Riverton Health and Fitness Center John Heller, Mike Colangelo Gym Filed A FALSE & ILLEGAL Criminal Harassment Complaint For Writing A Review, Bait-And-Switch With Membership Fees Riverton New Jersey

Although my wife and I have since relocated to London, we feel strongly enough about what transpired here to make it publicly known, so others, if treated in the same manner, know that this occurred to other patrons. Back in June 2017, after being a regular (5 days a week, 2 hours a day) for over 2 years at Riverton Health and Fitness, I witness absolutely horrific abuse committed by male staff against another female staff member. After speaking in private to the affected and shaken employee (from whom I still have ALL of the emails, texts and voicemails she left us regarding the incident!), I wrote a private complaint email to the Owner, who promptly ignored my complaint and attempted to intimidate me while I was working out at the gym the next day. After this, I did not return. About a week later, in the beginning of July, I decided to write an online review on Google and Yelp to share my experience. Over the next few weeks I received various emails stating that someone, I assume from Riverton Health & Fitness or associated with the gym, was removing my reviews under false pretenses. I would repost when I could, but I eventually just found it pathetic that the gym would go to such an extent to suppress a negative review and forgot about it.

During the first few days of August, I received in the mail a legally unethical CEASE AND DESIST letter from some DeVry educated traffic court attorney representing the owner of the gym. The letter threatened to sue me and call the police (LOL!!! Too Funny!!!) if I reposted the review again. About two days later, I received a CRIMINAL SUMMONS for HARASSMENT from the Riverton Police Department for writing the review. My wife and I have been told by people that these letters were intentionally timed to arrive a few days after we gave birth to our premature daughter, so that it would add to the enormous stress we already had. So, I went out and hired an attorney to handle the case for me, which is exactly the type of expenditure new parents are looking for the first few weeks of their premature child's life.

After receiving the Discovery documents, it was obvious the entire case was a joke and only got this far because of the Owner's connections to the local police. (In fact, over the years I had seen MANY local PD and Court "officials" working out at the gym, so this was no surprise). In those documents, it outlined how Mr Heller had gone to the extreme of actually CALLING YELP to have my review removed and attempted to have my account banned, because this is exactly what responsible business owners do. After Heller and his DeVry attorney showed up at court and were told that "There's no harassment for just a review and you have no evidence otherwise!", he and his attorney BEGGED AND PLEADED for more time to find additional evidence. Basically they were trying to prolong the judicial harassment they were using against me. After waiting 5 weeks, no evidence was submitted other than an ADDITIONAL ILLEGAL AND FALSE CRIMINAL complaint from one of Heller's employees, Mike Colangelo. I mentioned Colangelo in the previous review (which you can read below this), as he's the incompetent janitor that pretends to be a trainer while handing out towels, cleaning urinals and watching Fox News/Alex Jones. The odd part about this complaint was that I'd never had any contact with that "man" (and I use that term loosely), but since this establishment is apparently friends with law enforcement, I guess it's easy to find probable cause for a friend.

The cases have since been dismissed, which was obvious since it isn't harassment to review a local business on Yelp or Google, but it did take over a year. Since my intention has always been to simply have my review online to share my experience, in case it is removed again, I have some friends working on a website: RivertonHealthandFitnessSUCKS.com where I will be posting both reviews along with all of the unredacted court documents (and the aforementioned emails, texts and voicemails) so everyone else can laugh at these people's stupidity as my attorney and I constantly did. For some reason, instead of rectifying the appalling situation that occurred at his failing business, the Owner would rather waste time and money HARASSING long-time customers who approach him with extremely valid complaints. In my case, I wasted no time or money as my family was more than happy to provide all legal fees and my attorney was able to ensure I barely had to appear to this circus, but I know that others may not be so fortunate, which is why it's important not to let sub-human scum like these people attempt to intimidate and silence those who are doing the right thing.

#RivertonHealthandFitness #RH&FC #JohnHeller #MikeColangelo #MikeColangeloFitness #BodySculptingbyMike

***Below is the original review from July 2017 in its entirety.***
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I've been a member for two years now and go 5 days a week for roughly 2 hours a day. When I first started, the gym was clean, friendly, had a nice group of regular customers who came to actually work-out (not sit on a recumbent bike reading texts) and were also respectful of their environment. The past 8 months or so, things have changed as attendance isn't what it was and the atmosphere is now much different. The premises are no longer clean. The "newer" customers (who tend to be steroided-up frat bros with no respect, and quite frankly, no idea what they're doing) leave the equipment sweaty and, many times, covered in chalk. The wooden floor in the Studio (where classes are held) appears to not have been swept or cleaned since the Carter administration.

The Staff (including Trainers) at RH&F are about as useful as the malfunctioning cab driver from Total Recall. When not making offensive (and often racist) jokes to customers sharing their political views, they are openly disrespectful and, quite frankly, verbally abusive to women with whom they work. Not even two weeks ago I witnessed one of the gym's main class instructors kindly ask that a steroided frat bro stop repeatedly dropping a barbell loaded with 500 lbs, as it was completely disrupting a class on the floor below. I then got to watch as two gym Trainers and the Assistant Manager called her a "b----" and verbally abused her in front of other customers. The Staff then ENCOURAGED the other customers present to join in. This is especially rich, knowing that there is a well-known domestic abuser from the area on staff. After I emailed the owner about the incident, the next day he called me out in front of the staff I wrote him about, which then made the gym a VERY hostile environment.

The two trainers on staff, both with the same common name, appear to have attended the Hollywood Upstairs Medical College of Physical Training. One of the two has a "success" story poster as you walk by the front desk. That "success" occurred about a decade ago at a different gym. If you're a trainer, with no recent success stories (especially at your current gym), and you consistently run sales putting your price point around that of Walmart Ramen noodles, maybe you should consider becoming an Uber driver. The other one is rude and misogynistic and appears to know about as much regarding training as I do about building a Flux Capacitor. Check out his Facebook page to see his halcyon days of Winstrol and then compare it to what he looks like now. The only thing this guy is training for is to challenge Joey Chestnut. So, if it's a choice between these two or breaking out your old VCR to go "Sweatin' To The Oldies", you're pretty much guaranteed a better workout with Richard and the gals.

Due to all of this, I will now be going to a different local area gym. It's a shame too, because I very much enjoyed and looked forward to my workout here, but it's just not the place it used to be. After the membership promotions to get you in the door, the price becomes $42.50 a month (classes an extra $10 on top) and I just feel it's no longer worth the premium if I'm going to be dealing with all of these issues on a daily basis. Still, it's entirely your choice, just thought I'd throw my experience out there. Thanks for reading!

#RivertonHealthandFitness #RH&FC #JohnHeller #MikeColangelo #MikeColangeloFitness #BodySculptingbyMike