FPHIIT

Review: This is to bring to your notice the poor service provided by [redacted], a fitness coach from FPHIIT (Functional Plyometic High Intensity Interval Training) date starting on July 10 through July 18th 2013. I regret to inform that I was highly disappointed by the service provided by his training, broken promises and charging me for services that were not rendered. I was referred to [redacted] by my Acupuncturist for personal training because I am being treated for a back injury. My acupuncturist recommended [redacted] to help me get stronger and improve my posture to help alleviate my back pain. My first meeting with [redacted] took place on July 10th 2013. This was a meet and greet and for [redacted] to go over his system and plan for me. Right off the bat I had a bad feeling for him as he is extremely impersonal and came off bad mannered. He seemed to be confused and all over the place on what he was telling me and I didnt feel confident at all. But, I still gave him the benefit of the doubt and tried to keep an open mind. He requested that before we start training he would require a blood test for general health and to help look for certain problems, if I had any. He also explained that he would need to do two days of evaluations to determine my fitness level and strength of which he would charge me $100 per day. The red flag for me was when he mentioned that we can meet any day but Mondays because it is a really slow this time of year for him. You would think that summer time people would train more often. He also wanted me to pay for $1000 for 10 sessions up front, which I clearly was not comfortable doing and I let him know I would pay him session by session. He did not seem to like that decision by the look on this face. I had my hesitations, but I agreed to all of it. I took time to take my blood test and wrote him two checks of $100 to start the program. I met with him the very next day on July 11th and we started the fitness evaluation. This was a complete joke as he again seemed frazzled and seemed un-planned and made me do random exercises without educating me what he was doing and its benefits. After the two days of evaluations we were ready for the actual training and I also pre-paid $200 for two more future sessions. My first day of training was set for July 18th at 5:30. I texted [redacted] on this day at 2:45pm informing him that that my back was flared up and I was in pain and I didnt believe it would be a good idea to train. He agreed with me and advised me to stretch, put heat on my back and relax. He wished me to feel better and that he would see me tomorrow for our next scheduled training session. The next day I was still feeling discomfort but I pushed myself to go and train. After we completed this training session we scheduled the next time to meet which was Wednesday, July 24. Due to unavoidable circumstances, on Monday July 22nd, I was seen as an emergency patient with my Dr because my back pain was unbearable and I was unable to walk. My Dr advised me to stop any exercise I was doing until the inflammation in my back subsided. My Dr recommended that I see a physical therapist to work only my lower lumbar and SI joint where I am experiencing most of the pain and no more training. I reached out to [redacted] later that day explaining my Drs diagnoses and informed him that I would need to stop our training for now until I got the pain under control. He said that he understood. I requested at that time that he refund the one session I had not used and that I pre-paid for. He said he would not refund the one session of $100 because I cancelled a session before his 24 hour policy. Confused, I did not know what he was talking about. He continued in his text to me that I cancelled that first training session on July 18th and he would not refund the money. He said he did not have the sufficient amount of time to fill that slot with another appointment. I found that to be contradicting since he told me at our first meeting he didnt have many clients anyway this time of year. I reminded him that he also agreed with me that I shouldnt have trained that day I was in pain and had I known he would charge me $100 for a missed session I would have gone, just like I went the following day July 19th in pain. I was upset but collected while I tried to explain what he was doing was not right. I again requested that he re-consider and make an exception and refund my money. At this time he was clearly upset and said, I have never parted ways with a client in bad terms, but as courtesy I am willing to do a credit for future training. I replied back and said at this point I no longer feel comfortable with how he has treated me or my situation and believe he took advantage of me. This was such an easy fix solution but he continued to be incompliant and rude. I respect rules and adhere to business policies as I also run a business myself. Rest apart, his responses and lack of wiliness to work with me was unprofessional; which I did not expect at all since he was highly recommended by a trusted person. I also briefed to [redacted] on the fact that he never again asked me for the blood test he requested I take before we began our training; nor did he ever provide me with a promised diet and exercise plan after our two day evaluations. This is something I remember him clearly discussing with me at our first meeting. He replied and said he never said that and that he needed several more sessions before he designed a plan for me. That was a complete lie and what is the point of the two day evaluations and the $200 I paid for?!. He is a fraud and a lair. I have paid him $400 for two evaluations which he did not deliver and one training session, no one would be happy with this. My last attempt to contact [redacted] was on July 23rd giving him one last chance to re-consider before I took my next steps. I got no response from him. I hope that the Revdex.com takes a look into this matter and ensureDesired Settlement: I would like $100 refunded to me for services not rendered. I pre-paid for a session and it should be refunded back to me.

