Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

5738 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, USA

Address:	5738 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, USA
Phone:	+1 412-521-8010
Site:	jccpgh.org
Rating:	4.1

Location

Photos 78

Reviews 5

Morgen Kelly

I have been a member of JCC for several years. We have a family basic membership which is a very reasonable price for what you get. If you want extras like towel service, sauna, spa, etc. you will have to get the platinum membership. But the regular locker room and services suit us fine. Classes and services (like a trainer, nutritionist, etc) are often extra, but that is true at other gyms too, in my experience. Because it is a Jewish center, there are designated womens and mens swim times, which is nice if you dont want to be seen in your suit by the whole world (but check the schedule before you go to the pool). Childrens programming is extensive and very good, including the daycare, childrens classes, parent/baby classes. Sometimes staff are disorganized, but that can be overcome. They are always helpful, even if it takes a little doing to figure things out. Parking in Squirrel Hill is what it is. The lot under the main JCC building is terrible, but there is a large public lot close by under the library, so you can get parking if you dont mind a half block walk (to the *fitness* center - Hello?). Membership also gives you access to the Family Park in Monroeville to swim outdoors in the summer (on weekends only during J&R camp, however). Family Park buildings are a little run down, but the pools and grounds are fantastic. Pack a lunch and enjoy a day at the pool. What I have always liked best about JCC is that the gym is not full of muscle bound macho men and surgically altered women. There are folks at the gym of all ages, sizes, and fitness levels. There is no blaring rock music to contend with, and no one hogging machines or weights while they admire themselves in the mirror (which I have experienced at other gyms). You never have to feel self conscious working out at JCC, and folks are generally friendly and considerate.

Joel Suen

So this review is for the gym itself and within the gym, the membership department. The actual gym itself isnt bad, but definitely read the rest of the review if you are worried about billing/broken promises/etc. I had a pretty bad experience here from 2 main issues that were not properly explained to my wife and I at time of opening a membership: 1. The sales representative told us that parking "is never an issue" except for the day that we came in because it was street cleaning (which is on Tuesday). Unfortunately, it takes us 10-15 minutes of driving around the block each time to find parking regardless of day/time. This is extremely inconvenient and results in us not 2. The sales representative also made absolutely no mention of this being an annual membership. Everything was described in monthly payments and any additions or subtractions to our family plan that needed to be made would have been "very simple". When I called in to cancel, the membership assistant told me that it was indeed an annual membership. I explained that this was new to me and that we felt that the sales rep misled us with the parking comment. They dont have a cancellation fee, however, you do have to pay for all the months of the year until your annual membership is up. I explained that since that was not the verbal agreement we came to, I would go ahead and dispute all charges from the JCC in the future, but would much rather come to a mutually beneficial agreement where we both walk away. While she did offer a month free at first, the issue was out of convenience, so we were not interested. I know the JCC will probably receive a disputed charge fee on their account, which is unfortunate because they are a community organization and I wish they just never lied in the first place.

Elizabeth Huber

Do not sign up with the Jewish Community Center! My husband and I had the worst experience there. We signed up for the JCC to use the gym. We were members for three years and just recently moved 16 miles away. When we signed up with JCC, the membership office assured both of us that we could quit if we moved. This was the only reason that we signed up and re-newed our contract twice, since we were planning to move within Pittsburgh. We alerted the membership office that we bought a house and were moving in 6 weeks and they made it an awful experience. When we gave our notice, they said they weren’t sure if we could quit our membership and that they would look into it. They took three weeks to get back to us and then denied our request. We were shocked. They said that the employee we spoke to originally didn’t work there anymore and that we couldn’t give notice that we were moving and needed to cancel our membership. We needed to pay five months worth of gym service that we weren’t going to use. They said that they expected us to drive 45 minutes each way to use the gym and thought that was reasonable. The JCC did not work with us at all even though they have an illogical policy and unreasonable expectations. They did not care that both my husband and I were told by a JCC membership employee that this would be allowed. My husband and I always read contracts thoroughly and it was not explicit in their contract. Watch out! They are out to get your money. We will not consider using them again or giving them charitable donations again. We would give them the worst rating possible due to the months it took to sort this out when we asked questions up front and gave a lot of notice of the date that we were closing on a house. LA Fitness, on the other hand, is a great gym!

Darlington Road

Do not join this gym! First, it is very difficult to cancel your membership. They say you can cancel your membership anytime be it medical, job loss or moving away but thats total BS. Three years ago, I broke my leg, had a cast up to my thigh, had a doctors letter and even workers compensation but they still would not cancel my membership so they withdrew a fee every month for almost 9 months when I didnt even use it. But if you check their forms for membership cancellation they list MEDICAL as a legitimate reason to cancel a membership - but they wont do that for you! After 4 years, I thought maybe I should try this place again and this time I need to cancel my membership because Ive lost my job and I am moving out of state but they have been giving me excuses and giving me the run around about canceling my membership. Im sure if they can find a way to keep charging me a fee even if Ive left Pittsburgh, they will. The gym gets too busy at most times and the pool has too many senior citizens who arent really there to socialize in the swimming lanes so it is very difficult to swim laps!

erica jones

I have been a member for 2 years now and its honestly a very good gym. They have a nice assortment of equipment and the staff is usually very nice. Its also a lot nicer than many other gyms and clubs I have been to. I have seen a few negative comments and I have to agree only with the ones that complain about parking, locker room differences and pool availability. Parking is pay parking--which is common in the city--there are free parking spots on the street if you dont mind the walk.The centerfit platinum membership is nice to have because they do offer some perks like the sauna, steam room, and a much nicer experience. I have never been there when the steam room was broken, but the sauna was out of order for about a week last year. The pools are heated and usually around 80-90 degrees F, but classes can make it hard to find open swim times. My main issue is that the regular locker rooms are always cold. When I take my daughter swimming we are freezing in that locker room.