John A Davis Family YMCA

I haven’t returned to this location since a distracted swimming teacher «let go» of my almost 4 year old — he sank COMPLETELY submerged UNDERWATER for about 30 seconds– while she was off already off teaching the to the next student in her group.
I screamed over and over, over and over MANY TIMES before anyone moved to help my son… «my son’s drowning, someone save my son» THE LIFEGUARD COULD NOT EVEN LOCATE MY CHILD SUBMERGED IN THE POOL.
I was behind a 6ft iron fence and 2 rows of parents. Another swimming teacher at the other end of the pool rescued my son, saving his life.
We spent the night at Rady Children’s Hospital, i got stuck with the bill… my son is fine. I won’t ever entrust their swim staff with my most precious treasures ever again!

I think being here at this Y is way better than just joining a regular gym. This is really a community center, and the staff here really care about the members. They are very receptive regarding any questions or concerns that I may have. Real people and families are members here; it is about health and community, NOT posing and «being seen». There is not a sense of competition, but rather about challenging yourself to improve your well-​being. I’ve really gotten to know the staff here, and they are all so helpful. People say that I have high expectations, and yet they are met because people here care to make your experience as optimal as possible.

I joined this Y about 9 months ago primarily for my granddaughter to take swim classes. She loves the classes. The instructors are fantastic. They are patient and give lots of one on one (even if its the Mommy and Me class). I also take the Zumba class here every Monday. The instructor Thomas is absolutely amazing! I really enjoy his energy and style. He is up beat and very fun. He smiles the whole class! This Y– I give 5 stars all around!

So, I’ve been here twice in the past two weeks. The first time was late on friday night, they were about to close, but this REALLY nice young guy gave me a tour and I was pretty impressed. I talked to my husband about it and asked around for pricing on other gyms. 24hr fitness which is also close to home, charges too much because I have 3 kids. Child watch hours are better but I think the Y has a better atmosphere for my kids, and I don’t have to pay extra. Well, those were my initial thoughts but today was a little disappointing. It turns out that during the day a lot of older, well elderly people go there. :-(. Nothing against them, however, the locker room upstairs has a changing table INSIDE the women’s locker room. Needless to say my two babies 2 and 1 year olds had a sore eye after seeing about 7 ladies without clothes (all in their 70’s). One of these ladies kept trying to talk to me and kept being rude while standing in front of me naked. DIOS MIO (QUE HICE PARA MERECER ESTO?) The other ladies were nice and kept to themselves. I really needed to run errands with my boys otherwise, I would have ran home and changed them. WARNING! DO NOT GO INTO LOCKER ROOMS. Just take all your stuff and use the gym and go home and shower there. NOT WORTH IT! Believe me if I didn’t need the child watch there I would be at 24. Finally, because I NEED to desperately lose this baby weight, I was going to sign up and then the lady was rude about me forgetting my debit card. My hubby and I might decide to go to the one in Rancho instead, which is a bummer, because this one is soo close to home. :-(
1. Needs Better Customer Service
2. Do NOT use the Lockers!

This gym has been my sanity saver. The child watch crew are fantastic, my girls adore Miss Sali and are always happy to go (considering we go 5 days a week that’s a good thing with a 3 and 5 year old). The front desk people are very friendly, some more than others and some warm up faster than others, but after over a year of going they are all nice and pleasant and always kind. The people in the gym are alright, Jen is super friendly. I did have a run in with Marsha but it was handled by the people in charge and she is pleasant now too. It’s not super crowded, which is great and it’s clean. In regards to the child care and bathroom situation they have a different private bathroom the kids are taken too, not the one in the locker room so maybe it was an emergency in regards to the other review. There are lots of older people there and they go above and beyond to be kind and caring to my children and I. It’s definetly a family gym.

Though definitely no-​frills, this Y used to be very nice and welcoming. I am from out of town but visit often. For 20-​plus years I used this Y during my visits and paid the guest fee. A few years ago an older woman, Judy, began working the front desk. She is snitty, slow and very unwelcoming. She began to hassle me every time I came in, even though I was happy to pay the fee. I explained my situation to her every time, and every time she acted like she didn’t know me and tried to sell me a membership. The last time I came in, the guest fee had jumped to $ 20 instead of $ 10 — and she tracked me down in the middle of my workout, demanding the extra $ 10 right there and then. I felt like she was a bounty hunter. E-​mailed the managers and received minimal response — and no follow-​up or invitation to try again. A so-​called Christian organization should not be hostile to guests. Also, other reviewers are right. Davis is far too geared for seniors. One day a week they even close a main workout room during prime time — so the seniors can play Bridge. Unbelievable. Try Cameron.

