Gold's Gym

I can't even give this place a ""star"" but couldn't publish the TRUTH until I did. But trust, this place deserves NOTHING. After 13 years (on and off at various Gold's locations from Boston to Venice Beach), I was forced to terminate my membership at Gold's gym Fenway. After a month of renovations, to a point where members were paying to smell paint and use only portions of the facility, I had enough. While irritated and began to complain to Bobby and Nicole (who is a dead ringer for Snooki), I was met with harsh retaliation from Bobby who enjoyed talking to me as if he were my father, raising his voice to me, yelling, etc. I only wanted to speak to a manager or get something in return from the lost time that I paid for while this hole was under renovations, and will probably be forever. Where is the customer service? I didn't want an excuse, and I asked him to stop speaking to me that way, but he just kept on going telling me that I was disrespecting him, that he didn't like my attitude (and I only got one once he raised his voice to me. NO ONE should speak to anyone like that. I know if I did in my job, I would be fired on the SPOT). Intimidated, crying and slightly frightened in his fit of roid rage, I began to back away and move up the steps. But, he wasn't done ""putting me in my place."" He told me to leave, cancel my membership and that I wasn't welcome there anymore. I had to call the Arlington corporate office EIGHT TIMES to get someone to speak to me. But, was just met with more employees who thought I was a chick on her period. And told me there wasn't anything they could do. They told me that Bobby would apologize to me. Great. Now we can be best friends in the sand box. Cool. That still doesn't make me feel comfortable to go back there, a place that i go to EVERYDAY. So, the only other option, they said, was to cancel my membership. They can't do anything about one incident and that I was the one who was complaining in the first place. So, because I was complaining about the poor conditions, it is MY FAULT that he was inappropriate with me?? WTF? Right, I am sure these are the same men who say that ""No means Yes. She was askin' for it."" Thanks, Brosefs. I'm at Boston Sports Club, as is my boyfriend, my room mate and my cousin. more

I went to this craappy gym for 5 years on a ""month to month"" basis. NO CONTRACT. I finally decided to cancel 2 months ago and still haven't managed to make them stop charging me. Here's what's gone down so far: more

The gym is fine, but the customer service/billing company is a complete nightmare. Even AFTER your membership is up, they pretty much make you drive to the billing company (ABC Financial Services) in Arkansas and write in permanent marker that you want your membership to end. Emails and phone calls are not sufficient. In the meantime, they'll keep deducting membership fees from your account despite the fact that your membership is over and you've requested several times to cancel it. Oh, and they'll secretly increase your monthly fee when your membership is up and start deducting a higher monthly payment. And don't expect Gold's to help you, they'll just refer you to ABC and act helpless. And ABC will completely ignore you know matter how many times you call or email. It's not worth joining. Run outside for find another gym so you don't have to deal with trying to cancel your membership even after your year committment has expired. NIGHTMARE! more

I signed up here because my old roommate worked out here, and at first I couldn't complain because the price was decent. However, what I didn't realize while the guy took me on my tour of the place was how awful the dudes that work out there are. I'd say about 80% of the guys in there are ""screamers"" and eyed me up every time I walked onto the floor. I am a big guy, six-foot-three and about 225 pounds, yet the gazes i was getting made me feel like I was 400 pounds or had a gigantic booger hanging out of my nose. I would often check to see if the latter was true; and much to my suprise, there were no boogers. But back to the meatheads. It's one thing to strain and grunt a little bit while you're ""maxin' out, bro"", but come on. Do you really need to scream bloody murder? I always tell anyone who's interested in this gym that the same type of people who go ""clubbin'"" on lansdowne are the same people who work out on lansdowne. Half the time the staff was rude, and half the time they barely even acknowledged my presence. And talk about hassle when I tried to cancel my membership!!! I had to write these people a formal letter GIVING THEM A REASON why I wanted to cancel. Needless to say, they got their reason....BUT I'M STILL BEING CHARGED EVEN THOUGH I DON'T GO THERE!!! You'd be better off at the Y working out next to some guy who's talking to himself. Pros: great machines, clean facility, central location Cons: horrible clientele, rude staff, no parking, hassle to cancel membership more

I'm a super sized girl and used to go to Gold's. I thought a girl like me would be out of place there but the price was right so I joined. I was most comfortable there. Friendly non judgmental staff and a cross section of people there for the same reason I was. Yeah, lots of muscle jocks and spandex queens in full makeup but they were all really nice. There was one knucklehead in the crowd but the folks at Gold's handled it. With all these new gyms popping up who like to put their customers on display in the window, Gold's facility is vast, spacious and discreet with just about every kind of machine and free weight you can imagine. If I didn't live in the boonies now I'd go back. Pick Gold's! Pros: Comfortable, Professional, Affordable Cons: Loud at times, Parking issues, Red Sox Crowds more

When I joined Gold's Gym, I was a pudgy girl who'd never stuck with an excercise program in my life. And while it's true that Gold's has more than its share of burly gym rats, I never felt out-of-place or conpicuous among the Schwartzenegger-clones. If anything, they inspired me to stick to my fitness program and lose 25 pounds. Pros: separate women's gym, lots of machines, great classes Cons: street parking only, crowded at "peaks", no sound on TVs more