Club Fitness

They continue to charge us even after cancelling our membership. When trying to cancel during a 3-​month hold on our membership, an employee insisted that the membership would not resume after a hold (must be reactivated manually). This was incorrect and resulted in almost $ 100 in errant charges, which Club Fitness refuses to refund.

f* club fitness. No Contract my butt!!! I went into the location (which is not closed) that I opened my account and was told I needed to send them a «letter» to they corp office. So I did. 3 months latter they were still taking money out of my account and I had to cancel my debit card to get them to stop. Then they said i still owed them for the «membership» because i did not cancel it. they then told me I had to pay what i owed them and another month once i sent them a certified mailed cancellation. So my wonderful husband sent a dispute to the bbb. and at that point they closed the account. that was about 6+ months ago… I thought it was over until Sat. when i got a collection call on behalf of club fitness. Are you KIDDING ME!!! and then today I get notification that they are reporting it on my credit report! Don’t walk run from this place!!!

Top line: very cheap gym but you get what you pay for in terms of cleanliness, equipment maintenance, and facilities.
So, the husband and I have belonged to this gym chain for over 2 years. We’ve worked out at several locations – this review is specific to the location on Hampton at Chippewa.
Equipment: the gym is on 2 floors (first floor and basement). Upstairs are five workout rooms and the women’s locker room. One room for classes, another for cardio eqpt., and one for circuit machines, free weights and cable systems; a childcare room, and a spin room. The basement contains free weights, heavy duty machines, and the men’s locker room. The first floor also has a check-​in counter with a wide range of smoothies, sales area, and a desk that’s home base for the trainers.
Classes: this location offers many classes: spinning, Zumba, aerobics, etc. We’ve never tried any.
Cleanliness/​maintenance: Club Fitness seems to have a formula. They open a location and spend as little money as possible maintaining it until it’s worn out, and then gutted or moved to a new location. This location is one of the older ones and the space and equipment show it. Cardio machines are randomly out of order or ‘wobbly’, with safety features often broken. Locker rooms are typically littered and showers are dirty/​moldy. There are bottles of sanitary spray and paper towels randomly spaced in the workout rooms but they are used sporadically by the members; there are (sometimes working) gel alcohol hand sanitizer machines throughout the club – not often used by members. I’ve seen employees tasked with cleaning the place but it seems to be not enough to keep up with the very heavy traffic. Like many heavily used gyms, this place can be rough around the edges – if you need pristine, then it’s not for you.
Busy-​ness: like most gyms, this place can be CRAZY between about 4:30 — 6:30, M-​Th; it’s a lot slower during the day and on F/​Sa/​Su. January is typically ‘off the hook’ with many newbies (sigh). We have heard that it can be hard to get into certain classes; advance sign-​up is required (a pain unless you’re a regular). Sum: if you’re flexible on which machines you use and in what order, you probably won’t have a problem working out. If you have a regimented workout plan that works certain muscles in a certain order, etc., or you will only walk on a specific kind of treadmill, this place might frustrate you. During peak times, the (otherwise huge) parking lot can be a challenge. We’ve found being flexible in our workout times and equipment use makes all the difference.
Trainers: CF has an ‘arrangement’ of some kind with DFM (Dynamic Fitness) with little DFM stations in each CF location. Trainers in blue shirts are all over the clubs, all the time. Be prepared to navigate newbies being force marched through walking lunges etc. while you’re trying to work out. CF sales people will try to hand you off to DFM trainers who will try to get you to sign up for a long term training contract. This is not required for club membership – proceed with caution. I assume trainers are paid on commission. I’ve seen some trainers who really know their stuff and some who seem less experienced. Recommend you join, watch for a good/​seasoned trainer, and negotiate a training contract later.
Bottom line: not the cleanest, nicest, or best gym I’ve ever joined but it’s cheap, close, and generally reliable. The balance tips in our favor. Others with deeper pockets, a higher tolerance for long commutes, or residing closer (i.e. in St. Louis County) to better gyms, might feel otherwise. Tour this location first, test during ‘rush hour’, join after careful thought.

Tina’s TurboKick class on Saturday morning was just what I was looking for. High energy and fun. She’s a fantastic instructor that’s really fun to work out with and is a great motivator.