Business

Response:

Revdex.com

Response to consumer complaint ID: [redacted] filed on 7/24/2013.

To Whom It May Concern,

To begin with, it troubles me that this former client has felt the need to file this complaint as I make every effort to provide my clients with the highest level of service and attention. I would like to make note that since I have been operating my fitness business, I have never so much as

had one complaint against me and nothing less than 5 star ratings from any of my clients as noted on [redacted].

Not only do I hold myself to the highest morale standards, I am a Christian and an officer in the U.S. Army reserves with an impeccable reputation. I pride myself on being a professional.

A fellow colleague, who is a doctor of acupuncture, referred [redacted] to me. This doctor knows that I have extensive experience working with clients that have a history of orthopedic problems as I too have an extensive medical background. It was brought to my attention that [redacted] had been seen my several different types of medical and health professionals and had little success but no one had really worked with her on developing core strength, balance, stability and biomechanical function.

Our interaction began with email correspondence during which I sent her standard forms to complete so that I could get a good background on her and so that she could read and sign my policies.

[redacted] and I met at a local Starbucks to discuss her needs, my approach and if it would be a good fit. Interestingly enough, in the conversation

prior to our face to face meeting, I mentioned that before I accept a client or allow them to commit to training with me that it was important to me that my prospective clients meet me in person to ensure that they feel that it is a good fit and that for all intent and purposes like me and get a good first impression as a large part of their success will rely on whether they feel comfortable with me, trust me and enjoy working with me.

During our initial meeting we discussed my approach, her current physical situation and her desires and goals. During this meeting she said she was motivated to move forward and at no time did she seem to have reservations or concerns. I asked her if she had read and understood the agreements I have for cancellations and refunds as well as payment and discounts and she assured me that she read, understood and had no problems with any of them. In fact, she went so far as to say that she completely understood and had no problems with the 24 hr. cancellation policy.

During this initial meeting, the topic of nutrition programming did come up and I brought it up. I conveyed what I convey to all of my clients

in regards to nutrition planning and this is what I communicate. Although I am qualified, certified and experienced with meal planning, unless there is a special request by a client who has special needs such as sport specific performance, I usually encourage my clients to subscribe to the Beachbody club membership, which is an online service that grants people access to an entire meal database that is very similar to the type of software that a licensed nutritionist might use. It is very cost effective at $13.95 a month and allows an individual to customize a meal plan for them based upon their sex, height, weight and goals. I will design custom meal plans for people upon request but discourage that because I

am very expensive ($100.00 an hour), it takes a lot of work and then the client must wait for me to have time to change it. I told [redacted] that if she was interested in the website URL, I could send it to her and she told me that we could revisit that at a later date because he main focus was fixing her back problem and strengthening her core. AT NO TIME WAS I ASKED TO CREATE A MEAL/NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR [redacted] and at not time did I agree to create a nutrition/meal program for [redacted].

After the discussion in the coffee shop that lasted about an hour, [redacted] then continued to talk with me for an additional 25 minutes outside of the coffee shop. It strikes me as peculiar and of concern that an individual would agree to invest $100.00 an hour with someone that they felt

impersonal, bad mannered, confused and disorganized at the first meeting. It also strikes me as peculiar that this person, who had an initial bad feeling, would spend an hour and twenty minutes conversing with me.

It is unfortunate that [redacted] felt it a red flag that I mentioned that summer is a slower time but I understand that this is not a career field that she is familiar with as summer is a slower time for the entire fitness industry to include large fitness facilities because of vacations, travel, summer sports camps, college visits, beach days, etc.

The process I outlined for [redacted] was as follows. I begin my training program with a two-day fitness evaluation. The purpose of this evaluation is to watch form, identify imbalances, strengths, weaknesses, postural deficiencies, physical capabilities and functional ability. I use this evaluation to determine where my clients should start; what exercises would best serve the level, needs and capability of the client and from which to build the exercise program from. The evaluation is also used as a baseline from which to gauge future progress. From this evaluation, I would determine what exercises I feel would best fit into an initial program and then I take the first several sessions to determine how they client’s body responds

to the exercises and adjust as necessary. After the first several sessions (about the end of week 2) I would develop the exercise program for her. In her case especially because of her history of back pain and no success with various treatment modalities, I informed her that it was especially important to ease into the program and really see how her back and body responded to the exercises before we created a firm program. Quite frankly I would be remiss in my responsibility as a professional to slap together a workout program after an evaluation for a client with a history of chronic back problems.

