I am extremely disappointed with the customer service I have received from Kelly. Every time I purchase a drink, she snatches it out of my hand instead of handing it to me respectfully. On one occasion, as I was leaving, she called me a racial slur--the N-word. That behavior is completely unacceptable and should never be tolerated in any workplace. In addition, she is constantly on the phone with her boyfriend while serving customers. There is rarely a greeting or any acknowledgment when I come in because she continues her personal phone conversation instead of focusing on customers. This level of unprofessionalism and disrespect creates a very uncomfortable environment. I hope management takes this complaint seriously and addresses the situation. read more

DO NOT get a membership at catalyst, they are incompetent and greedy. They messed up my original contract, it was supposed to be $30 a month and they were charging me $33 a month. Not much of a difference but I had to make them fix it and I'm not even sure how that happened as their plans are $20, $30 & $40 a month. Trying to cancel your membership? A fkn nightmare. I spoke to the front desk in April 2026 and they told me my membership expired on 5/27/26 (12 mo contract was up) and would not renew. They gave me an email and number for cancellations and told me to just email to confirm it ended 5/27. I emailed 5/4 and they say they have a 30 day cancellation policy and I will now be charged an extra month which directly contradicts what the front desk employees told me. To make matters worse, I see a $50 charge on my account separate from the $30 monthly fee. I assume it was a cancellation fee but there was no mention of any fee being charged and there shouldn't be one since my contract was up. They do not care about you and only care about getting as much money out of you as possible. Save yourself the hassle and go somewhere else. read more

Since May 2025, I've called upwards of ten times to speak with Jen Trees regarding both my membership and my wife's. Despite repeated attempts, I've received no response from Jen or anyone in leadership. Five months later, we are still being charged for memberships we no longer use or agreed to maintain. It's disappointing to see how much Catalyst has changed. The focus has shifted from supporting members' health and wellness to prioritizing profit margins and retention numbers. That's not the community-oriented approach we originally signed up for. read more

Rating: 1.4/5 (Money and service talks, the rest is meaningless!) Great facility, terrible ethics. BEWARE: This gym is a classic wolf in sheep's clothing. I'll give credit where it's due: the facility is nice. However, that doesn't compensate for the predatory way this company conducts business. The staff here are cool, a bunch of college kids just trying to do their jobs. But the ownership and management are purely money-hungry. They just got rid of the buddy pass this December, which means you are paying an even higher premium for less. They're essentially making you pay for their remodeling projects while degrading their customer service. For you imagination: Their saunas smell like old-butt and the wood in those thing looks like a stained gas station toilet seat. The membership policies are a nightmare, intentionally designed to trap you. There are so many other fantastic locally owned gyms in Buffalo where you simply pay your dues, sign the waivers, and that's that. At those places, you don't deal with extra fees, hidden annual dues, or a requirement for one month advance payment just to cancel all of which are REAL policies and fees at Catalyst. It is extremely frustrating to see such a nice facility ruined by anti-consumer practices. Avoid Catalyst Fitness unless you enjoy being disrespected and treated like an ATM. Like I said in the headline which is especially true in this economy: Money and service talks, the rest is meaningless! read more

I've been to this location a handful of times and like that they have a great variety of equipment and a large turf area with lots of equipment to choose from out there. I've never had an issue looking for or waiting for equipment that I wanted to use. In addition to group classes and personal training, this location also has a smoothie bar, free wifi, a few TVs to watch while using cardio equipment, and hydromassage chairs! Parking lot seems small for the number of people that come to the gym. I've had issues looking for a spot at night, but didn't have an issue when I went during the day. The ladies locker room is big and I especially like that they have benches around the perimeter of all the lockers. One thing I'm not a fan of though is the see-through showers. I really wish the shower doors weren't transparent. read more

Just joined this gym again. I had a personal training session with Katie. She was personable and taught me a few good exercises. The have massage chairs, saunas, and a good selection of group classes. Sometimes when too walk in, it kind of smells like sweaty mats. The bathroom stalls could use some work too. Every time I want to use the bathroom, there is urine all over the seats. Gross. But on a plus, i do see the employees cleaning the gym while I'm there. read more

Catalyst Fitness - Orange creamsicle...so amazing!!! Smoothie of the month - Gyms Near Me - Tonawanda, New York