ONLY JOIN CLUB FITNESS AS A LAST RESORT! I could go on and on about how terrible this gym is. Here is a short list of reasons why club fitness Hampton Village should be avoided.
1. No CLEANLINESS!!! This is the grossest gym I’ve ever worked out in by far!
2. Not enough equipment.
3. Gym seems overcrowded due to not having enough equipment. You will constantly be waiting for the equipment that you want to use.
4. This gym is lacking much of the necessary equipment needed for bodybuilding and cardio.
5. The water fountain in this gym is often out of order. *MAJOR* safety violation! How has this gym not been shut down yet?!?
6. When you have finally had enough and would like to cancel your membership it is an extremely difficult process. You should expect to pay at least one or two additional months after you have canceled your membership. It is year 2015 yet club fitness requires you to hand write a letter detailing why you want to cancel your membership, then mail that letter through your local post office and wait with your fingers crossed hoping they received your letter, meanwhile you continue to be charged your monthly fee.

CLUB FITNESS IS A CREEPY CULT. I’ve thought so ever since I joined and saw how much the personal trainers –who reminded me of used car salesmen– pressure people to retain their services, which almost nobody actually needs. But now that I’ve tried to leave this weird gym, I’m certain that the person who runs it is the reincarnation of the Reverend Jim Jones. He’s certainly taken a few pages from his play book –except that it was possibly a little easier to leave Jonestown than to discontinue a membership at Club Fitness. Take my experience, for example. I moved out of state on the first of the month and, obviously, closed my bank account. Given that I haven’t worked out at Club Fitness since I stopped paying them, I don’t owe them a cent. Sure I signed an agreement when I joined –but that was 3 years ago! I never agreed to be a member for life. And yet, I received an e-​mail today, informing me that I still am a member and am incurring fees for a gym membership that I haven’t used since I stopped paying for it. I was informed by some anonymous creep that I have to «request» to have my membership canceled –a process that involves a completely unnecessary amount of jumping through hoops. «Request»! As if leaving Club Fitness isn’t up to the member! Jim Jones may have had fences and towers staffed with snipers; but once you made it past all of that, you were home free. Would that Club Fitness had such a limited reach: They’re harassing me in a whole other state. Hopefully, I’ll be free of them when I’m dead. At least there is still hope for you, dear reader. DON’T JOIN CLUB FITNESS.

All I can say is it’s clean but a little eerie in the back alley in the gym. came in twice to look at the place once by myself and the ones with a buddy. yesterday when I came in for two years the price was $ 500 with Nick as assistant general manager. today I went in and they bumped it up to $ 600 and it was a different trainer there manager. the guy today told me unlimited personal training sessions. when I go talk to some people at Schnucks next door they tell me that its not unlimited physical fitness training sessions and as it says in the paper that they take out $ 30 a year for their income they actually took out twice that without telling the people I was talking to. so to put this easily it seems like this place to face to me because the Gal that I was also talking to at the grocery store said that the fitness trainers that run the place each new day can make different prices and that was not a plus for me.

Deceptive business practices. Despite multiple phone calls, and physically dropping a letter off to the Hampton location to cancel my membership, i was continually charged until I just canceled my credit card. Then they filed against me for collections. Apparently unless you get a letter notarized by the Pope, and then delivered by the starting line up of the St. Louis Cardinals, they will not honor requests to terminate memberships. Once you are in at club fitness, it’s for life. DON’T SIGN UP HERE!

I was excited about being a member to a place close to home, but with each visit I have become more and more discouraged about this place. If I could rewind the clock, I wouldn’t join. Would like them to do an air quality test and mold inspection. I fear the results of each. You’ve heard of slum lords right… Run away! Run quickly!!!

First off, I hate the whole weights in the basement setup, it’s downright creepy but what’da do.
Secondly, there’s an issue with early morning car break-​ins on the parking lot at this location.
Third, there’s always a Stairmaster out-​of-​order! Burn my britches…
And that’s why I don’t go anymore.
Take care.
P. S. The all access ²⁴⁄₇ and daycare is worth 2 stars.

