Normandy Park Athletic

This is the first negative review I have ever given but I decided to write it as I feel strongly about the poor customer service I received today by the owner. I really wanted to patronize my local gym and have been a member for the past two years. However, in deciding to get a membership for my daughter I realized their activation and membership fees are very high! Shortly after getting my daughter signed up and paying an activation fee ($ 89 + extra $ 15/​month) my daughter became unable to use her membership at which I thought I would just have them change her name to my son’s name in their system to allow him to use the gym. I was told by the front desk person upon calling that there was a $ 25 fee to switch??? I asked why is there a fee just to change the name in the computer as all the other info is the same? She said she didn’t know and told me she would talk to the owner about it and have her call me back. I ended up calling back to speak with the owner and asked about waiving the fee as my daughter was no longer able to use her membership due to an injury. The owner said its $ 25 and when I asked why she charges such a fee? She replied to change it in the system… seriously $ 25 to change a name in a computer-​ridiculous. Worse yet when I explained I felt the activation fees were high for a family membership (5 in my family would be $ 450 as there is an activation fee for each family member) the owner didn’t seem to feel that way and when I suggested other local gyms do not charge all the fees she seemed confused… upon suggesting I would cancel my membership she informed me I needed to fill out a form and that I would be charged through March. She obviously could care less about retaining her customers. She could’ve gained three new customers but decided her $ 25 fee policy was more important. Truly unfortunate and as a local neighbor I’m very disappointed to see such lack of customer ship.

I’d give them 5 stars if they would 1) enforce a policy for men who make disturbing noises* while working out; 2) open earlier on Sundays (okay I’m a major early bird); and 3) had more classes. Other than that, perfection! Nice staff, great selection/​variety of workout gear. (* there’s one guy here in particular, Michael G., who EVERYONE complains about as he throws weights and makes really unusual and loud sounds while working out. Sometimes it is so startling and annoying I have to leave (really, this becomes a safety issue when you are holding heavy weight or running on stairclimber). He tell everyone he needs to be loud because he has a «heart condition» (really?!). The owner is apparently not brave enough to enforce a «no noise» policy.

It took me a good 3 times of walking in to get signed up. I went in twice on a weekend and a blonde girl in her early 20’s seemed very out of it and told me she didn’t know much and to come back during the week if I wanted information. Both times I had my baby and husband with me (very inconveniant). The only reason I went back a 3^rd time was because I live so close and am new to the area. So the 3^rd time I went back I stood in the front for almost 10 minutes with nobody in sight. Finally after yelling «hello?!» a few times I walked in the back and had to ask the girl I tracked down for help. She gave me the name of her manager and told me to call the next day because again, didn’t know anything. I called and spoke to a nice older lady and told her my issues and she gave me a free 1 week pass. Needless to say, I will never be back. This place is run by young kids who seem stoned and are extremely unprofessional. They really don’t care about their customers. Such a shame.

Horrible. I got a membership a month in a half ago and was determined to get in shape. I have two small children and can barely afford the fee but they made it possible for me to be able to work out while my children were watched. Yes the fee was heavy but I though it was worth it. Little did I know that bundled into there clauses and contracts was a snapper of one. We have all heard of the horrors of canceling gym memberships but this goes beyond to just not caring about humane decency. Because of extremely personal unknown circumstances beyond my control I had to move, suddenly, within a month. So no only was I no longer close but I could also not afford the membership. When I called to cancel I even told her what happened. And almost started crying and her cold response was, you can only cancel after being a member for three months. THREE more months of fees I cannot afford and then not only that but you have to send a sign and notarized written cancelation letter I the mail to them. But hey even if I did that I am sure they could say, it was lost in the mail. I just don’t understand why everybody is such money grubbing asses these days. Seriously! It’s horrible how human beings just don’t give a crap about each other and only making money DONT sign anything with them!!!

Somehow they have deleted all the previous reviews on Unilocal,all which were low. NPA is like the lowest common denominator of athletic clubs out there. They have the usual assortment of free weights, machines and cardio equipment, all from the cheapest vendors on the market. If you are into weight lifting they pseudo-​cater to your needs. The worst is working out within one of the cages, the thing wobbles! What? Totally unsafe. On top of that the staff are incompetent and lazy, equipment is never wiped down or put back, nobody is knowledgable either, other than some of the members who frequent the gym, who are forced out of proximity to workout here. Ownership rather have this place be for the 50-​something women to walk on treadmills or jazzercise I feel. This place should be better but continues to tread the line below mediocrity. Can’t recommend this place sadly.
Ownership needs to upgrade the equipment via lease, add precor and/​or hammer strength machines, get rid of the unsafe cages, and for goodness sakes do not surcharge members, who already aren’t getting value for their existing membership for use on the new training apparatus added in 2012 – 13. Also show you care about your members by enforcing a greater effort from staff, and maybe you can turn this thing around.

I can not stand companies that play cancellation games! It is such a pet peeve of mine. There is nothing worse than faithfully paying a business for years, just for them to ungratefully gouge you on the way out. I am in the process of trying to cancel my NPA membership right now. I called and e-​mailed to cancel and was told neither form of communication would suffice. I was told I needed to come in, in person or send a letter through the U.S. mail. Then they would actually process my request 30 days later. ?!? The owner says it takes time… Ridiculous. Is this 1942? Are they using carrier pigeons? It is as simple as a keystroke! I feel NPA has a very short-​sighted business plan. When a company chooses to be difficult and alienate customers who are leaving, all they are doing is ensuring that there will be no repeat business. The owner feels justified in her anti-​customer policies; citing a sentence in a contract a 16 year old handed me 5 years ago to sign. Overall, NPA is a small facility with very few amenities. It is staffed sparsely with uninterested teenagers. The enrollment fee is high and their cancellation policy borders on thievery. Find somewhere else to sweat my friends.

Going to a small local gym is really great! One thing I don’t like about bigger gyms is that everything is so intimidating! The smaller environment helps with that. Since its a local place I always see people I know when I come to workout. The group classes are great too! My favorites are RPM (spin) and Bodypump. The only reason that I didn’t give five stars was because I sometimes wish they had a pool. Also when on the treadmills you can’t see the tvs. Also I wish they had more group classes, but you can’t have everything, right?

Very small gym, there aren’t too many options but it gets the job done. For a gym this size I’m confused on why the initial membership cost is so high. Being in marketing for a decade this could be their biggest downfall and why they haven’t been able to gain new memberships. The staff is easily nice, but quite honestly I would have never joined this gym if they didn’t accept me because I have a membership at LA fitness. They could surely gain more if they had different classes as well. Of course there’s no pool or courts so this is surely just for a gym head. The monthly fees are cheaper that LA fitness that’s for sure. But, considering that this is .8 miles from me it makes it a lot more convient than going 4 miles to the YMCA or driving forever to an LA fitness. The gym is clean, so I don’t know why or how this person gave a 1 star for dirty lockers which has not been the case as well. The water system is not clean, their water tastes below standard. This could be the case because I come from Manhattan Beach in LA where they serve Kangen Water. Overall, I’m happy based off of the pros and cons.

Great small town gym. Lots of equipment, never a wait. No pool or courts but has spin/​zoomba/​yoga if you’re into that. All for ~$ 30 a month. Best bang for the buck in this area.