Catalyst is without a doubt the least customer service oriented gym I've ever dealt with, and their billing practices in my experience are a complete disaster. It seems if they have any difficulty processing a member's recurring payment they don't bother taking action to correct the situation, and will eventually just freeze your membership. This may be great if you want to skip out on payment, but it isn't if you want to legitimately pay for a gym membership, work out, and not be inconvenienced. When I signed up in late 2018 they successfully ran my credit card for initial payment, and I set up recurring monthly payments with the same card. Due an apparent administrative error the billing service couldn't run the valid card for payment, so I began receiving emails asking me to contact the gym. After numerous calls and messages left with the Wehrle location where I'd signed up, followed by an in-person visit where staff didn't have the faintest idea how to correct, no action was taken to correct the situation. The email messages kept coming, and Catalyst did not reach out to me. When my work schedule finally allowed I visited a different location (Elmwood), where they took immediate action to re-write my contract and set up recurring payments. The next day Mike, who identified himself as the manager at the Elmwood location, called to apologize on behalf of Catalyst. He assured me the owner(s) would be made aware of my poor billing and customer service experiences, and action would be taken so neither I nor any other customer would have to deal with the same frustration. I thought I was good to go until about a month later, when I started receiving the emails again asking me to contact the gym. Clearly, owners and management didn't care enough to have someone check the following month to make sure my situation had actually been corrected. After months of receiving 'IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING YOUR MEMBERSHIP' email messages, I went by the Wehrle location to officially cancel my membership last week. As the cancellation was being processed I clearly stated that I wished to receive a call from the owner to discuss my terrible customer experience, or I'd share my experience on Yelp. The only call I received was from someone attempting to get to the root cause of the billing problem. The person asked that I provide my card number so they could attempt to troubleshoot, and make sure other members didn't experience the same situation. Good luck, Catalyst. read more

I joined this gym because it was right by my apartment. When I first went in to tour the gym it seemed pretty nice but the more I go there the less I like it. For one thing, when I joined over the summer they mentioned they were going to be doing some construction. This construction has now taken months and takes place when the gym is open, making working out much harder. There have been many times now that I want to do something at the gym and can't because of space constraints due to construction. My other issue is that a lot of the equipment is really run down and I have yet to see something get replaced. I'll keep going to this gym because it's so close but once I move I can't see myself going back. read more

Great place for a workout. They have everything you need and more. Plenty of free weights, bench presses (incline, decline, and regular), machines, cardio equipment (treadmills, bikes, stairmaster, Jacobs ladder, elypticals, you name it), etc. It is all very clean and well kept. The locker room is clean and has a nice sauna. Showers were clean with soap provided. They also have a great smoothie bar for an after workout protein shake. They have a bunch of different flavors. I got chocolate peanut butter and the cookies and cream and they were absolutely delicious. They also make wheatgrass (organic) when requested. They have green juices, fat burn shakes, bulking shakes, and many others. The staff is very friendly. Mike, the manager, is a very friendly and good guy. Joanie, making the smoothies is really great also. read more

See all

If you wanna see results, get a personal trainer and come here!! Never thought I would like to go to the gym, but everyone is so helpful and professional!! Every session I have with Kymberly, my personal trainer, it's like I'm on an episode of The Biggest Loser....but seeing results already ...I wasn't able to workout without being in a ton of pain with herniated disks in my back and a messed up wrist from an accident, but now I am able to workout without hurting myself! I can't say enough about how much I love this place! Life changing read more

Catalyst Fitness - Jacobs Ladder....I have a love/hate relationship with this thing - Gyms Near Me - Tonawanda, New York

This gym doesn't care if you have an issue. They go through a third party t tally their cash. What a poor plan. After the sell they desert you. read more

Clean gym, great equipment, and friendly staff! Thank you Kendra for making my visit to the gym and area an excellent experience. The membership cost was well worth the peace of mind knowing that proper sanitary and capacity requirements were being upheld during COVID. read more

I love working out at catalyst fitness everyone is super nice especially Alexa at the front desk and Todd luke and Nicolette Lindsay

