In-Shape: Bakersfield California Ave

This is a long one, but here is my experience over the past 3 years being stuck here. I signed up for In-​Shape when I was around 18 – 19 and I heard a lot of good things about it. Mark, who works (ed) on California Ave was very friendly initially. I told him my concerns about staying in contract, I’m a college student and work/​school schedules are unpredictable. He assured me that the contract would only be for one year. I wanted to read it in writing to be sure. He rushed me through saying that I got a copy of the contract, so I could go over my concerns within 5 days upon signing so if someone thing was mistyped it was easily fixable. Sure enough, I get the paper copy and lo and behold I’m signed up for THREE YEARS. That alone is enough for me to stop going. I don’t have patience or respect for anyone who is going to swindle someone. I tried it out anyway despite my fury. The classes are pretty good despite the fact they blast the music, and then the instructors, who have really shrill voices scream on top of that so you always leave with a headache. Pick one or the other!
I usually go to the one on California, but I frequent the Oswell and White lane locations as well. The facilities are clean, and I appreciate that.
Life stuff happens. I got really sick and had to quit my job and school. I tried to get out of my contract and they said I didn’t have a heart condition, so I can walk on the treadmill and it wasn’t an excuse to get out of my contract. They were extremely insensitive about the entire situation. I had to put my membership on hold, and they told me I could start up whenever in six months! I was a little relieved until I found out that lengthens your contract. There was also a portion of my life throughout the past three years when I was working two and a half different minimum wage jobs, and could not go do to exhaustion and other life demands. I called corporate and asked them repeatedly to please let me out of the contract. They told me the one on White Lane was open 24 hours, therefore it wasn’t an excuse to get out of my contract because again, it wasn’t a heart condition. (Really?) The front desk ladies are incredibly rude except for one older nice lady on California. Literally one time I walked up to the counter to check in and some girl with fake eyelashes walked away, and when she finally came back to check me in she just said «What?!»
I used to go to the white lane location with my developmentally disabled client (former job) and they were always incredibly rude to her, hassled her about her membership, (which she didn’t even pay for, her mom did and I made that clear numerous occasions) and we’re very short and abrupt with her when she needed extra time to order smoothies at the counter. She refuses to go now, and I absolutely don’t blame her.
I’ve had friends call corporate and say that they have cardiomegaly just to get out of the contract. I’ve filled out numerous surveys emailed to me, complaining of the same problems with no response whatsoever. I believe my contract finally ends in March. I wish I could get out sooner or get a partial refund for a huge waste of time all of this is because it’s really not worth it to me. I understand that contracts are binding but life happens. They’re just another corporate stranglehold tying to get every penny you have, they don’t care about their members, they don’t care about your health goals. The only pros are the size of the facility, which are absolutely packed after five or early in the morning anyway, and the cleanliness, but if you pay the extra four bucks a month for complimentary towel service they are often (unapologetically) out of towels.
I tell everyone I know not to go here. I have many friends with the same problems with this chain, and some were lucky enough to get out. (I chuckled at that, it sounds like a cult.)
I try to be fair and I know this is a lot, but I truly hate this place.
I’ve been talking with the owner at Total Women Fitness and she is very kind. Memberships there are a bit more pricy, but I will gladly pay her more for better service. I’ve also looked into Bakersfield Elite Martial arts, and they’ve been extremely willing to answer questions, and their initial contract is three months! Planet Fitness is only 10 bucks a month, and they have all the machines that inshape does without the ugly contracts. Look into other gyms before signing away your soul!!! I’m guessing it would have been different if I had been older, most of the people that have these kinds of problems, at least in my network of people are young college students.
I can’t wait until I can say goodbye forever to inshape in March (although I seriously doubt I’ll actually get out on time.) I hope this helps!

A Big S/​O To Robin Hughes! This guy is totally awesome! He truly has passion for wanting to see you healthy and fit! I went to him with the hope of obtaining basic knowledge of how to look and feel better and his expertise far exceeded my expectations by patiently talking and walking me through various tests to only pair me up with one of his expert trainers to assist in making my dream of looking and feeling awesome a reality!
I am so excited to get the ball rolling!

