Extreme fitness? More like Extreme Ripoff...

When I first went in to the club 10 months ago, I had just moved to the city and wanted to check out a few fitness places before I made any decision. I went in here and the guy pressured me to get the membership right then because you could only get the "deal" the first time you walk in....(right). So I guess I fell for that, and I lived close so I thought it would be fine. I also thought the ridiculous price of $100 a month (down from their 'regular' $130) was a bit ridiculous, but chalked it up to Toronto prices. The thing is, I signed up at the Yonge/Dundas location which I wasn't very impressed qith (not for $100) but they assured me there were clubs close that were nice and had pools (which was important to me).

To even get your membership card, yoy HAVE to go through the "free fitness evaluation" which is just a way to get you to buy personal training sessions. I didn't want it but they wouldn't give me my card without it. I told them I didn't want personal training and that I was in school and couldn't afford it. They pressured me so much and tried to get me on payment plans. I felt so pressured and uncomfortable.

A few days later I got a call saying I had "won" a free year membership from a ballet box. I went in to claim it, and the guy working said it was only 4 months.I clearly remember the ballet box saying a year, but I guess this is their little scam to get people in. I had told him on the phone that I already had a membership and he assured me he would just add it to my exsisting membership. When I was there, he said I couldn't use it and had to transfer it to someone else, using MY bank account number. Long story short, I called a few months later to make sure my card wasn't being charged for this other account, and the guy who signed me up had been fired...comforting.

Later after I had been to a few of the surrounding clubs, I realized none of them had pools. Maybe 2 or 3 at the most in all the 15 locations in the GTA have pools and they are ALL too far, except Wellington. Since I had moved closer to the Wellington location I was happy I could finally use a pool. When i went in, they told me that the pool was reserved for people who had signed up at that exact location. When I tried to get something done about it, as in switch home gyms, they said nothing could be done.

The last and final straw that made me write this review happened just lately. I was told by the person who signed me up that if at any time I wanted to put my account on hold for only $7 a month, I coul, and that the payments would continue the following month. I put my account on hold for 2 months because my hours had been cut at work and I couldn't afford it. This month after paying rent I had a balance of $0 in my account so I noticed a feww of $100 that came out. Since I had nothing to pay it, I got a $45 bounce fee. I called extreme and they said that holding the account only insures you can't go for the month, not that the payment won't come out-well then what's the point of holding! Turns out I had been charged last month as well but didn't notice. When I explained what the sales rep had told me, they said they never do that and basically accused me of lieing, but their staff would clearly do anything to get sales. I know what I was told, they make up and change things constantly, lie to get people in their, do or say whatever they have to.

The staff can be unfriendly at times (esp. SOME of the girls at the front desk, not all , I don't want to offend anyone) but some of the girls whisper and laugh and I have heard some of them even making fun of my last name!

With that said, I wouldn't reccomend this gym at all. The facility is NO better than goodlife or any other gym and for $130 it should be REALLY nice. There are no pools except at Sheppard, Thornhill, and Wellington (and you can't even use the Wellington one unless you signed up there) even though they promised me there was one with a pool in walking distance. It's just a regular club that pressures you constantly for personal training and is very over priced, and if you have problems with them, they won't help you work them out. Save you money and go to another gym, it will save you TONS of stress!

Their customer service is the worst. They have few locations and most of the time the gym is over crowded. You have to wait in line to user some of the facilities. When you want to leave the gym they are very rude. The Manager Elliot at 3495 Lawrence avenue location states: “I am the main person of the gym there is nobody else you can talk to or complain to”. Later I found out he is too scared to give other numbers. I will not join this gym ever again and will not recommend anybody to join.
Here is the numbers you can complaint to or state your concerns to:

Extreme Fitness Inc (Head Office)
8281 Yonge Street
Thornhill, ON L3T 2C7
(905) 709-1248
Just dial 0 for a representative.

I just joined this gym a few weeks ago (although Flirty Girl is still my favourite!) and the experience has been, very different for me. I was able to join up through a corporate rate, which was the only reason I would sign up to become a member. That, and also the availability of hot yoga. Aside from those reasons, I would not recommend joining this gym. First of all, the staff are very sales-oriented and will stop at nothing to sign you up or sell you some expensive health package. Secondly, the staff lack professionalism when it comes to keeping their appointments, let alone meeting them on time. My sister and I have had many cancelled appointments and weren't even notified beforehand. I can't stand the staff there. They all seem to be very immature when it comes to dealing with gym members.

When you go for your initial consultation, stand your ground and refuse to be sold to ridiculous expensive packages (unless you want to, of course). I told the staff right off the bat that I was not interested in a personal trainer, or a nutritionist of any sort. That saved me a lot of time from them badgering me into buying a package.

If you can ignore the staff and get past all of that, being at the gym will be a lot more enjoyable.

The nice thing about the place is that there is 1) hot yoga 2) cold sauna, hot sauna and steam room 3) cardio machines with individual TVs! My life goes by a lot easier when I have a TV hooked up to my machine. 4) the hours are flexible. These are the only positive things about Extreme Fitness.