Sleazy Sales Tactics
To anyone this may help, EoS is worse than any other gym in terms of sleazy sales tactics. I am a member of LA Fitness (national membership), and Planet Fitness (Black Card). I have LA Fitness for the sauna and the variety of equipment they offer. I have Planet because some busy weekdays, I can only go gym after LA Fitness has already closed. It’s as simple as that. I love working out, so I spend roughly $60/mo on these two memberships, plus separate annual fees. Most of my previous LA Fitness memberships were Paid in Fulls, because I worked in the gym industry and understand the benefit. Not saying all this to brag or show out, saying it because I literally could have been their easiest client of the month. I pride myself on being that for gym salespeople LOL.
Anyways, got the 7-day free pass to see if it’s worth cancelling LA and Planet (both of which I have decent deals on), to switch over, especially because besides the sauna, the extra cost at EoS would solely be for the 24/7 access, as I have never used cryotherapy or any of the other crazy things they offer (see the benefit tho). Absolutely nothing on their website mentions any ‘rules’ about the 7-day pass. Get the pass, super excited to try this new gym out that everyone’s talking so much about, and head over. Front desk staff immediately gets into sales mode as I mention I have a pass, and starts mentioning rules for using it. One of the three rules is you need a drivers license showing you live within 10 miles of the gym. I live within 10 miles (actual rule that’s mentioned in fine print is 25 miles), but I own a property that is technically a primary residence much further away. That address is on my license. I explained that, and the front desk staff smiled and said “we won’t be able to accept the pass, but you can pay for a membership and cancel within 3 days if you don’t like it. We have promotions right now.” So he/they lied, and also made the experience super unpleasant. Could’ve given me the day pass since I drove there and put my info in the system so front desk staff know if I come in again… could have even offered me to pay for a day pass which almost all gyms have and I would have been up for it.. But just wanted to pressure me into a membership… at 8:30 PM, on a Sunday night.. Told him, why would I get a 7-day pass if I live so far.. but also understood that people do lie, so I asked if I could show my LA Fitness membership and what my home club is set to so he can see that I do in fact go to the LA Fitness less than 10 miles away. He said, “sorry, the only way to process the pass is through your license.” Which, I know damn well is untrue. Anyways, called sales staff later to inquire if it is indeed a rule and to see what options I had. They said the same thing. I said, “you should put that in your website,” (if it’s going to pressure people who just spent however long driving to the gym into getting a membership on the spot). No answer ofc.
Super unprofessional. Having worked in the industry, it’s not uncommon to face unprofessional people, these gyms will hire any body. Yes, the space between any and body is intentional. They’ll hire any body they can find. But in all my years, I haven’t really heard of this. LA Fitness got some sleazy people, none of them do this kind of stuff for real. They’ll try, and give up if the guest doesn’t budge, so they don’t lose a potential customer for life, or to another more decent salesperson. If they don’t give up, they’d 9/10 get in trouble for it. But nah, this seemed like they were trained for this and were waiting for it. At this point, I don’t even want to go to EoS cause that just indicates poor training/management/company policies. I’d rather just work around my schedule and deal with LA/Planet since I at least know the employees there are decent people.
This was the PGA location by the way, in South Florida. Doubt every EoS has unseasoned salespeople like that. Hopefully y’all are luckier than I. What’s funny, is EoS doesn’t even have enough locations for this to be a genuine problem. They could easily take down license numbers, regardless of if you live near or not, and have those notes pop up whenever you input the same license number/name at a different location. It’s what we did at LA for genuine cases of someone abusing the free pass. Closest one to PGA is Boynton btw, a whopping… 25 miles away… 👁️👄👁️
Btw, I didn’t crash out or become unruly, spoke super respectfully to everyone there, and just kept it pushing when I realized they’re just sleazy and lied even about the mile radius needed for the free pass. Just felt super let down and frustrated, and wanted to vent in a meaningful manner.
TLDR: EoS has sleazy sale tactics and will have no issues wasting your time if you were hoping to use a first time free pass. Don’t waste your time going to one with a pass, either sign up bc you know you’re going there, or try to go with a member who has guest access. Probably better to save yourself what I can imagine would be roughly 1-2 hours on a miserable sales pitch and also just join online if you want to join. Skip talking to them unseasoned salesbodies.