the service, The customer service person said they will handle it and scheduled a session for us. When we showed up, nobody knew we were coming and there was no one to do the training session.

At the end they made us pay a $500 cancellation fee for over 6 months of undelivered service.

They are criminal and deliver none of what they promise. Please let everyone know - DO NOT USE THEIR SERVICES, THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF !

I had signed up for a years worth of personal training at the Boca Raton LA Fitness facility. Tony, one of the managers at the gym had made an appointment for me with one of his trainers for a Friday evening two weeks in advance. The week I was supposed to train the trainer called me and said he had switched my appoint because he has a client who likes to train during that time and that he moved me to Tuesday of the following week. All of that was done without ever consulting me first. When asked to speak with Tony I was told he was not available so I called back later that day and asked to speak with Tony again, of course he was still not available. I left a message which, surprise, was never returned.

I have been going to gyms since I was 13 and needed a trainer to help me while I recovered from a sports injury. I used to be a personal trainer myself and I know what professional training takes. I had one trainer at the LA Fitness in Boca Raton who decided to have a conversation with someone he knew from a previous job across the tricep pushdown cables while I was in the middle of my set. He was not paying attention to my form making sure that I was doing the exercise correctly to prevent injury and to optimize my results. That gym does not have one personal trainer with the knowledge, experience, or professional attitude to call themselves trainers.

LA Fitness is the most unprofessional fitness club in the history of the health club industry.