Complaint Review: Fitness Blowout.com

TOP TEN REASONS NOT TO PURCHASE AT FITNESS BLOWOUT.COM
     I will try to be as accurate and 100% clear about this company and why you should please, please, PLEASE, 100,000 times please, NOT put your trust, your money, and even more important, your time in this very sadly run company. You can read just the bullet points if you're busy, but if you're really considering giving this company $800-$28,000 of your or your companies money, read this, I beg of you:

1). Jim Rosen, the owner of this company is a Liar!
     The owner, who likes to call himself "Super" as a narcissistic homage to himself, parades pictures of himself, his family, his commercials all over the site. The family is real, but his origins aren't. Jim got all his money through marriage to a woman named Tiffany, who's family was quite well off. So when he tells you he has been in this kind of business for 27 years, that's a lie. He was working with Tiffany at a company called "Tiffanys Treasures" until he got her pregnant with their first born Shay, and he started to siphon money out of his parents in law to start his fitness business. This Fitness company he has "ran for 27 healthy years" is a lie and bullshit; just to make himself sound like an early pioneer not only in the online marketing world, but in fitness marketing all together.

2). These upgraded "warranties" he sells are %90 Fake.
     It would be a lie of my own to make a blanket statement saying no customers received details of their warranties, but sadly most don't. Jim has many loop holes in the policies he gives to his customers; loopholes in writing, and some customers don't see at all. The actual raw cost of his "special" Deluxe Upgrade Package FOR HIM IS ONLY $25.00. That means when he sells it to us customers at $199, $299, $399 or more, everything he has just made above that $25 raw cost is pure profit for him and nothing, but a massive headache for you. And surprise surprise; if you buy it, then end up not wanting it later, he doesn't give refunds for it. OTHER LOOP HOLES: For example, you NEED to purchase a "certified" mat from HIS company or else he can claim your warranty is void. It doesn't matter if you own a gym with interlocking commercial grade flooring, carpet, a mat of your own from another venue....whatever! If you don't purchase a floor mat FROM HIM, he can technically claim you voided your own warranty by not applying "his rules". If one of the sales reps tells you otherwise, they are LYING. Let me say that again: if a sales rep tells you that your warranty, will be covered, if you DO NOT BUY A "CERTIFIED" FLOOR MAT, THEY ARE LYING.

3). None of their Sales Reps, Reception, etc. are highly trained.
     Ever wonder who you're speaking to on the other line? These "certified fitness experts"? I'll tell you, and you can decide for yourself:

   EXT 201 Jim Rosen (Owner) - Horrible - rape every dime from you, and do it under the guise of a self-proclaimed hero to the world of fitness.

   EXT 290 Steve B. (Manager) - Needs to protect the bottom end of the company and will rarely discount items beyond $50 even though when you look at competing pricing and ACTUAL COST. A lot of what his says is fluff and lies; EXAMPLE ---- When he or whomever you speak with say there are only "2" left of any product, that's a lie.

   The sales reps are Brandon (the Assistant Manager) Israel, Alex, Jerod, Andrew, Max, and Jordan.  The last two I named have been there since the beginning of November 2012, so if you reach their EXTs at 216 or 206, chances are they don't know much since they have been at the company a few WEEKS!! Andrew at EXT 215 isn't much better; there since maybe September. None of them are trained by the company....at all. The training for all potential sales reps is being forced to drive to Sports Authority, California Home Body and Fitness, Sports Chalet, etc. and pretend to be buying customers. Then, they must listen to sales reps from these companies pitch their product......that's the training these "certified experts" get. Brandon and Alex, two of their "senior sales reps" have never been involved with fitness, training, degrees in fitness, degrees in mechanical engineering for the machines, pro-sports or athletics......it's all a big lie to get you to buy. THEY ARE ALL SALES MEN FIRST AND FRIENDS LAST. None of them really know the internals of the piece, how to fix it, how to do much of anything except what they need to know to get you to buy the product.