Sully was the greatest ever. She fixed a problem with my account like a true special agent.

Had an awesome FitStart session with Rob! He was very professional and extremely informative. I learned about the 3 important components to fitness: 1) Resistance Training 2) Nutrition 3) Cardio. I am very excited to be get started with In-​shape, which is a gym that has such awesome and knowledgable staff :)

We just got a family diamond membership and justin Rodriguez helped with getting us all our needs met at a price we could afford he was very helpful and we love the daycare our daughters love going we would have never even thought about getting a family membership if it hadnt been for him informing us how affordable it could be for us thanks in shape ur awesome and thanks again justin

I like this gym and work out here every morning before I go to work, the only thing I dont like is theres this fat old black guy who is legit always naked in the locker room, like he’ll brush his teeth naked, shave his head naked, and yesterday he laid a wet fart like not even trying to hide it, I was so freakin disgusted. So yeah hes the only drawback I have to this gym. That and I wish there was actual hot water in the showers.

cons: There is zero communication between the gym and their corporate office. I have heard two different stories regarding my personal training contract. The gym says there is no cancellation fee and corporate there is a fee. I have been going back n forth for months now and the issue has not been resolved (I have been wanting to cancel due to health reasons, which both ends were made aware of). Very poor service/​communication for such being a nice gym.
Pros: nice location, plenty of machines, clean locker rooms.

Hello,
In January this year, I made the jump to be fit. I had back surgery a couple years prior and needed to lose weight. In addition, I was born with cerebral palsy with has resulted in me having a pronounced limp. I started by swimming an hour a day for a couple months, then light circuit training and then free weight training with a training. My trainer is a pro body builder who tailored my diet, workout and supplementation to my situation. The results in five months body fat percentage 46% to less than 12%. I dropped over 40 pounds of net body weight and over 70 pounds of fat and adding muscle mass. I am nearly 50, so anyone can do it.
The in shape gym on California Ave. is a good gym, with nice amenities such as pool and saunas. The staff are usually nice and cheerful. I have deducted some stars due to some janitorial/​maintenance issues, small free weight selection and the sometime thuggish clientele that frequent the club. The thug element really creeps out my wife and daughter. I give the club 3.5 stars.

There are a lot of pros and cons to this gym. I love how big it is and the machines are never really packed. But I don’t like how they treat the kids clubs staff members. There have been multiple times when i dropped off my child and Ive witnessed how in shape doesn’t care about kids club attendants. Those workers do the most in this gym! It gets me upset how there hours are always cut. I don’t understand how you can cut there hours when kids club is always packed with children? This gym needs to start treating ALL there employees equally!

The paperwork part didn’t go smoothly at all, but my trainer Claire has been awesome. She’s very knowledgable, funny, and real. As a mom and full time student, I appreciate her advice and direction. She’s not speaking platitudes; she’s living what she’s asking of me. I adore her – I wish I liked the location better.

I am writing this review due to continual cuts of the daycare hours. I have been going to this gym for a little over six weeks. I enjoy going during midday so I do not have to deal with the crowds and am able to use the machines I want. When I first started going the daycare was closed from 12:00 to 1:30. That I didn’t like because now I have to adjust my schedule to meet their hour of operation. Then a couple weeks after I started they changed the hours again. Closing the daycare from 12:00 to 2:00. Now I found out yesterday starting September 1^st they are cutting the daycare hours again. The daycare will be closed from 12:00 until 4:00. I talked to the daycare personnel and ask what she would be doing during these hours of closure. She told me that In Shape would be cutting her hours. This shows me that In Shape, at this location, does not care for their customers nor their employees. Today will be my last day going to this location and I will be switching gyms. Not only are you losing me as a customer but I will not be referring anybody to your location. I think whoever keeps coming up with these bad decisions needs to rethink the ways they are operation this location. The customer should always come first!

