Carolina Fitness

06/18/08

Join Any Other Gym, Even If It's Farther Away! by barbara r. at InsiderPages

Contributor at Insider Pages

This awful, awful gym will rip you off. I joined this gym because of its convenient location. I've regretted my decision ever since. It would have been better to drive to a nicer gym instead. I'm joining the YMCA next.

Once your contract is up, they will continue to charge you. Your membership will automatically convert to a month-to-month membership after the initial contract expires, and they put the onus on you to get out of the contract at this point. Even after your initial membership expires, you will have to contact them in writing to beg them to stop charging you. They will make this step as difficult as possible. (In my case, they claimed to misunderstand my letter. I had to take all of my paperwork down to them in person after that.)

Their staff uses every shifty trick in the book (bait-and-switch, let me ask my manager, promise-the-moon, misrepresent their services, etc.) to get you to sign up. They're worse than used-car salesmen.

Their staff members are constantly changing and are not very knowledgeable.

Finally, the gym is in disrepair. It's dirty. The mirrors on the wall are broken. Equipment is in poor condition. The gym is poorly ventilated. The men's bathroom constantly smells like a backed-up toilet, and this odor wafts out of the bathroom and into other parts of the gym.

If you join their gym anyway, be sure to keep a copy of your contract. You're going to need it when they try to rip you off.

08/29/09

I was tricked

by Tricked2 at Citysearch

Please be careful. I'm *also* one of those people stuck in a two month membership which is automatically debited to my account.

When I was signing up I was told that is the ONLY way to join. I was given NO other option. I have nothing else drafted automatically, and was shocked, but accepted because it was a good deal. I was NOT told that I was in such an INFLEXIBLE two-year commitment. The only way for me to get out of this membership is if I prove that I am disabled or move far, far away. Neither is the case, but I need to quit because I've switched jobs and come home much later and have no more time for the gym.

NOBODY is answering my questions about how to quit and the monthly drafts just keep being extracted from my account. The lady who manages the place maintains that she cannot answer any questions. The contacts that appear on the cancellation sheet are not responsive. You're just left to deal with this yourself, with nobody willing to explain the policy or help you. I'm so worried when I read the other reviews online.

I realize now that this will be a huge many-month ordeal to get out of this for me, which is all the better for the owners, since they can keep extracting their monthly bills from me!!!!

Please, please be careful. Also, please if you're a member, question their policies and help this business turn around their improper practices. More pressure needs to be put on this gym to be more open and honest with their customers. This is a Carrboro landmar, and we need to hold it accountable for what it does to the community members. Please help.

As a final note I have to say the following: I trusted them enough to give them access to monthly drafts from my account. That's my money we're talking about. Now they've turned all mysterious. I do not feel comfortable allowing such people access to my account and funds. The manager who works on location pretends that she has nothing to do with the funds. You cannot get anything done while there. That's a cheap trick to keep you in the dark and give you no options when trying to get membership questions answered. Just like someone else said: everyone refers you to someone else and nobody wants to deal with your problems!

It's a disaster.

Gyms rely on repeat customers. I've been in and out of gyms all my life, and will continue to be. They just lose the prospect of anyone coming back this way.

p.s. Are there ZERO star options?

• Pros: Gym is affordable
• Cons: Scammers. Trick you. Cannot cancel membership