This gym is terrible!!! Besides it being insanely dirty, the staff is extremely rude. My first impression of this gym came when I went in to check out the place... I was handed off to some other employee who could care less that I was most likely going to sign up (and give her commission), she didn't ask me if I wanted to go on a tour (even though I told her I had never been there and I currently had a workout bag with me), she got pissy when I told her I may be moving down the road if I got a promotion and she blew me off when I asked how the membership works for the hydrobeds because my fiancé was interested in signing up for that membership package. They also trick you with saying our gym offers free wifi- that's a joke because the wifi never works and if you're like 95% of those who work out, you listen to music when you exercise. I wish I could cancel my membership today. read more

Not much good to say about this gym. I signed up a few months ago because they had a cheap deal, highly regretting it. Space: Overcrowded. Especially since their renovations. The free wight area only has room for about 5 benches, and it's also the area for the TRX and sled so there's always people in the way, and forget about working out if theres a personal trainer with a client in the vicinity. They have "trainer only" areas that they added now too. Great if you can afford to always work out with a trainer I guess. Trainers: Not great. The trainer who trained me for a couple sessions was great, but he left I believe (younger guy, plays soccer professionally or something.) The rest I've seen are aggravating, screaming at their clients like they're in bootcamp (which some people like, to each their own.) Equipment: Actually pretty nice, I just wish I had more room to use it. Biggest problem is that all their latest, most innovative equipment is in the trainer only areas. And despite the machines looking new I've had a cable snap on me before, and I'm not a very big guy. Classes: This is more word of mouth since I dont take them, but I've many complaints that the normal classes keep getting limited on times and availability to make more time for personal trainer classes, which cost even more then the other classes. All in all, the only reason to pick this gym is the price, but with all their new classes/ trainer stuff you'd end up spending a fortune to use half the gym. Spend your money somewhere else. read more

Joined the gym on the black friday no contract deal day. Little did i know, and did they say that they were going to play nothing but loud, and i mean loud rap music all night. Now i dont mind some rap, but there was no variety of any different music at all. And for me it was a deal breaker. I dont like to wear headphones when i work out. Its that simple. I tried talking to the staff, and they said the owners of the gym have instructed them to play only that music. The gym was nice. A little worn down, and dirty, but its been there for awhile. I am going to try a smaller gym with more tamed music. After all. If you cant get the pump going, whats the sense. read more

This is the BEST Catalyst location in my opinion. It's a big space, not crowded like other locations. Nice locker rooms with showers and a sauna. and i love that they have classes at this location. I really enjoy the fact that they have a room where i can go in with my boxing gloves and hit the bags. The other two locations i've visted don't have that. read more

Been Going there for 2 or 3 yrs now. Was Very happy with previous management and employees. New Management now. and he blames me for not updating my credit card account which it cause me all these add on late fees. I ask before they accrued , would you give a courtesy call or email saying I missed a payment or it did not go through He replied yes normally they would call but they didnt. He said they are there to make stay in business and they cant afford to keep waving fees. He said last month they waved over $7000 in late fees (like I care!) and it's my responsibility to stay on top of my account. He cut the fees in half but I still wasnt not satisfied. Waving $20 costed Catalyst $120/yr and the $39 renewal fee! hmmmm He didnt even care, he seem quick to cancel my membership. Some would say. Hate to lose you, What could I do to keep you? oh Well!! read more

I used to love Catalyst. I started my membership 4 years ago and 4 years ago it was so phenomenal. He major reason I chose Catalyst over other gyms in the area was they were clean, friendly, up to date and they had a pretty nice sized women's workout area. Since then, Catalyst has lost its friendliness and welcoming environment along with the women's workout area. I have been to both the French Rd location and the Williamsville location and in the last 2 years I have noticed a severe decline in the customer service provided. The staff working seems to be getting younger and younger and they care less and less. I have no problem with young staff, seeing as how I am only 20 years old, but the staff they have been hiring is lazy, rude and quite unprofessional. I am going to begin my search for a new workout facility tomorrow. read more

I've been going to this gym since I was 18, I am 24 now and I haven't had any issues until recently. There have been a couple involving some of the staff. Tonight my girlfriend(who just gave birth recently) had to leave the gym crying because the front desk girls made her feel so uncomfortable by constantly staring and pointing at her. No one should have to feel that way when going to a gym, especially when they're trying to better themselves. I will be canceling our memberships and going to a different gym. read more

Since I started training with Brett, I leave the gym every morning knowing I got the best possible workout I could have. He does a great job and I also love Michelle's spinning classes. read more

