Nanaimo Athletic Club

Negative experience: Phone number says its not assigned, been unable to comunicate with staff to cancel, due to frequent covid outbreaks they continously get shut down. When speaking with staff in person most are extremely nice and professional however some are clearly neither. I hope this gym gets back to what it once was.

Negative experience: Shut down and no info on our refunds

Positive experience: Its a good gym and the staff strives in maintaining hygiene.. Goos overall and their package is pocket friendly too..

Negative experience: owner is complete rude d-bag...and money hungry scammer...DO NOT JOIN THIS GYM.

Negative experience: Update: July 20, 2020 - Woke up this morning to ANOTHER MONTHLY CHARGE after confirming my cancellation last month. This is absolutely unacceptable. Buyer beware! Honestly a decent facility for weight/cardio training, but you better make darn sure if you want out of the contract you verbally confirm with the management a full 30 days before a billing cycle. Also they rely on Facebook to inform members of changes and updates, and as someone who is not on Facebook I was suddenly charged a month membership when they reopened in mid June. Had I known this was going to happen I would have cancelled in late March or May. I hope my 30 bux goes to good use, because it's the last they're getting from me.

Negative experience: Absolute scumbag owners. Fought both my wife and I to cancel our membership. Also charged her 6 months at once. STAY AWAY.

Negative experience: 4th attempt to cancel my membership with no contact from management. I have filled out 2 of their online cancellation forms and have yet to hear back, I have also called the establishment and gone in with no success in reaching management. Gym is dirty and most of their equipment is constantly out of service. Go somewhere else

Negative experience: Have been trying to reach management regarding my membership for over 6 months no one has ever returned and of my calls, voicemails or messages left with the staff. Ontop of not being 30 minutes late to open in the morning three times in a one month period . And never cleaning or dusting the facility. I signed up at anytime fitness Have never left a bad review...ever but I'm highly annoyed and they continue to charge my account! And ignore my messages Maybe this will get the managers attention I do not reccomend nanaimo athletic club!

Fantastic experience: This is one of the only gyms I feel comfortable at. Everyone is friendly and focused on fitness. I really enjoy all the different types of music that is played. I also really appreciate all the extras like the sunbeds, sauna, smoothie bar and classes.

Negative experience: I will not trust them with my money again. Left with a terrible gut feeling after a long drawn out cancellation process. Other reviews would seem to affirm that feeling, as this does not appear to be an isolated incident. I'll try to leave room for doubt but the feeling of being cheated is quite distinct and hard to mistake, and that is what I was left with. Having had this experience I would be doing the public a great disservice if I were to not issue a warning. Trust is our most valuable resource and they have badly mishandled mine, so I regretfully must recommend that you keep your distance and solemnly pass on.

Fantastic experience: Check it out

Fantastic experience: Great place. Tried a couple different gyms before signing up with athletic club. Good price, good hours. Support your small local gyms ️

Negative experience: This gym sucks. Would not and will never recommend to anyone.

Negative experience: Very limited selection of classes, if any remaining. Management can be frustrating at times sometimes cancelling classes without updating the website, leading to members showing up confused and angry. And with all the new gyms coming to Nanaimo, the NAC has done nothing to pull up their socks. Wouldn't recommend.

Negative experience: Predatory Business. Canceling your membership will be a nightmare. Read the other reviews and choose a different gym, I wish I had. The bathrooms are unsanitary, much of the equipment is antiquated or damaged and the owners perpetuate an unfriendly environment. DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT.

Negative experience: I more than fulfilled my 12 month contract. I have been in contact with this gym 3 times over the last 4 months trying to cancel my membership. First was a phone call with a no problem. 2nd was 2 months and 2 payments later I sent a Facebook message asking to cancel my account, receive a response” no problem we love helping our customers” now a third payment has come out and I message again. They tell me I need to fill out a cancellation form and a forth payment will be coming out to complete the contract.. There is a paper trail showing that they didn’t tell me to fill out a cancellation form but have charged me 3 payments and a 4th coming out. Awesome customer service. I would never recommend this gym to anyone because of the way that they treat people.

Fantastic experience: Good prices, good equipment, friendly staff, great place.

Negative experience: They took 3 extra payment of my card when I stopped using their services. I tried to call them and ask for my refund and they just gave me excuses. It's been more than 3 months and I haven't received my refunds. Please go to planet fitness instead of going to Nanaimo athletic club guys as they are cheaper and better. And more importantly they don't rip you off.