Everything still stands, but I find the front desk is so much nicer lately, which is a breath of fresh air. You guys rock :)

I don’t come to this one as often because my friends don’t have memberships to it, but out of all of the In-​Shape gyms that I’ve been to so far, this one has been my favorite, mostly because of its location and the instructors, and because they don’t have that damn U-​Jam class bogging up the schedule. I have tried the yoga (really, really basic yoga, but this Li knows how to flow well), the Body Pump classes (which was hard at first but very fun; it gets packed so come early), and the Zumba with Cari on Sunday AMs (MY FAVORITE ZUMBA EVER — AND I DON’T EVEN LIKE ZUMBA). I love that they have a Body Pump class followed by yoga on Wednesdays. I wish they had a few more days scheduled like that.
I also wish they had challenging yoga classes in the evening, and that they only had more than one class on Sunday; I like to sleep in! I also wish they had more natural sunlight.
This gym can get packed at peak hours, so if you see a machine you want, grab it, otherwise meander off to the circuit training or wait it out.

Of the gym locations, this one is by the far the cleanest and most friendly. Staff overall are kind and well informed,. Especially the Front desk employee named JR he always is good help and positive vibes. Two enthusiasm thumbs up.

Great location. always super clean which is the biggest plus. And the workers are the friendliest at all point of day but only down side closes at 11 compared to other 24hrs on white ln but it’s still better club come check out at any time

In-​Shape definitely has the best gyms in Bakersfield. The equipment is fairly well kept and there is enough so you generally do not have to wait. I like this location as it seems a bit less popular than Coffee road which allows me to get my swim or workout in with less of a wait.

Only gym I ever go to.
The staff here is friendly.
There’s never any bull with my membership.
Equipment is updated.
The place is always clean and neat.
The people are HAWT!
;)
In shape, 5 stars!

I have been an inshape member for about a year and half now and I must say that this gym has a lot to offer. This is by far the cleanest location that I’ve been to. It is constantly maintained. The sauna DOES NOT smell (huge plus). Staff is always welcoming especially Margaret and Diane. Definitely would recommend this gym to other people!!!

I used to be a customer of in shape. When they opened I got a membership. I cancelled it because my 3 year contract was up and I had just had my baby so I knew I wasn’t going to go for awhile. I decided to go try and see if I wanted to re join again so I had a 7 day pass. First off, I couldn’t work out. They make you sit with someone who basically tries to make you buy a membership. They are very aggressive. I stated that I wanted to work out first to see if I wanted to re join the gym. To my surprise it was either join and your 7 day pass is up. Very rude. You would think they would let you work out first then ask you how you liked the gym. Sorry in shape I will not be your customer. These tactics seem very sales person like and one thing I hate is just that. Someone pressuring me into a sale. Guest beware. You will not be able to work out on your 7 day pass unless your going to be pressured into getting a membership. You lost a potential customer in shape. Change your tactics.

This review is based on the FINE PRINT RULES.
I am Orginally from bakersfield but now I Live out of STATE of course, also a member of a gym (anytime fitness). My sister and her bf however, are member at this gym so I thought since I am in town maybe I can just join them instead so I wont be alone and I printed out a 7day pass just so I can be with them too.
As I got to the gym I showed Jessica at the front desk my Valid I. D and the 7day pass, as she read my pass, the FINE print states that I MUST be a local resident and If I want to just a ONE day pass I can pay $ 13. $ 13?! So I’m paying $ 13 just to work out here for a good 3hrs. What a rip! Why not $ 5 or pay $ 1 – 5 per hour that I plan to stay?
Sure this facility has very nice amenities, such as a pool, a sauna, showers, and changing rooms. Still, my experience from the beginning was not welcoming to guests. I feel it would be great for other family members to be able to experience a gym that their family also attend especially if they’re coming from out of state/​town for the coming holidays and work out a great post holiday meal, but I guess that’s just business and money matters more.
Jessica was really friendly about everything, but I just wanted to be able to work out with my sister while I am here as it is a great motivation for both of us. So much for a «guest» pass but is only applied to local residents. I get it though it’s more of a pass to try the gym and if they like it then they can end up paying and joining. but again to me its all business.
I am thankful that Anytime Fitness accepts all guests whether they are from out of town/​state and the hours are ²⁴⁄₇ as opposed to having only certain hours and I feel that not everyone can work around these gym hours and be flexible to attend THIS gym.