The top half of this gym is not terrible. There is a whole giant room of just dozens and dozens of cardio machines. A daycare room with large windows so you can peek in on your kid while working out if you want to, and a nice large spinning room. The group classroom is large and clean.
But that’s the only good news. If you’re looking for weights you’re SOL at this gym. The layout is pretty weird and some of the free weights and machines are kind of up against the wall as soon as you enter. The employee desks are literally sitting right in the weight area, and there isn’t much floor space. Working out in this upstairs weight area feels like being on a stage for everyone walking in and it’s very small. There are a few machines nearby but they’re really, really close together.
Then it gets worse — you go downstairs for the full weight room. But don’t plan on breathing ok? Once you get down the steps you’re immediately hit with a thick, hot cloud of must that reeks of mildew and sweat. I’m not talking about a «sweaty locker room» smell — I’m talking about an air so thick you practically have to swim through it, and the whole time you’re chewing mildew in your mouth and thinking about how much MRSA you’re about to contract. The weights are OLD and in really poor shape. You can’t even read the numbers on the sides on most of them anymore, and they’re rounded off and chipped. They look like antiques. There aren’t very many weights available, so even when there were only about 5 people working out down there, I had to search for two 10-​lb plates and take them from someone else eventually. There were no risers available or mats, but there were a few broken-​down foam rollers laying around. Weights were just kind of scattered around the room, but like I said, only a few people were down there. It looked like no one had come around to rerack the weights probably all day. I tried to bench, but the thick mildew smell was so horrible I actually couldn’t finish my workout down there. It was too hard to breath!
I tried to keep in mind that the last time I’d been to this location was over the winter, so I thought maybe the air downstairs would be better once the AC was on. But, I was wrong. It was just the same if not worse in the summer.
The only other major con is that the parking is tough in the lot, but that’s not really the gym’s fault I guess. If you’re looking for the place you’re most likely to find a cardio machine — this gym could work for you. But if you’re looking for weights or machines — go somewhere else! (I go to Dogtown instead.)

Worst fitness club I have ever had to deal with. We moved from CO and liked the idea of a 24 hour fitness club however no contract is not true, charging us for changing membership, charging us double annual fee because «you are changing the membership agreement», and now because of the lack of intelligent customer service charging us to cancel membership. Again no contract membership has a lot of hidden fees. Highly recommend people not to join Club Fitness.

I recently joined this gym and it fits my needs so far. It gets pretty packed during peak hours and the equipment is pretty old but the staff is super-​friendly and easy on the eyes.

I want to like this place. I REALLY do… It’s so close to my house! However, for a few solid reasons, I can’t bring myself to sign up.
1) I have a 13 month old and need child care. They provide childcare (check!). However, I got an icky feeling when I went to check it out. The childcare room looked like an over sized closet with one «babysitter» sitting in a metal chair surrounded by 10+ kids of varying ages (2 – 12). It pails in comparison to the child care at the Carondolet YMCA. I didn’t get a sense of their security in place for the child care either.
2) this location is always PACKED. Even during the day it’s hard to find a parking spot. When I workout, I usually only set aside 30 minutes to get it done. It would be frustrating to find all of the equipment in use.
3) the contract. Seems sketchy as heck and too hard to get out of it.

I was hesitant in joining this gym based on the reviews since they were like, «Oh, it’s just your average gym.» I disagree entirely. My first job was at a gym that catered to high income clientele and had super nice amenities. While this gym doesn’t offer a racquetball court or 4 different pools, the service and drive for customer satisfaction does not get any better.
I signed up with Josh whom got me started on their «start up» pack which included 4 personal training sessions for a very reasonable price (1 introductory session, 3 actual work outs). He gave me a tour of the gym and was very pleasant. The trainer manager (a different Josh) got me signed up for my training sessions, gave me a grocery store tour at a later date after signing up, and got me hooked up with a trainer, Andrew.
Andrew has been absolutely outstanding, he understands where I am coming from and is extremely patient with me but still pushes me and gives one heck of a workout. I signed up for additional sessions with him because I have very lofty goals and am still relatively intimidated by the gym atmosphere. The sessions beyond the initial price are pricey, of course, but the staff really works with you to make it doable and have tons of different options.
Sign up for the «all inclusive» membership, which is $ 20 a month as opposed to the $ 10 that is frequently advertised. That includes access 24 hours to all locations, child supervision area (within hours staff are present), classes (zumba, bootcamp, pilates, spinning, etc.), and whatever amenities are offered at the other locations (steam room at Afton location!!).

Club fitness has everything I need in a gym: cardio equipment and free weights. Easy peasy.
I really don’t need anything else and it’s only like 10 – 12 a month. They have daycare, classes, and personal trainers if you are in need of those services. It’s the basic of basics.
I’m sure you get better customer service and all that jazz elsewhere but this is more no nonsense and CHEAP. I recommend Club Fitness if that’s what you’re looking for.

