1 /5 Michelle Liao: I regret signing up for Anytime Fitness Richmond. I chose this location because it was close to me and I saw lots of positive reviews online. But after my experience, it’s hard to believe those reviews are genuine.
I’ve just finished what should have been a 1.5-year membership (March 2024 – September 2025), and after my membership expired, I was very clear with the staff that I wanted to cancel it. Though they agreed to do so, they continued to charge me for another month. I spoke directly to Donald at Richmond AF about my expiring membership, confirmed I did not want to continue, yet my cancellation was never processed. This is not the first time I’ve had issues. Previously, when I tried to call and talk about my membership, the staff claimed their phone “wasn’t working properly” and made it impossible to get through. (This was completely opposite to when I was trying to sign up, where I would get calls and text messages every week)
The most disturbing part of my experience is what happened to my 15-year-old cousin. She joined under the “$5 for 5 weeks” promotion, which staff (Matt) sold to her as a simple, no-commitment trial. However, in reality, it secretly tied her into a 12-month contract (something that was never explained clearly to her). When she realised and tried to cancel, she was told her only options were either a $500 cancellation fee OR paying $20 every week for the rest of the year ($1040). For a high school student with her first part-time job, this was a cruel and unrealistic demand. To make matters worse, staff even suggested she “sell her membership on Facebook Marketplace,” (LOL) knowing she was under 18 and legally unable to do so.
Also, my cousin, as a minor, needed her mum’s approval to sign up. Her mum doesn’t speak English well, and instead of making sure she fully understood the terms, the staff took advantage of the language barrier to push through a contract neither of them truly agreed to. They are unethical, “money-hungry”, and will deliberately exploit vulnerable people to lock in payments.
Overall, I do NOT recommend this gym.