My family and I just rejoined LA Fitness 11/07/22. We opted to add the unlimited guest pass to our membership at the time we enrolled with Colton; since we often have visitors from out of town, and my teenager has friends he'd like to bring along. Each visit after our initial visit on 11/07/22, my teenage son has brought an underage guest with us; whom I have checked in using only MY signature and the guest's student ID, and we've encountered zero issues. That was until yesterday, 11/16/22, when I was notified by a younger female desk attendant (whose name I did not get) that guests under 18 years of age require their parent/guardian to sign for them. This was news to me entirely; as we had visited with this same exact underage guest our previous 5 visits to LA Fitness Windermere since joining. I was very confused, and rightfully so; however, I was still polite while asking why this sudden change was occurring. The female desk attendant seemed unsure of how to reply, so she offered to get her manager. That's when a woman (later identified as the Director of Personal Training, Ali) turned around and joined the conversation. I explained to her, politely, that we'd been 5 times since joining and that we'd brought this same guest with us each time and had no issue signing him in. Ali was immediately rude and replied with a condescending tone, "Well, I'm telling you that in order to bring an underage guest their parent/guardian has to be present to sign for them. I don't know what to tell you." I politely questioned why this hadn't been relayed to me prior to 11/16/22, on the other occasions I'd brought this guest, and instead of displaying any type of business acumen or exhibiting an ounce of customer service skills, Ali snapped back again saying "Well, I'm telling you a parent/guardian has to sign in order for them to come in." No offer of an apology for our inconvenience, their lack of proper instruction on guest pass restrictions at the time of enrollment - nothing. The only thing Ali had to offer was an unprofessional, and ambiguous attitude. I stated to Ali, "You seem like I'm putting you out by having this conversation, and you seem ambiguous to the inconvenience caused." Again, Ali missed the opportunity to exhibit any leadership abilities, or customer service skills and rectify this situation with a better attitude. My husband arrived at the gym 30 minutes after this encounter, and he approached Ali to discuss what had transpired between she and I. Ali IMMEDIATELY said to my husband, "Your wife came in aggressive", and "I had to step in". This is absolutely untrue. Was I confused? Absolutely! Who wouldn't be? Did I match Ali's energy after she displayed her own aggressive, condescending, and ambiguous behavior? Yes, I most certainly did. Notice how Ali is not interested in rectifying any of the issues, but rather, she's intent on escaping any accountability for her terribly unprofessional attitude and placing blame on members. My husband asked "Does the parent/guardian of the guest have to come every single time the underage guest comes? Or how does this work, so we know tomorrow when we come?" Ali DID NOT know the answer! Ali had to go and ask another staff member, and reported back that the guest's parent/guardian has to come in and sign for the underage guest once per month. That is when my husband asked for Ali's role at LA Fitness. To hear she is the DIRECTOR of personal training is disappointing, to say the least. As a certified personal trainer myself, I am appalled at the attitude displayed so openly and unapologetically to any member, let alone brand new members. I am just grateful my husband and I waited to purchase the year's worth of training package (as we do every time I join a new gym as a way to get to know staff and the facility better); because if Ali is in a leadership position and behaving this way, it tells me I can very likely expect nothing other than this treatment from the trainers she oversees. The only positive is Ms. Pam in the kids' club; she's a gem! Definitely rethinking this membership after the disgraceful behavior displayed by Ali yesterday. read more