About an hour ago I was on my first date with Reina. She is an Angel from heaven and for at least one night she was my best friend. We talked about everything we could and before we knew it we ran out of time. One of the last things she said to me was she has a LA Fitness gym membership but instead of saying that I do too, all I could say is "I got a story about that" and I suggested I might blog it about since it came up.
So how do you tell your angelic date ... that you got yourself banned from LA Fitness? How do you tell anyone for that fact? I literally get this wave of guilt rushing through my body because I can imagine what reasons generally coincide with someone getting banned from a gym. Regardless the reality is only 3 people in the world know that I truly don't deserve the stigma of such a penalty... Let alone the penalty itself.
During the fall of 2015 I was seeing Yolie exclusively for several months. Its was the first time I had genuine connection with someone since breaking up with my baby momma. We hung out like Bonnie and Clyde every chance we could but this LA fitness was actually just our second date. ( our first date was actually Denny's, at 5am )
At the time I was a brand new Crunch gym member and I had the premium pass that allowed me to bring a guest free,.. so I invited Yolie to a gym date at my gym. Yolie instead convinced me to get a free week trail at her local LA Fitness. I playfully whined about having to deal with the salesman and paperwork but she was so awesome that I did it anyway.
So I got to LA Fitness in Norco, CA and signed up with the staff for free week trail. I tried to avoid it but the sales manager insisted that I take a tour with him. I told the sales manager I was already a member at Crunch Gym. I even told him I was broke and how I only came for date night, hoping he would let up. I mean I haven't even worked out here yet and he is talking like he is trying to convince me join today! Before my free trial even started? hahahahahaha! He is going on and on about the super low priced promo they have going on and how today is ironically the last day. Yeah, He was one of those guys. Now Yolie and I are following the sales manager upstairs, down stairs, inside the cycles room, we even seen the pool and sauna area before finding our way to the basketball courts and that is where things got interesting.
I love basketball! Its my therapy and soooo much more but at that stage in my life I had not played competitively for almost 2 years. (*motorcycle accident) In fact I had barley shot a basketball a few weeks before that to test my new wrist. Needless to say that when we got on the basketball court, I had to ask him how to games were and when were the best times to get run. This guy looked at me with a stereotypical smile and asked "you got game"? To which my reply was... "If I was as tall as you, I would still be playing for the Lakers" his face went from ignorant arrogance to looking ashamed or embarrassed... Most likely it was his insecurities setting in due to the fact Yolie was hearing all this. He basically said I was no where his level and even acknowledge my height and race as reasons. So I politely challenged him to a game of 1 on 1. I said lets make a deal! If I win I will join LA Fitness after you remove the initiation fee and annual fee. So I would only have to pay my monthly fee. I said if I lose, I will sign up tonight at full price and you get your full commission. He didn't think about it. Before I was done setting the bet, he was walking toward the free throw line.
Now this "Black" sales manager stood 6'2" and weighed at least 230 lbs. So he literally assumed that this "white" five footer weighing a buck sixty had no chance. By the facial expression on Yolie's face... so did she. SMH! Yolie sat on the sideline to watch us and for a second, I felt guilty and selfish for turning date night into a macho man challenge but that all guilt quickly vanished after he missed his first shot. I laughed like a little kids that just pranked his neighbors.. I mean I knew instantly after seeing his first shot, he wasn't on my level. I got the ball and never gave it back. I was attacking the rim and I was on fire from outside. I don't think I even missed a shot. I skunked him 11-0 and Yolie was more surprised than this guy was embarrassed. I was sooooo happy but reality was it had nothing to do with winning the bet.
I was sooo elated that I could even shoot the basketball this well. I mean it was almost like my shot was better. Even to this day... 3 years later. I still believe my after surgery shot is better than any shot I had my entire life. One day I will blog about the Hit and Run on my motorcycle and the surgery but at LA Fitness, I realized my right to walk into any hoops dojo was still intact. The second reason I was soooooo happy was that Yolie witnessed this entire episode. You should have seen the facial expression she had after I beat him. It was like day and night compared to the one she had when I challenged him. She was so proud of me, super impressed and at that moment believed me when I said I should have been a Laker.