Interestingly enough, during my evaluation, I identified several things that [redacted] was not aware of and that she commented on were impressive.

We identified that her left hamstring was weaker than her right hamstring and that her right quadriceps were weaker than her left. We identified that lateral movement (side leg raises) was impaired and weak for both legs and raising her right knee against resistance elicited back pain. We

identified that her strength with knees flexed against resistance was roughly normal but with her legs extended fully her strength was dramatically

impaired. I will not belabor the Revdex.com with all of the findings but there were many. One of the things that I pride myself on is that unlike other trainers, I explain form and function to every single one of my clients because I feel that if they understand what they are doing, why they are doing it and what they need to focus on and look for, then their results will be much more significant than going through the motions.

I am focused on functional movement, lasting results, improved ability and minimizing injury. I can provide contact information for every client I have trained in the past two years and they will verify that I explain in detail what my clients are doing and why. [redacted]’s statement that I had her perform unplanned, random exercises without educating her is plain and simply a false, incorrect and erroneous statement as is 90% of her written statement.

I also want to note that after ever meeting and session that we had, I asked [redacted] how she felt about what we were doing so far and after the last session that we had she said, “I am very pleased at what we are doing and how this is going so far!”

After our second day of evaluations, [redacted] asked me if I felt that she could wear heels again and if she could start back to doing yoga or spinning or dancing and I informed her that under no circumstances should she do anything other than stretching, rolling and the exercises that I was prescribing for her. She asked me if she could go swimming and I informed her that if swimming did not aggravate her back, she could do that in

moderation because it was non-weight bearing. I would like to note that on the weekend of July 20th, [redacted] went dancing while attending a wedding.

I imagine that she was also wearing heels.

In regards to the blood test, in my experience it takes about a week or so to get the blood tests back from the lab. When I spoke to her at our initial meeting about the blood test, I asked her to schedule the test as soon as she could and hopefully the doctor would review the results and

identify if there were any abnormalities. I also informed her that she may be questioned as to why she wants that specific panel done and to inform her doctor that her trainer requested that she had it done. I also told her that I would like to review the blood test and that she needed to let me know when she received the results. If she took her blood test on July 11th, then the earliest I would have asked for her blood test would have been on the 18th of July. My plan was to ask her on Monday, the 22nd of July if she had received her blood test results and if so to bring them to our next scheduled appointment. I hardly see how this is a failure to follow through with what I spoke to her about. If we were talking about 4, 5, 6 weeks, then maybe this would be a valid claim but we are talking about less than 2 weeks.

At no time was I ever rude or unprofessional in my correspondence with [redacted]. The only correct claim that [redacted] has is that I did not refund her money for a session that she cancelled via text, 3 hours prior to when it was scheduled. My policy clearly states that unless the session is cancelled for a certifiable emergency, it must be cancelled within 24 hours. I feel that if her back pain was severe enough, she could have cancelled it far sooner than that. Additionally, in both her statements and her texts she said that on the second scheduled day of training her back felt about the same going into the training session as it did the day she cancelled and she was able to perform all of the exercises without much discomfort (or I would not have had her do them). My policy also states that that I do not give refunds for sessions paid but will

give credits towards future training sessions. It is unfortunate that I have to have policies this strict but my experience is that people do not treat fitness training sessions like a real appointment and hence they will cancel for all sorts of reasons. I have included a copy of the agreement with [redacted]’s signature. I have also included copies of the email correspondence and photos of the texts to illustrate some of the points I mentioned.

I feel that I gave [redacted] top-notch service delivered in a very professional manner and believe that she expected a refund because she participated in activities that she should have not participated in considering her condition that created a situation that precluded her from training. I believe

that [redacted] was completely satisfied with my services and fabricated pages of false accusations out of frustration from not getting her refund. I believe that there are contradicting inconsistencies in her statement as well. I believe that this complaint against me has no validity and I believe that the 9 other 5 star ratings posted in yelp are examples illustrating my level of professional service and dedication to excellence in my field of expertise. I cannot control what is posted in yelp, which means that if there were any other complaints posted, they would be visible, yet I do not even have a single 2,3, or 4 star rating—they are all 5 star ratings. If you need any further information from me, please feel free to contact me.

Respectfully,