Philadelphia Sports Clubs

I’ve been a member here for several months, and I have really grown to love this gym.
This review is for anyone looking for a gym to join for that «New years resolution» ;)
Pros:
–cheap! I only pay $ 19.95/mo on the «student» fee, does not come with access to pool or classes but I wouldn’t use either anyway. However, I heard this membership rate is discontinued, so that could be a con…
–plenty of equipment and space, and I rarely see «out of order» signs
–the UFX room is awesome. I love getting creative in there! It is only crowded after 4 pm, when the trainers get their training on
–spacious locker rooms that are kept clean. Sauna is also clean and hardly anyone is ever in it
–the free trial workout with the trainer is actually very legit. They will work with you to identify your needs and weaknesses and find workouts you actually enjoy! (However the cost to sign up with a trainer is definitely not in a student’s budget!)
Cons
–getting really stingy… now you need to purchase a «towel card» for $ 10 for 10 uses of towels… really? Bring your own instead!
–locks are given with physical keys, which are a huge pain to remember to carry around while working out
–personal pet peeve, but someone keeps stealing and breaking the jump ropes, which are my favorite form of cardio! I wish they would replace them or have people check them out at the desk.
Would I recommend PSC to a friend? Definitely. Many of my friends come here and it’s always fun to workout with them. The crowd is very friendly and diverse in age. I think this gym has something for everyone.

This was my second gym since moving to philly two years ago and after this experience I’m probably never signing up for a gym membership again. There were hidden fees that they didn’t share with me when I signed up. And when I tried to terminate my contract early one of the managers did it for me without realizing that I would get charged a $ 150 termination fee on top of other account freezing fees. What a mess. Never again. Two stars because I sort of enjoyed the boot camp classes they had on Mondays. Sort of.

I have been member of this gym for a few months and I liked it. At the end of the summer I decided to cancel my membership. I sent the request to cancel my membership at the end of September, however they have been charging me the fees during October November and December. When I realized I called the gym and the staff provided Jennifer’s email address, the Manager. I sent emails to her with no answer. I went to the gym to speak in person with them. I spoke with Carlise, he was very helpful, he was able to fix my status and give me explanations of what happened. But to get the refund he told me I needed to speak with Jennifer. I have been calling her and or she is not in the gym, or she is not available and she doesn’t call me back. I think the manager service is very very poor.

Today was my fitness orientation at PSC– Society Hill. Everyone was really nice and Chloe was awesome. She wasn’t even the person I was scheduled to see but I think there was a little mixup with the scheduling so she came in after she was already off for the day to work with me. Even though it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the gym wasn’t crowded and there was plenty of free machinery. It is a little grimey but hey, I’m here to sweat all over the place anyway so I can deal with that. I do with the bathrooms were cleaner but otherwise it was a great first visit.

I want to like this club. The staff are more or less friendly. It’s clean and efficiently laid out. However, any corporation that changes contractual agreements by fiat are courting negative reviews. You promised guest benefits. You wrote them into the contract I signed. Now, six months later, you simply change the policy without advance notice and without accommodation for those who signed up because you offered guest benefits! ABYSMAL CUSTOMER SERVICE.

If you want good customer service go somewhere else. This place is a bunch of scam artists. I signed up with the promise of guest privileges a (the only reason I signed up) and they revoked guest privileges two weeks after I signed up. Corporate claims that the reason the consultants who sign you up didn’t let new members know is because they never told them. Than they won’t even refund a cancellation fee after I only had the membership for less than two months. If you are looking for a gym, go somewhere else. The management is horrendous, the manager Jennifer Wurster wouldn’t even come out of her office when I was cancelling or help to fix the situation. This place just wants your money and doesn’t care about the services they provide or even notifying customers that changes were going to take place.

Since living in Philly, I’ve actually been a member of all three PSC gyms in the city, and I think this location is my favorite. It’s spacious, clean, updated (they recently did a ton of work on everything from upgrading the machines, to putting in new carpet, to building a new play area for kids — I think), and the staff is always friendly and approachable. The locker rooms are decent and as a few other people have mentioned, this place has an outdoor pool that’s pretty awesome in the summer — even if you don’t want to swim, it’s the perfect place to relax and get a tan in the middle of a bustling city. It’s worth noting that I joined the PSC network before they changed their pricing policy so I think I got grandfathered in to some of the perks of belonging here (like pool access and towel service) but it’s not terribly expensive if you decide to go for the whole enchilada.
Alas, I can only give this gym 3 stars because the spin classes I’ve taken have been absolutely bonkers.
One of the reasons I joined PSC initially was because many classes — think yoga, spinning, and some cardio options — come free with the standard membership. I’ve been spinning for years and was excited to find a gym that gave me that option, but over the course of two years or so, I’ve taken classes with all of the spin instructors here, and I can honestly say they have been the strangest experiences of my life (OK, at least my gym life). One of the instructors has the energy level of a piece of toast and played music that would put my grandma to sleep, and one of them was just plain disorganized and so hard to follow that I almost left in the middle of the class, all while muttering «WTF is going on here?» to myself. (There was a third instructor who was great, but she went MIA a few months ago.) The sense I’ve gotten is that PSC prioritizes their equipment, machines and environment over getting awesome qualified instructors — which is good for some of us and super sucky for others.
Overall, I like this gym for the days I just want to workout by myself, but would probably never consider spinning here again, which was one of my main motivations for joining in the first place.

