Crunch

It’s got everything pretty much …

I used to manage clubs for an upscale chain (a long time ago) and have good insight. I’ve been a member here for several years. Since Crunch took over not much has changed. They gym layout is great and they have plenty of equipment. The facility is very clean and they keep up on maintenance. The gym is not over crowded and the outdoor pool temp is great for swimming workouts. The staff is friendly, especially the janitorial staff (Crunch, give kudos to these folks, they’re always working and extremely friendly). However, at times, some of the younger front desk staff don’t look up from their phone to greet you or say good bye. This could be a generational thing; kids, good tip for your future, put down your phone and show some etiquette. This is a service industry, your are here for the members, not yourself. However there is an early morning gal who has worked there for years who gets it… she should train all of the new hires.
I don’t take many classes but the mid day Friday yoga instructor is awesome!!!
Facility = A+, Staff Friendliness = A, Customer Service = C at best for front desk staff, Value = A
Kids… Put down the phone at work!

Formerly the Pur Fitness facility. I’ve been there a few times recently with my son who’s a member. The workout area is better now under this management however they don’t seem to take the cleaning of the pool very seriously. They don’t seem to clean the tiles so it looks dirty. This is just flat out bad management and inattention to detail as it’s easy to do this a couple times a week. Makes you wonder what other shortcuts they’re taking.
The facility was recently under an upgrade and they are slow to get it put back together. It’s only partially functional now and the pool is closed again. Uggh. It’s a real inconvenience to current members to have to go to other facilities to do their workouts. Major hassle. It better be a mega improvement to warrant the terrible impact it’s had on their loyal local members.
Their website didn’t note special hours for New Year’s day. The Carlsbad facility was still not fully functional so he went to another facility which is a huge hassle, then after a few minutes working out he was told they are closing early. Terrible waste of time. Nice way to start out the new year supporting members. This seems like another symptom of weak management.
The front desk staff are generally very polite and this is a big improvement over the previous Pur days where they were somewhat hostile to guests.
If the management is improved, this has the option to be a good facility. We’ll see. If they don’t have their stuff pulled together by March, they will go down the tubes. I’ll update Unilocal on their progress.

The worst gym I have ever been to!
The gyms in downtown SD are better equip then this place! Every time I go to get on a cardio machine they don’t work or are out of order!
For such a nice looking place it’s a dump!

I had been a member of Pure Fitness for eight years prior to being acquired by Crunch who had big promises or replacing old worn out cardio machines. This is a promise they have not kept. The cardio machines are now in worse condition than they ever. It is impossible to find two working machines side by side. In the men’s shower, one of the stalls has the water pressure of a squirt gun. On top of that they have restricted the number of towels each member can use. Oh and did I mention they raised the price? Sadly there are no quality gyms in the area leaving choices very dismal.

This used to be Purefitness; it was recently bought-​out by Crunch. It’s an OK gym, I just wish they did a better job keeping the locker rooms clean.

I’ve been a member of this gym off and on for 7 years and there’s a reason I’ve stayed. I’m not quite sure why folks have given it one star. Seems like those are the folks who cancelled their membership and had a hard time doing so. Or the ViaSat folks who got free memberships if they used the gym at least 3x/​month (many of whom I’ve seen come in, swipe their membership tag and walk out without even exercising).
The new set up allows you to pay either $ 29.99/month or $ 34.99/month (higher rate includes free daily guest passes) and it allows you to have your membership on a month-​to-​month basis which then allows you to cancel at any time. That’s about $ 1-​$ 1.17/day people! I’ve belonged to Tri City Wellness (clean, spa-​like but geriatric and pricey), 24-​hr fitness off Aviara in Carlsbad (more of a crowded gym with lots of muscle tank tops), as well as a handful of CrossFit gyms.
I find Crunch has a great variety of classes and that is the differentiator to this gym honestly. There are tons of spin classes offered from 6 am to 6 pm. Morning and lunch classes are well attended and the studio next to the spin room has lots of classes including muscle pump, Mat Pilates, abdominal/​core classes not to mention Zumba and even classes for seniors. There’s a boxing studio upstairs as well as gravity machines for doing core and muscle work.
They have a pool, granted, it’s not the best pool (a bit dirty) but it’s a 25 yard lap pool and although they do masters swim at lunchtime MWF, I’ve rarely had a problem getting my own lane as they typically take 2 lanes but never all four. There’s also an indoor pool if someone were desperate for their own lane although I know I’d rather swim outdoors. Hot tub is hot and tanning services are offered (don’t get why we need this since we live in San Diego not Seattle!)
I like their yoga classes which makes it convenient to do yoga and not have to pay more for a yoga studio. It’s not as hard core as a studio but they have some good instructors there.
The upstairs «women’s only» workout room is nice as they have less bulky free weights than the big ones downstairs. They have basketball, racquetball, hair salon, chiropractor and kids care with big jumpy house and the workout area is always clean (I crack up at how much they clean the floor and carpets there). There’s a coffee bar for coffee, snacks and smoothies. I also hear they’ll be bringing in new equipment and doing some remodeling.
I find the staff to be very courteous and helpful and never have to wait for equipment or machines.

They got rid of boxing and members are fleeing out of this gym. Poor management. Thy really don’t care about the members.

