So we had heard stories of the managers allowing people's gym memberships to expire without notifying them, then swindling them out of renewal fees. We'd heard stories of one of the owners giving "injections" of some kind to certain clients after hours.... But these of course were just stories, right?.... -_-.....
So we signed up at a great deal on a family plan last summer, and for almost a year we enjoyed the gym, as well as the use of other anytime fitnesses, even out of state. Though as time goes on, the gym starts to get sketchy; when it rains, the roof leaks all over the floor and equipment, the personal trainers pretty much push you aside so their clients can use the equipment, for 6 months, there is only one working light bulb in the women's shower, and the detachable shower head goes missing in the men's, though the water cable that connected to it stays attached and still spouts water without the head, until it finally gets taken off all together. Even during business hours, weights are not reracked, there's paper towels all over the bathrooms, as well as no soap nor body wash for weeks. The whole place is really turning shabby.
A few months ago, my wife notices that the month's payment is more than double what she should've been charged. So she calls the owner Kim, who says that the guy who signed us up for the family plan didn't do it correctly, and while they were auditing their system, they noticed it and corrected it. My wife asks why she wasn't made aware of it before being charged for it. Kim spends the next 10 minutes blaming everyone possible except herself, saying it was the old manger's fault, then how it's the new manager's fault how it's my wife's fault. She keeps telling us that corporate could audit them any time, and if the saw how our accounts were set up it would get her in trouble; we repeat for the 5th time that we understand that concept, and we're not angry about that, we're angry that she charged my wife more than double the usual bill without so much as a phone call.... But oh that's the new managers fault not mine!.... We finally get her to agree to refund the difference back to us for this month and end the conversation telling her we're going to evaluate whether or not we still want to be members here.
A week goes by, no refund. My wife leaves a message inquiring, the new manager leaves her a message back saying that it's all taken care of and my wife's account has been cancelled.... WHAT?! NO refund, and they just CANCEL her account, again without even CALLING her! So my wife calls the gym, who answers of course? Kim. Within the first minute of the conversation, kim yells, "You know, I'm getting tired of you calling me up and giving me shit." We had not used profanity at all with her, and that's how she talks to clients, so after that all bets were off. Somewhere in the yelling, she asks if I want to know what she "did" with my account. It turns out I had been transferred to another Anytime, so Kim tells me that she kept the meter running at her gym and I owed them $153...... Yeeeeaaaah, that was kind of a heat of the moment oopsy daisy on her part, as there is nothing about that in my contract and is a clear attempt at extorting me. Needless to say this conversation accomplished even less than the first one. About 10 minutes later I get a call from my father (who's also a member at her gym) asking why Kim just called him and said that my wife and I called her up and started yelling at her for no reason, and using profanity with her *gasp!*. Excluding that she initiated the yelling and profanity. So now she's trying to cause drama in my family....
So my wife and I decide to email Kim to see if we can communicate without her screaming profanity at us. My wife receives no response at all, meanwhile I receive a tangled mess of explanation from the new manager (yes the same one Kim blamed all of the communication issues on in the first place), who's doing her best to backpedal Kim's ridiculous threats from the last phone conversation.....
I think you all see my point: ridiculous people, ridiculous business ethics, NIGHT. MARE. Clear enough?... Meanwhile the owner of the anytime at Gainey Ranch calls me and apologizes for how Kim treated us and offers my wife a free month at his location instead, since I still had a month to go. Anytime fitness is a great and convenient franchise, and we'll probably rejoin soon at a different location, but even if you live next door to Kim's gym, it's worth a drive across town to avoid her bs. You've been warned, proceed with this place at your own risk, or be smart and run for the hills (or the Gainey Ranch location).