Fitness Advantage

Went to go check this place out as an alternative to Planet Fitness, but was not impressed. The machines seemed dirty and in poor condition (chipping paint, etc.) Locker rooms were not as clean as I would like. The two young people at the front desk seemed surprised I was even inquiring!

I hear it’s under new ownership. My BFF & I are wanting to join a gym, but only a few months through the cold. I wish they had a website and/​or some rates posted.
When I worked-​out there in the past, it was ok, but didn’t see the value for the fee’s which were charged. Also, there was not a decent place for my elementary age kids. That is a NEED these days. In IL you can not leave kids under 13 alone at home. Not even worth the risk! I hear they have a nice kids area now, will take a look.
We will check them out this or next week. Will update then.

Positives: Great kids area with tons of clean toys and friendly staff to supervise. Low price.
Negatives: Staff is unprofessional (mainly the GM). Use foul language. Difficult to find a staff member if you need help. Gym is DIRTY. Tanning beds old and cracked, make scary noises. Often there are no towels or toilet paper in the bathroom. Locker rooms are run-​down and in need of updating.

DO NOT SIGN UP HERE. Basically stole money from me and it sounds like I’m not the first person this has happened to.
I was a member of this gym and signed up with two of my friends on an account. A few months later I had to cancel my account because I was moving. When I was canceling my account I told them I would like the entire account cancelled including my two friend’s memberships. About two months later I noticed that Fitness Advantage had still been charging me for one member on my account so I called to clear up the mistake. After being told they would call me back once a manager was present and failing to call me back multiple times I finally got a manager to pick up the phone when I called. The manager was rude and informed me that there was nothing they could do and that it was somehow my fault for not canceling properly (the cancellation process was them handing me a form stating that I wanted to cancel, and me signing it. Not sure how I could do that wrong…). She also told me that the only way I could cancel was to personally come into the gym to cancel the account (again). I no longer live in the area so trying to make me drive over an hour just to come to the gym personally is ridiculous. After a lot of arguing she said she would «make an exception» and accept a hand written letter mailed to the gym stating that I want the account to be canceled in full. They kept my two extra months gym membership fees and reluctantly closed my account after receiving the letter.
I will tell anyone thinking of signing up for this gym to go ANYWHERE else. I hope the two months charges they stole from me was worth it.

So it’s no Lifetime. But I’m there to work out I don’t need all the extra stuff. Middle of the day is when I prefer to go as it isn’t crowded. I dislike going betweem 4pm and 6pm as it is full of men just getting off work who do nothing more than sit all over the equipment and leave their stuff around like they own the place. Everybody is pretty friendly and says hello but don’t bother you if you are mid set.