I know that this report is a little long, but please try to read it all. Thank you.
Back in November I spoke with a personal trainer whose name was Madeline. I really liked Madeline and was under the impression that she was going to be my personal trainer when I signed up with Custom Built. As I found out later, Madeline was not going to be my personal trainer, and they had appointed another trainer (Max) for me.
If I had known that Madeline was not going to be my trainer I NEVER would have signed up with custom built! I made it clear when speaking with Madeline that I was only comfortable with a female trainer. I feel like I was duped into signing up because I specifically told Madeline that the only way I would sign up is if she was my trainer. Also during the sale I was told that I would receive a personalized nutrition plan as well as full access to the Custom Built website to create my own self-guided workouts. NONE of this was ever delivered or even discussed.
I was extremely upset about the situation. I felt that I had been pawned off by Madeline to another trainer once she had made her sale with me! I was going to cancel my membership with Custom Built, but once I thought about it I decided to give Max a try. I had one workout with Max and I did enjoy this workout. I decided that I would not cancel my membership. I also scheduled a second workout with Max. When I showed up for my appointment, I was informed that Max was not there.
Over the next two weeks I continually left messages at the front desk in person and on the phone for Max to contact me. I had not heard from him since that first workout. I finally found out through an employee of Gold's Gym that Max was no longer employed there. This further upset me. I should have been contacted at once by Max or someone else that works there to let me know what was going on!
By this point I had had only had one workout session, my supposed to be trainer pawned me off, my second actual trainer never contacted me past my first session, and two weeks of leaving messages which no one seemed concerned about enough to respond to. I understand that personnel is constantly changing but I also feel that once a trainer terminates employment that someone (manager) should take that trainers client list and contact them. I decided to go speak with that manager.
When I asked to speak to who was in charge of Custom Built, Victor was the name I was given. When I spoke to Victor I told him about my dissatisfaction with Custom Built and the horrible customer service. I asked him how I would go about terminating my membership. I also expressed to him that because of my experience I felt it unfair that I would have to pay a termination fee. I do understand that there are rules, regulations, and fees when it comes to terminating a contract such as this one; however, I feel that these rules, regulations, and fees should be nullified due to the fact that what I signed up for was not delivered. There are two parties involved in a contract and both are responsible for upholding their end.
After speaking with Victor, he did his best to resolve the situation and keep my business by setting me up with a new trainer, Erin. Erin was very enthusiastic about helping me out and I decided to give Custom Built one more chance. Erin scheduled one workout with me and I attended. The workout was not as intense as Maxs but I was still somewhat satisfied. Erin then told me that she would schedule two more appointments for that month and give me a call when she looked at her schedule. Another two weeks went by and I received no phone calls. At this point I was wary to even walk into the gym for fear that the Custom Built staff would look at me like I was a nuisance. My boyfriend Jeremy (who loyally attends the gym) finally talked me into going back in. As we walked past the cardio equipment Erin comes up and says "Hey Nicole, where were you the other day?" and I responded "What day?", being that we had not talked for two weeks and never set up a day or time for me to come back in with her. I was made to feel that it was my fault that this had happened, in front of many other people.
After this incident, I went back to talk with Victor to finally sever ties with Custom Built and he provided me with Kisey Martin's phone number. He did nothing to rectify the situation other than giving me that number. I called Kisey constantly over the next week or so and finally got in touch with her. She said that I would have to pay for December's membership (90 dollars) and she could not waive the termination fee (250 dollars). So all in all calling her did me no good whatsoever.
In mid-December I received a notice in the mail from a credit agency that my monthly payment scheduled to draft out of my bank account could not be processed. The letter said that it was an invalid account. This is an impossibility due to the fact that the initial payment that I made of $130 went through with no problem at all. I made this payment via check with my routing/transit number and account number clearly printed at the bottom. How could my check process just fine and then my auto-draft come back as invalid? So I have also been reported to a collection agency which in turn hurts my credit for a mistake made by Custom Built Fitness.
I am EXTREMELY unhappy with this whole situation! I think that it is unwise on Gold's Gyms' part to continue to be partnered with such a horrible company such as Custom Built. Due to my experience with Custom Built, I no longer feel comfortable working out at my Gold's Gym. I have no issues with the my Gold's Gym or any of it's staff, I do, however, have a huge issue with the Custom Built in their Gym and the way that it's run.
What upsets me the most is the fact that I was really excited about signing up with Custom Built Personal Training. I loyally attended the gym and was serious about my goals. I wanted the situation to work out so badly, so that I could hopefully continue on with a good trainer, that I gave Custom Built and it's staff three different oppurtunities to rectify the situation. They continually failed to do so.
I keep asking is there any way Custom Built can waive the termination fee and not charge me for the monthly payments. I have only had 2 personal training sessions total since I signed up back in Nov. 2007. The easiest thing to do would be to just pay all the money and end this nightmare, but the issue of the matter is, is that Custom Built in the wrong. Why should I have to pay them money to terminate services that they said they would provide, but never received from them? The customer service department has been no help at all. The only thing they keep repeating to me is that: "Proper cancellation procedures apply." They have in no way tried to resolve the problems I have had.
The customer service this company provides is horrible. Custom Built should be ashamed of the way they do business with people and the way they allow their customer service department to handle things. My entire experience with this company has been a nightmare and I tell everyone now from experience: Do not become involved with Custom Built in any way! If you see them turn and run the opposite direction!
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