Life Time Fitness

Absolutely the rudest staff, with obviously not well trained employees. I had continually brought a guest with me 3 times a week for about 2 months without trouble. The same guest and I went one night and were stopped, the employee asked for my guest’s ID (which had never occurred previously in my history of being a member for the past 5 years). They made him go back to his car to retrieve it. Upon returning to the front desk they informed us of a rule stating that a guest can only be brought once every 60 days otherwise there is a fee. Not only had I never before heard of this, but find it quite absurd. For how expensive this gym is, and how horribly rude the staff is, you should be able to bring ONE guest with you more than once every few months for crying out loud. After stating to them that we were unaware of the rule, and had been here recently, the woman sarcastically said to my guest «Well now even though I don’t have your ID on file, I should just not let you in because you verbally told me you had been here less than 60 days ago.» He then pleaded just for this one time to be let in and two more members of the staff came up and made him sign a waiver. Of course, he wanted to read what he was signing, and another member of staff who arrived (a man) says to him «Dude just sign right there.» And when my guest states that he just wanted to read it, the employee looks at me, points to my guest and says «Is he always like this? What is he a lawyer?» Sarcastically. I found it incredibly rude and unprofessional. Needless to say that was my final trip to lifetime fitness and I will be cancelling my membership because of this absurdity.

Lifetime Fitness itself stands for exceptional facilities and normally exceptional customer service. You are paying a premium to go there and it should be held up to high standards in both. I consider the club at the Rim in San Antonio as the gold standard for the other Lifetime clubs I visit. The club at Cinco Ranch does not stand up to this standard. Now I will tell you that the club is immaculate like the other clubs. Everyone is always cleaning. But where it fails is in customer service. Being in the customer service field I know that this is crucial in retaining membership or customers.
I come to this gym a few times a week and to this point I have not had one person greet me at the front it in the gym itself. The front desk people are too busy looking at their phones to stop and greet people as they come in. Even if I say hello it’s almost as if they can’t be bothered. I sat and watched one evening and the girl at the front never looked up from her phone. Three young guys came in never got scanned in, who knows if they were members. I asked a few other members if this is normal at Cinco Ranch and I was told yes the attitude is the norm. Whether that is the case it not, they club offers a service and it’s expected that they back that service with exceptional customer service. I get it — we all hate our jobs sometimes but at least look interested when you are there. As I said I like the facility very much and I will keep coming as it is the closest facility near me but would it hurt to have a modicum of customer service here?

I’ve been to a lot of gyms in the past 15 years and I absolutely love this gym. The cinco ranch area is beautiful, plenty of parking. Both inside and out pools for adults and kids. The sauna room is spacious and very hot compared to other gyms, with a generous view of the pool area. Machines are very ergonomically built.
Lifetime can be a little pricey but for what they offer, its worth the payment, in my opinion. Huge basketball area, spinning classes, rock climbing, awesome childcare and EXTREMELY friendly staff.

This gym is the most money hungry establishment with the most rudest customer service reps. I have downgraded account I have requested cancellations and they are like the greasy used car salesmen which will purposely give excuses after excuses to not let u cancel and keep assessing charges. I will never recommend this organization will ensure my company relo reps never suggest this membership and will ensure by word of mouth what a joke this organization is. It’s no wonder membership is down hard up for money is not a surprise the way they are losing members. And tell your trainers to get real jobs and lay off the steroids.

This place will tell you anything to join. The salesmen are so pushy and tell you things that are not apart of the «sign up special». The personal training department is a joke. Everyday I receive emails begging me to come back and join. NEVER AGAIN IN MY LIFE. I paid $ 96 a month for this place. Sure, its beautiful and has a lot to offer, but the locker rooms are quite disgusting. Trash is overflowing, bathrooms are gross, locker rooms have dirt and stuff carved into the wood and the gym equipment needs some cleaning. There are no wipes or disinfectant to clean the machines before or after your use. Unless your «average» height — the machines won’t work for you. The seats don’t adjust and if they do they need some major WD40. Ive spoke with managers many times. Everyone seems to give me a run around. I made an appointment for the free «Move it session» they offer. The trainer called 25 minutes prior to my appointment and cancelled with no apologies. I sign up the next week with another trainer and show up. Guess what… «sorry they took you off my schedule. walk over there to that desk and see if someone can help you.» Now since I’ve complained and emailed the General Manager — everyone seems to be emailing me and giving me «free» sessions. NO THANKS. I was a member for 9 days and it was the worst ever. The only somewhat decent thing was the pool and hot tub (when its working). Please if your checking this facility out, do your research. The outside may be gorgeous, but the inside is absolutely a joke and filthy.