Not a fan of this gym. The gym employees were more concerned about talking among each other than greeting customers. In addition to that, I did not like some of the instructors or trainers. Many of the trainers were not personable or even approachable. I would not recommend joining this gym because the monthly fee is way too high for what you get in return. read more

Wide variety of equipment, barely ever a wait for anything. Locker room renovations were long overdue but very nice now that they are done. Staff is approachable without being in your grill if you just want to do your thing and get out. Don't love that they crank the music so loud that it almost overpowers your headphones, but not a deal breaker. Would be nice to be able to tune in the TV sound on the machines. Overall a good deal with as much or as little as you decide to make use of. read more

Too crowded, cramped, and unhygenic. Visited 10:45 am on a Monday looking for new gym membership. Would have had to wait 15 mins to get on a piece of equipment. Parking lot crammed full, staff ignored me, rude. Saw people use equipment, not spray/wipe afterwards for next person. Smelled unpleasant in locker rooms. If it is this bad during the morning when most people work, it has to be even worse at night when people get off. Walked away. Would never go back, not even for free. Not worth it. read more

Decent gym, no complaints other than the music being turned up so loud. You can't hear your own music playing through headphones or hear the person 2 feet in front of you talking- if you're someone that likes listening to your own music while working out, this is not the gym for you. read more

Carly's yoga class is amazing! Challenging, but I am able to do most of the poses! She changes it up a bit so you never get complacent. Her class and s one of the reasons I renewed my membership! read more

Equipment is always broken and the place is over crowded. I wish I hadn't signed up midday which gave the false impression on available equipment and services. Don't let the bright paint job and flatscreen televisions fool you. I guess for 10 dollars a month you get what you pay for. read more

This is a quality gym with decent rates on memberships! I recommend this gym to anyone in the area! The staff is friendly and the facility seems very well kept and organized. Mike Przybyl is the manager there and from what I've seen, he's a pretty nice, reasonable and helpful guy. Being there for a year, I was able to complete any workout task that I needed to with the equipment available whenever I visited the gym. This location however, didn't really have all of what I wanted in a gym personally so I sadly decided to cancel my membership. The most I can recommend is that they call people when they're late on a payment to avoid any late fees or charges rather then send it out in an E-mail! Other than that, this IS the best gym in town if you're looking to get a great work out in! They care about their customers! read more

I just cancelled my membership after going here for years (since before it became a catalyst, in fact.) The only reason I kept going was it was close to my house. There have been so many terrible changes over the years, my husband and I simply can't take it anymore. A laundry list of issues with this place: I was injured while working with one of their trainers. He pushed too hard, and kept rolling his eyes when I would complain that something didn't feel right. Turns out, it was plantar fasciitis and I ended up in pain for 2 months. Despite calling and telling him I would not be going due to my injury, I was not refunded any of my $350+ spent on training (this happened within the first week.) They do have a great open space for crossfit and floor workout, but it is often dominated by personal trainers. This would be reasonable, except that they have two designated spaces with brand new equipment that is only for personal training. Instead, they use the public equipment and space. I can't tell you how often I have been unable to do my own workout because I have had to share space with personal trainers while the personal training spaces are completely unoccupied. They do use them sometimes, but it seems to be as a last resort. They also randomly have my husband's favorite machine sequestered away in the personal training space. It is the only one, and it is off limits. I don't know if it has ever been used. While we are on the personal training space issue, they used to have a women's only section. It had the oldest and most beaten up equipment, but I always used it. They got rid of it and turned it into one of the personal training spaces. Their equipment is old. They used all of the equipment from when it was a Gold's Gym, and a lot of it hasn't been updated. I have watched the same few machines get more and more run down and not get replaced. They do have some newer machines, but I dare not complain about the ones I love, because there are only 2 (one newer one and one older one), and I worry that if they get rid of them, they won't replace them. What clinched it for me today was that I recently found out that there is a $9.99 option for this gym. We have been paying $29.99 each for years. No one ever told us about this option. We have never taken a class ever. Also, we are not dependable. We might go every day for a few months, and then not at all for months. (Today -August- was my first time since March) When we asked to change, they insisted that we would have to pay new membership fees ($60 each) to change to the cheaper rate, plus the $39 membership fee in January, When we were shocked that we would be treated as new customers after years of membership, overpaying for what we were using, and be locked into a 12 month contract we decided that if we were going to be charged as new members, we might as well be new members elsewhere. read more