Negative experience: Came from Vancouver for the long weekend and decided to check this gym out, both times I went I waited for ten minutes just to get in the door. Then when I finally got in I quickly realized I was the only girl in the gym. The guys were creepy and got way too close to me when I was working out, the topper was when I was leaving I was rudely hit on and asked out. Not my idea of a relaxing place to train and I would not recommend this gym to anyone.

Negative experience: I went to this gym for a few months and switched to Anytime Fitness (which is like night and day). For me, the only good thing about this gym was the ability to pay month-to-month and the low monthly rate. Other than that, it doesn't offer me anything that made me want to stay and keep going. The equipment is average at best (mind you, I mostly used the women's area, which notoriously has poorer equipment), but if something breaks, it will sit there for weeks or months before it gets fixed. For me, the worst part is the cleanliness. It is very dirty, especially the carpet upstairs in the women's area — it seriously needs to be ripped up. The whole building just smells like old dirt, dust and sweat. And that's because they don't have a proper ventilation system installed, which is really bad for your health, especially because it's a gym — you are breathing hard and you need clean, fresh air. Please don't go here if you have asthma or respiratory issues. I also take issue with some of the people (customers) here who behave overly aggressively (I get it, it's a gym, but calm down people). The staff also seem disorganized and, some of them do not seem like a good fit for their jobs. I do believe some of them are trying their best, but they can only do as well as what the owners allow. All in all, this gym is for a certain demographic and that's clearly not me.

Negative experience: Owner is a nut cake and he should not own a gym do not go here he’s crazy

Negative experience: 45$ signup fee for a gym that falling apart is a joke.

Negative experience: Nice at first and it was indicated to me that they were hassle free. I tried canceling payments because I was moving and I was being ignored via email and told what I wanted to hear via telephone. Because the worker wrote my name down wrong I had to pay another month and was told that I they can't do anything about it and wouldn't do anything about it. So I paid for their mistake and wasn't helped and have been told by previous workers that it is very toxic at this gym. Just join Fit4Less you're better off.

Negative experience: I joined N.A.C. about 3 years ago and came back after the rebuild. I think after the rebuild there was this new excitement there I haven’t seen before. But I think it’s slowly faded or is fading. They are working to bring in new pieces of equipment, but in general some of it is pretty old. I have had a problem with their billing system, like others. I feel like they are pretty sneaky about the prices. They started off with a pretty good weekly rate after they reopened, most likely to get members back from Fit For Less, but now one sneaky price increase later and... They told me the posted the memo all over the gym I only ever saw it on the back of the front door... it was not a memo it was 1000 words printed from the B.C. government site about min wage increasing ( I guess it will be going up again soon when min wage goes up another two times) I’m not a pro but I know if you want people to read an important message you post it everywhere and you keep it clear and concise, and refer to staff if they have questions... All in, it’s a gym, it has some good equipment in there, it has some old equipment in here there, they have gym problems we have all heard about... I don’t think they have a passion for fitness and the community that makes up the gym... but maybe that’s just me.

Negative experience: The managerial team lacks transparency and accountability and doesn’t care about anyone as long as you are legally tied to them on a contract. My advice is PLEASE DON’T SIGN ANY CONTRACT WITH THEM OR TRUST THEM WITH YOUR CARD DETAILS. If possible, please give them card details for an account that doesn’t hold a lot of money because you never know what they can do because if anything happens to you, no one will assist you or resolve it. I requested to cancel a weekly diet plan (about $3.15) with them and had to tell them about 4 times to stop taking money from my account after the cancellation request. It was supposed to be a simple and less stressful process for me but turned out to be a total nightmare. The fact that their employee failed to note down my initial cancellation request made the manager accuse me of lying. I even asked them to call the employee so that she can also be there when I was speaking with them and answer some of these questions, and they told me she quit her job. (I just didn’t get the sense of them accusing me of lying that I requested to cancel the app earlier on before and they kept on charging me). Why would I lie because of $3.15 subscription when actually pay them more for my monthly workout subscription? They just couldn’t get it that it wasn’t about the money, but the issue was about the customer being able to feel secure about the gym having their card details. I don’t care about how they remove the card from the account. If only I hadn’t checked my mind this gym would have kept on taking money from my debit card without my consent. I felt like I was just supposed to be able to trust them that they will cancel the payment the first time I requested them to do that not to hunt them for more than 6 times cancel. Fortunately, it was just $3.15 weekly, what if it was a massive amount of money what was I going to do? I tried to voice that to the manager that they are supposed to be transparent with these issues, I know they can refund the money, but they shouldn’t have taken the money from my account at the first place without my consent. I was frustrated when the manager said it's not them that makes the money, but it’s the software that does that …..how could they just put the blame on a system they own….How am I supposed to trust the system with my account details when they are denying responsibility for it…… I don’t believe them anymore. Just because I'm on a contract with them ill have to monitor my bank account every month just to make sure they don't take more money without me knowing. If they do, they will just blame the system and tell you tough luck or cancel the contract and pay us $250 for finding out that we stole from your bank account and later refunded you back after you found out and bugged us multiple times to repay the money. (it's just like when a thief steals from you and tells u is not guilty coz I can return it back). So thought I would share my experience because I felt awful knowing that I'm stuck with them on a contract and will have to worry about my account safety till my contract ends. AS MUCH AS MY FITNESS MATTERS MY BANK ACCOUNT SAFETY MATTERS TOO. When I have questions about a funny transaction I need someone to be able to tell me what's up and not TELL ME I DON’T KNOW COZ THE SYSTEM TAKES THE MONEY. I'm even more scared that maybe after the contract ends they will still continue taking money from my account without me knowing.