It didn't stop there! Shockingly this "Sales Manager" asked me for " Double or Nothing." Really? I just skunked this dude and he is asking for double or nothing. Then I blurted, "How the Hell are you going to double what I just won?" He just stood there puzzled with Bubba Gump facial expression. Soooo being the freaking cool guy I suggested a very reasonable rematch. I said if I win You gotta throw in gym t-shirts for my girlfriend and I. He didn't care what the bet was... he just wanted a rematch. It was almost as bad as the first game but this time he made a few shots. Eventually I won the second game and his dumb ass challenged me to a third game,... which I obviously won as well. By the time all this was over Yolie and I still had a workout to get to but it was really all laughs and giggles that night joking the whole time about what had just transpired.
Time Flew by . Maybe a month or so and instead of getting a $40 debit charge for my monthly fees, LA Fitness charged for not only my monthly but the initiation fee and annual fee as well. I was irate. I wasn't at the gym when I noticed... thank GOD!
Immediately I knew this was going to be a big problem so I wrote down what happened on paper to give to a supervisor in case this guy tried to deny it, although I wanted to speak with him first giving him the benefit of the doubt as if he may have forgot to credit my account. So after our workout one night I approached the front desk and asked him about the discrepancy.
I stood there with the letter in my hand which was basically a written testimony of what happened during my tour of LA Fitness looking for an explanation of why and the same guy that challenged me to a third rematch that night pretended he didn't know who I was. I lost control! There is no way that this LA Fitness Sale manager had ever gambled with a potential member over a basketball game before and even if he did... how many would he have to go through before he could forget the little whiteboy that beat him 3 time in a row? It was a cowardly and completely disrespectful. He could have pulled me to the side and told me he forgot. He could have been honest and said he screwed up and should have never accepted my challenge. He could have offered to pay me back somehow in order to preserve his job but instead this grown man in his mid-20's decided to act like I made up this entire story to get my fees removed. I went Loco! I cussed him out and demanded a manager but the so called manager was listening the whole time and barely decided to step forward after I requested him. He was a younger gentleman that obviously wanted nothing to do with the confrontation but for some reason I cant explain, he immediately defended the sales manager without knowing the truth. I told him I had a witness and written letter explaining the incident and how it has become a problem. He basically said that my letter is worthless and its my word against his co workers then asked me to leave. I got louder!! I went on how the basketball courts have cameras and I have proof in the surveillance footage. The so called manager replied like a bully barking to me about how he controlled the surveillance footage and it will be deleted, because he can do that.
Both of these punks deserve some stone cold ass whoppings but my hands were tied and no matter how bad I wanted to be the Punisher, I had to keep my hands to myself. Too many witnesses, too many cameras and this whole time my girlfriend is watching, standing by my side. By this time the female receptionist has called the sheriff department and they are accusing me of trespassing Which had me yelling at her, into the phone at the 911 dispatch and everyone around judging me.
I didn't deserve any of it. I actually handle it the write way by writing the letter and asking to speak to manager but after that manager dogged me out I felt like waiting in the parking lot and following both guys home. I try to avoid the gym entirely, then i tried to avoid the salesman, then i tried to avoid the becoming a member but somehow, someway... I ended up paying this company to spit on me and there was nothing I could do to get even. I tried to call corporate and even speak to another general manager at the Riverside location. No matter who I spoke with they all said there is nothing they can do to help me because the Norco LA Fitness staff had put my name on "Banned List."
It's times like these I wish I had Elon Musk money so I could sue every company that mistreats their consumers. There is so much wrong with that gym and a court case like would have exposed so much more than just an unprofessional sales manager manipulating and lying. I would have turned it into a class action after observing the amount of neglect at that Norco facility. Regardless once again I got screwed and even to this day suffer because of the devils in this world that have convoluted my life. Yes I can find another gym but Reina and plenty of others do have LA Fitness memberships which automatically eliminates the opportunity for us to work out together. Lucky for me I don't ever have to tell this story again. From this day forward I will just share the link to this blog entry hoping my friend and potential girlfriends can understand WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.
I was sooo elated that I could even shoot the basketball this well. I mean it was almost like my shot was better. Even to this day... 3 years later. I still believe my after surgery shot is better than any shot I had my entire life. One day I will blog about the Hit and Run on my motorcycle and the surgery but at LA Fitness, I realized my right to walk into any hoops dojo was still intact. The second reason I was soooooo happy was that Yolie witnessed this entire episode. You should have seen the facial expression she had after I beat him. It was like day and night compared to the one she had when I challenged him. She was so proud of me, super impressed and at that moment believed me when I said I should have been a Laker.
