"1"^^ . . "4"^^ . . "I started at this gym in December of 2010 - at that time it was Cardinal fitness. After I joined I saw a lot of improvements to the location and equipment and was happy there at $20/month plus a $40 yearly fee. At this rate I was allowed to go to any location and bring in a guest. In April of 2012 the gym was purchased by Charter Fitness and things started going downhill. I finally ended my membership in May 2015. During this 4.5 year span I visited this gym 641 times (I keep a chart). I'm 6' 1\", 220lb with visible abs, and can run a 5.5 minute mile, so I know a little bit about fitness and I've also visited many fitness facilities around the country.\n\nAfter Charter bought the place there was a huge increase in posters, banners, and ads all over the gym, and a complete dissolution of repair and upkeep efforts. Charter also advertised a lower $10/mo rate but I stuck with my $20/mo deal since I liked bringing in guests. In the 3+ years that Charter has owned the gym I've not seen any significant improvement or repair. There are several wall mirrors that were broken that were removed but never replaced. A broken water fountain was removed and never replaced (they just pushed a towel rack where it used to be). Simple things like shoulder pads for the squat rack are always busted and ignored. The ceiling near the locker rooms has been leaking almost a year now and the staff keep cycling out buckets. Worn out gym mat? Just toss it and don't replace it.\n\nI used to bring in lots of tenants (I own properties nearby) and friends as guests, and more than a dozen have become members. Strangers at the gym (even people who were using Charter's trainers) started asking for workout advice, but I remembered my contract disallowed training/instruction of any kind without written permission. I approached the managers one day and explained that I'd been bringing in a lot of new people and that people would frequently ask me how to do things and that I wanted to be able to instruct them without violating my contract terms. I was told very rudely and sternly that if I was seen instructing they would have to stop me and that I would never get permission to do so because it would be \"taking money out of their trainer's pockets\", even if I was doing it for free. I stopped bringing in guests and generally stopped helping other people at the gym.\n\nTwice during my membership there were promotions to get free months. I qualified twice but never got the months off my bill. Cheated $40.\n\nWhat finally made me cave was when I tried for the umpteenth time to switch down to the $10/mo rate. I'd been paying $20 for years after the $10 was advertised but since I stopped bringing in guests I started to inquire about switching to the base rate. Same story every time: \"oh, if you switch now there'll be these fees but if you wait there might be a new promotion next month.\" Getting irritated I spoke to AGM Daniel Wiggs, and GM Jonathan Hinds telling them that I'd been a customer for almost 5 years and I just wanted to pay the same rate that's advertised on the sign, but got the same bullshit about how it was impossible to waive the fees etc... They wanted to keep the $20 monthly I'd just paid the day before, charge $40 to cancel, charge another $20 monthly plus the $40 yearly because you have to notify 30 days in advance and those were upcoming within the next 30 days, then charge $40 to rejoin, then $10 monthly. Did you follow that? $160+10 for an existing member to get the advertised rate. I argued with them for 10 minutes and was told numerous times that it wasn't even possible for them to change the fees because they don't have control of it and that I'd have to contact ABC Financial. Hinds was unprofessional and rude the entire time - I can't believe anyone who hire a guy like that to manage their gym. At one point he walked away from me in the middle of talking to check on some sports game on the tv. Finally he snakeishly asked, \"if we got rid of the $40 cancellation fee would you sign a new contract today?\" At this point I was furious because he'd clearly just lied to me over and over about not being able to alter the fees. I called him out on this and he tried to feed me more lies. I told them I was done with their gym, cancel my membership I'm not dealing you anymore, and left. Afraid of further charges, I simply canceled that credit card. A few months later I did go back as a guest and was turned away because I had a past-due account - $123.90 due. Apparently Hinds never processed my cancellation. \n\nChecked around - it seems difficult to find anyone who hasn't been through some billing hassle with Charter. Many simply ended up eating the cost of absurd fees. Since quitting Charter I've successfully steered several of my new tenants and friends away from the gym and will continue to do so until they change their tactics. If you're still considering joining, just figure in ~$100-200 in extra bullshit."^^ . "1"^^ . . "1"^^ . "2016-03-22T00:00:00"^^ .