Positive experience: Seems a little disorganized. Nice equipment

Fantastic experience: Love the Jazzercise Class Hope check out the rest of the stuff soon!

Negative experience: GO ELSEWHERE! Management has a mental illness and should not be in business with the public. Run.....

Fantastic experience: I love this gym. The best thing about it is it is a great gym where bodybuilders train along side beginners with nothing but respect for them joining the gym and encouragement and support for their endeavours. The equipment is awesome but the absolute douchbaggery of the clients is what makes such a fun friendly atmosphere. Kudos to the owners for what they have achieved

Positive experience: Local

Negative experience: Really disappointed. I regret getting a 1 year membership here. I’ll start off by saying it’s Rememberance day and the gym is closed. This is the straw that broke the camels back :( I’ve been on vacation for 2 weeks and I come back to N.A.C. being the only gym closed today. Will go to Dolly’s later. To get into why I am leaving a 1 star: I’m not hard to please; I consider myself to be pretty low-maintenance. I don’t care that the equipment is old and uncomfortable, I don’t care that the carpet upstairs is shaggy and smelly, I DO care that the music (sometimes ultra abrasive dubstep, sometimes corny rock) gets cranked to intrusive, headache-inducing levels. Does your staff not realize that a lot of people wear headphones to the gym? I can’t even hear my music sometimes due to the loud music on the gym speakers! This mostly only happens at night/evenings, but it shouldn’t happen at all. Moving onto equipment. I said before that the equipment is old and rusty, but I don’t really mind that so much. What I DO mind is that there is no rack upstairs to squat with. A smith machine does not replace a squat rack. C’mon N.A.C. There are also more treadmills than anything else upstairs and that’s so disappointing to me. I mean, The Aquatic Center has a better selection than you guys. More leg machines and an actual squat rack would be a start. It’s also disappointing how low the weights go up to on the machines and such upstairs. I’ve only been working out for 6 months now, I shouldn’t have maxed out the Leg Press, Hip Ab/Adductors, Kettlebells this quickly. (In a perfect world: at all.) I would cancel my membership in a heartbeat if I could. $40 just to cancel is sad. It’s like they knew people will want to cancel so they added a high fee to avoid that, or at the very least, maybe a few extra bucks off of a lost customer. Can’t wait until my membership is up! Moral of the story: Unless you’re a man (who doesn’t mind old, uncomfortable & rusty machines) or a woman who only does cardio (or super light physical therapy) then save your money and go somewhere else.

Negative experience: absolutely horrible customer service and the manger is completely disrespectful. They have very little new equipment over the years most of it is out dated. I would recommend any other gym in nanaimo beside this one. Seriously awful customer service

Negative experience: Used to be a member @ 29.00 per month with all the classes...but to charge for virtual classes as an add-on...HUH.. that's bullsh8t right there... never...

Negative experience: BE CAREFUL. THEY WILL BLAME YOU FOR THEIR FAILING BUSINESS AND EVEN TRY TO SCARE YOU WITH FAKE LEGAL LETTERS TO TRY AND GET YOU TO GO AGAINST YOUR MORALES AND SAY THEY WEREN'T BULLYING YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA. THIS PLACE CAN'T BE TRUSTED. I WOULD EVEN CHOOSE FIT4LESS OVER THIS OVER PRICED DUMP.

