I am sharing this because prospective members deserve to know what happened to me at In-Shape. What…read morestarted as one deeply inappropriate interaction became a pattern of experiences that ultimately made me uncomfortable using a facility I was paying to access.
The most serious incident occurred shortly after I joined. I had a new baby and was nursing at the time. After I checked in, a staff member initiated a conversation I did not invite. I tried to disengage and walk away, but the employee followed me out of one facility, across the street, and into another gym building while continuing to talk to me.
When I reached the other facility, I asked whether the employee was supposed to be working out while clocked in. I was told yes. The employee then continued following me and working out near me. I finally explained that I needed to nurse my baby. The employee smirked and said they could help me feed the baby.
This was not simply an awkward interaction. I was a nursing mother who had already attempted to end an unwanted interaction, yet the employee physically followed me between facilities and then made a sexualized comment after I disclosed that I needed to nurse my infant. I experienced this as sexual harassment, and it profoundly changed how safe and comfortable I felt at the gym.
I immediately told friends what happened. Afterward, I stopped going alone, added a friend to my membership specifically to have a buffer, and went through extended periods where I did not use my membership because I could not find someone to accompany me. I became anxious about encountering the employee again and worried about being followed or subjected to another inappropriate comment.
I tried to move forward anyway.
But the problems continued: recurring dirty bathrooms, periods without drinking water, people exercising barefoot on shared mats, dismissive front-desk interactions, eye rolls and snickering, and an overall lack of customer service. Individually, some of these things might seem minor. Together, they created a consistent pattern that became impossible to ignore.
The final incident involved a $3 drink on a day when it was approximately 105 degrees.
The power went out while the gym remained open. Staff were using pen and paper to document children's check-ins. I signed my children in and wrote down that I owed for the drink. I then told Taylor at the front desk that I wanted to pay and offered several solutions, including providing identification, paying another way, or returning with cash.
Instead of finding a solution, I was told I could not purchase the drink because the power was out. I asked for a manager. The manager refused to allow me to pay and threatened to call the police if I left with the partially opened $3 drink.
I was never refusing to pay. I was repeatedly trying to find a way to pay. I had even documented that I owed for it. The situation escalated over a $3 drink when a simple customer-service solution could have resolved it.
Afterward, I contacted the gym and explained the incident, including the earlier sexual-harassment experience and how it had affected my ability to use the facility. Instead of addressing why I had been uncomfortable or taking the earlier incident seriously, I was questioned about why I was bringing it up "now." I was also accused of using profanity toward management, which I strongly dispute. When I asked what I supposedly said, the manager could not identify it.
My membership was subsequently canceled.
I have repeatedly tried to find out how to formally file a grievance and have not been given a clear process. I have also attempted to contact customer service without finding an accessible formal complaint process for these concerns.
The $3 drink was not the reason I am writing this review. It was the final incident in a much larger pattern.
The most serious issue remains the employee who followed me between facilities and made a sexualized comment after I told them I needed to nurse my baby. That experience changed my behavior, caused me to avoid the gym unless I had someone with me, and made me fearful of encountering that employee again.
When a member reports an experience that serious, I believe the appropriate response should be to listen, investigate, and provide a clear way to report the concern--not dismiss the timing of the complaint, dispute the member's account, and ultimately cancel the membership.
This is my firsthand account. I am sharing it so others can make an informed decision, and I welcome contact from current or former members who have experienced similar conduct or difficulty getting their concerns addressed.