I came back on PCS leave for about 27 days before i redepart for my next duty station. I went to Life Time to stay in shape. I went to the counter explained I was literally there in between assignments and asked if they had any military rates for people in this situation. The answer was a swift no. I’m not the type of guy who feels entitled to anything because I’ve been in service. At the same time it was so cold and business life it made me feel uncomfortable. I buy the 30 day membership for $ 100 thinking there was no other offer. So I work out which was a good one. The gym was nice the staff was cool but for 100 a month?! Not even close to worth it. I leave the gym and after second thought I was like what this is dumb. I call 24 hour fitness and they are like «Hey we support the troops we can set you up with a free month pass.» I thank him and call Lifetime back explaining the situation. They were less than cooperative. I was on hold for 20 minutes before they debated giving me a refund. And when I said thank you for helping me out the sales rep said bye snorting and hung up on my face. I will never go back

Gym organized a street based running event, but failed to provide any advance publicity along the route. While this would normally be annoying, the event took place during the evening rush. Rather than being able to reroute and avoid the inevitable backups, I fell headlong into it. The final portion of my drive that normally takes under 10 minutes took 30.
We’ve had triathlons and marathons in Katy before, and the routes will have signs for a week or more in advance letting people know what to expect. Not here. This seems to be part and parcel the Lifetime attitude.

5 stars for the cleanliness of the gym. 0 stars for this one super rude lady (with the biggest attitude ever) named JACKIE.

I am currently an active member of Lifetime since June on a single membership. Let me start off by saying that they have beautiful facilities and equipment and I have always enjoyed using this facility. However, today I had an experience that left a really bad taste in my mouth.
They have been hosting an open house this weekend and the sign clearly states that people can come in and tour and try out the facilities for free. Well, I have been pestering my husband to join the gym for awhile and also get my 8 year old signed up so that they could utilize all of the awesome programs that I see advertised. I figured what better weekend to go and see how they liked the club than during an open house?!
We arrived and I told the front lady that I am already a member but I wanted to possibly upgrade to a family membership. The lady paged a membership person and from there the experience went downhill. I don’t want to name names, but the membership advisor could not have been more disinterested in helping us. The tour felt forced, he barely answered any questions and he acted like we were inconveniencing him. I wanted my husband to get the same kind of service I received when I signed up, but apparently the sales staff is only interesting in signing up new memberships and not helping current members. My husband was completely disgusted by the lack of enthusiasm during the tour. He said that I was more helpful than the LT rep.
The final straw was the LT rep stated that they were running a special for new members that would allow children to be put on a new account for half the price, but I was not eligible because of my existing status. This really ticked me off because I was willing to sign up my husband TODAY, which would have been approximately $ 70 a month in extra dues to LT, but they were unwilling to match their promotion.
I left today feeling that LT is only interested in the bottom line and does not care about their existing member base. This is not a good way to run a business and I may think twice about keeping my membership at this point.

Yes it’s expensive, but there is value within the expense. Whatever WAS wrong with the child watch appears to have gotten better, my kids love it. I love that they have children’s exercise classes at 5:30. In fact when factoring in my 3 children and the classes they take this gym is less expensive than the Y or 24 hour fitness, which is kind of shocking but at the Y all the children’s activities are extra and 24 Hour fitness wanted $ 39 a month per child for child watch (same as an adult) with ZERO access to classes or workout equipment… so if you’re one of the people that doesn’t like children at the gym, check out the 24 Hour on Mason.
Nicest facility of all the ones I toured. Love the towels and the locker thing and the shampoo and hair dryers. Sure I could bring all that stuff from home but it makes it a lot easier if I don’t have to.
Love the group fitness classes. Often 4 rooms going at once. Sometimes they are a bit crowded and I think they would benefit from adding a few more classes.
On the upside, I have never seen the cardio area even remotely full… there is always a machine open, always something to do.
The trainers and constant up selling, UGH. I managed to make $ 148 a month for the 4 of us fit into my budget but I have to be honest, my fitness budget is tapped out, please stop.

