Spectrum Athletic Clubs

04/01/12

Stay or they'll take every penny!

by Mariena Q

i enjoyed some of the classes while I was a member at Spectrum and the equipment is nice. But it wasn't working out - a little too far for my husband and I too drive weekdays with LA traffic after work. When we went to cancel I was reminded of their horrific cancellation policy. Supposedly "60 days" although it's actually never that few because you're charged the current month in full (not-prorated for what you use) plus an additional two months.

This is ridiculous and I plan on following up with my congresswoman. Even the somewhat-standard but still unfair practice of a "30 day" cancellation policy is extortion.

From now on I plan on staying away from gyms like Spectrum that take advantage of their members. Unless you plan on being a member for life I suggest the same.

01/04/11

20 year member

by beechgirl

Spectrum in general has declined in both staffing, staff training (quality) and facility maintenance during the past 2 years- they have had 2 different CEO's during this time, both have envoked short term profit decisions in lieu of long term solutions, including eliminating the most senior management staff. IMHO, I believe the company is indeed experiencing financial issues- the COO position for california has been vacant for months, given my last phone call to their California corporate offices resulted in approximately 30% of the positions were "no longer staffed" is not a good sign, facility managers are now managing multiple facilities in large geographic regions (such as the Howard Hughes & Canoga Park have the same manager); while upgrades and replacement of equipment is typically reduced during economic hard times, you typically see a push for facility maintenance during this period to ensure basic operational capabilities exists- this is failing as well- Today at the Howard Hughes facility, approximately 15% of all cardio equipment was out of service- so much so tht the staff ran out of signs and merely unplugged the units from the wall so not to be used. The companies new position (2010) on monthly member cancelation policy which requires 2 months monthly payments for a monthly membership cancelation clearly is to be suspect of California state law- but to be expected as compaies in financial hardship will "play games" on such issues. I personally have an annual (14 month) membership for my family. Given the economics, I would not recommend anyone joining any of the spectrum facilities long term since all the indicators of a company in trouble is present!

09/17/10

Be Aware - Credit Card Theft in Cafe

by frosty1

Just watch out when you use your credit card in the Howard Hughes Spectrum (Power Nutrition) cafe. That's how they stock up on groceries from Trader Joe's....

08/03/09

Beware cancellation policy

by BruceSantaMonica

Spectrum will welcome you with open arms when you join, however when you want to cancel the treatment becomes decidedly frosty, which I think is very short sighted, as people like me will simply come somewhere like this and write the following type of review.

I was with Spectrum for 9 months, paid a hefty joining fee, then $85 per month. I went on to pay for a higher level of personal training, spending in total around $9,000 in less than a year. Does that make me a great customer? Apparently not.

I knew there was something wrong when all I received for my loyalty and nearly $9,000 in total was a $10 voucher for coffee from the training manager. 'Is this a joke' I thought. That was actually more insulting than rewarding. Something like a free training session would have been more appropriate. Clearly they aren't very knowledgable about best practices for customer retention.

I also disliked the ambience of the place, there are a lot of very grumpy old men who work out here who get very tetchy if you are on 'their' piece of equipment. I'm not ageist or anything, but grumpy isn't good.

The final insult came when I decided to leave and join a more modern gym. I realized that Spectrum ask for a crazy 60 days notice. I really had not heard this when I joined, but sure enough it's there in the fine print. They define 'month-to-month' membership as every 60 days. Would that be your understanding of month-to-month membership? No, but I think that's the point. It's misleading.

When on July 1st 2009 I phoned I told them that I wanted to cancel, and that I felt 30 days was perfectly adequate given California law and that I wanted to fax in my cancellation letter. Then they got difficult. 1) I was told that 60 days is just the way it is. 2) You can only cancel in person (like that would force someone not to cancel) and 3) I had to fill out one of their 'forms' to cancel, not provide a personal letter.

So I got in my car and went round to see them then and there, with a personal letter typed out and signed. I was directed to their business manager Shawn who looked at me very grim faced when I told him I'd like to cancel. At first he refused to accept my letter, until I told him that 'legally you have to accept this'. He then took it. I asked for a receipt. His response - he can only give me a receipt if I fill out a form. "well I'll just have to trust you then, since I came all the way here from Santa Monica to hand deliver this to you'. Regarding the 30 days notice I provided... I stated that really 60 days was excessive, and that in California 30 days should be sufficient for any kind of subscription and that I thought my membership was 'month-to-month, or at least that's what I was told'. He said that was not what I signed. I reminded him that I had paid nearly $9,000 to the club over the previous 9 months and were they really going to gauge me for another $85? He promised to discuss it with his manager and they would phone me if there was a problem with 30 days notice. I also emailed them, and at least I heard back from their Regional Manager Karen Landsford. But there was no flexibility. They were going to take 2 months of withdrawal from my account and that their policy "is no different from any gym in the country". That's patently nonsense. The gym I left them for has no such draconian policy for members who 'dare to leave'.

I don't care about the $85, but the whole experience of the cancellation leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I thought it appropriate to share my experience, and if you don't want a bad experience trying to leave them it's probably wise not to join them in the first place.

Finally I think their 4 out of 5 stars is iffy .. if you look at the glowing reviews I don't think they sound like actual members. I guess everyone does that, but you can tell.

• Pros: Cafe is good, but otherwise overpriced and arrogant
• Cons: Treated poorly when I attempted to cancel

07/24/09

Average gym for the price

by Lisa1823

I would give this gym 4 stars, but the trainers seem to have their own agenda. They do not want to work on the weekends and some have a bad attitudes. I used to belong to another gym. They had great trainers, but bad staff. This gym is the opposite.

• Pros: Pool!
• Cons: Some Staff