I just moved to Livermore but lived in San ramon for several years. I was open to trying new forms of exercise as I have been active my whole life. I joined class pass in hopes I could find a new form of exercise that I like and hopefully join that studio or gym. I had never done reformer Pilates before so I was very very excited. Also, I saw on class pass that they have a sauna and cold plunge which I loved. Again, I was looking for a studio I could join permanently so this intrigued me! I showed up to the studio 17 minutes prior to class time because class pass said I was required to show up 15 minutes before class time to sign a waiver. I walk up to the door and it is locked. Then, the instructor unlocked the door and let me in while another class was going on? Not only that, there is no lobby area, so I just walked into the same room that the class was being held. I felt like I was intruding and I'm sure the members didn't appreciate me just sitting on a small chair just staring directly at them lol. Then when the class was over, the instructor asked for my name and said I was on reformer number 4.... That's it. I had to tell her that I had never been there and I needed to sign a waiver. But once I told her I was new, she was very quick to tell me I needed grip socks, which I saw on the class pass description. I didn't have any so I saw I could purchase at the studio. I booked last minute so I didn't really have another option. I didn't think it was a big deal. Until I saw the socks were $27 after tax. And they weren't even high quality socks. They literally snagged after taking the tag off. Not only that, the QR code to pay wasn't working at all and that was the only way to pay for these socks. I informed the instructor and she said I had to Venmo the owner. Once I had my socks on, I waited for a standard tour or intro to the reformer but the instructor was not looking up from her phone. I went up to the desk and kindly said "hey I've never worked with a reformer before." And I think she thought I was just making conversation because she just said "oh yeah okay!" And then I got more direct and said "would you actually mind showing me how to work it?" She was nice and showed me the basics after I had asked. But I only imagine someone not as direct as me or who is brand new to exercise who wouldn't know any better.
The workout itself was fine. I have always heard that reformer Pilates was extremely difficult which is what drew me to try it. I hadn't workout out in about a month due to the move and at no point in time was any muscle group burning an immense amount. Once we were pulsing or doing an exercise long enough to finally burn, the time was up. I was a little disappointed with the easiness of it but that's my own problem I guess. The reformers themselves seemed a little cheap. My old gym had reformers and they were huge and sturdy. These were plasticy and light. Additionally, you spend a lot of time looking up at the ceiling and the lights are so commercialized and bright. It really hurts to look at the ceiling for that long. I didnt love the music but that is just preference. And lastly, the mic that the instructor was using was soooooo static-y I could hardly hear her at some points. As a newbie, it was somewhat confusing at times.
Finally, like I mentioned, I was very excited about the sauna and cold plunge. I understood that I was taking the last class of the day so if I wanted to use either, I had to be quick to not hold anyone up from closing. But not only was I not sure where these things were due to the lack of giving a tour, by the time I grabbed my backpack from the cubby area, the lights to the studio were off and the instructor had her things packed up. So no chance of doing either thing.
I know this may come off as very harsh, but memberships range from $210 to $270!!!!!!!!! For this amount of money, I would at least expect a little customer service. It was really disappointing for my first ever Pilates class. If you don't care about customer service, looking for a good beginners workout, and have the money to blow on an overpriced studio. This place will do! For now, I will stick to mat Pilates at equinox.
EDIT: I see the owners response to me and wanted emphasize something that was not even addressed. All I really cared about was the lack of customer service :) If there was any customer service I would have known the different classes, what to expect, rules about cold plunge, etc. and that was my whole point of the review ;) read more