ComplaintsforOlympia Athletic Club

• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I joined this gym in January of 2022. I was going more frequently but started going less and less with the problems I was encountering. Old men would stand over top of me while I was on machines making me feel uncomfortable and a lot of the amenities in the ladies room didn't work most of time which is the one of main reason I joined because this gym had a steam room,sauna,and whirl pool. I decided to cancel my membership in July after making several complaints to staff and was charged over $900 to end my contract. I told them it was ridiculous to charge this much when what I signed up for I hardly ever got to use because they never worked. I was also turned away from the pool several times because of a pool party,etc. was going on so just a bunch of wasted trips for nothing. I have contacted the gym on fb messenger again asking for a refund after seeing a post/thread on a online *** group of several people complaining of the same thing. I read that that the whirlpools have since been filled with cement and I know a lot of people join to use the amenities in the locker room. The owners responded to my initial complaint back in July with a very basic response saying they take these issues seriously but so far haven't heard anything back about a refund.

  Business response

  09/28/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/09/14) */ I became the new Gm in April of 2022 and was not made aware that this member was being harassed by other members at the gym and there was never a formal complaint filed. As far as things being out of order, yes we have had some transition issues since I became manager in April. We have spent over 50K since I have been here on repairs. The amenities in the ladies locker room were not working at the time she mentioned, however, were fixed a few months ago. We do allow the opportunity for members to reserve the pool at certain times on the weekend for private parties. We clearly post signs and are now advertising this weeks in advance on social media. We started to offer pool party reservations in April 2022. Between April and June 10, 2022 (date she canceled membership) we had a total of 3 pool part reservations. The reservations are for 2 hours and made avail 2-4pm Fri, Sat, Sun. This is the slowest time at our club. I also looked at her check ins and she never checked in on the days we had those pool parties. Yes, we filled in hot tubs as they got little use and were a great expense. New ownership has the right to make changes to health club as needed. After reviewing notes when she cancelled, there is no mention about hot tubs, sauna, or steam room. Her main issue was with people looking at her when working out. This member now wants a refund because she belongs to a facebook group that had some complaints and now believes she should receive a refund based on other complaints after agreeing to pay the balance due on her contract agreement to settle account, which is now void. To summarize this member originally wanted a refund because she didn't like to exercise in a crowded gym, as people looked at her. It then became an issue after cancelling, that the pool was not available during a few slow hours on the weekend, and now the locker room amenities were not up to par. She now wants this refund 2 months later, after cancelling her membership and agreeing to pay the balance owed on contract commitment, because she saw a Facebook post. With that said, we review each request by our members that wish to cancel their membership. Each situation is different. Because she already cancelled her membership and agreed to pay the balance of her contract commitment in full, her contract agreement is void and no refunds will be issued. This is clear extortion of money through social media influence. She signed a contract agreement and we required payment to fulfill her agreement. She agreed to pay the balance on contract to settle account. Her original reason to cancel was that she felt uncomfortable because men were looking at her in the gym. It has now exploded into Locker rooms not working, pool closers, and nothing works here. We have remedied ALL those issues. I can provide documentation on this members check ins, pool reservations, and work done to fix broken amenities, as well as her signed contract agreement. Consumer Response /* (3000, 8, 2022/09/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I never did say I was harassed or that I didn't like working out in a crowded gym or people staring at me. I said that I felt uncomfortable with older men standing over top of me while on a machine or them pacing back and forth in front me waiting to get on the machine I was on. I thought the manager was incredibly rude when he suggested I join a female only gym via email. My membership was canceled on July 7th not June 10th like stated above. I have already talked to my credit card company and I have screen shots of me messaging the Olympia Facebook page hoping to speak to the manager or owners about this situation from that day. I showed up there on the evening of July 1st or 2nd with my nephew going to pay for him to swim and was told no and that I would have to wait because the owners were having a pool party. My nephew who is 7 was in tears and that was the final straw for me. I expressed my displeasure back in July when I cancelled through that Facebook message about having to pay that much when the experience there in general was not the greatest. A lady made a Facebook post about similar experiences that I complained about and the fact that the locker room amenities(steam room,whirlpool,and sauna)were hardly ever in working order. She was asking basically if they would give her a hard time about canceling her contract. I private messaged her later on to see if her issue was resolved. She said the manager tried to make her feel bad over her Facebook post but that he ultimately let her cancel with no penalty. Me and her were members about the same amount of time, we had similar issues, but yet she wasn't charged anything to cancel and I was charged over $900. That's not right in my opinion. I have screenshots that I'm willing to provide our private messages and comments from other people about their issues. The manager in my opinion seems to want to make this just about one or two issues when in fact there were several. Bottom line is when you pay for service you should be able to use them. Don't have people sign a contract and take them on tour and show what all the gym has to offer then don't provide them what they thought they were paying for. Please note that I have the original screenshot messages from July 7th (actual cancellation date)of me messaging the Olympia Facebook page. This will show the difference between what the manager is claiming now I stated to cancel vs what I actually said I was canceling for. These messages are date and time stamped.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