Also the child care room has no bathroom, they have to have another person come take the kids up stairs to the locker rooms where later my 3 yr old kept taking about the «grandmom» who had no clothes on … I was upset my child was put in this position

The gym is beautiful. I recommend it if you are coming just to use the equipment and go. I had a bad customer experience that left me feeling embarrassed so I have no plans to go back. (Thank goodness I got the PLUS membership so I can choose a different Y).
I was on the elliptical with my phone on silent. Halfway through the workout, I realized someone was calling every 15 minutes and not leaving a message. Well, the next time they called, I answered and found out it was someone trying to deliver something to my house. I was just asking them to come back at 2:30 then hang up when Marsha (asked her name afterwards) came up and very loudly and rudely said, «It is the Y’s policy to have people get off their cell phones or take phone calls in the lobby.»
1.) I had no idea this was the policy, I was not trying to be rude at all!- I’ve been going to the Y for years and seen many people on their phones 2.) Why are you loudly reprimanding me? It’s not like I had done it anytime before– it was my first time at this gym! Couldn’t you have just nicely tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out to the hallway?
Seems easier and I wouldn’t have felt so insulted or upset. It would have been no big deal if it had been handled in that fashion.
I think it’s an easy fix to have an employee training about being polite, kind and how to address other people in the gym if they break a gym rule. I’d highly recommend to management to address it so that this Y is still a comfortable place to go to.

This gym is a great place to go if you want a focused, hard workout without the crowds. Does it deserve 5 stars? That depends on what kind of standards one has. For me, I grew up lifting in my garage with very little to go off of and a Walkman. Over time I progressed to Family Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, a handful or Crossfit centers, Chuze Fitness, now I belong to the YMCA. Fitness variety is truly the spice of my life. This gym is clean, has a respectable amount of quality equipment, an incredible amount of complimentary classes, plenty of parking, very friendly staff, a nice pool, cheap post workout snack options available, childcare options, safe lockers to use, accurate scales, and quite a few other cool things for free. Now that being said, this is not the place to be «hip», or be a «bro», or stare at yourself in the mirror grunting wildly and slamming weights. There ARE a lot of elderly people. Sweet, kind, caring individuals who help pay to keep the place very clean and safe. This gym is a little on the smaller-​side once inside. Depending on the time you go, there may be more than just a handful of people in the gym. However, nothing compared to 24 Hour Fitness or Chuze. The YMCA East County locations are really nice to be a part of, and the Davis location fits in nicely. None of them are perfect, and I like it that way. A little tip, when trying to find this place, turn into the parking lot of the main grassy park and follow the road 15 – 20 seconds down past the field (South). The YMCA is right across from the skatepark. Enjoy!

Customer service is so important to these type of places because there is so much competition out there. I registered my son for a class. Within the first few minutes of being in the class we realized he showed no interest in the class so we immediately went to the front desk to inquire about a refund. This is when I felt we walked into an episode of a bad movie scene where one encounters the most ridiculous front desk person who feels she owns the world from her miserable desk. Margo O. gave us the most patronizing look as we explained we wanted a refund for the class. The next few minutes were just a display of rudeness, laziness and just plain disregard for the YMCA’s mission from this person.
She would not tell us how much we would get refunded for, she immediately said we would not get a refund for the first day of class. She also slapped a piece of paper on the counter when I asked about other classes that I could perhaps register my son for since he wasn’t interested in this one. She would not give me an explanation about the refund process and gave me no receipt for the refund or at least some paper proof that I would get the requested refund. She was condescending in every thing she said to us and just left a sour taste in our mouth so nah! we are not coming back YMCA. After asking all sorts of questions, it turns out they don’t issue refunds they just give you credit for future classes; another reason I am not coming back.

I’ve been going to this gym for a couple of months now and I love it! Very clean and everyone is so friendly.
The head of the membership department (I think her name is Kristin) was more than helpful and bent over backwards to help me when I was transferring my membership there from another location.
Last night I took my first Yoga class at this gym and the instructor was named Lisa. The class was so great and she was very authentic and sweet. I will definitely continue taking her class, and being a member here.