Fitness First UK Avis 

My experience with this company has been disappointing from day one. I was overcharged at the start of my membership, the Baker Street gym often had no hot water, and when I raised this, a staff member told me it was “not their fault” because management had emailed members. Towels regularly had an unpleasant smell.

The issues became worse when I tried to cancel. From 27 October onward, I emailed several times requesting cancellation, yet my messages were ignored. When they eventually replied, the responsibility was shifted back onto me — first claiming I had emailed the “generic” address, then explaining that Chelsi could not respond because she was off. No one acknowledged the clear communication failures on their side.

I also reported that my app did not show the cancellation option. They were aware of this problem but did nothing to resolve it, leaving me unable to cancel through the required process. Despite that, I was still charged for an additional month, even though my login was inactive.

A simple cancellation request turned into 6 weeks of unanswered emails, conflicting explanations and misplaced blame. The lack of accountability and consistency, combined with earlier service issues, shows very poor customer care. I can’t say all Fitness First gyms are the same, but I would certainly avoid the Baker Street location at all costs.

I absolutely love Fitness First Brixton. I’d been looking around for a gym that suited where I live and my lifestyle, so I decided to try this branch, and I’m so glad I did. From day one, I’ve felt completely at home here.
The staff are incredibly friendly, welcoming, and genuinely make the gym feel like a community. The facilities are great, the gym is always clean, and there’s a wide range of classes available at different times throughout the week, which really helps me stay consistent.
A special shoutout to the manager, Pearl — she’s amazing! Always smiling, helpful, and such a positive presence. The whole team is fantastic. Papa, Neil, Mary and others have honestly made every visit enjoyable, and the atmosphere really stands out from other gyms I’ve been to.
I truly feel like I’ve found the right gym for me. Highly recommend this branch to anyone looking for a friendly, supportive, clean and well-run gym in the area!

Gemma was helpful and the process was quick and easy

The process was easy. It's nice that I can sort out my membership and questions over WhatsApp. My local gym is in a brightly lit area so I'm not concerned about going to the car park on my own. Gym has all you need and always a warm welcome. Nice independent cafe too.

Hello Marc Diaper CEO of Fitness First
I did not receive a valid reason for my membership to be terminated from Fitness First from Kris Williams who you passed this problem to .

maybe you could intervene?
I look forward to hearing back from you.
thank you
Susan Trim

Membership price's are too expensive for what it is, facilities never work, air conditioning leaking onto members and equipment. Very money driven, no compassion or understanding for their members. Terrible customer service.

The staff are absolutely amazing. From the moment I walked into the gym as a complete beginner I was put at ease by Max and other team members. Great equipment and everything else you need for your workout.

Really poor service and hidden clauses to try and keep taking money. The d avoid this deteriorating gym and pay the extra £20 for a virgin active membership.

No loyalty to their long term members!

10/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND

I’ve been a member of Fitness First for over two years, and what started as a decent experience has turned into an absolute nightmare. I requested a membership upgrade and was unknowingly locked into a fixed-term contract without my consent. When I tried to dispute this, they told me I’d have to pay an early cancellation fee for a contract I didn’t even agree to.

While this dispute is ongoing, they continue to charge me for a membership I’m not using, despite multiple requests to cancel. To make matters worse, they’ve now forwarded my case to a debt collection agency instead of resolving it properly. I’ve tried countless times to get through to customer service, but it’s near impossible. And when you do manage to speak to someone. Robyne and Jennifer were particularly unhelpful - it’s like talking to a brick wall.

This gym is sleezy, dishonest, and completely lacking in basic customer care. They will lock you in, drain every penny, and make cancelling as painful as possible.

Do yourself a favour and avoid Fitness First. Absolute disgrace of a company.

I joined the club (Streatham Hill) for classes, but most of them were really hard to book as it's oversubscribed. Recently, they introduced extra fees for early booking. I initiated to cancellation of the club membership 1 month before the end of the 12-month contract via the app, but it was required to pay the equivalent 5-month membership fee to cancel. So I cancelled my Direct debit. Fitness First cancelled my membership card immediately, but tried to collect money through a debt collection company. I explained I paid 11months' full fee out of a 12-month contract, but they were insisting on paying the amount. Eventually, after several emails and phone calls exchanged, they recognised their system error. However, they are still insisting I should pay two months' fee instead of 1 month's fee without any legal contractual base.

Great gym and equipments! Gemma helped me out on their support channel and was really friendly and patient. Would definitely recommend!

The personal trainer, wearing FF branding, charged upfront for a block of personal training classes but then left the club. It is very misleading and not explained that they are self-employed and club is not going to cover this kind of eventuality. I have been chasing the continuously (as it is significant amount) but no responsibility taken. Please do not pay the PTs upfront.

I’m sharing this to warn other Fitness First members about my experience with “Nas Fitness” a PT trainer operating at the Liverpool Street branch. (real name Nahome Atakilti Gebru).

I paid Nas £300 upfront in June 2025 for personal training sessions. No sessions were delivered. There was no contract, no invoice, and no mention of a non-refundable policy before payment.

