Complaint Review: Empire Fitness - Hoboken New Jersey

It is sad to be sitting here, as someone who has been burned very badly by this criminal front of a "business", conveying my most recent experiences at a gym on Ripoff Report.com, but I feel obliged to deliver the truth. There are many terrible things going on here. Please take the time to read this completely and take the appropriate evasive action. I sincerely hope that this helps people avoid what has happened to me and many close friends at this gym.

Empire Fitness is owned by a man who goes by several aliases to avoid being pinned down. He is a remorseless drug abuser who uses money directly from the cash register to purchase narcotics and abuse them (or be under the influence of them) in front of staff and members daily. This is why his "Empire" of gyms has gone from 5 to 1 in a period of only two years. There is only the Hoboken location left as the only other remaining location, Marine Park, Brooklyn, has finally been served with an eviction notice.

Employees fight for their pay every two weeks. Never is the staff paid on time. When the owner finally pushes this as far as he can, he distributes cash without regard to tax law or employees' personal need for documentation (to prove employment or do taxes of their own). When employees get fed up and leave, the owner does not pay the money owed. I have a friend who received a verbal threat. "Tell him to stop calling me or he will end up in the hospital, or worse". My friend was terrified as the owner has a criminal history that includes extreme violence. My friend is still owed over $2000 in pay and cannot prove his employment due to the fact that the owner will not and never did document employment. This is not to mention that my friend's taxes are in disarray as he was always paid in cash (they had no choice!)

Now on to the members. Members accounts are pillaged, rates raised maliciously, and concerns never addressed. Cancellation letters are literally shredded and/or disposed of. Refunds are delivered via checks that bounce with alarming regularity. Locksmiths, exterminators, beverage distributors, equipment repairmen, and virtually every other professional has blacklisted Empire Fitness due to nonpayment or due to the issuance of bad checks. The check cashing places and banks won't even accept his checks or those bearing the name of the company. Thus, it is no surprise that he has to use aliases and is constantly dodging members. He hides in the "corporate office". Hint: it is the shady, boarded-up, blacked-out storefront on the corner at 600 Washington St. Take a look. It says "NorthStar Management" on the door, not Empire Fitness. More subterfuge.

Employees are told to promise prospects that renovations like: new spin studio, classes, new stairway, new equipment, etc. will be delivered soon. Then when the members get angry, these promises are lies, then the employees are lambasted by the members they inadvertently lied to. Of course, when the employees try to seek answers from the owner, they are ignored or threatened. The members are the victims here as they are locked in a contract that continues to rob them and impose penalties without their consent or knowledge. The owner has been hear saying that if 90% of them figure out what I'm doing, then I still get 10% of them! Terrible.

I will leave this report as is and wait to see if there is interest or responses. If so, I will be glad to provide even more info, as there is MUCH MUCH more going on there that deserves exposure. If anyone out there can help my friends get the thousands of dollars that have been stolen by this terrible organization, please contact me or respond here.

Good Luck.

Karmapolice

New York, New York

U.S.A.