Went in there yesterday to get some more informations and take a look around. This place is right near me and doesn’t mean a car or bus ride to the gym anymore. The woman who talk to my girlfriend and I was SOOOO uninterested. She looked like she could care less if we signed up or not and we had to ask for a tour. When she showed us around she was clearly bored out of her mind doing this for what the 10^th time that day? They gym is rather small and the pool is extra? No thank you. Staff needs to put some pep in their step, they work at a GYM not a department store. I could have been sold but she lost us, we are going to try a different location or another gym.

Went here two weeks ago to «test run» the gym. My roommate is a member and my contract is up with Sweat this month so i figured I would go and see the gym and see what their prices were like. As soon as I sat down with a membership consultant I regretted my decision. I’ve worked at another big gym in the city so I’m pretty knowledgable of gym contracts and what gym sales etiquette SHOULD look like. This sales associate was SO rude and unhelpful. The attitude she presented made it seem like she was annoyed she had to be speaking to me and then after ten long minutes of unhelpful conversation I asked, «So can i try the gym out for the day?» and she said «yea» and then i was waiting for her to get up to give me a tour of the facility (which i had never been in before), but instead she just sat there staring at me so finally i said, «where’s the weight room»? and all she said was «upstairs». Super helpful. Thanks… As far as the gym itself goes, It seemed clean and had decent equipment, although the layout is a tad cramped. In conclusion, bad customer service lost my potential membership at this gym. I refuse to deal with rude employees.

Be careful!!! Hidden fees!!! They are a scam and just want to make money!!! Many sign up to go to the pool at this gym for the summer. Be careful!!! They will give you a one year membership without telling you. Aweful experience canceling membership after the summer. I was charged when I didn’t even use their facility.

Treadmill tracks are loose. Most of the TV’s at the equipment are broken.
Signed up for one year and when that came to expire my wife and I were rolled into a month to month membership at $ 39.99 a month (meanwhile there are giant signs outside advertising $ 19.99 a month). We attempted to cancel prior to the end of our contract (end of June) but we were informed we needed to give 30 days notice prior to the end of the 1 year contract and had to come into the club to cancel, which is difficult due to our schedules. Then they finally told us we could call to cancel, which is near impossible due to the long hold times. We finally got in contact with member services via phone and were able to cancel our memberships, although they would not do both my wife and I in one call, we had to make 2 calls.
I would like to add here that if my contract was set to expire, why not call to notify me and see if I would like to renew? Answer, they just roll you into a month-​to-​month and keep making money.
We talked to the club about a refund because:
1. It was made difficult to cancel, I can’t make it in and I can’t sit on hold all day, I have to work
2. 30 days to cancel a gym membership is ridiculous, I don’t care if it is in the contract
3. We signed up for one year, the year is over, stop trying to rake more money in and hook us
4. We were charged our ‘membership price’ of $ 39.99 even though they have a much lower special price running of $ 19.99
After much back and forth we were told by the club we would receive a refund for the month of July, but we had to contact member services. Once we contacted them, the first woman I spoke with stated they would not be honoring a refund and proceeded to throw my contract in my face. She stated per the contract no one would be issuing me a refund, and I could not contact the Club for a refund, and no one would give me a refund. When asked to speak to a supervisor she stated there was no one available to speak with at this time, when asked when I could call back to speak to someone she said anytime I want to call I can, but would not give me a good time when I might speak with someone. I said I would hold and she hung up on me.
I called back a second time to member services and the man I spoke with informed me he could escalate this to his supervisor and they would call me back.
Currently awaiting a call back…
So to give some advice:
1. Never sign up for a one year membership
2. Cancel a month in advance I guess?
3. Be careful, even though you sign up for one plan, they may roll you into another without you knowing (I guess we sign up for it without knowing?)
4. Read that contract!
5. What the club says and the official company member services are completely different

Good luck if you ever move and have to cancel.

Everyone is always super friendly at this location but there’s a real need for a better online system. Last week they implemented a new way to attend classes, forcing everyone to sign up ahead of time. That is completely reasonable and fair, but the online system hardly ever works. 9 times out of 10 the site will freeze and by the time I call to reserve the class on the phone, it is full.
If you are going to make it mandatory to use your booking system, you need to ensure it works properly.