When I decided not to proceed and asked for a refund, Nas refused. When I calmly approached him at the gym to discuss it, he got defensive and walked away instead of speaking to me.

After two months of chasing, we went to formal mediation. Nas admitted he would only return my money if I issued a public apology — because I had “embarrassed him” in front of a client by asking about my refund.

In other words: he is holding my £300 hostage to protect his pride.

I raised this with two Fitness First managers. Nothing was done. I emailed head office twice. No response. Fitness First has completely failed to step in, despite one of their trainers taking money for services never provided.

I’ve now escalated the case to the Small Claims Court. My only proof of payment is my bank statement, because Nas never issued an invoice — which raises serious questions about how these payments are handled.

I want other members to protect themselves. If you choose to work with Nas Fitness, get everything in writing, demand an invoice, and know your rights.

This has been a stressful, exhausting process — and Fitness First’s silence makes it worse.

About the London Bridge branch: smiling customer agents, but poor when it comes to actually addressing issues.

Also, the gym is refurbishing showers in the changing rooms and the management decided to swap changing rooms between men/women so that women can access showers. So men have no possibility to shower when the refurbishment is taking place in the women’s changing room. This is after ongoing disturbances where men had only access to 5 showers while the rest was being refurbished. Shame and poor judgement.

Gemma was super helpful without being pushy. And very patient. It was also very easy to renew my membership.

Gym Group Review: A Decade of Membership, Ruined by a Terrible Playlist

After over 10 years as a loyal member of The Gym Group, I’ve reached my breaking point—not because of the facilities or the staff, who are consistently superb, but because of the mind-numbing, soul-destroying playlist that plays on an endless, depressing loop across every branch.

Every single session is now accompanied by the same five tracks, repeated ad nauseam, sucking the motivation out of my workouts. What should be an energising environment feels more like a musical torture chamber, and it’s clear this is a cost-cutting decision from head office with no regard for member experience.

The staff do their best to keep this sinking ship afloat, but their hands are tied by poor management decisions. If you’re thinking of joining, look elsewhere—unless you enjoy having your will to live slowly drained by the same awful songs, day after day, with no escape.

Zero stars for head office. Five stars for the frontline staff who deserve better.

I had a very disappointing experience with Fitness First London Bridge. The management and customer service are extremely poor, particularly when it comes to dealing with members who face medical issues. Rather than showing understanding or flexibility, the focus seems to be solely on money – especially if you have already paid upfront.

Once payment is taken, the willingness to support or accommodate customers drastically declines. The complaints procedure is also ineffective and feels more like a way of deflecting responsibility rather than resolving genuine concerns.

For anyone considering joining, I strongly advise against paying for membership upfront. The lack of care for customer wellbeing, combined with poor management practices, makes this gym one I would not recommend.

Over two weeks ago, I reported an incident of intimidation in the weights section of the gym floor at the Streatham branch, to three different members of staff, on two separate occasions & as a consequence, I requested a call from the manager, Natalia.

However, despite discovering that the aggressor is known to the staff, I have received no response, nor any acknowledgement that the message has been received by Natalia (despite the fact that I was told that she went on holiday 2 days after I left my message!).

This lack of response is unacceptable and unsafe. The aggressor’s exact words to me when I told him, that it's because of men like him that some women are intimated to work out in the weights section of the gym were, “I don’t give a fck*!”.

The complete absence of staff on the gym floor means this type of conduct goes unchecked.

In addition, the toilets are often dirty & the soap dispensers empty (post-COVID, this is inexcusable!) & some cubicles without toilet paper. From past experience, I choose to go home & shower, so I have idea whether things have approved there.

The spin room's air-conditioning is non-existent. On my last visit (1 day ago), we were sweating before the class had even begun - It was excruciatingly hot!

On asking friends & other members, most have no idea what the manager looks like, as apparently she's gone by 6pm, which means that those of us who work, have never seen her.

I returned to Fitness First Streatham eight weeks ago, after a four-year absence due to illness and have found that standards have declined further.

Member safety, hygiene, and staff presence need to be urgently addressed & made a priority!

Janni and Amani personal trainers in Fitness First London stole the Manhattan
innocent woman BILYANA STOEVA’s identity and sold it to the whole company they took loans and credit cards on her name in US, UK, Spain, Bulgaria and the whole World with Sandra Radav and whole Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Zoran and Goran Tot, the Lithuanian gypsies that have killed people from Utah, US and stole their identities and use the names now Steven Cook, Jacob Hutton, Roberta and Frank Cook, Martyn Ford, Miroslava Doycheva from village Irechekovo, Bulgaria, her crazy husband Dimitar Stoyanov Stoev! STOP THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL COMPENSATE BILYANA at least few billions!
This is her international bank account: IBAN
ES54 1465 0100 91 1766046048
BIC
INGDESMMXXX

It was a good gym before never had a problem with them regarding membership I was able to cancel any time and join anytime but now be careful before join they started extortionate the customers its a very expensive gym for students like me. I have joined it with half price promotion but now they are asking me cancellation fee. There is no gym who is asking cancellation fee anymore. Never recommend fitness first to anyone. It's not worth £65 a month with such a horrible customer service plus they have such a small area.