I am a certified group fitness instructor. I have been teaching in the area of group fitness for over 20 years. I currently teach at various facilities thoughout NJ. I was employeed by Lucille Roberts for 3 years. New management at the facility decided to hire another fitness instructor to replace me when I was on vacation. I was never told this was going to happen or even given the curtosey until I came in to teach and was told at that time. When I asked why this happened the manager told me she was trying to be fair. I asked fair to whom. She said the new instructor she hired was only able to teach on one particular day so she decided to give her my position. How is this fair to a dedicated employee who has always been there to teach? I did have one other class on the group fitness schedule. I came into teach my class and immediately following my class the manager informed me that I was no longer needed at the facility. When I asked why she told me I was late for class and the new instructor has "tripled" the class numbers. First of all this is impossible. My classes were very well attended and held approximately 50 people. It would be impossible for the room to hold 150 partcipants. I was given no verbal or written warining when this occured.

There are other instructors at the facility that are not certifiied to teach group fitness and do not hold a current CPR certification which is a mandatory requirement for anyone that teaches in the industry. I am also of the opinion that I was let go because I am the only male caucasion instructor at the facility. Most of the instructors and staff of our latino decent. These instructors are guilty of infractions such as not showing up for thier classes, being late and calling out, yet they are still employeed by Lucille Roberts.

This has never happened to me before at any facility I have worked at. I was treated with total unprofessionalism. I don't know what recourse I have at this point, but I just wanted other instructors and members considering this facility to be aware.

I have been trying to cancel my contract since the beginning of March. I have tried calling their customer service number daily and it is constantly busy. I keep getting bills and threats of it going to collection! What I have decided to do is get their main address, send my $50 to break contract and report them to the Better Business Bureau. They are awful! Old, broken machines and the hours are quite inconvenient!

Lucillie Roberts changed the original billing information I had provided them with, charging the wrong account for five months. They then sent a postcard to the wrong name requesting payment for that five month period of time. I tried to contact them to fix the matter and was unable to reach anyone in customer service for three months. In that time period, they continued charging me but would not allow access to the gym because the account status is bad. When I finally reached a supervisor-Sherri- in the customer service department she accused me of lying about my knowledge of the unpaid account, refused to attempt to resolve the matter and told me I had to pay the full balance even for the months I was not allowed access to the gym. She would try to reach an agreement for a payment but hung up on me. I attempted to reach her again, she refused to take the call.

I joined Lucille Roberts in 2007. I signed a 1 year contract at 20.00 a month. I paid my bill in full, at the end of the 12 months my contract was up and I received a receipt with a 0. balance. I was told by the rep that I had nothing more to worry about as far as a bill goes. Today, in 2009, I get a call from Lucille Roberts telling me that I owe over 325.00 because I had never called or emailed them to cancel my membership. I explained to them the situation, and I was told that it was my responsibility to cancel even after I received a zero balance and was told that my membership was cancelled. I have since contacted the State Attorney Generals office to file a complaint. Beware!

I joined the gym on 1/5/09 only to find out by noon the same day, I had to cancel. Due to medical issues, so i phoned around 2 pm, as was told to fax all papers to 212-734-9807 which was done at 7pm on 1/5/09. They also said on 1/7/09 that the papers must be send to them within 4 days to get a full refund. So on 1/8/09, at 8am I sent out all there paperwork -express mail which cost $13.00 & they received it 1/09/09 & I also have the proof. So after 7 calls which I'm keeping track of they just told me today, 2/10/09 they finally processed the fax, from 1/5/09 but they didn't process the express mail which they received 1/8/09. When you call one must have plenty of time since its a long time to get a person. So I will see if by next week I can get a better answer. There customer service people are terrible and don't know how to talk, very guetto...don't know how they are in business...as see they have numerous compliants against them so how do they stay open is beyond me...