Recenly my locke was brokn into.my wallet and cell phone were taken. lafitness hands out nwletters warning about robbers. i go there to work out my stress. if la fitness knows about these problems correc them. i seehemen just sitting thee they should go and check things out. the manaer in corporate office offerd me a trainer for a day.i told hr that was an insult. i am 69yrs.old.i dont' need no stinkin trainer. they do n ot een know what they are doing themselves. inhthe newsleter it tells you about being aware of all sorts of things, i might as well stayn home!!! i figured they would at least compensate for several months.areyou kidding ths place is really getting dirty and the people that go thre noware lod ad their language is just horrible.

The LA Fitness clubs at Clearwater and Palm Harbor Fl have had classes scheduled on Monday and Thursday morning at 8:30 am and for the past two weeks the classes are still scheduled on their computer and class schedule posted at the clubs, however no instuctor shows up for the class. Contact with the front reception desk to get answers provides no results. Contact with an alleged supervisor results in they will check with the proper manager but the results are the same. Scheduled classes but no instructors.

Since I began working out at LA Fitness over a week ago, I have been appalled by the lack of professionalism at the Michigan Rd & Conway Rd location.

It is a pity, because the facility itself is wonderful and fully equipped. Yet the staff are rude and lack professionalism.

Several times over many days LA Fitness staff at the Michigan and Conway Rd location have been dribbling a basketball through the workout area (both the carpeted floor with the weight machines and on the concrete floor in the free weight area - annoying and aggravating gym members).

Nevertheless the young men carry on happily as if the health club were for their personal enjoyment and continually disregard the guests.

Tonight when working out in the evening four LA Fitness staff (three black men and one tall white guy with a gotee) were working out and playing around in the free weight area and loudly dribbling their basketball.

Instead of racking weights and making themselves useful as is the norm at most health clubs, LA Fitness staff at Conway and Michigan linger around to chat with the girls, play among themselves and have fun.

Another example of behavior greatly lacking professionalism is as the time approached 10pm on Saturday, the white guy got on the microphone with a rough voice and said, "The gym's closed in 10 minutes." As soon as it was 10pm, another black employee got on the microphone and said, "Leave! Get out!"

A third sign of disrespect and behavior lacking professionalism is the manner in which the cleaning staff tidy up the bathrooms and mop the floors.

The cleaning guy (who appears to be Indian or Pakistani, around 50 years old or so) smells heavily with tobacco smoke - so much so I wonder if he even washes his clothes.

Even worse the floors get mopped well before closing time and are slick with no warning signs for members walking through to use the bathrooms. To the gym's credit the floors and bathrooms are cleaned seemingly well, but a bit slippery to walk upon without warning of them being wet.

Another complaint at LA Fitness is (unlike other health clubs) guests rarely bring towels and after using the equipment rarely bother bother to ever wipe them down with a paper towel afterward. This unsanitary manner makes the health club a breeding ground for infection and disease.

On May the 6th, one employee walking around on the gym floor (between 9pm to 10pm) lacked knowledge about the equipment and its whereabouts when two ladies needed help finding a missing hook to use the chest and shoulder machine.

Since many of the staff lack class and professionalism, so too have I experienced the same with a few of the members at the LA Fitness on Michigan & Curry Ford.

One evening a black gentleman talked on his mobile phone while using a cardio machine. He chatted on his phone loudly for a half an hour while other members painfully exercised around him and endured his disrespectful, self-centered behavior.

Tonight another guy (black) working out at the gym had his mobile phone playing music, although the LA Fitness music was already playing on the loud speaker.

I know by now those reading will think this guy is racist because I mentioned the ethnicity of the fellows acting disrespectfully. Not true. I voted for President Obama and befriend many black people in America, Africa, Haiti and elsewhere in the world where I have lived and traveled. I also have black friends in the United States.

In fact I have traveled to many war-torn nations throughout Africa on five separate trips, the first of which I slept in a tent for two of the three months I was there in the "bush" villages where there was no electricity and sometimes I was the first white man ever to be seen there.

So the argument that "He is racist doesn't fly." The fact is LA Fitness employees at Michigan and Conway need to be instructed in social grace, manners and professionalism.

As for the Pakistani or Indian looking gentleman responsible for cleaning, he seems polite and professional. He just smells a bit smokey to be working in a health club, but hey, pray for him maybe he will grasp the importance of good health as a result of working there. Nevertheless walking by him is pretty toxic to smell and breathe in the third-hand smoke on his body.

Oh yeah, I've been to India 5 times (lived there nearly a year) and have been to Pakistan twice ...so the racist argument doesn't work.

I only mentioned the ethnicity of the employees to help LA corporate management identify those needing some further training.

The LA Fitness female staff are kind and respectful, although many look spaced out mentally in their own world behind the front desk when I enter the health club. They don't greet guests happily with a smile upon arrival and half-heartedly do so when guests take the initiative to greet them.

Certainly this is not the norm for all LA Fitness clubs. The LA Fitness staff at other locations such as Colonial Drive (Orlando) are more proactive and professional.

The LA Fitness at Conway & Michigan for example on May 6th during the evening had used paper towels laying on the carpeted gym floor, which no employees who repeatedly walked by them ever bothered to pick up.

Again another sign the staff at LA Fitness at Conway & Michigan see the gym as their personal playground for their use and pleasure, rather than a place to professionally conduct business with integrity and represent a reputable company.

So to summarize, LA Fitnes at Conway & Michigan have:

1. Staff who are not friendly, not courteous and not professional.

2. Staff who are rude and disinterested in cleaning their own facility.

3. Staff who lack knowledge about their own gym equipment.

Hopefully LA Fitness corporate management and the Central Florida district manager can attend to these matters speedily to sustain the integrity of the company.

