Complaint Review: Jessica Benyo of Charter Fitness

It seems that anyone can be a GM these days, or at least pose as one. I signed up as a member of Cardinal Fitness in Chicago on McCormick rd. about four years ago. All was fine prices were very satisfactory and the staff was friendly. About 8-10 months ago the evil empire known as "charter fitness" took over and all went downhill thereafter. The staff members that used to smile were robot drones that greeted you with a smirk and went about there business.

There used to be at least 2 people constantly cleaning before after Charter took over that bathrooms smell, and the towels are hardly clean (bleach the white towels please) and the worst part is the "GM' a miss Jessica Benyo. I have a friend that recently fell on tough times. He is 27 years old has no siblings and lost his mother and father within a year of each other. He lives in Chicago his only family members are a couple of aunts and uncles and their children who all live in various southern states.

I had to help my friend out with some of his bills because he is not very well off and I had no problem with that at all thats what friends are for. I called Charter fitness about a month after his mom passed (the last member of his immediate family) to explain the situation and I told them he won't be able to come in for some time and that he would like to freeze or cancel his account. They asked me to send them an email which I did and we never got a reply back.

About a year later (present day) my friend who has moved on and is in a much better place in life decides he wants to go back to the gym. We go back only to find out that he owes them for all the time missed. I explained to the so called "GM" Jessica Benyo the case and offered to even bring in death certificates (the death certificates helped with collection agencies which are far much harder to deal with than gyms or so I thought) 

Miss Benyo then said she would do him a "favor" and clear his debt for $69. Because I am a member there I am allowed to bring in one guest per day. I told him let's go in as my guest for now till he gets back into the groove of going to the gym, there is no sense in wasting more money if he decides not to go. So we go in one day workout all was well and go home. The next day he receives a call from Miss Benyo saying he can't come into the gym with an outstanding balance and to pay the debt in full before coming in to work out again.

If you go on the Charter fitness website and check the guest policy he clearly satisfies all parameters of the policy from Age to health to I.D. present. No where does it state that a previous member with a balance can't come in. When I explained this to her (I am a very patient and calm man by nature I understand that kindness and patience will get you much farther in an argument than anger and attitude) she (Jessica Benyo) told me I was "wasting her time" these are her words verbatim.

The best part is Charter Fitness does not have a corporate office so if someone at your gym is giving you problems you have to take it up with the GM but what if the GM is the problem? A quick word of advice miss Benyo, your gym is understaffed, unclean, and doesn't offer much as far as equipment, amenities and services go. It is unwise to also fail in the customer service area when there is an Xsport opeing up within half a mile of you that is open 24 hrs, has a pool, basketball court, tanning beds and much more perks that your place does not offer and is less than $5 more expensive. Good luck I wish you best but I can't see you (Jessica Benyo) being sucessfull in any management areas of any store. Maybe you should consider getting an hourly job with much less involvement in the customer service area.