Complaint Review: Lifetime Fitness Fairfax

Lifetime Fitness had the potential to be something great. With a price point higher than any other gym in the area, one would assume their goal is greatness sadly it is not. We had joined Lifetime for 2 very specific reasons. We were drawn to the gym by the convenience of their "spa," and the variety and superiority of their trainers. Unfortunately, these are the two things that eventually caused us to leave the gym. 

When we first joined Lifetime around 18 months ago we were excited to have the chance to get a workout in and use the spa. As physicians, time can be a commodity we do not frequently have. However, we quickly learned the only thing "spa" like was the name. They turn over stylist as frequently as a cosmetology school. The skill of the staff likens itself to a late night beauty school drop out movie. The "spa" staff is rude and disobliging. The towels they place on your face and around your neck have a putrid smell of decomposing diapers left to soak in warm swamp water with mosquito larva. 

On one occasion, we had family in town for a special occasion and had booked a number of spa services with several different stylists. However, the entire experience was ruined, as we had to listen to the spa manger sit at the front desk and babble on and on, grumbling and complaining like Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka. Apparently an employee did not show for their shift and it caused her world to shift off its axis. The way she cantankerously whined, you would have thought she was drugged at a party and someone stole her kidney. It would have been more pleasant had she stayed home and watched another season of "My So Called Life" reruns. Her attitude, too short jean shorts, and chunky black flip-flops did nothing to enhance the "spa" experience. 

The second reason we joined lifetime was for the training. We were looking for a specific style of trainer to help increase our endurance for a competition we had coming up. We were initially happy with the trainer we selected and were sad to know that she too eventually left the gym (see the theme). Unfortunately, she decided to leave a week after we bled out another near $700.00 for more training. The gym decided to randomly pair us up with a different trainer who simply had a style of training that was not compatible with our needs. At this point, we thought it would be best to just cancel the personal training and look elsewhere for a trainer. To our surprise, the training manager and the club manager thought there was no reason to return any of our money. Even though we had signed a training contract with a trainer that was no longer employed at the gym. 

After being members for around 18 months and paying more than $4,000.00 in dues and training fees it would have been easier to sun bath in the artic than it would be to get a return call from management. It seems when you have a problem or concern; management is "busy" or "sick." They made several empty promises and the only "solution" they offered was, "try another trainer." Our fitness goals were not such that we were interested in bouncing around from trainer to trainer. Throughout this experience, never once did they offer anything that resembled an apology or attempt to understand where we might be coming from. In fact, their "retention specialist," did not even ask why we were unhappy. 

Disjointed, marginally qualified managers, run the entire place, driving the entire operation off a cliff like they are Thelma and Louise. So from the person who used to handout Lifetime's business cards and tell EVERYONE about the gym, I will now discourage anyone from setting foot in that place. If you expect a level of service that might accompany a $140.00 monthly fee, you will not find it at Lifetime. If you are interested in shoving $1,700.00 a year into the pockets of a bunch of folks who would rather play in traffic with a blindfold than ensure you are even marginally satisfied with your experience, I suggest you check out Lifetime Fitness in Fairfax.