Complaint Review: 24 Hour Fitness - Escondido California

Recently I wrote a letter expressing how pleased I was with my personal trainer. Within days after I wrote a letter about his exceptional customer service, he was terminated from 24Hour Fitness. I have attempted multiple contacts with management to resolve my displeasure with this situation, and received no response.

I joined 24 Hour Fitness approximately 9 months ago. I was impressed with the offer of having this specific trainer because I was specifically told that he was one of two trainers in all of San Diego County who were so exceptionally qualified. I purchased two 3-year memberships with this trainer as the selling point for this expense. Throughout my time with him, I found him to be extraordinarily supportive and empathetic to my goals and needs.

I entered a training situation not because of fitness goals, but to basically save my own life. I came to this program with numerous health problems and conditions which require special consideration and are not things I take lightly. This was a very emotional choice for me, and required a tremendous amount of commitment on my part to open a very personal and sensitive area of my life. That trainer approached my special needs with the kind of sensitivity I needed to maintain my program for the last 9 months and not give up. He is the reason I continued to purchase package after package once my initial training sessions were complete.

Since his departure from 24 Hour Fitness, I have witnessed a completely different approach to me as a client. I placed several calls to the gym to discuss my purchase and my accounts. I received no response from my prior email, or from my multiple calls regarding the trainer's dismissal. My initial response to this lack of customer service was to want a complete refund on my membership and training sessions, as I am obviously not a priority to the 24 Hour Fitness organization. However, I have since found another 24 Hour facility to use instead. I no longer wish to terminate my memberships, but I am resolved that I no longer wish to invest myself or my money in the training program.

I called the facility again and finally made contact with a manager with whom discussed my displeasure. I expressed to him that my entire purpose for purchasing my memberships was the sales information which described that trainer as the most highly certified trainer in the facility. This was the selling point for my purchases. I had another membership at another facility and brought myself and my partner to 24 Hour Fitness in a bid to work with the most trained person on staff. Imagine my disappointment and increased frustration when the manager I spoke with told me this was not true.

In addition to losing my trainer, I find out I was duped by the sales associate when he told me that trainer was the most certified Master trainer in the facility. This was followed by the manager telling me that, by my contract, they can put me with another trainer, even if less qualified, if my trainer leaves for any reason. My level of ire and insult continued to rise as our conversation progressed. It seemed obvious that my comfort with a trainer was of no great importance.

My next complaint was that after a month, and multiple attempts on my part to contact the gym, I still had not heard from any member of the staff to discuss any options regarding my training. It seems to me that my "fitness goals" or the money I have invested in the programs is entirely unimportant to 24 Hour Fitness now that the check is cashed, as no one has shown me the courtesy of even a phone call. The manager explained that he has been working for more than three weeks to call former clients to discuss this with them, but had not made it to me yet. He stated he would be willing to offer me two free sessions with another trainer to "get me started" with someone new.

At this point, I am not interested in returning to any level of training with the 24 Hour Fitness team, as it seems apparent that their interest is not my goals or my health, but rather their level of income. I have lost my faith in this program as anything more than a money-making avenue which does not hold the best interests of the clients at the fore-front of their business goals. Additionally, if my trainer's list of clients was this extensive as to preoccupy this individual for more than three weeks, it seems 24 Hour Fitness lost a tremendous asset. It was never a problem for my trainer to find time to schedule me for appointments or even to provide support for me when I contacted him, while maintaining his other clientele. This tells me that he was definitely more of an asset to the organization than anyone I could be paired with at this point.

I have many different goals to meet through my fitness training. I no longer feel those goals can be met by the staff at 24 Hour Fitness. I feel their questionable ethics and abysmally poor customer service through this process are in direct conflict with the ideals on which I base my own behaviors and business dealings. I am not asking for any kind of excessive compensation. I am not requesting refunds for my accounts, as I intend to maintain my membership for now.

However, I am very resolved that I want a refund for the training sessions we have not used. In the time I have been waiting for a response from the staff, I have found other training options which I find suit my personal needs better. I do not plan to continue training with 24 Hour Fitness and would like a refund on my sessions so that I can pursue other options. When I spoke to the manager at the gym today, he told me he would give this information to his manager at the gym and that manager would call me to discuss this situation. I never received a call.

This only increases my feeling that I am not a priority to the club, and will not be missed as a client. While I did not purchase large packages of training at a time, I was certainly consistent in my training plan and had every intention of continuing prior to my trainer's dismissal. My feeling at this time is that 24 Hour Fitness has "dismissed" me as a customer and I no longer wish to associate myself with this type of treatment. I seek only my refund for my unused training, as I am not interested in "starting over" with a new trainer. The last manager I spoke to told me this was not something he can authorize. Yet, it seems no one with that authority is interested in providing any kind of customer satisfaction. At this point, I do not foresee any extention of my memberships.

Melissa

Escondido, California

U.S.A.

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