Gold’s Gym

I am going to preach from the roof tops and to everyone about why I will never go to Gold’s Gym again, But, let me back step a bit. I used to love Gold’s Gym. I went to the Highland location off 2222 until I moved to Round Rock. Now, I’m the type that was not a fan of going to the gym because the equipment looked complicated and I felt like everyone starred at me because I’m not in fitness model shape. When I signed up they told me about Gold’s Fit where it would be a small class with a personal trainer, because I am the type that would unintentionally injure myself. I was going 3 – 4 times a week for about 3 months and seeing results. I really loved it and the personal trainer that ran my class knew who I was, was accommodating to my fitness level and willing to help me. Then I lost my job. I was super bummed, it was out of nowhere, and in Austin’s job market, who knew when I would get another job. So, since this gym membership isn’t cheap, I went in to cancel it. The man said that I could pause it since I was going to start it back up when I started my new job and then I can unfreeze it later and they wouldn’t charge me anything. Excellent, perfect, I did that. I got a new job a little over a month later which moved me up to Round Rock. I was really excited that a Gold’s Gym was literally across 35 for me. Super close and I wouldn’t have an excuse not to go. I went into the Round Rock location and spoke to their Operations Manager. I told him that I wanted to restart my membership and my Gold’s Fit. He said that since I started my service at another location that he would have call corporate to let them know to switch it over and start it back up but that I should call corporate and let them know that I talked with him and when he calls that I give him the approval to do this and he would call me to let me know this has been done. So, I do this and wait to hear back from the Operations Manager. I hear nothing. Months go by before I decide to follow up on this assuming that my account was still paused, I go in and talk with the Fitness Manager, I think, and he is super nice. I told him that I wanted to get back to the gym, I missed it, and about how I had came in a couple months ago but nothing had happened. He looked into my account and saw that they didn’t pause my account and had been CHARGING ME THIS ENTIRE TIME. I was furious. He said that I would need to reach out to the GM of the location I started my service at and have her handle it. I email Carol, I think, and tell her the whole story. What do I get back? «You’ll need to call corporate.» That’s it! Not, I’m sorry that we charged your account when you were unemployed. Not I’m sorry I can’t help you. Not one I’m sorry at all, just a «not my problem» kind of response. So I call corporate and they said that they will not refund my account for the money they charged me when I thought my account was paused. They refused to. I went into the Round Rock location to speak face-​to-​face with the GM as a last resort, she wouldn’t refund my account either. No sympathy. No remorse. They didn’t even try to make my situation better in any way. They just wanted my money, that I didn’t have because I lost my job. I will never go back to this gym that I loved so much and anyone that is looking for a new gym I will tell them never to use Gold’s Gym.

It’s convenient. That’s what it has going for me. The classes are great, but any other golds gym location will make up for that. The Internet is a complete joke. The equipment is extremely old and outdated, so much so, that some make a God awful noise. Pieces are broken quite often and too many have a low battery. It’s pretty dirty and they seem to not like using their air conditioning, as it’s a bit uncomfortable, unlike other locations.

I have been going to this location of Golds since 2009. I get a discount through my employer, and I signed a two year contract and paid no upfront fees, so I’ve been told that I have an incredibly low rate that I should hang on to forever. I remember some slightly annoying sales pitches after I first joined with pressure to sign up for personal training, but it was so long ago that it’s not something that still bothers me.
What some of the other reviewers have said is true, the parking lot is probably too small and it’s always full M-​F after work, but it’s also pretty empty on weekends or non-​peek times, so it’s not that bothersome to me. Some of the equipment is old and needs to be replaced (especially the bikes in the cycling classes), but overall it’s okay.
They seem to go through front desk and other staff pretty regularly, so sometimes there are friendly, attentive people, and sometimes there are rude, apathetic people. It is definitely not worth it to try and bring a friend because they will want them to fill out paperwork and go through the whole sales pitch (even if your brother is visiting from another state and already has a gym membership somewhere else because Gold’s does not have a location in that state. They will still make you go through the whole annoying process).
I love Golds because of the cardio cinema, so I wish that they would play a wider variety of movies. I think they mainly stick to stereotypical male movies, lots of action flicks like the Batman franchise. I think it’d be nice if they could play more variety or some newer movies like other locations.
Overall, I go to this gym for spinning and to work out in the cardio cinema a few times a week. The rest of the gym can get really crowded during peak times, but I tend to avoid that and it fits my needs just fine. I don’t see myself switching gyms any time soon.

