New York Sports Club

04/07/09

Nice gym, detrimental experience.

by Xenoness at Citysearch

My friends and I had made a deal with the manager here, because the price was too high. It was a great deal. I was happy. I was ready to tell my friends all about how great the gym was. With the deal, I bought a try-pack. The trainer was very nice, and has taught me (a first-time gym user) the basics and how to work out efficiently. I was very happy with the cleanliness and the general atmosphere of going to this gym. The deal I had made only sweetened the experience.

However, the deal wasn't to take effect until the 3rd month. At the beginning of the 2nd month, I received a phone call from one the sales associate who filed our contracts with the help of the manager. She said that the manager had been fired and the new management would not recognize this contract and my friends and I should come in to talk to the new manager.

We went there later to hopefully get this fixed. The sales associate who called us was not there. We spoke to a different one. She basically told us how the manager got fired for what he did and how our contracts were not being recognized. We'd have to pay the full $68.99 every month. We told her how this isn't what we signed for, but she said no one cared.

We showed her our contract that had in writing what we were supposed to pay each month. She asked to make copies of it. That's okay right? WRONG. I thought of the worse case scenario, and it happened. But before that, she told us we'd either have to cancel or pay the full price. After I said, I'd consult my parents, she said okay, and ushered new potential customers to the seats.

When we were leaving, my friend reminded me of the contracts. When I asked for them, she couldn't find them. She was too busy to look because she had other people to talk to. We were nice... we waited for her to finish. Afterwards, she told us to leave our names and phone numbers, and they'll try to find it by the next week. It sounded fishy to me. I knew those contracts were in the building at that very moment, and I wasn't about to leave without it. I already did one stupid thing. I wasn't about to do another.

After calling for help, and threatening to call the police, and the sales associate's unprofessional work ethic, I was getting light headed. I was scared. I was shocked. How could a company like NYSC take advantage of young adults? She either knew where they were or was playing it stupid or she was too busy to finish helping us. Both, I think are very wrong on her part.

She made us new contracts from the computer, but we kept telling her that we needed the ones we entrusted her with to make a copy -- the original that had in writing, our deal. She said it didn't matter. If we wanted to cancel our membership, just do it next week.

After being in NYSC for 2 hours, one of the employees behind the desk finds it underneath the table and hands it to us. I don't even know if the contract is worth fighting anymore. This event has scarred me, and I no longer want to have anything to do with NYSC. Even if I was able to fight for my contract, why should I give my hard-earned money (especially in this recession) to these greedy, unprofessional capitalists who take advantage of kindhearted people?

• Pros: Feels clean, no-low wait times
• Cons: Two-faced staff members who care too much about money