It didn't stop there! Shockingly this "Sales Manager" asked me for " Double or Nothing." Really? I just skunked this dude and he is asking for double or nothing. Then I blurted, "How the Hell are you going to double what I just won?" He just stood there puzzled with Bubba Gump facial expression. Soooo being the freaking cool guy I suggested a very reasonable rematch. I said if I win You gotta throw in gym t-shirts for my girlfriend and I. He didn't care what the bet was... he just wanted a rematch. It was almost as bad as the first game but this time he made a few shots. Eventually I won the second game and his dumb ass challenged me to a third game,... which I obviously won as well. By the time all this was over Yolie and I still had a workout to get to but it was really all laughs and giggles that night joking the whole time about what had just transpired.
Time Flew by . Maybe a month or so and instead of getting a $40 debit charge for my monthly fees, LA Fitness charged for not only my monthly but the initiation fee and annual fee as well. I was irate. I wasn't at the gym when I noticed... thank GOD!
Immediately I knew this was going to be a big problem so I wrote down what happened on paper to give to a supervisor in case this guy tried to deny it, although I wanted to speak with him first giving him the benefit of the doubt as if he may have forgot to credit my account. So after our workout one night I approached the front desk and asked him about the discrepancy.
I stood there with the letter in my hand which was basically a written testimony of what happened during my tour of LA Fitness looking for an explanation of why and the same guy that challenged me to a third rematch that night pretended he didn't know who I was. I lost control! There is no way that this LA Fitness Sale manager had ever gambled with a potential member over a basketball game before and even if he did... how many would he have to go through before he could forget the little whiteboy that beat him 3 time in a row? It was a cowardly and completely disrespectful. He could have pulled me to the side and told me he forgot. He could have been honest and said he screwed up and should have never accepted my challenge. He could have offered to pay me back somehow in order to preserve his job but instead this grown man in his mid-20's decided to act like I made up this entire story to get my fees removed. I went Loco! I cussed him out and demanded a manager but the so called manager was listening the whole time and barely decided to step forward after I requested him. He was a younger gentleman that obviously wanted nothing to do with the confrontation but for some reason I cant explain, he immediately defended the sales manager without knowing the truth. I told him I had a witness and written letter explaining the incident and how it has become a problem. He basically said that my letter is worthless and its my word against his co workers then asked me to leave. I got louder!! I went on how the basketball courts have cameras and I have proof in the surveillance footage. The so called manager replied like a bully barking to me about how he controlled the surveillance footage and it will be deleted, because he can do that.
Both of these punks deserve some stone cold ass whoppings but my hands were tied and no matter how bad I wanted to be the Punisher, I had to keep my hands to myself. Too many witnesses, too many cameras and this whole time my girlfriend is watching, standing by my side. By this time the female receptionist has called the sheriff department and they are accusing me of trespassing Which had me yelling at her, into the phone at the 911 dispatch and everyone around judging me.
I didn't deserve any of it. I actually handle it the write way by writing the letter and asking to speak to manager but after that manager dogged me out I felt like waiting in the parking lot and following both guys home. I try to avoid the gym entirely, then i tried to avoid the salesman, then i tried to avoid the becoming a member but somehow, someway... I ended up paying this company to spit on me and there was nothing I could do to get even. I tried to call corporate and even speak to another general manager at the Riverside location. No matter who I spoke with they all said there is nothing they can do to help me because the Norco LA Fitness staff had put my name on "Banned List."
It's times like these I wish I had Elon Musk money so I could sue every company that mistreats their consumers. There is so much wrong with that gym and a court case like would have exposed so much more than just an unprofessional sales manager manipulating and lying. I would have turned it into a class action after observing the amount of neglect at that Norco facility. Regardless once again I got screwed and even to this day suffer because of the devils in this world that have convoluted my life. Yes I can find another gym but Reina and plenty of others do have LA Fitness memberships which automatically eliminates the opportunity for us to work out together. Lucky for me I don't ever have to tell this story again. From this day forward I will just share the link to this blog entry hoping my friend and potential girlfriends can understand WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.
