24 Hour Fitness USA 24 Hour Fitness Unsanitary/Hazardous Conditions Sunnyvale California

 Jessica V

Member Number# NU04071

San Jose, CA 95123

24 Hour Fitness USA Inc.

Attention: Customer Service

12647 Alcosta Blvd #500

San Ramon, CA 94583

November 25, 2014

Re: Customer Complaint for 24 Hour Fitness at 1211 E Arques Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085

To Whom It May Concern,

I have been a 24 Hour Fitness member for about three months now, since Sept. 2014.  I was a member of Retro Fitness in San Jose, CA before that.  I changed gyms because I needed a gym closer to my work location in Sunnyvale, CA.  I have been going to 24 Hour Fitness at 1211 E Arques Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085 for the past three months.  This has to be the worst gym I have ever been to and I’m appalled I’m actually paying for this.

The gym is filthy and old.  The stretch mats are cracked and falling apart.  There are not enough sanitizing stations/purell dispensers within the gym and when I ask staff to refill the sanitizing spray or paper towels I get attitude and pushback.  Weight machines barely work or they are so outdated no one knows how to use them.  The women’s locker room is disgusting.  There is a sign stating the locker rooms are cleaned every morning at 12am, but I’m not sure what they are cleaning because they are in the same condition as when I left the morning before.  The women’s locker room reeks of sewer water and the bathroom toilets are always over flowing.  The women’s showers are dark, old and many of them flood while you are showering.

On Monday, Nov. 17th I got to the gym at 5:30am to find out that the women’s showers were closed due to repairs done over the weekend.  Now, I am left to figure out how I shower before work.  The showers were reopened on Tues. Nov. 18^th.   So the women’s showers were closed from Sat. Nov. 15^th- Tues. Nov. 18^th?  There’s no way this work could have been done and completed on the weekend to ensure you’re paying customers had working facilities to use when business resumes back to normal on Monday morning? 

This really is unacceptable.  This is the second time these showers have been closed due to repairs and the second inconvenience 24 Hour Fitness has caused me.  I live in South San Jose and commute to 24 Hour Fitness Arques in Sunnyvale first thing in the morning (4:45AM) to work out and shower before work.  If I cannot count on 24 Hour Fitness to at least have showers available to its members then why am I paying for this gym?  Additionally, on Tues. Nov. 18^th I called the Arques location at 4:45am before I left my home to verify the showers were working and I received the automated message that the service desk was closed and I needed to call back during normal business hours.  I thought 24 Hour Fitness Normal Business Hours are…just that 24 hours?  Apparently not.  So, I take a chance and drive over to the gym and the only employee working at the gym is sitting behind the desk on his phone.  So this is why your service desk is closed?  Again, I’m appalled that 24 Hour Fitness management finds this acceptable customer service. 

To date: Mon. Nov. 24^th two of the women’s showers are still inoperable.  I have included pictures of the condition the showers have been left in after the “shower closure” last week.  I was told acid was poured down the drains to try to remedy the plumbing situation.  That’s great, but the sewer residue couldn’t be cleaned up before you reopened the showers?  You can smell the stench of sewer water permeating throughout in the women’s locker room.  Also, the air quality in the women’s locker room is not well ventilated and recently, I have noticed I’m experiencing reoccurring headaches while I’m getting ready for work in there.   

Another incident: On Nov. 8th I went to the Cottle, CA location to work out with a friend.  I was told my friend would need to pay $15 to work out for one hour.   Are you kidding me?  My dues for one month are $30.  Why would someone pay $15 for a one hour workout?  That’s like a car dealership saying you can’t test drive our cars, but you can pay to test drive it?  I was never charged at Retro Fitness for bringing in a guest. 

Last but not least, I was recently in the Emergency Room on Nov. 12, 2014 due to a staph infection in my leg.  I was bedridden for one week due to the swelling in my leg.  The doctor explained that it’s extremely common to pick up the Staph bacteria or even MRSA from the gym due to dirty equipment, folks not wiping down the equipment after use and gym management not properly sanitizing equipment on a regular basis.  Again, another example of how disgusting and filthy these facilities are. 

I’m really saddened by the way 24 Hour Fitness has treated me and I regret switching my membership from Retro Fitness to 24 Hour Fitness.  I am a Business Management Graduate with a concentration in Marketing and I also work within the field.  As a business major, I am extremely familiar with Marketing Aspects of Business.  Marketing 101- Rule of thumb… your best Marketing Advertisement is WORD OF MOUTH because it’s FREE!!!  As a Business and Marketing major, I know that an unsatisfied customer will tell more people about the unpleasant experience than he/she would, had they had a pleasurable experience with that company/product.   Bottom line, unhappy/unsatisfied customers don’t just return a product if they are unhappy about it… they will return the product PLUS tell 25 of their closest friends, coworkers and relatives about how awful the experience was. 

Last but not least, since October 2013 I have lost over 140 pounds/7 dress sizes.  For Christmas I will be showcasing my weight loss transformation to my friends, family and co-workers.  I would love to give 24 Hour Fitness credit towards helping me achieve such a significant amount of weight lost, but unfortunately I have to admit this gym has been nothing but a hindrance and a source of frustration.  I will be sure to let all of my friends, family and co-workers know how dissatisfied I am with this gym; from the constantly broken/overflowing showers and toilets, filthy gyms and locker rooms, picking up a Staph infection from dirty equipment, being charged for my guest to workout, horrible customer service and last the challenge of finding weight/cardio machines that actually work.  Again, I’m embarrassed and appalled that I’m actually paying for this and I will be shopping around for another gym.

Thank you,

Jessica V