Complaint Review: 24 Hour Fitness

Since I can get no response at all from the new CEO of 24 Hour Fitness and his troubled clubs. I thought I would go online and share THE most outrageous story in retail that I have ever experienced. Instead of being concerned about their emplyees selling drugs, steroids, lying, cheating, clubs that are falling into ill-repair, illegal billing, broken equipment, vendictive management, gang fighting, locker theft on and on! They focus on where I parked my car...seriously.

I have been a member on and off (Depending on where my work takes me) at 24 Hour Fitness for over 16 years. I have never had a complaint against me. Just go and work out, ignoring all the illegal antics and horrible equipment, it's really kind of simple...well kinda. See my car has been broken into twice at 24 Hour Fitness, Humble TX and so I park near the front of the club when I can. Meaning, when another car has not taken my place.

So, Tuesday Oct 13th I go to work out as usual. I park and on my way into the club a very disheveled, over weight, man carry bags of junk food comes from behind me and states "hey you can't park there!" Now again, I have been parking there, when I can, for 16 years! I turn around and could not see his 24 Hour Fitness shirt because of all the food in his arms and nicely stated "Yes I can." Thinking it was a member telling me where I can park. It was now ON as in fight mode for this employee, who by the way I had never seen before. He continues to harass me about not parking in that spot because my car hits a white line. I'm like "really," and continue on into the club. (By the way the lot was almost empty) His last words to me as I went in "you can't fuc#ing park there."

I go to work out on the incline bench ignoring this "employee."  Low and behold an even bigger more overweight guy who I didn't think could possibly work there came up to me in the middle of my set and stated "hey you have to move your car, you can't park there." I'm like good Lord sigh...

I proceeded to tell him the same story I had just told the other 'employee." I had been parking there for 16 years etc... he became, to put it lightly, belligerent as hell. Yelling at me to "leave if I didn't move my car, who did I think I was, that he would call the police if I didn't leave the club and move my car blah, blah, blah, I simply stated go ahead, knowing full well I had done nothing wrong. I just continued to work out thinking he was surely bluffing.

About 30 minutes go by and I forget about the incident and continue to work out. Then suddenly again I am approached by yet another overweight man in workout clothes. So I knew he wasn't an employee. He proceeds to ask me if "I had been asked to leave because I wouldn't move my car." I inquired "why does he want to know?" He pulls out his badge (Mind you my back is to all the woman on the treadmills).

He then  proceeds to hold it high up and says "look there is a squad car on its way to remove you from the premises and he just wants to help me so I don't go to jail" (Now I guess I was going to jail...Good Lord)!

I started to laugh asking him "why he got involved." He stated (Holding his badge up high again) that "the staff ask for his help and that I need to leave NOW!!!!" Because again, a patrol car was on its way to arrest me for criminal trespass. I stated "this wasn't criminal trespass and that he might want to look up what that meant." That really pissed him off and he says "Let's go!" So porky Barney Fife and I head to the door 

(I decided it just wasn't worth the fight) and while leaving I get yelled at from behind by the general manager Theodore McKinney: I will ban you for life from this club for not doing what I told you!! I simply left!

I immediately called the new CEO Mark Smith and left 3 messages. No call was ever returned to me by anyone. 

Fast forward to today. I receive an e-mail that states the following:

Dear Dan,
Per your request on 10-14-2015, your 24 Hour Fitness membership has been placed on a freeze effective 10-15-2015 for 1 month(s), together with any upgrade or privilege agreements. 

The only issue is I never requested this. It's all a lie. However, I did discover that my account had been frozen illegally by Theodore McKinney the club Manager. My conclusion is what everyone already knows. Just read the 1000's of complaints about 24 Hour Fitness online. The common theme: it is run by amateurs that know nothing about a great customer experience, are poorly trained,  and have a horrible communication skills! The place is sunk and nothing but a skeleton of it's former glory. My wife and I will happily join one of the many more modern and less expensive clubs around here. There are at least a dozen.

To Theodore McKinney, Brent Hanson, David Bunch and the porky off duty police officer. I hope you find more victim's to fill your empty dissatisfied lives picking on innocent consumers. The police wonder why people dislike them and 24 Hour Fitness wonders why it's clubs are failing...gee I can only venture to guess.