Complaint Review: 24 Hour Fitness San Mateo Super Sport

The other night I was basically called gay by the Sales Manager Aaron Wilson and was escorted by him into the club manager's office against my will because I did not let my friend purchase their product. This was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I was not surprised to search the internet and find two other complaints about this manager Aaron Wilson.

Me and my friends (colleagues as well) went to the gym after work. 3 of us had premium membership 1 had basic membership. The one who didn't have premium immediately approached the front desk and stated he wanted to possibly upgrade. After a while of dealing with the sales associate he signaled to me that he did not want to do it so I walked over to help him. Turns out they were going to charge him about 50% higher than the rest of us were paying, (we were paying in the low-mid 40's and they were going to charge him 64 per month.  Strangely enough he was already paying  50 a month at the basic level.)  This was odd because the offers on the internet were lowering than what they were offering, with no coupon required.

I explained this disparity to the sales associate and the said I was "smart" (in a sarcastic manner and took it upon himself to call over Aaron Wilson. Aaron was sarcastic and attacked me the moment he looked at me. He called me smart (sarcastically) and said all I wanted was for him not to get commission. This was before I spoke a single word to Mr. Wilson. I tried to cool things down and told him I appreciated his aggressive sales effort, and that I think he was a good salesman but that my friend could not afford to make this rash decision and we were going to leave.

Suddenly Aaron started to get upset and stated I was just rude to him and condescending since I called him a good salesman yet my friend did not buy his product.

Whoa what!?

He continued by talking to me like a child and demanding I give him my membership info so he could investigate my account, even though I had already been granted entrance to the gym. I told him I was a customer and did not deserve that treatment but he stated I was in his gym and had to provide my information at any time. I obliged and he did not find anything "on me" but still stated he would investigate me further later. I was getting the impression he was hoping I was not a legitimate member? Later, my friend, who is white, mentioned that he sensed some bias because Mr. Wilson, who is also white, was rude to me before I even opened my mouth. (I'm South Asian.) The location is in San Mateo, CA and this is the 2nd 24 Hour in San Mateo.  This one is a "super" gym location that caters to higher paying members, (which I thought I was since I also pay for the gym). I would hope my hunch is not accurate but we certainly felt biased vibes.

As the story continues, I informed Mr. Wilson I would be emailing his corporate office about his behavior, at which point he said I now had to walk with him and go into his manager's office. I told him I did not want to and that I would contact 24 Hour on my own time, and suddenly he threatened me again by stating in his gym I had to oblige when I was asked to speak with the manager. Next thing I know, I'm sitting in the club manager's office (Butch Cooper), and even though he is Aaron's boss it appeared Mr. Cooper was just taking orders from Aaron. Mr. Cooper looked much younger than Mr. Wilson and did not speak until Mr. Wilson left and closed the door. Mr. Wilson's introduction of me was "this gentleman has threatened to try to get me fired and is being rude to me, please deal with him." I tried to speak up but Mr. Cooper cut me off and asked me to provide my membership card so he could "research" my account. A few minutes later, after realizing there is nothing wrong with me, Mr. Cooper asks me to explain what happened. After I was finished, he asked me to repeat myself. It was clear to me that he was simply buying time and trying to "calm" me down, even though I had yet to raise my voice or use any profanity. I told him the same thing I told Mr. Wilson, that I would be emailing 24 Hour Fitness, and Mr. Cooper got upset and said there was no point and that I should just email him directly as all email goes back to him. He gave me his card and finally I was free.

Apparently while this was going on, Mr. Wilson went back to my friend to try to up-sell him. When he could not accomplish his goal, he attacked us by saying we were acting like we were "life partners". Mr. Wilson basically called us gay. At this point our other friends walked over to see what was going on and another associate provided our friend who did not have the premium membership with a one day pass. We went over to the basketball court to play a game and just when we started, Mr. Wilson approached the court, stopped the game, and pulled our friend to the side to tell him he was revoking the 1 day pass and that he had to upgrade immediately or he would be thrown out. This was no coincidence. Mr. Wilson coerced my friend into upgrading the account (24 Hour's complaint line said I cannot use the word "force" as there was no physical force of the signature). Mr. Wilson's dirty trick worked and my friend still did not make it back on the court in time to join our game as many people were waiting to play and a sub took his place.

Beware this gym!  I cannot believe what happened!  Every single person I've told this story to is in absolute shock and 24 Hr Fitness is not doing anything about it!