4). Their Company Turn Around Rate is Awful.
     From 2011-2012, this very small company had 40-50 employees quit, all citing irreconcilable difficulties with the paranoid, liar of an owner, Jim "Stupor" Rosen. So when you talk to someone at the company over the phone, play a game; ask them how long they've been there. If anyone says over two years except Jim, Steve, or finance manager Joanne, they're lying. Jim Rosen threatens the woman in the workplace. Him and his manager Steve Barzillai have both been sued for unwanted sexual advancements in the workplace, on top of all the lawsuits they received from disgruntled customers (didn't know that little fact, did you? -- wanna' buy from a pervert -- shop here). Jim asks for photographs of the women who work for him, then sends those females photos in a mass emails to his male counterparts.

He hires employees under contract, then steals money from them, or changes the agreements of pay and claims he never promised them anything. I performed an exit interview with several employees (who will not be named here) ----one of which was hired as a sales rep to receive $12.00 an hour, plus a certain commission percentage. After the rep did exceedingly well sales-wise, Jim saw he was making too much, and took away his hourly pay, and claimed he never wrote up a contract stating the amount in which he would pay this rep......even though this rep retained a copy of the agreement. That rep quit the company within two weeks because of the audacious lying nature of Jim Rosen. This reason, and many more sadly authored reasons result in the constant revolving door hiring process at Fitnessblowout.com

5). Customer Service (a joke) is operated by maybe 4 people.
    As I've scoured the internet looking for information on this s**t-hole of a company, it turns out the company's customer service was a huge problem in most of the negative reviews cases against this company. HERE IS WHY: They only have 3 employees in that department. Let me repeat that: at the company's call center: 10780 Sepulveda Blvd Suite 360 Los Angeles CA, 90025 they only have THREE PEOPLE working in customer service. Three guys named Augustine, Jarryd, and Henry. And that's it. MYSTERY SOLVED!!!!!!!!!! For a company that claims they have hundreds of certified techs and customer service support to assist you, quite a small number in that department, don't ya think? That's why your wait time is so long. That's why you can't get assistance right away.

That's why for all the "satisfied" customers who wait patiently for orders to arrive, or parts to arrive, or emails to be answered, or help to be had, CAN'T GET IT. PLEASE GO BUY FROM A COMPANY THAT HAS A CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF MORE THAN THREE-FOUR PEOPLE. Now, you might read this and say ..."But wait, customer I don't know.......wouldn't I just go direct to the manufacture for all my needed parts, labor and servicing?......technically yes. But who do you speak to when your order hasn't arrived? When it arrives broken? When you need a refund? When you received the wrong piece? When it turns out that the company charges your card without you knowing (which happens often) and you need to find out what the f^** is going on? When your Billing statements don't arrive? Ask yourself, is this worth the risk?

6). Jim, and his company, have MASSIVE DEBT.
   Ever wonder why your shipping lead time takes between 14-21 business days for brand new products? This company is massively in debt to all its vendors: Freemotion, Body Craft, Body Solid, etc. THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. They're even in debt to simple service companies; like the Verizon phone bill or the internet bill. They have literally shut the power and internet off for this company several times over the years. The company changes locations and providers and names so often, it's almost like trying to gather information on a ghost. This company has more than $80,000 worth of charge-backs to be paid (a charge-back is when a customer disputes the purchase they made with the company by canceling through their individual credit card provider, or bank). Why? Because customers discover that the company and what it sells and stands for is a scam.

FOR EXAMPLE: They now claim they offer "lifetime labor" for an additional fee. This is not true and is a scam if you purchase it. Again, you may say ...."Wait, person I've never met before...why should I believe you". Think about it....free lifetime labor? Why is THIS company offering it when NO OTHER company does with a service department of three people? BECAUSE...DING DING DING....THEY ARE RIPPING YOU OFF. What if you wanted routine service at the top of every year, let's say January? You think they're going to keep paying a technician to come out to your house for free (plus whatever you have to pay them in gas trip fee....which...opps, they never mention you have to pay...secret fees on top of secret fees). They have no world wide warehouses in multiple locations.just the one in California and the vendor business's they work with. Big fat lies on big fat lies if they tell you they're a bigger company than they are.