I have nothing bad to say about the facilities here, just the customer service. Unfortunately, my complaints go back to October, when the club manager told me that I could come into the club during peak hours (even though I was on a student membership) and she would delete the charge and change my membership at the end of the month.
On October 31, I talked to the manager and she changed my membership. On November 1, I was billed $ 150.64 (my membership costs $ 59.99). I called the manager twice to request that the additional charges be deleted, as she had promised. She never called me back, nor could I find her during gym hours. I eventually called the 1 – 800 number, after 40 minutes on hold spoke to a sales representative who said she would give me a credit for the next two months. I would not have continued my membership had it not been for this credit.
Ofcourse, I’ve now been billed for those two months and have received no credit. The manager again will not call me back. I’m now on hold for another half hour with the 1 – 800 number simply seeking to cancel my membership.
DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS GYM. You will just be charged extra fees and then be unable to reach anyone to cancel your account.

I have been a member here for almost a year. Kudos to Kamil for making this an ever positive experience for me. He answers all of my questions and makes me feel special and vauled each time I use the club.
I went to a 9:30am Pilates class taught by Rosemary this morning. Had the day off from work. It was totally fabulous! Please, please consider scheduling a Pilates class either after 5:00pm or on weekends for those members who have to work every day. What about a Thursday evening? I’m betting it will be very successful.
Keep up the good work. Barb S.

I like this gym, but they provide poor service and it is clear that there are few, if any, competent employees. I like the facility, but their prices include a ton of hidden fees and they provide really poor customer service. I attempted to change my membership and it took 5 different times before I was finally able to even TALK to someone in a management position. If you leave a phone number, they take almost 2 weeks to get back to you and they are very rude and pretend to be busy… if you’re not available for your own clients I don’t understand what else you’re busy with. honestly the only reason I’ve stayed is because of the one rep Kamil who always goes above and beyond to make sure he is available and able to help you. It’s clear that the head manager, jenifer, has no idea what’s even going on majority of the time.
Another thing that is clear is that there are only maybe 2 – 3 trainers that actually seem to know what they’re doing. I work with a personal trainer outside of PSC so I don’t have a need for them especially because the prices are absurd. I did a free trial fitness evaluation with Carlise, who runs the personal training stuff and he was fantastic, professional and really knows his stuff. I’ve seen too many of the trainers just laugh and joke around and be completely uninterested in training their clients which is horrible because as someone who works with a trainer I know how valuable it is to have a trainer really help you and coach you and pay attention to your needs. These people pay a lot of money and are clearly not getting the value out of it.
I also don’t really understand why there isn’t a manager working at all hours. Why are there only main employees from 9 – 5 when their gym is open from 530 – 10? This doesn’t make sense AT ALL because as someone with a fulltime job, like majority of people living in the city, it is a complete inconvenience to have to work around their schedule when they only have a manager present from 9 – 5 and as mentioned before, they are horrible at making themselves available or calling you back.
Finally, i think it is absurd that the facility doesn’t offer wifi. I just downgraded my membership, but I couldn’t believe I was paying $ 60/​month for a place with no wifi. Do they not understand that it’s 2014? Probably has something to do with clueless Jen…

THIS IS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! Jen never returned my call after I called every day this week. When I calmly explained that I was not happy that I never received a call back, she never apologized. SO GLAD WE CANCELLED OUR CONTRACT!

Pretty big fan of this establishment, great classes, friendly staff, free towel service, clean, comfortable and a great outdoor pool including a substantial sun deck. It’s not cheap but you get what you pay for. If you are spending summer in the city, consider this place for a swim to keep you cool.
Favorite gym I’ve ever had a membership with :0)

I’ve been a member here for about six months, and all in all this gym is decent. The positives are all of the amenities that come with the membership; classes, a pool, sauna, towel service, etc. The front desk staff are really nice and welcoming. I’ve never once sensed an attitude from any of them. If you come at the right time (after 630 weekdays) you won’t have a problem finding a treadmill or weight lifting machine. They also have most machines that any one would use (some are getting pretty old), and have recently added a cross training space (not really sure what to call it but its cool).
The negative is definitely the upkeep and cleanliness of the facility. Its honestly horrendous. There is a corner by the free weights that smells like death, and the cardio machines look like they have never been wiped down. The locker rooms are also gross. The carpet is never clean and I would never consider taking a shower in there, much less actually use the toilets. The kicker, however, are the drinking fountains, which are caked with protein powder that is cleaned maybe once a month tops. Disgusting!
If it weren’t for the upkeep issues, I would give this gym four stars and would recommend it to everyone.

I was a member for 2 years, injured my back and had to put membership on hold. was not told that it would automatically resume automatic payments 12 months later. unfortunately i did not recover enough to rejoin and when i tried to tell them i was not able to use the facility and had to resign my membership, they charged me for 2 months saying the only way to cancel membership is with 60 day notice. what a rip off. when i tried to talk to the corporate office, they were unresponsive to my calls, hung up on me after a long wait on hold and did not respond to my emails.
STAY AWAY FROM THEM, their staff does not stick around long, so whoever signs you up and tells you about membership benefits is never there when your issues arise. I strongly discourage you from joining this gym.