Though this will probably end up being my gym home, I am not particularly fond of this Club Fitness.
The floor level is pretty nice, nothing spectacular but pretty nice. Most of the weight machines are upstairs along with the fitness class room and cardio equipment. They have a ton of cardio equipment, so there usually no wait time for any treadmills. They also have childcare located on the first floor, which is very useful since it’s sometimes harder to get swoll when you start having kids due to childcare.
The negative comes when you go downstairs, which I call «The Dungeon.» The first thing I noticed walking down was the smell of sweat and the lack of natural light (since it is a basement). There is a good amount of equipment, but most of it looks pretty dated. If you come during rush hour, around 5pm-​7pm, good luck completing your workout routine without running into a delay. There are also a fair amount of members that drop 45lb plates and don’t rack up their weights.
I guess the saying, «you get what you pay for» comes into play here. Membership is either $ 10 or $ 20 depending if you what other goodies you’d like. I feel like I have paid the same price when I lived in Florida for a gym that was much cleaner and less packed, so I’m not super pleased.
I’ve heard every Club Fitness is different, so I wouldn’t judge Club Fitness as a whole with just this experience.

If you are on the fence about whether or not you will take advantage of classes or go to multiples locations DO NOT sign up for the $ 20 membership, go for the $ 10 one. This is the mistake I made (never went to any other locations or classes) and the $ 20 membership comes with a contract which costs a whopping $ 60 (!!!) to cancel. THREE MONTHS payments.
On to the review about this gym. I had been going here for 6 months. At first it was ok. I had a few gripes but for $ 20 a month it was fine. Recently it has gotten terrible. Most times you are fine getting a cardio machine, as long as it’s not between 4:30−7, in that case good luck. The weight room is always packed with bros and trainers with clients. It was next to impossible to get into a squat rack or even get a barbell, heck just getting a bench was a nightmare!
Speaking of benches, most of theirs have been falling apart the whole 6 months I worked out there and have never been replaced. Many are missing the handles for their height adjustment pegs and have rips and tears, exposing porous foamy material, a breeding ground for staph infection and HPV. Which brings me to sanitation.
Their sanitation their is a total joke. While there are spray bottles everywhere, laying beside them is a single, blue paper towel, which is typically already used and covered in grime. Their are no other paper towel dispensers. You should bring your owns towels or sanitation wipes. The reason why this is disturbing is that, while gyms have always been a known source for picking up ringworm and staph, MRSA is now being found in gyms and staph has become more resistant to antibiotics and is DEADLY! The fact that a gym doesn’t take these health threats seriously in the name of saving a buck is pretty egregious.
In conclusion, think carefully about signing a contract for this gym.

This location is pretty nice!
What I like:
The staff is always friendly and helpful with questions.
They have a GREAT spinning room and a HUGE group ex room.
Their weights/​machines aren’t jam packed to where you can’t pass between.
The gym rats are actually nice and smile back at you!
The cardio equipment is cared for and there are plenty of choices.
Their showers are decent! With private dressing rooms and they offer decent counter space to get ready (as long as there are not more than three people trying to get ready at once.)
They offer smoothies.
They don’t seem to be too pressuring for members and allow people to pay walk in fees for classes.
As for what I don’t like
Parking is sometimes hard to come by but hey, you are there to work out so if you need to walk a bit to get to the gym from the adjacent parking lot where there is plenty are you really going to complain?

Yikes. People from out of town are shocked that gym memberships in the area are only $ 20. Well, if you stepped into this gym, you’d know why: it’s a dingy strip mall that’s dirty and cramped. Bare bones it is. And, the funny thing is – it’s better than the Loughborough location.
The classes seem like a good deal, until you attend one here and realize that the instructors are sub par – especially the yoga. A DVD playing at the front of the room would conduct a class with more finesse, otherwise it’s an instructor who just makes you do random yoga poses without any sort of flow or progression.
Lastly, this place is a racket. After moving and not attending Club Fitness in a few months, I went in to re-​activate my membership. Explained the situation – great, no problem, signed a new contract – and then I find out a few months later that I have a $ 200 balance for the months I missed payment on a membership I never used. Why that wasn’t communicated when I signed a new contract, I’m not sure. Of course I’d rather pay that $ 200 for a yearly membership to an ACTUAL gym, so goodbye Club Fitness!