Life Time Fitness

I have been a member of Lifetime Fitness since 2010 and have
enjoyed an uneventful membership at the club thus far. I have had
nothing but good things to say to friends and family about the club
since it first opened in the Houston area and have referred many new
members to the club over the years. It is definitely a great gym
experience, everything from the classes to the locker rooms. That is why
it pains me to bring to you my concerns about the management at
Lifetime Athletic City Center, Houston, TX location.

On Monday, May 26th, 2014, Memorial Day, I was playing basketball at
the Lifetime location at City Center, Houston, TX, when a team member
(Mauricio) approached another person playing basketball (TJ, dont know
his last name) about bringing a minor, 12 years of age (his nephew, )
into the club without having signed a waiver. Overhearing the
conversation, I asked the other individual (a friend) if he needed any
assistance, when he answered in the affirmative, I escorted the other
individual and the minor to the front desk to see what the situation
was.

Upon reaching the front desk, the team member (Mauricio) signaled
for the member services manager, an individual named Ryan, as well as
Donna (to the best of my recollection) approached and attempted to
assist. I requested the managers to please show the policy with regards
to the situation. Donna (Manager) returned with the information and I
explained to them that the person accompanying the minor was his
guardian and that he would be more than happy to sign the waiver of
liability for the club. Donna (Manager) continued to state that this was
not enough, that either a parent needed to sign the form or that the
other member needed to show proof with regards to his status of
guardianship.

Understanding her concerns, I relayed that the other member
did not have this type of documentation, as no one carries this type of
documentation with them, and that I did not see in the policy where it
stated that one would need to demonstrate or show this type of
documentation. I further explained to Donna that we could request the
parent to fax over a copy of DL and statement that the minor was allowed
to enter the gym and waived all liability to the club. The manager did
not accept this as an acceptable solution. Donna stated parent would
have to be in person to allow child to enter facility.

Upon this statement, I asked Donna if parents are required to show
documentation that they are parents, to which she responded that they
did not. Then I asked her, if parents did not have to show documentation
that they are parents, why did the guardian have to show documentation.
I pointed out there was no such policy in the member policies that
clarified this point. At this point, Donna appeared to shut down and did
not seem that she wanted to cooperate in helping everyone understand
the policy for requesting the documentation. She demonstrated an
unwillingness to discuss the matter further.

At this point, I requested to speak to the manager, to which she
stated, she is the manager, and I further refined to speak with the
general manager, Brad Peterson, to which Donna felt as if her pride was
being attacked, as I requested to speak to someone above her station.
She replied that Brad was not available and that he would not speak to
someone "like me" about this matter, which I still do not understand
what "someone like me" means.

At this time, she said, "I'm Done" and motioned to someone, Ryan, I
believe, to call "Security." Which shocked me, since I was having a calm
and rational conversation with her, as any security camera positioned
in the lobby can show you, but she did not want to continue the
conversation. At this point, I told her I was leaving, since she was
making me feel uncomfortable to be at the gym. At this point, as I was
leaving, I remembered I had left my belongings in the locker, one of the
"Security" team members escorted me to retrieve my belongings from the
locker, which was very humiliating, for someone that has every right to
be at the gym, and has not broken any policies.

As I left, I was told they would terminate my membership, for what
reason I do not know, besides Donna's distaste at my insistence of
asking for details surrounding the policy. They mentioned they would
terminate as I was breaking member policy by attempting to bringing
someone into the club without following procedure. To which, I
responded, I did not bring the minor into the club (which there are
multiple witnesses, including Mauricio, LT Team Member, who first
approached and got the other individual and the minor to come
downstairs) and that I did not break any policies. Moreover, me helping
someone resolve the situation doesn't lend itself to breaking any member
policy listed in the member contract. There was no aggressive
confrontation or the like (watch the video, ) simply a conversation. The
only only thing I was guilty of was asking questions. To which, they
stated it doesn't matter what I say, they will terminate my membership
because they can.

Fast forward two days, Wednesday, May 28, 2014, I received a call from "Bab, " member services manager, per her statement, from [protected],
stating my membership was being terminated for bringing a minor into
the club, as that was what was relayed to her, by the club. To which I
responded, was untrue. I asked her, if it was against member policies to
question a manager about the specifics of a policy, and she stated that
she was told that there was a confrontation. I stated I had a
conversation with the manager, and that there was no "confrontation" and
that I had not broken any member policies, to which she stated that she
still would terminate my membership. I stated, why should my membership
be terminated if all I did was have a conversation and asked questions,
to which she did not reply and again stated she would terminate my
membership. Although, she did mention she would circle back to me again
tomorrow, after re-conferring with the facilities management. Bab
mentioned her managers name was Bridgette.

I have been a very loyal member at
Lifetime Fitness for the last 4 years, almost since the beginning of the
City Center club, without any kind of incident, let alone interaction
with management, and I am requesting you to look into this matter. I do
not believe terminating my membership, simply for questioning a policy
is warranted. Based on the current member policies in place, there is
not one rule that I have broken, and I am being terminated from the
club. I believe this action is being taken out of spite, which I find
completely distasteful and not in line with the image of the company. If
I did not feel so strongly about the brand, I would not have even
fought this, but I love Lifetime Fitness, and hope to continue to be a
member for years to come. I look forward to hearing from you as I wish
to get back to my workouts as soon as possible. Thanks.