After going to the Cypress location in Cedar Park, this place is pretty sad. The machines are great but the free Wi-​fi is a joke. There is absolutely no way to play a movie on my phone whereas at Cypress I have no problem. Also, there are a lot of meatheads here. Sorry to be this way but I prefer not to workout where there are a lot of thick-​necked men grunting around me. It is also dark and a little claustrophobic in here, whereas Cypress is light and open. The staff do not seem to «fit in» with an athletic atmosphere either. I just did not enjoy this location at all. I will be driving the extra 10 minutes to go to Cypress next time.

Horrible service. Moved out of state, after canceling my subscription Golds Gym kept charging me. It has been six months. Now Caitlin Galvin the manager for member service will not call or email me.
Do not join this gym unless you want to be charged for life. They will steal your money!

I’m giving this gym a 5-​star rating because of the sweet old lady I always see in there busting her butt to clean and keep this gym nice. Give her a bonus because she works hard and it looks like back breaking work doing what she does.
Good equipment and nice set up.

I have to say the staff and the people working out are usually respectful of your space. At the time of day I go there is usually some availability of equipment and most members are respectful of your space. They have done some upgrades to equipment in recent months.

This is the Gold’s I typically go to because it is closest to my house. For the most part it is decent. Gets very crowded in the evenings, but I’m pretty sure that’s true for every gym. They have a decent selection of free weights, machines, and hammer strength equipment. The staff at the front is fairly friendly which is a plus. They keep the gym relatively clean. They offer gold’s fit classes here which may be a plus for some. Honestly the classes look like a joke to me because there is a lot of standing around, but I can see how someone who is unmotivated to work out needs this group setting and camaraderie in order to even come to the gym. You have to pay extra for these classes which is ridiculous. For the price, I would suggest joining a cross fit gym if you are going to do those Gold’s fit classes.
This is not really anything they can control, but the gym in the evenings has a lot of people that stand around and talk a lot. I know this is pretty common at most gyms as some treat it as a nightclub without the drinks, but it would be nice if everyone took care of their workout and then took their conversation outside or elsewhere.

I wish this story was not true. I was working out last week when Eddie Chavez said I was doing it wrong. I figured OK, get some tips. He turned out to be rude and, well, touched me in places that GOD would not like. I could feel the heat of his bad breathe on my neck and grunting sounds. On the squat rack is when I felt him touch my ass and cup my balls. I said, what are you doing? He said don’t move and I got you now. I could feel his small manhood up against my ass and he said he was going to make me his bitch if I did not do what he said.
Needless to say this freaked me out. I told him I had to go to the bathroom fast and left and to never return. I felt violated by this monster. Stay away from Fast Fingers Eddie ! I didn’t know he liked 21 year old boys. I will be going to a different gym and this is a warning to others. Say no to Eddie !!

Pros:
It’s clean.
Cons:
Can’t ever get the equipment I want.
Only two squat racks.
Plenty of droning away available on ellipticals though. The parking lot reflects the crowd inside.

Spending a ton of time here lately!
Super props on the classe– The Body Pump class (especially w/​Danielle) and the Cycle classes are fantastic.
Good amount of machines even when things are busy.
Downsides– Parking is hard to find.
Also the TV audio streams do not sync with the machines, so you can’t plug in to hear audio– ever time I ask the front desk staff about this, they cant’ figure it out. This would be a good thing to check on.
Glad they are there and have awesome classes though!