I like the LA Fitness facility, but the staff is definitely in need of professionalism and proper training in social etiquette and manners.

Probably the most professional of the staff at LA Fitness are the sales reps who work during the day, although about six months ago a heavy set latina sales rep was a bit rude when I discussed pricing with her compared to other health clubs in town.

Again the facility at LA Fitness on Conway & Michigan is relatively good. It's just the staff that one should be forewarned of and the annoyances mentioned above in my complaint.

The club has the poorest customer service of any place i have ever been. The front desk has the attitude that they are doing you a favor by being there. Every week night evening as early as 8:45 they announce the time and the time they are closing and instruct the members to plan their workouts accordingly.They do this no less than 4 times an hour and every 5 minutes near closing. There is one particular woman named Tamara who is obnoxious. She commenced with the usual harassment and announced at 9:45 9:50 and there after every 5 minutes and at 10:02 she proceeded to announce at top volume " the club is closed closed closed lease the club leave" repeating herself in a continuous loop until as i was walking by i asked her if she knew how annoying that was. She then replied " I don't care. I don't get paid for the extra 5 minutes so you can walk out slowly" I replied " but you know your ruining the last 5 minutes of every ones day" she said " I don't care you need to leave it is 10:05 and the gym closed at 10" after which i tried to reply but she continued to yell at me till i asked her name. I then said thank-you and left. Keep in mind there were no less than 15 people still in the gym.

The night before they blared a high pitched whining noise over the speakers every couple of minutes..

In this are my reasons for canceling with LA Fitness that I feel you need to be informed about. It is a real horror story that I fear will happen to more members presenting LA Fitness with trouble and a major lost in trust for the company. In October 2009 Both I and my fiancé wanted to join LA Fitness at the monthly membership fee of $30.00 a month. After much thought and consideration we decided to go in to sign up. We were nicely shown the premises by a staff member and found the facilities satisfactory.
Then we were quickly sat down at a table and talked to about the membership. We flatly said we just wanted a regular monthly membership nothing more. Then we were asked our goals for getting in to shape. I said my plan was to actually try to put on weight and mussel bulk because I have a very lean and tall frame . My fiancé just wanted to tone up nothing drastic. We were then quickly made to feel that there was a lot wrong with our bodies so our self esteem would be lowered. The membership process quickly turned into a negotiation that we should sign up for personal trainers. Before we could say anything another man sat down who was The training general manager (if you would like his name I would feel free to tell you)and started estimating monthly payments for personal trainers. We were baffled at how astronomical the prices were and quickly said no .He continued to say that our work outs and goals would be worthless without help from a trainer.
Since I was pretty serious about reaching my goal for an ideal body I finally let my guard down and became more interested. He made lots of promises that I would be so satisfied with my body that any price would be worth it. I was still very hesitant about the price and wanted to leave .He then wrote down and showed me that he could give me an “amazing” offer but only if I took it right away. I still basically said no thank you. Then he said what is it because you do not have the enough money ? I dumbly said with out thinking, Yeah I have money I’m waiting for a huge check actually. His eyes then turned to dollar signs I was just too naive to notice it at the time. He then offered me another deal and after much sweet talking I agreed to think about it. Since I hadn’t received my check yet it would have to be a couple days till I signed up for a trainer anyway. But then I received calls on my cell phone from the training general manager bluntly asking if I had received my check yet… because he would get in trouble from his boss for the “great” deal he was going to give me. He said I could pay a portion of the down payment right away so I could still get the deal that way he wouldn’t get in trouble. If this happened to me now I would say why the heck is it any of your business when I get my check. At the time though I didn’t want the guy to get in trouble because of me. So I went in and paid a portion of the down payment. While I was there I was then again asked if I had received my check or when I would. The calls also persisted until the day I actually did get my check and finished the down payment for the personal training sessions.
I was then rushed through the contract, he barley even let me touch the thing and just read what he thought was important . Also I found out that he only explained half of the truth about the cancellation and that the contract is very poorly written. I found this out when for some reason I received a call from a woman with LA Fitness 3 days later asking if I understood the terms of the contract and if I knew that I would have to pay 50% of the remaining balance to get out of it(50% of balance = a couple grand). I said no actually I did not know that, but that’s just great you tell me when I already signed.
Everything was down hill after that …I had training sessions canceled by the trainer even though they were made prior according to my busy schedule. The trainers were to lazy to bother to write down my work out routine in my issued La Fitness trainers notebook for my reference as well for the other trainers .Every time I went to a session I was handed off to a different trainer who had no prior knowledge of my fitness routines or goals. When I wanted to stay with one certain trainer they would try to plan the sessions for when was convenient for them not me. I was also told very many things by many different trainers about how long it take me to gain the mussel weight every thing from 3 months to a year. I was ignored on the parts of the body I wanted to work out. I also feel I was told to do work outs that would purposefully make my goal take longer so I would need the training longer. My favorite thing that happened was that guy who was so persistent in keeping track on me for when I got my check forgot to schedule me for a session I made with him prior… he was just to lazy to remember to write me in. When I told other people who belonged to other gyms how much I was paying they laughed. I was seriously paying half of my income and I never saw much result I was becoming more tone but not gaining bulk which was the whole point .I became so depressed and broke in fact I stopped going to the gym all together even though I was paying tons of money just because I resented it so much. It truly was one of the worst decisions of my life even though it should have been one of the best. The people knew they were taking advantage of a young couple because they thought we were gullible not because they actually wanted to help us in any way. I take responsibility for the decision I made and I had to pay for that decision by throwing thousands of dollars away for nothing .I hope LA Fitness cleans up there act before someone takes action a lot harder then me and it’s just a matter of time before someone does.