1 /5 Ryan Zamudio: My wife is a CSU professor and I run businesses in Vacaville. She is also an ER nurse for a major hospital chain and as a firefighter, I bring her patients when my shifts coincide with hers. We are busy people. Previously I was a member of InShape and then also what used to be Gold’s, she was a member of InMo in Chico. After getting married it only made sense for us to have a membership together in a system that offered gyms in the locations we are at the most. That being said, Anytime Fitness has worked for us the past couple years, but for some reason the management at the Chico locations has some pretentious notion that their gyms outclass all others in the chain, and that they deserve a separate tier of membership dues double what we pay for ours that is closer to the Bay.
This started sometime last year after my wife and I started to go to the location in Chico, and then she went by herself a few times in the same week when she was having to stay in the area for university business. She told me that the “manager” was making her feel uncomfortable with the attention he was giving her while she was working out and made it clear that he was the one in charge there. This was in a conversation where I gave him the benefit of the doubt and figured that he was just being attentive to his patrons. In a separate conversation after she had been there a couple more times alone, she said that the manager was harassing her and being rude, claiming that she couldn’t be there because she was paying X amount for her dues, and their monthly membership was more, even though when we signed up, we were told that we would have access to all clubs. She suspected that this was because she didn’t give him the attention that he was seeking in their initial encounters, and eventually in a later visit, she found that he had disabled her key fob. We took up the issue with the manager at the first location we signed up at, and they said that we would have to settle it with the manager of the Chico location as they had control of access to those gyms. Mind you, at this point, my wife has been locked out of the Chico gym for the greater part of a year, possibly longer.
Today, my wife tells me that she tried to have a civilized conversation with the manager of the Chico locations in a phone call in which he repeatedly dismissed her concerns, despite her bringing up some very valid points that; we were already members, have no problem frequenting other locations a couple times a week with the exception of the ones in Chico, that good members who can put a hard work out without being douche bags attract more good members, and that the monthly fees they are asking for are close to what InMotion charges. Unlike InMotion, Anytime does not have amenities like pools and saunas, nor do they have the gym culture or eye candy that in motion attracts to warrant those fees.
Your business is your business and you can run it how you like, but get real if you expect to receive the respect and payment you’re demanding. Your locations are smaller and more cramped than other Anytime locations. Your locations are incoherently arranged by comparison and your equipment is more dated. In places like that, the least you should be able to say is that the manager makes you feel welcome. After the conversation today, my wife went and signed us up for planet fitness for $14 to cover us for the day or two per week we are in Chico. Your pretentious money grab might work for some, but not for us. My guess is, your dues are so high because you’re making up for membership levels that aren’t so hot. Maybe a better attitude towards your patrons might help instead of chasing them off over a difference in dues when they’re only there every so often.
Can’t wait to see your rebuttal to this review. I look forward to it.
* No disrespect to the patrons who have this as their home gym; you likely won’t face the same issue of being chased out of other locations if you decide to work out there. If you’re ever in Vacaville, come check out our spot. Karen is a phenomenal manager.