7). Jim Rosen is a horrible business man.
   I already mentioned that Jim Rosen treats his employees like trash to be discarded (especially women and minorities), which, in turn, produces a negative work environment. This is the kind of man who goes around saying (no joking, this is his company motto) "Fat Woman Can't be happy or attractive". Charming? I don't think so. Jim Rosen lost over $400,000 off a very poor investment THIS YEAR in a gym building at 2920 South Sepulveda Blvd Los Angeles CA. Lost a great deal of his savings, the building, his second house (poor him), and more unnerving, company money...which means customers money.YOUR MONEY since Jims personal accounts and the fitness blowout accounts are ONE ACCOUNT. Jim has gone bankrupt twice and apparently signed the buildings lease under his wifes credit score so they wouldn't find him out to be a fraud. FAILED, and now her credit is gone too.

Whoops! And right before Thanksgiving, because Jim was SO IN DEBT and sued so much, and investigated by the banks so often, that on November 22nd of 2012, SCA Financing (the company that he finances all orders through for either 6-12 months 0% interest) cut him off and they no longer are able to finance. BECAUSE JIM IS A SCAM ARTIST AND A LIAR AND IN HORRIBLE DEBT.  Don't believe me? Ask yourself this: why would a company change from a financing option, which they've had installed for years, to "Bill Me Later" on the 22nd of November.....right before the two biggest sales dates of the year (Black Friday and Cyber Monday)? The answer is because the banks forced them to do this because they wouldn't record your private social security information properly. Because they're so in debt. And because they lie.

8). These "Certified Pre-Owned" Commercial pieces are junk.
    This year, Jim calls them "Certified pre-Owned". Last year, it was "Certified Re-manufacturing". Before that, it was "Refurbished" or just plain "Re-manufactured". All in all, it's the same thing. Jim gets an order from YOU THE CUSTOMER to start. Then he goes around to all his butt buddy vendors to find a piece that you're looking for (let's say a Precor Elliptical 576i for example; business models with the moving arms for those of you playing at home). He looks around to these different vendors and buys the lowest possible costing model of that unit he can find, whatever condition it may be in, and gives it to his own cheaply paid workers to "re-do it for you. And then, he ships it to you. Is it scratched? Maybe? Does it work? 70% of the time. How long has it been used? I don't know, and neither do they. Where was it taken from? I don't know and neither do they. Again, too big of a risk to spend my hard earned $2000-$6,000.00 dollars.

9). They lie about their costs.
    Let's look at the Freemotion 750 Treadill. On their website, it says it costs $1,297.00 with a slash through that price. Now, from that price, sales representatives are told to only drop the price in $50.00 increments, until you buy it from them. But, LOOK, what is this? Apparently the raw cost in that machine is only around $725.00????????????? Shipping, which they say is for free, which isn't true, is around $199.00 for a treadmill....which comes to $924.00........so why aren't you getting it for that price? Just the way the sales world works right? Screwing you out of every nickel, penny, and dime. It's like this for every single product they have.

10). READ THE CUSTOMER REVIEWS...ALL OF THEM
    Social media is tricking. If you push enough of your bad reviews on a company down by making your own good reviews, or beg customers to do it for you for an additional discount, your "star rating?" for your company will go up too. That's what Jim did. Dig down....deep down. And you will find hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of reviews saying the same thing again and again.....DO NOT NOT NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY.

I've given you all I've researched. If you want to add more to this thread based on your experiences with this a*s blister of a company, do it. Jim Rosen himself might post a quick copy paste to this feed as I've seen him do with others, stating how long he's been in business, how great he is, 27 years, blah blah blah. I think you're all smart enough to gather the truth if only you have the desire to seek it. The owner of the company is a egomaniacal, rude, crude, womanizing, drug idled, paranoid, bi-polar, lying scumbag with no goals, but to raise his self made pedestal higher than the inevitable tidal wave of debt and bankruptcy that will soon drag his rundown, poorly constructed online company into the depths of an inescapable abyss. And he will watch his employees, his management team, his customers, and everyone around his company drown before he takes a long hard look at himself and say, "Maybe I should change".