I’m a member here because there are a FEW group classes I love but, honestly, this place really sucks. The women’s locker room (and the upstairs restroom) is always filthy! It’s rare to find toilet paper in the stalls and there are more broken lockers than functioning ones. Group fitness is great for the most part. Pilates is good EXCEPT that the yoga people control the temperature in that part of the club and yoga is free while we pay extra for Pilates! Makes no sense to me… They also need to keep kids OUT of the locker rooms!

I have not had the same subpar experiences as I’ve seen in some of the other disparaging reviews. I’m in my 3^rd week and LOVE it. My whole family loves it. We even got my California in-​laws in on a one week guest pass, and my mom signed up as well. I am a chronic gym-​o-​phobe and would have never upheld a gym routine before Lifetime. The facilities are clean and upscale, with awesome amenities like indoor AND outdoor pools AND waterslides which my gradeschool age kids are obsessed with (that, and the rock wall amd basketball courts) so even on days of diminished motivation, I have the hammering persistence of my children to get me off my ass and make the drive to Lifetime. Then there’s the spa — which I cannot wait to take advantage of — and the café where you can grab a great Chocolate Peanut Butter Almond Delight post-​workout smoothie. Even a eucalyptus steam chamber in the locker room. Nice!
I find the staff to be pretty friendly, unlike another reviewer. I have taken a few classes so far and have felt warmly welcomed and not pressured at ALL even when I can’t keep up. I do suggest employing common sense and arriving 5 – 10 minutes before the scheduled start time to ensure your spot, as this is a popular gym. My observation is that there are members of all fitness levels and objectives in every area, and even as a newbie I don’t feel judged or intimidated (or really even much noticed) by the other worker-​outers. My 16 year old daughter and I also shared a training session by Sheila who is sweet and patient.
I joined this gym originally for my toddler to have a place to get her daily wiggles out, and it would «force» me to wiggle in the meantime. But ultimately we lose an important star here because the playcare people seem like they hate their lives. They don’t change diapers, which is fine, but they also don’t wipe noses or do very much to soothe a crying child. I don’t like to feel like I’m throwing my baby into a scene from Lord of the Flies so I can enjoy a luxury fitness facility. Guilt issues. My solace is that she is a cheerful child who is happy to play independently or with other kids. Not a big crier in those settings.
Selfishly I also wish they had tanning but I can understand why they don’t. It’s super controversial, yeah yeah… there’s Planet Beach across the street.
In the end, I have referred people to this gym and will continue to do so because it stands out above and beyond any other gym I’ve been to since 1996. But I will stop by Member Services regarding the playcare staff and bring my youngest duckling only when there’s no other arrangement for her.

Really, I have never been to a gym that they don’t care raising price constantly. Service is horrible. They only think how do they will steal money from you.

It was just not worth the price. Plus they really pressure you with personal trainers and nutritionists into buying supplements and all these additional services. Just way to expensive and it’s so busy during «peek hours» it’s hard to get into a class. Forget about cycling unless your 30 mins early. See ya.

A lot I like about this gym. It’s not as clean as some tend to observe who don’t share the same standard I do. There is black scum completely around the lap pool on the tiles because it rarely gets cleaned. I’ve made some marks in the coating just to see and they will stay there for at least a few months. If cleanliness is a top priority for you as it is for me, you won’t be very impressed.
Staff is friendly and helpful for most service personnel, so good marks there. I don’t use trainers or other added-​cost services, which is where most of the staffer complaints seem to be.
My BIG COMPLAINT, the prompting for this review, is that they tell you membership is month-​to-​month, and you can get a standby rate of $ 12.00 per month if you’re not going to be using it for a while. ALL SHOULD BE AWARE THAT AT ANY TIME, YOU ALWAYS OWE THE FULL MEMBERSHIP FEE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 30 DAYS. So if you cancel your membership totally, or try to go on the standby rate, YOU HAVE TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL MONTH because you did not notify them a month ago.
Now I ask, WHAT IS THE REASON THEY NEED 30 DAYS’ NOTICE? SIMPLY, TO HELP THEM MAKE MORE MONEY. It’s an opportunity to stick it to the customer. They know that most people don’t know that rule, and will get caught by this technicality. It really makes me angry, enough so that I’m going to look for other options. –DAVID PHILLIPS.

