Where do I start? This company has so many complaints I wish I had a dollar bill for each one. My story began when I started working out in a Houston Club. The company has outrageous turn-over in employees and a hard time retaining personal trainers, especially in the location I used. The Fitness Manager encouraged me to take the NASM course to become a trainer, and made disparaging remarks to me when I procrastinated. I talked with the new club manager, a female, and recorded her statements twice on my cell phone. I told her I had finally enrolled in the NASM course (at my own expense, plus the CPR/AED course: total $600.00). She assured me repeatedly that when I became certified, she would DEFINITELY hire me.
When I told the Fitness Manager that the the club manager has assured me of a position (he would be my immediate supervisor) his entire demeanor changed. He began to say things like 'well you know there are 20 other clubs in this area so you will be in demand' and so forth. He also indicated that the decision was not entirely the club manager's alone, that he had a big part in who gets hired as a trainer. Reading between the lines, I began to see that he would likely go to her and plead his case to bar me from being hired. I am a Caucasian female in a mostly African-dominated club. Also, this man had made other strange remarks to me to out me down, like' you think everyone in this club is your best friend but you make people uncomfortable, you must have a problem stemming from your childhood'.??? This he said during a phone chat we had when I called him to ask advice about the course, etc.
This man is disliked by many and may be the reason trainers leave that location. I figured I'd work there no matter what and do a very good job. I went to the club manager and she told him his opinion is considered and that she has the final say, and that I would be hired once I passed the test. Period. End of story. I already know they do background checks and knew I'd pass wirth flying colors. It's not like they hire the creme de la creme; most of their employees are flakey and questionable.
At some point, I began to discuss with the club manager the possibility of being a salesperson; I had originally asked about that position before I started the CPT course but she said she was not needing anyone for that position. All of a sudeen, she starts telling me that if I don;t want to be a CPT, she can DEFINITELY hire me as a full time salesperson or assistant sales manager. She went on to state that someone had given notice and she had to firm things up and secure an interview with her supervisor to meet me.
The end of the story is that nothing has materialized. The guy who said he was quitting suddenly hasn't, even though he allegedly gave two weeks' notice that would necessitate him vacating by March 15th. The club manager has given me the runaround about the sales position and today told me they want to keep the guy who says he is quitting but who still works there. She had, in the past, also made very personal negative statements against the Fitness Manager to me, who at that point was only a club member. Very unprofessional and unethical. Now, after pressuring her to give me an answer today and confronting both her and the Fitness Manager in her office, she denies ever having promised me a sales job and just twisted everything I said. Also, the personal training job is out the door because I can see the type of person this Fitness Manager is: He point blank dislikes me and has gotten to her and said he does nto want me hired. It is obvious that they are in collusion even though a few short weeks ago she found him to be offensive.
Also, I turned down another offer based on this woman saying 'no, please come work for us when you are certified, we really need good trainers and I think you'll do very well'. Of course, that other offer is no longer valid because they hired someone else. No clubs are really hiring. So I am stuck having paid for a course, plus no sales job either. Unethical, disingenuous liars and backstabbers.
I canceled my membership and also the debit card they use to access my account monthly. There are many reports of them continuing to debit people's accounts long after the member has canceled.
In summation, I got screwed by a big load of lies and false promises. Avoid this company for employment purposes.
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