Community Update

Moorpark Fitness is the Amy's Baking Company of gyms. In case you aren't familiar with Amy's baking company ... you should know that I could not describe a business, or its owner, in less flattering terms. I'm not talking about Sue McConville, as I have never met her, but I'm guessing that the angry man with the grey facial hair is her husband and co-owner.

Last month, my girlfriend and I walked into this little neighborhood gym after being enticed by their convenient location and supposed competitive prices (advertised as $20/month). The angry man mentioned above seemed willing to help us, and was very friendly in our first encounter with him. He said he was about to leave for the day, but would stay to welcome us into the neighborhood; he showed us a flyer with the "standard" sign-up fee, but said he'd give us a special discounted rate this once. Before he could get into the specifics, one of his employees walked up, and she said she'd help us so he could go home. She was young, friendly, energetic, and not very clear in how she explained the membership. Therefore, I made sure to ask her repeatedly, "So if we pay this one time fee of $35/person this month, we can come back in here next month and the month after that until we cancel ... and get the membership fee of $20?" She responded without hesitation, "Yes." I asked her this same question in several different ways (to ensure she understood) over the course of this discussion, and every single time, she told me (even flat out once): "Yes, you are paying $70 now, but it will be $40 for the two of you each month from here on out."

So we came here for the month with the little temporary membership cards she gave us (they were really just business cards with our names and some dates scribbled on them). Overall, the gym seems pretty well kept (except for the single water fountain which rarely works). They don't provide towels, and they do not provide disinfectants (which is pretty gross). Still, despite the risk of staph infection, my girlfriend and I continued to come here due to the fact that it's a short distance from our home.

Alas, our month came to an end, and on April 7, 2014, we walked into this seemingly friendly place, expecting to finally take advantage of the "One membership -$19.95" deal that they promote. I told the owner about what his employee had mentioned to me, and immediately he said, "She never said that." In the most blunt, and accusatory fashion ... he dismissed me and my girlfriend as if we were criminals or something. Keeping my cool, I said with a smile, "She definitely told us that and I even made sure she repeated it to me several times to be positive." For some reason, he was very defensive at this point, and started raising his voice. "She never would have said that because that would F*** over everyone else who comes in here, paying for their memberships," he said in an unbelievably hostile voice. My girlfriend and I stood there shocked for a minute, wondering what we had done to deserve such hostility, before I gathered myself, and tried one last time to reason with this maniac. "All I can say is that your employee DID tell us that, and we're simply trying to get what she promised us." He said again, more coldly than ever, "No, she absolutely did not." At that point, I was angry. I said fine, "We're never coming back here again, and you have lost two customers." He put up no argument (which I guess shouldn't have surprised me considering he seemed like he was trying to lose customers). As we were walking out the door, my temper got the better of me, and I couldn't help but say, "Good riddance, jerk!" Well apparently, he didn't like being called a jerk. "You're an A@!%!*E!," he yelled back at me in front of his paying customers. Then, he proceeded to follow us out the door, screaming obscenities, and lecturing us on how we shouldn't call people jerks in their place of business. I told him that he shouldn't call paying customers liars and a@!%!**s, but he didn't seem to understand that logic, responding only with: "The customer isn't always right, you know!" This argument continued between the two of us for about five minutes, while my girlfriend, on the verge of tears, stood there in a state of shock and disbelief. The guy kept getting up in my face, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he took a swing at me. All he could do was angrily spew rhetoric about how he stands up for his employees (even though I never once said anything negative about his employee).

I rarely ever write reviews unless they are positive. I NEVER complain because after working in every form of customer service for the past ten years, I do know that the customer is not always right. I also know that customer service is EXTREMELY taxing, and because of that, I cut rude service workers extra slack. It's a hard job, and bad days are excusable. But this angry little hobbit was out of line. Do not come here. People on Yelp have said that Moorpark Fitness may even charge you for things you weren't expecting, and this gym definitely doesn't seem trustworthy to me. I sure as heck wish I wouldn't have been so trusting of them initially. In fact, the only reason why I paid $70 in the first place is because I figured the cost would even out once we started paying $20 per month. The employee and I even discussed this. Zero stars for this place. If you don't believe me, read the other online reviews (the ones that aren't written by the owner).