I feel compelled to offer my view of Crunch to balance some points of the negative reviews. I pay almost nothing for membership through my health insurance company’s Silver Sneakers plan (yes, I’m an ancient). I was granted one free session with one of their trainers, who walked me through the gym with suggested exercises. I now go three times a week, working the machines of my own choosing. Some of the treadmills don’t work well, but so many others are available that it’s not a big deal. And they have a variety of machines for similar types of exercises, such as curls or lower-​back crunches/​stretches, so something is always available. I’ve never seen more than two or three people in their two swimming pools (one inside) at a time. Same for the spa. (I tend to go around 2pm weekdays; might be different during peak times/​days.)
I’d like to see a temperature gauge for the spa, but that’s very minor. The place is clean, I almost never have to wait for equipment, and the staff seems friendly enough for me.

Crunch took over Pure Fitness (PF) but nothing has changed. They charge you for a «high end» gym but you really don’t have full access to everything, such as their pool, which was the issue when it was PF. The same private contractor conducts group lessons daily. So you try to swim when there’s no group lessons and then you encounter his private swim lessons. You can never get a lane because he puts one person per lane and never posts when these lessons are held. Save your money, join a regular Crunch at a ¹⁄₃ of the price and go to a public pool for lap swim. Also, watch your billing they change their prices monthly!!!

I really like this gym. I’ve been going for about two months now. It has good clean equipment. The staff has always been super friendly. They have great costumer service. I go right when it opens at 5am and it’s not crowded at all. Although my husband says in the evening it gets pretty crowded but that’s normal at any gym. The only thing I don’t like is that there’s no childcare which is a bummer for moms who would like to go and don’t have a babysitter. Overall I would say this is a great gym for someone just starting their fitness journey or someone who has been at it for years (:

Great gym! I work out here all the time — love the variety of classes and equipment, from spin to yoga and more. Lots of cardio machines and a great free weight section, plus a ladies only area. Also nice that it’s clean — someone is always wiping down the facilities. Go see Ben to get started!

This used to be Pure Fitness, but the business was so terrible, it folded and was sold to Crunch. Those reviews were terrible, and mine will join the queue of negative feedback.
This is the worst gym I have ever been a member of. Period. I originally joined because my work offered a free membership. Once I left the company, we had real issues cancelling my ‘plus one’ membership. We were told we could cancel without any fees if we were moving. When we gave the notice that we were moving out of town, they charged us without our consent!
In addition to not being able to simply cancel that membership, as we were originally promised, the trainers are unprofessional and rude. A co-​worker of mine was told she was «fat-​skinny» by her trainer… uh you’re supposed to be motivating her to work out (especially for what she is paying you per hour). He also noted that she was wearing clothes from Target, not Lululemon.
That pretty much sums up this gym. It’s overpriced, and the staff and many of the members are shallow and look down on you if you don’t have top-​of-​the-​line gear. You should go to the gym to work out and leave feeling good about yourself, not leave feeling poor and inadequate.
As far as classes go, they offer a decent variety of group fitness classes from Zumba to yoga. They also offer Insanity and U-​Jam classes. The problem with these is that the latest class is 6 p.m., which isn’t great for people who work until 5:30 or 6 p.m. But honestly, the classes are not better than other gyms.
Save yourself the time, money, and headache of dealing with these guys. Pretty much any gym would be better than this one.

I’ve been going to crunch for a little while now and I think it’s a good gym overall. It has plenty of free weights, heavy bags, a basketball court, racquetball courts, spin rooms, lots of classes, a pool, a sizable locker room with a sauna, showers and a bathroom. In general I am very satisfied with it.
The only thing I would like would be for them to add a rock wall, include MMA classes, and bring back the boxing ring. Then it would be perfect.

Update: They kept my credit card on file and in response to this review, charged me again after cancellation. My bank reversed all charges. Nice try, though.
Horrible gym. I thought the negative reviews were exaggerated, but they aren’t.
They might have changed the name from Pure Fitness, but the staff is the same. The reviews for Pure Fitness are horrible, and the Better Business Bureau gave them an F rating before finally revoking their accreditation. Numerous complaints have been filed against them.
The gym itself is just okay — certainly not worth the monthly rates they charge. The staff is rude for no reason whatsoever. They were rude even before I cancelled, but I didn’t care because I just wanted to work out.
You get a lot more at other gyms that charge lower rates. The shower area is filthy and no one cleans up after using the equipment. I would say about half the machines are out of order.
The agent, Ben, assured me that I could cancel at any time without penalty if I changed addresses. Well, I did change addresses and I now live in Orange County. Apparently, he was lying. The gym wants to charge me a huge cancellation fee, equal to 6 months of my membership! What? Why is there a cancellation fee for leaving a gym? And why so high?
I would never have agreed to sign up for the membership if I had known I couldn’t cancel. I’ve never seen a gym with such a ridiculous policy.
My guess is that Ben gets paid commission for signing up members and then doesn’t have to deal with cancellations.
This has happened to many other people, who have all written about Pure Fitness. People giving positive reviews have not had to cancel their memberships yet, or they have their memberships through an employer and don’t have to pay for them.
Even if there is a cancellation fee, which there shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be that much money.
They also charged a giant activation fee equal to 5 times my monthly rate, without even letting me know. So all in all, I went to the gym for 7 months, but was charged the equivalent of 18 months.
So to summarize, the gym is just okay — way overpriced even if they don’t stiff you, but they probably will. Go to another gym.

‘Yay! I’m a fan’ — cz its free membership for ViaSat employees.
Since they’ve changed their name to Crunch from Pure Fitness — nothing has changed. — still good since there was nothing wrong the Pure Fitness.
But i’ve over heard people around me saying they like the new management team because things are getting fixed, replaced and taken care of. So that’s good :)
This gym has everything — pool, spa, hair salon, massage, astro jump for the kids, kids area, coffee/​smoothie shop, hand ball court, basketball court, boxing ring, spin, studio, etc, etc.