Gym members upset after facility closes with no notice
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Members of a Raleigh gym want answers after their gym suddenly closed its doors Monday. Members are not only fed up that their gym closed, but they received no notice about the move.
"I'm very angry," said Ivy Levine.
Levine just joined the Rapid Fitness off of Falls of Neuse last week, and it's already closed.
"You feel like where's my money" said Levine. "It's like taking money for a service they're not offering anymore."
Member Donnie Brown says he found out his gym was closed when he got an email from Rapid Fitness.
"That's poor business practice," said Brown. "You don't tell somebody your location is done today, and I just paid my last fee on the 29th."
The email explained members would have full access to the Rapid Fitness on Glenwood Avenue and Person Street in Raleigh. It's a drive Brown is not happy with.
"I will not return," he said.
Levine doesn't want to make the drive either.
"That's too far," said Levine. "It's not even a reasonable commute for a gym from where I work."
Since there were no answers at the Falls of Neuse location, we went to the Glenwood location.
"We tried to notify the people the best we could as soon as we knew what we were going to be doing. It was kind of an abrupt thing," said Rapid Fitness General Manager Brian Berman. "I didn't know we were closing."
Berman says they had to close the Falls of Neuse location because the building is in poor condition.
"The A/C units, sewage issues, leaking pipes, leaking ceiling -- it made it hard for us to provide a quality facility for our Rapid members," said Berman.
Berman said Rapid Fitness is transforming to Retro Fitness, and it would mean great benefits like new amenities and new locations. However, what about those who say they have no interest in going to another Rapid Fitness?
"We will find a way to accommodate them," said Berman.
If you're a member at the Falls of Neuse location, and aren't interested in going to a different Rapid Fitness gym, you need to fill out a membership cancellation form.
Berman though did ask members to at least check out the Glenwood location, which is about 15 minutes from the Falls of Neuse one. He said, with the transformation to Retro Fitness, they'll be adding $300,000 in improvements.