This gym has terrible customer service. I’ve been a member for years and twice in the past month I’ve brought potential new members to work out. It is an act of congress to get to work out if you’re not a member. They have the free pass but the front desk employees don’t know what to do. One friend had a groupon and that really confused them. Each time we were told that a sales consultant had to meet with the new person… yet there are never any sales consultants there. I don’t know how they attract new members this way.

2^nd time here for Sunday spin class got chastised for turning on the fans. Guess this will be my last class here not very friendly atmosphere

On 05/​03/​2015 at 7pm I walk in after years of me being a member, and single, I come in with my first girlfriend. And get the shittiest help for my girlfriend to become a member. My girlfriend came in with a 7 day free pass. And the 2 girls said «this was sent to you back in March» it’s not expired. But the girls at the office didn’t want to honor it. I go to workout, while she talked to them at the front office. We met up 45 minutes later! My girlfriend tells me, they were asking if «I» was her friend, or roommate. Like wtf does that matter. They acted surprised I was her boyfriend, like she looked under my league. Talk about some rude horny sluts. Either way to make a long shitty experience short. I’m cancelling my membership, and going to Metroflex where they want to see you be fit, and capable. Not concerned who you’re seeing.

I was a little reluctant to join this gym with this stereotype of a bunch of knuckle-​draggers in mind. There were a few things that bothered me right off the bat:
1.) Parking (nonexistent) but hey, walking a quarter mile to the front door, we’ll call it a warm-​up!
2.) It is soo crowded (sun up to sun down) so probably don’t come in with a «workout plan» but just grab what you can when the opportunity presents itself.
3.)Chicks taking mirror selfies in the locker room. «Don’t mind me while I snap pics of myself with your moon burnt ass peeking out from behind me for all my instagram fans #YOLO #GTL.»
Don’t even bother reading the intake form just circle whatever, it doesn’t matter. The sales reps could really care less about your goals; they only care to sell you their glorious training packages. In other words their sales quota is far more paramount than your forthright requests.
If you happen to have any issues with your training package and wish to resolve them, you might as well give up before you get yelled at, then scrutinized, followed by being called a liar by the PT manager; ultimately to the point where you’re uncomfortable to even come to that location at all. (True story)
I am keeping my Gold’s membership, Hesters Crossing is just a bad egg. You will see nothing but solid five-​star ratings from me pertaining to the following locations: Cedar Park, Anderson Mill/​Jollyville, Highland (my favorite), and Tech Ridge.

One star is me being generous.
Since my other review got erased or hidden, heres another one. Ill keep it simple.
If you want to pay to be treated like trash, go ahead and join this gym. You will get just that.

Let me just say this… DO NOT JOIN THIS GYM
I have been a paying member of Gold’s for almost 2 years now. Besides a few friendly staff members, everything about this gym is a joke. Their contracts, sales pitch, equipment upkeep and billing policies.
I’m sure that they get most people in the door with «zero down enrollment» or «week free membership» both of which are false. You cannot even set foot onto the floor without enrolling, aka listening to a sales pitch. It’s no wonder their staff turnover is so high.
To say that this gym cares about you, would be the biggest lie of the century. You’re just some $$$$ walking in the door.
Save your time, money and sanity.
Go anywhere else but this place.

My new gym, and I’m pretty happy with it. It’s a nice, clean facility, and the few interactions I’ve had with the staff thus far have been friendly and polite.
Their machines and weights are kept in pretty good shape, and there is usually plenty of other options if something is occupied. Lots of benches and space to workout in.
I’d highly recommend coming here at off-​peak hours (before 5pm), as it’s almost impossible to find parking or open machines (cardio or weights) if you come right after work. This place is always pretty busy, though, so be prepared to share a machine if you have to!

So me and this golds has some history. Some good and some bad. Let’s start off with the good.
I was a senior in high school and wanted to get in better shape. Joined golds and lost a good 30lbs. No trainer or anything. I don’t want to give golds all the credit because it was all me that did it no one else. The management back in 09 seemed good. I ended my member ship back in 11. Came back in 2012 since I returned home. Everything was still fine.
Now the bad.
So back in 09 I had my car broken into, it was daylight and all. Golds didn’t do anything about it and I didn’t expect them to.
So fast forward to present day. I tried to sign up for golds again since I am ready to get back in shape. They said I never cancelled my membership back in 09. I told them I faxed in the paper work. She proceeded to tell me there was no notes on the acct. So there was a pretty good chance I was going to get this resolved. I mentioned that I was never told of this old acct when I joined back in 2012. I just had a bad taste in my mouth because of there shady business practices. Needless to say I joined 24 hr in stone hill and I’m not looking back.