Update: Yay! They got it fixed for me. After my many weeks of trying, I finally got my $ 575 worth of Pilates lessons turned into personal training sessions that can be used at the Tulsa location (just like I wanted). I’m still stuck with $ 75 that I have to use for Pilates, but it’s better than nothing. Thank you so much Lifetime Fitness for the prompt response after I wrote my Unilocal,Google, and Four Square reviews.
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Original Review
Problem: I split my time between Houston, TX and Tulsa, OK. From the Cinco Ranch location, I purchased hundreds of dollars worth of Pilates sessions (personal and group) that are going unused because my schedule does not mesh well with the Pilates instructor in Tulsa. What I want is to convert those Pilates sessions that I bought in Houston into personal training sessions that I can use in Tulsa. It’s the same company with the same computer system, what’s the problem?
What I have tried doing: I have called Tyler, business manager, from the Tulsa club weekly (Since May) trying to get this resolved. So far, all he has done is switch my primary membership to the Tulsa club. That’s it. I leave messages for him and he never calls back. I have been calling the Cinco Ranch, TX club since Thursday of last week. I spoke with Chris, assistant personal training manager and he promised to speak with Zach his manager. Nothing has been done and he has not been returning my calls. Awesome.
What is most frustrating is that every time I call, I get a helpful person who says they are going to fix it for me which makes me feel so hopeful; and then nothing gets done. If you’re planned on ripping me off and keeping my money, just say that. Stop stringing me along. Don’t tell me you’re going to address the issue and then not do it. Transfer my sessions or refund my money.
24 Hour Fitness was not as fancy of a gym as Lifetime Fitness, but they had far better customer service. When I split my time between Houston, TX and Phoenix, AZ and I had this problem, I was able to use training sessions I purchased at the 24 in Houston at the 24 in Phoenix.

I love this gym. Honestly it is pricey. About $ 90. But to ME, I personally do not have many expense and for me this is doable.
They always have enough towels available and everything always seems pretty clean. You do have to be aware of when you go, if you go around 5pm-​8pm you will hit peak hours, which will be high school and college individuals. If you go around 5am-​7am you will hit the older working crowd, people in their 30’s-50’s.
Also if you go in the evening and you want to go swimming you will need to plan accordingly because normally the pool is filled with classes, or parents with kids. A little overwhelming.
Like I said, I enjoy, I come here 5 – 7 days a week. At the end of the day you pay for what you get.

It’s a lovely facility, the pools are nice, everything is clean, but if you want to take a yoga class you had better enjoy being squeezed into a tiny room with entirely too many people. I eventually cancelled my membership because I was sick of having to leave a class because I couldn’t actually stretch my arms out fully without smacking someone in the head. The last Lifetime I was a member at had the same problem, I don’t understand why they won’t do something about it.
Oh and what is it about gyms that make people lazy? You are there to work out, do you really need to save yourself 10 steps and short cut through the family changing room to get to the regular changing room? So irritating.

Update: So yesterday I met with guy #4 and took up this issue — supposedly this gentleman is manager in charge. For starters, he had some new printed material on his desk, that painted an astonishingly different picture. Apparently, the deal of $ 0 admin fee + $ 0 enrollment fee + 3 training sessions came at cost of $ 79. (This totally goes against the advert I got mailed, and the discussion that took place with guy #1). So, the $ 39 that I paid while enrolling, gave me just one training session — which the trainer (guy #2) used up. I did get one more session loaded into my account, and apparently I could use that for one more strength training session.
Conclusion: I have been to car dealerships where people have shown more integrity.

Yes, they are probably the most expensive gym in the Houston area… BUT…it is money well spent. I must first say that our family had a membership at 24 across HWY 99 before switching to Lifetime. Our kids (17&13) begged for us to change because all of their friends were at Lifetime; so we gave it a shot. This is not a normal gym-​this is a freaking resort! LOL. The extra amenities like, spa, café, resort style swimming pool, etc… place Lifetime in their own league.
The flaws: Price, they do not have enough weight machines upstairs for the amount of people that attend. No standing calf machine, only 1 roman chair, 1 back extension, and only 1 seated cable row machine… Oh and worst of all NO JUMP ROPES! So, in comparison to 24– who had multiples of the above listed items-​they still come out on top because of the group classes (YOGA!!) and the extra amenities.