This facility is dirty. The men's shower is filthy. There is mold in the showers. The ceiling fan has not functioned in 1 year. There is no consistant maintenance. Garbage all over. It is sad. Members complain to the workers at the desk with no resolution. The management heirarchy is a joke. It is too bad because the members are good people who deserve better. read more

This is the worst run gym in Buffalo. Half the time there is no hot water.. There is constantly broken equpment. They put up signs scolding the customer for to clean their machine, but most of the time the cleaning supplies are empty. They are 3 times the price of all the other gyms. They are all 9.99. read more

I've been a member at this gym for over 4 years .... what's paramount in all gyms is the cleanliness....most of the Catalyst Gyms are "disgustingly filthy" the shower stalls in these gyms are particularly abhorrent, infested with mold, slime and some sort of different shades of green stuff , especially the one on Wherle Dr. The gym equipment is old and constantly breaking down, yet the owners have the audacity to ask an enhancement fee to maintain "quality". If you have an 'itch' to join a Gym...It's best to shop around before making a commitment at Catalyst Gym....DON'T SIT TO BE FIT!!....especially here ...Yikes!! read more

I hate this gym. The equipment is old. It's not in good condition, some of the dumbbells are broken. There's very few benches so it's almost impossible to get actually worked out. In fact there such a shortage of equipment and so many people there you spend more time just waiting. It's also very dim. Although they market the gym as only $10 a month, somehow I'm paying $20 a month plus maintenance charges twice a year which makes the membership more like $25 a month. You can go to LA fitness one minute down the road for 30 a month and they have a sauna, hot tub, and pool. Signing a two-year contract with this gym was honestly the biggest mistake that I made in the last three years. read more

I have been going to this gym for about two years, and I am well pleased with it. It has all the equipments that are needed for good workout. It is always clean and organized. The staff are wonderful and professional. I think, it is one of the best fitness centers in the area! read more

Love Jaclyn's barre class and Carly's yoga class. The barre class is challenging and fun! Yoga is great for any level with variations to make it challenging. They have good equipment. They should have more news sources besides fox on the TV. read more

Recently changed to this gym, perfect cross fit area! Tons of weights and machines! I always go in the morning and it's never crowded! Really enjoy this gym! read more

TERRIBLE. An old employee -Mike- sold us a bill of goods that was not in line with Catalysts policy. He was let go. Now Catalyst expects us to follow the policies that we never agreed to with Mike. We were never given any communication that this may be an issue and that Mike left even knowing he was shady. Catalyst is charging us for services not rendered nor agreed upon. We even put the account on hold and they still billed us saying they though we could us the services at a later date. COME ON REALLY. Chris,the GM, was very rude and he should be let go as well. He questioned my intelligence and would not give me the name of his superiors to talk to . He said he was the only person in charge. We have belonged since August 2017 and that's how they treat their customers when an agent of their business was shady. A HORRIBLE way to conduct a business. Typical gym, take the money and run. Do NOT give them your credit card, even when they say they can't except monthly cash payments. RUN RUN RUN away. read more

Signed up for personal training, never signed a contract, however they were quick to take my credit card. Despite having a doctors note, they won't refund my unused portion of my personal training. And after the fact, did some research and found out my trainer qualified by taking an online course. Won't recommend this gym to anyone! read more

Most of the equipment is in fairly good shape, the place is usually pretty clean, and the staff seems very nice. My only complaint is the music. I can't stand hip hop and rap, which happens to be the only music this gym plays. It wouldn't be so bad but they play this crap incredibly loud. I wear headphones, as do most other people in the gym, but sometimes I can still hear it. Its that loud. Noise-canceling headphones are a must here. read more

If I could give this gym zero stars, I certainly would. Management here is awful. One of my friends had called eleven times over the course of a week, each time being put on hold for 10+ minutes, before she could actually speak with the manager. Everything seems completely unorganized. I went at the same time every day for several months and employees were constantly changing. I asked someone about this as I am a very social person and was told that they are constantly hiring and firing new employees about every two weeks. Also knew someone who worked here who was fired. All of the front desk employees seemed like they hated their lives. Even greeting people they look totally miserable. They are rarely helpful, and can't answer anything for themselves so they're constantly calling managers to answer for them. I know people who were fired and had to call or go in several times before they ever received a paycheck. I DO NOT recommend joining this gym. read more