Primary Location
Amenities
Accessibility
Wheelchair accessible entranceWheelchair accessible parking lot
Just canceled my membership today.
I'm genuinely a little sad about it because if I was choosing a gym simply for the staff, I'd stay with this gym. A huge thank you to those working the front desk, who are some of the kindest and most welcoming people I've had the pleasure to meet. Especially to the three that I'd consider "my" front desk crew, Kamara, Magnus, and Melanie. If I come back to the Y, it will be because of you three. I've definitely spoken to other workers, and they were all super nice. But I didn't interact with them as much as these three, so I didn't get their names. I'd also like to thank the lifeguards working there, since my workout of choice is lap swimming. I wish I learned your names, but it's a bit harder when I'm underwater. One specifically is a taller guy who wears glasses. I'm trans and had several worries about using a gym because of this. But, he was kind to me on the first day I used the pool. And thanks for keeping watch on Black Friday when I was the only person in the whole pool.... And also to the three lifeguards who were working sometime last month when I was the only one in the pool. A little test of will to see if I could get past my own anxieties was fun. So, thanks for being a part of it. My review is 5 stars because of everyone I mentioned above.
So. Why I left
I turn 30 in two months. I don't really get why the price for membership would increase for that. There isn't a rationale that makes sense to me, and any explanation that I can come up with is rather closed off to an alternative lifestyle. Plus, people don't automatically make more money with age.
Additionally, the hours for lap swim blocks are a little.... wild. Random chunks of time that originally worked out PERFECTLY for me. Only to have them change once the new year started to provide more opportunity to those going to the gym for their resolutions. Once that happened, there wasn't a block that worked for me unless I wanted to cut into my sleep. If your lap swim hours are so restrictive because you don't have the staff to extend it, then hire more lifeguards. Or you could pay them more if you're having trouble finding new hires.
Anyway, I switched to the West Seattle Health Club. Their lap swim hours are 5AM-10:30PM and the membership is the same price as I pay now, before the increase kicks in when I turn 30. I liked your pool. It'd be cool to go back. For now, this is what works for me.
A quick timeline of events since signing up:
1) When I started, it was $75/month (which has now gone up). Highest in Seattle, and definitely one of the highest in the country from when I last checked.
2) They run it as a charity, but it’s absolutely a for-profit business (which is totally fine, but it’s how they’re pretending they’re offering some kind of service to the community).
3) Someone hit my car in the parking lot, and despite being almost as close as humanly possible to the YMCA security camera (I was 1 spot away from being the closest spot to the building), the cameras were so bad, they couldn’t easily identify my car getting hit. I have the number plate of the vehicle (which I got myself), but because the footage doesn’t clearly show them hitting it, I had to pay out of pocket. It’s likely it wouldn’t have happened if the spots were actually a reasonable size. When I park dead-centre of a spot, there’s usually about 6 inches of clearance on each side,. There’s no wonder people struggle to get in and out. That’s barely enough room to open your door.
4) My wife came for an hour, using one of my several guest passes, and had to sign up as a full member to even get into the building. It took over 20 minutes. I’ve been to 10-20 gyms and never had to do this much paperwork to bring a guest.
5) I receive an email stating that a 5k run is happening, and despite it being on completely public roads (where, legally speaking, I’d be able to just turn up and do the run anyway without paying), they demanded a $50 “donation” to attend. A $50 fee, to run on roads I pay for with my taxes, with a gym I already paid $80+ to be a member of. For what? Some recognition that I did the run? Either I did the 5k or I didn’t, I’m not paying $50 for a stranger to validate an objective truth that I did something.
6) I stopped going over the Christmas period because of some personal expensive reasons and was unable to go down. I tried to cancel online (which didn’t work), through email (no response), and through the phone (no answer).
7) January 2024, I simply just locked my credit card so they couldn’t charge it. It was the only way to stop them, and actually get them to contact me. After 3 failed attempts, they eventually emailed me asking what was happening. I explained my situation, that I’d always paid on time, and that I loved being part of the community, but $80/month was too much for me, and asked if I could use their income-based membership pricing (which they constantly tout as an option). Instead of responding to what I’d said, or even acknowledging me, they simply just cancelled my membership. I emailed saying that there must’ve been a miscommunication, no response. I emailed their contact email address asking why they’d just cancelled me when I was willing to pay, no response. I then finally emailed the manager (who I’d dealt with personally when someone hit my car), and again, no response. It’s been a whole month since these emails, and absolutely no effort has been made to reach back out to me.
This review probably leads you to think I have a really sour attitude, but I’m honestly a genuinely nice happy guy, and I was nothing but always nice, respectful, and polite with the YMCA staff. I don’t know why they’re treating me like this, it seems odd.
The irony is, they emailed me at the start of 2024 stating that memberships and donations were down, and that they don’t know how sustainable the YMCA will be in the long-term. I’m not surprised! You have an absolutely abysmal customer service, you’re charging the highest rates in the country, and you’re constantly e-begging for more money when people are already paying a premium - and then when people like me try to give you it, you essentially block me.
The LA fitness offered me a $25/month membership, and it’s literally across the road.
