The Sports Club/LA - New York On The Upper East Side

11/22/11

AVOID.

by CaseyF

I needed to cancel my membership because moving out of town - wow, they were absolute jerks about it. I would advise anybody to really think twice before signing up here, because they will pound you with negative energy when the time comes to go another way. AVOID.

11/10/11

Rip Off!

by uppereast4ever

Dont believe all the hype this gym is just like any other-really rude sales and management, broken treadmills, classes that are over crowded, except that you are playing $172 a month unless you got a under 30 discount and are only paying $130! They harass you about guest passes, billing issues this isnt't worth the money

01/09/11

The Y is better and Cheaper!

by 3goldens

This was a great gym before the current management, a greedy real estate corporation, took over and started it on its path to ruin.

What was once a clean, well run facility, is now a completely run down sorry excuse for a gym with ancient equipment that is in total disrepair, with a staff that cares little for the membership or for their jobs for that matter, preferring to chat on their cell phones instead of doing the job they were hired to do.

Management cares little for membership and only for collecting membership dues were are extraordinarily high and for what, crap service and lousy equipment.

Honestly folks, you will get a bigger bang and a grateful thank you from the folks at the Y.

But if your a snob and can't tolerate the thought of joining a club that possibly might be perceived as not as acceptable with your pathetic friends, then you'd better join Equinox at least its better than this shameful excuse for a sports club!

09/08/10

nice gym, nice staff, crap management.

by janaynay

First, the pros.

This is a nice facility with lots of space, and they even have a pool. I lucked out when I joined because they waived the insane application fee and allowed me a month-to-month membership. The best part of the gym is definitely the roof deck lounge. For the most part the workers are incredibly nice, and I had a great private trainer for my free session. The class instructors are mostly nice and supportive, although one of the pilates guys was kind of a bitch.

Now, the cons. Obviously, you are going to get a lot of snotty a-holes on the UES, so it's no surprise lots of people ignore the "please don't talk on your cellphone" signs and come to classes late without apology. I was a bit annoyed to find gum in one of the showers, and the pool could stand to be cleaned more frequently. Also, the pool is incredibly small-only two lanes and half the time some guy is hogging the bigger lane by giving kids private swim lessons.

But the real problem- my cancellation. I gave my notice in writing on July 30th that I would be leaving the gym due to a move. It took days for them to get back to me after two e-mails and a phone call, but I was assured over the phone that my cancellation would be processed and I would not be billed for the month of September. Come September 3rd (a Friday before a holiday weekend, of course) they charged me anyway. I called immediately and was told I was being reimbursed and that I should see the refund on the 4th. Knowing this was bunk due to it being a Friday, I expected the money to come through on Tuesday the 7th after labor day. But-shock!-no money returned to my account. I called the gym again, uber pissed at having my budget so screwed up. I requested e-mail confirmation that my account was actually going to be refunded. Never got it. Went to the bank, spoke to a rep, no indication of a pending refund. Wrote to the gym again. The only person who has contacted me has been the woman who signed me up- She was incredibly apologetic but has nothing to do with cancellations and refunds. She also e-mailed the cancellation guy with a CC to me and requested confirmation of the refund as well. Still nothing. I gave them the following options:

1) provide written confirmation immediately

2) cut me a check so I don't have to keep waiting for money that never should have been deducted from my account

3) piss me off more by ignoring me and have me contest the charge through my bank, and file complaints to customer service.

Obviously options 1 and 2 didn't happen, because here I am. My wallet is the bull- I am the horns. Even with the deals I got, this is in no way shape or form a cheap gym. Considering the money I have invested in them over the past 11 months, this is completely unacceptable. Of course they don't care about keeping an ex-member happy, but they should because word of mouth is an important marketing tool. After this review I plan to send scathing letters of complaint to every level of customer service I can find contact information for. Do yourself a favor and get your workout for free by walking in the park.

04/27/10

Poor Club Management

by NYCreviewerToo

My husband and I were members at this club for years. The original owners sold the club to a large, real estate firm and things went down from there. In an effort to cut costs, the club took away the industry-average sized towels and replaced them with what looked like hankerchiefs. The gym facilities began showing wear - so, for your sky-high membership dues, you got to enjoy dirty, torn carpets, poorly patched walls and they took away the flowers in the reception area - all for cost-cutting reasons. Then, and this was the capper, I and several women members had problems with another member (male) who would only use one particular piece of equipment. This guy was a nut. If you were using "his" piece of equipment he would literally stand or sit in front of you, while you or another woman member was exercising, until you or the other member left. And this guy would do this when there were twenty other treadmills free. Several of us went to management to complain but the "manager" in charge did nothing but "have a chat" with this member who then continued to behave in the same way. I, my husband and a number of other women members decided to leave. So we joined a Sports Club LA competitor and have been happy ever since.

• Pros: Large facility
• Cons: Junior staff promoted to management positions