I won’t be back.
The gym was very crowded, despite not going during a peak time. The problem I think was a lack of equipment. I have been to many other gold’s, and for the size I would certainly have thought it would be more accesible.
The kids club attendants were not too enthusiastic about being there either. They seemed to be a bit bothered by me bringing my kids. Then when I picked them up, they didn’t call them up or get them for me. They simply handed me my ID back and walked away. I haven’t had that experience at any of the other gyms.
The facility was clean, I will give you that. They did a good job keeping it up, but between the staff, the crowds and the equipment, I won’t return.

I frequent the classes at this location. I’m still trying to get into a routine and be discipline to go regularly. The classes help with that. My favorite instructors are as follows:
–Tamie — Total Conditioning and CX Worx on Mondays.
–Heather — CX Works and Zumba on Sundays. She has another Zumba class during the week and other classes also.
–Jamie’s Tuesday evening Zumba class is like a hip hop dance party!
–Chella’s Thursday evening Zumba class is fun! She has great energy!
I like this studio because there’s 3 of four walls that have mirrors. It’s good to be able to see your self, use the mirrors to see the instructors if you’re at a hard to see angle, and let’s be real sometimes you gotta check yourself out during those sexy Zumba moves.
I’ve used the lockers and the locker room and they seem nice and clean. I’ve never had any issues in that area.
When I’m not in a class I’m doing some cardio in the Cardio Cinema or utilizing the Women’s area. I like that there’s a women’s area only because I’m still a little timid to use the public space with all the meat heads and regular gym goers.
Most of the front desk staff is pleasant. There’s one girl there that I’m not a fan of. She always just acts like she’s better than everyone else and she doesn’t really have the best customer service. I filled out some paperwork to update my bank account for billing. Now I know it may not entirely be her fault that it didn’t get processed but she just wasn’t very pleasant when I was filling it out. She acted as if I was inconveniencing her. It was about two weeks when I realized the billing wasn’t updated so I called and asked to speak to manager. I spoke to a lady who was the operations manager. I explained to her that I filled out paper work to update billing and it had not been done yet and now I’m at risk for over drafting my account and accruing over draft fees. She said if that happened to bring in my bank statement and they would reimburse me if I got hit with charges. She would also waive the late fee from the gym if I got hit with that. Another two weeks goes by and I notice again that it still hadn’t been updated. I found my paper work and went into the gym and asked to speak to the manager. Of course the chick that I don’t really like is working the desk. I asked to speak with a manager about a billing issue. She asked for my name and got my member number and took it to Mr. Joyal (I can’t remember his first name. Maybe Jaime?) I waited for probably about 10 – 15 minutes and Mr. Joyal came out and invited me to his office. I showed him my paperwork and explained to him what had happened. He was genuinely shocked and apologize profusely for what had happened. He said that it should have taken corporate that long to process. He was able to get into the system and update himself. He wasn’t suppose to but for this he was making an exception. I was pretty livid, blood boiling when I walked in and he took the time to really listen and make nice small talk in between. He thanked me for being a member, assured me that it was fixed and told me that if there was any other issues to let him know.
Overall this facility is nice and well maintained. Every once in awhile I notice I get a survey in my email asking for feedback. I know how important feedback is to a business so when I receive them I take the time to do them. In the long run it will benefit me as a member so they can maintain a well kept facility.