Positive experience: My wife goes to this gym,and is very happy with it.

Fantastic experience: I tried the 21-free trial at the NAC this month. I found that the gym is big with lots of facilities, machines, and classes. I particularly enjoyed the classes with Maria Elena. She gives Zumba and Belly Fit classes which both are excellent. She is very knowledgable about fitness and gives precise instructions to follow during the exercise routine. I recommend her classes to those who like to burn calories with a good music! In general the gym is a very good option, it was not crowded at least in this period of the year and the staff is very friendly. Thank you NAC!

Fantastic experience: Really great place to work out... It has been really busy since VI closed but otherwise great.

Positive experience: Great classes!

Fantastic experience: Love it

Fantastic experience: Best gym in Nanaimo!! You got hammer strength equipment, powerlifting floor, upstairs and downstairs ... And of course amazing staff ;)

Fantastic experience: Great spot to train with a wide variety of members, many of whom are motivational for one reason or another. Good quality equipment with a wide selection that is kept clean and in working order. Members are friendly and everyone seems to understand basic gym etiquette as well as be polite/willing to share if need be. The atmosphere is aimed more to those wanting a higher energy and slightly younger crowd but that’s not to say that the facility wouldn’t be a good fit for just about anyone, presuming they had the right attitude! With a generous free trial and very reasonable gym-only membership option N.A.C. stands out and is a great choice. At the very least come in and try out your free 21 days, there’s really no reason not to.

Negative experience: Never refunded for my 70 dollars in gym passes after they closed. No effort from management to facilitate this.

Fantastic experience: Great gym. Tons of machines and I've never really had to wait to use one I wanted.

Fantastic experience: I teach Group Fitness there. The members are why I keep going there. Laid back and fun

Fantastic experience: loving the 21 day free trial as of yet! will definitely be signing up once this runs out, as the rates are really reasonable and selection of equipment is a dream compared to gyms I've been a member. thank you and keep it up! also super friendly staff! super informative!

Fantastic experience: I went to look into working out and ask a few questions, very friendly and helpful, offered a 21 day free trial. I have been going for about two weeks now and have decided to sign up. Good equipment, friendly staff. Looking forward to getting healthy. No pressure here to sign contracts or to gain access to my bank account.

Fantastic experience: The facility is clean and welcoming. The staff are really friendly and competent. The owner Robert is really nice person. So overall it feel really good to support a local business with amazing people.

Fantastic experience: Everything you need at a very low cost. Friendly staff, clean facilities Patrons knowledgeable in the Gym etiquette of headphones in means "please leave me alone," Like a few months in and not once have I had to pretend I only speak french to be left alone. 10/10

Positive experience: Decent facility, but found it to be dirty. The prices are very good on contracts. The women's section didn't offer the same selection as downstairs.

Negative experience: Rude staff. Extremely hostile and aggressive. Ancient equipment with bent bar and half broken platform. Was told not to drop weights when doing cleans and snatches on the platforms. Apparently I was "not in control" The front desk staff then lectured me... said I would be "red lighted" in a competition and proceeds to point out all the " real competitors" in the gym. I'm sorry but that's why they are bumper plates on rubber platforms. I'm sorry I rather do power cleans than hang cleans. At least I got a refund for my membership and found a great place called Island Optimal to continue my Olympic lifting training. PS. 2 stars because it's the third time I visited the place and the other two times the front desk were quite polite.

Negative experience: Rude staff and nasty contracts. Avoid this place if you can. Borderline racism and bully tactics by both front line staff and management. I cancelled my membership and signed up elsewhere. Reading their webpage it says equipment updated frequently. Truthfully, the equipment is older than any other gym I have been a member. Also claims on webpage to be welcoming to all. Racism, bully and intimidation is my experience. I also have a friend in Nanaimo that had to cancel because of sexual misconduct. She did not want to call the police and decided to remain quiet.

Fantastic experience: Love this gym :)

Fantastic experience: Nanaimo Athletic Club is a professionally run gym with an excellent reputation. For good reason too! The staff are friendly. The gym is large and you never have to wait for equipment. The prices are more than reasonable. I highly recommend Nanaimo Athletic Club!

Positive experience: Good facilities.