This is my go-​to Gold’s location during the week as they are 1 of the 4 local Gold’s that have a swimming pool. This location has put forth a lot of effort in the past couple of years in improving communications w/​customers, getting their feedback, and making improvements. That’s why I’m a fan here and gave them 4-​stars, along w/​their personable customer service led by Jamie the General Manager.
I was a member w/​Gold’s in Michigan for several years up until 1999, then became a member in Austin around 2000 after they took over for World’s Gym. I took a 2 year hiatus and rejoined Gold’s in 2009. I shopped around other gyms and IMO they provide the overall best bang for the buck, and here’s a list of reasons why I stick with them:
— There are several locations across Austin and Central Texas, you can go to any of them.
— Most of them are open ²⁴⁄₇ in case you get highly motivated at 2am to hit the weights or swim some laps, that’s flexibility for ya.
— Four of their locations offer swimming pools for laps and swim classes.
— Free classes offered such as spinning, aerobics, swimming, etc
— Corporate discounts are offered as they usually have something for everyone.
— Personal trainers are available (for a fee) if you need some motivation or professional assistance.
— Price is just right for the variety offered, and it’s about half the cost compared to some other premium or high-​end gyms.
— Cardio Cinema!
— Playpen with supervised staff to watch your children during your workout! And every child gets a bag of sugary candy and sweets to eat (kidding!!) — - ;)
You’ll find that every Gold’s Gym location has it’s own flavor or culture, here’s why this location is one of my faves:
— It’s right off I-​35 for easy access in-​n-​out — kinda like a quickie.
— I love the swimming pool for laps, not too over crowded, and they just replastered the hot tub.
— A basketball court and a Cardio Cinema room.
— They added a white board to facilitate communication between staff and customers, it’s consistently updated with new information and well kept.
— They are open to listening to customer feedback and want to improve and make it a better experience. They are always piloting new things to benefit the customer as opposed to some gyms I’m used to who have no formal process to improve or communicate and are not open to change.
— Gold’s Gym emails quarterly surveys to customers for feedback — and at first I thought no one reads them — –but I was so wrong! I recently learned that mgmt reviewed and discussed my survey comments at their staff mtg, so they do take it seriously. (I thought I was a bit too hypercritical — just in one of those moods — so I apologized but Jamie said it was all good).
— Of all the Gold’s locations I’ve been to this one has the most personable and professional customer service. Friendly and proactive, the mgmt works hard to make sure their Team is engaged w/​customers and getting to know them, always greeting you when you walk in or leave. Aldijana (Mgr) works hard up front to ensure everyone smiles and greets. We love debating back and forth about the barcode scanning process — but it’s all in fun and games. ;)
— They recently got WIFI installed — awesome! Now I can check my iPhone or iPad while in the pool! Screw safety, I’m a text-​freak and need my Dice game. ;)
— Culture usually starts with the Leadership and trickles down — — Jamie (GM) has always been nice, professional, and very approachable. His door is always open and he makes time for any customer. A no-​nonsense guy and a good listener, he’s kinda like that tough rugged Marine that’s sensitive and gently on the inside. Always says «hello» and remembers your name, not to mention him and his wife love Tres Leches (just as an FYI for future reference). ;)
A year ago these guys were hovering around 3-​stars (A-​OK) and my eyes were starting to wander to other places, but with the improvements and efforts focused on giving more value to the customer they’ve raised the bar and made me a fan. That makes it easier to stay w/​them as opposed to looking at the competition because everything you need is here — — so you’ll be running out of excuses not to stick with them.

Nice gym… However if you have kids and need to leave your kids at the KidsClub, forget about it! Every time I go there, there is at least a 25 minute waiting list !!! I have never experienced this at any other gym…
(this even happened at 11 am on a Friday !!!) Annoying !!

The parking here is terrible and of is located right near a Burger King and if you are family with that charbroiled smell than I need not say more.
I don’t like the fitness group exercise room. It is way at the back and you have to walk thru the whole gym to get there…
There is a lot of Dell workers that come here.
They didn’t plan well on the parking…
This area has really gone downhill

I have a lifetime membership at another gym and came in to work out here when we called and they said we could come,
When we came in they wouldn’t let my friend get a seven day pass to try it out
Just a heads up, I think customer service is important, avoid this gym