Followup: West Seattle Health Club transition ‘moving faster than expected’; plus, new developments in ex-owner’s bankruptcy case

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

We’re continuing to track the transition at 2629 SW Andover from the suddenly shut-down West Seattle (Athletic) Club to the new West Seattle Health Club.

The former, owned by Sam Adams since early last year, announced a two-day closure last week but did not reopen on Saturday as promised; later Saturday, a representative of property owner John Pietromonaco announced that they’ve taken over and will open the facility as a new club.

First, the newest update, received this morning from that representative, Dan Lehr, who is managing the transition to WS Health Club and says it is “moving faster than expected.” He describes the points below (unedited, as we received them) as “updates from my staff”:

Opening date still up in the air but at this rate late week is very doable. We need to get the staff up to speed on how to handle membership questions and that is up in the air right now.

Phones by Thursday

Club being painted in pool area and men’s locker room as well as kidz club grounds being cleaned Thursday

Computers up by Wednesday or Thursday after security system is re-instated

Payroll being set-up by Wednesday

Still trying to get membership information so memberships can be extended for days the club was closed website – hopefully by end of the Wednesday

New equipment ordered will start arriving in two weeks. Over 40 pieces of new cardio – 300k

All equipment organized

3rd Floor
———-
All trash collected.
Mirrors Wiped.
Window ledges wiped.
Reception desk (2) thoroughly wiped and cleaned.
All exercise equipment disinfected and wiped.
All weights put back in order.
Vacuumed and Dust Mop ( Will damp mop Tuesday).

2nd Floor
———-
Moved furniture – Put furniture back in uniform in offices etc.
Will buff out heel marks on floor area of Aerobic Room (Tuesday)

1st Floor
———-
Power sprayed and disinfected utilizing a deodorizer both Men’s and Women’s locker rooms showers. All Floor areas machine scrubbed and cleaned.

Will start carpet cleaning some areas of the 3rd floor later Tuesday evening as cleaning crew closes shift. We will also use a good deodorizer on carpet.

(Monday) almost everything was cleared from the front lobby. Almost all equipment was put to back together that had all the nuts and bolts. All the working spin bikes were put back into the spin class. Working equipment was all moved to the third floor too. It looks a lot better no gaps except for walking space. Dumbbells were put on what remaining dumbbell racks we had left and workout plates were loaded on equipment, due to no weight tree’s to stock them on. The housekeeping storage was cleared out, all supplies was stocked into the house keeping area. All machines were wiped down and almost all trash has been picked up. The locker room and shower areas were also kai vacced and auto scrubbed. We made sure to also clear out the women’s only area. The only thing we have left in women’s only is broken equipment and heavy machines that need to be broken down because there too heavy to put on the piano dolly’s. All floors were vacuumed and most floors were dust mopped/mopped. Mirrors were cleaned among other things.

If you missed our first report about the transition, published Saturday night, see it here – it includes Lehr’s first report on what happened and what’s ahead.

Meantime, as for the prior ownership: Neither we nor members, by any account, have received any information since the Thursday/Friday closure was announced in an e-mail to some members (a few of whom forwarded it to us) last week. (The building’s new management makes it clear that they are a separate operation, starting from scratch.)

The state Attorney General’s office says it’s not uncommon for health/fitness clubs to abruptly close. So not uncommon, in fact, the AG’s website has a specific page with information about your rights, and how to file a complaint – here’s the direct link. A key point: “If the health club closes permanently, and the owner does not have a comparable facility within 10 miles of the club, you can cancel and receive a pro-rated refund of your initiation fee.”

There’s no new paperwork as of this writing in the online file for what had been an eviction action – “unlawful detainer” – against the club’s previous ownership. As we had originally reported earlier this month, a deadline of October 24th, last Friday, had been set for a $1.1 million payment due (mostly back rent) to the property owner, to hold off eviction. The court documents had said that Adams’ company expected to get that money from a loan for which it said it had a contract. But as of midweek, property owner Pietromonaco said that money hadn’t been received and that he had “a plan” if it didn’t arrive. What’s happening now is apparently the execution of that plan; state corporate records show that Pietromonaco created the West Seattle Health Club LLC on October 17th, one week before the deadline.

The eviction action originally was filed in May, but on the eve of a scheduled hearing in late June, it was put on automatic hold when Adams and his wife filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy organization. That hold – a stay – was lifted after they missed a court-ordered August deadline for payment of some back rent.

Now the Chapter 11 filing itself is in jeopardy, according to the newest paperwork filed in the federal bankruptcy case. The US trustee says that Adams has not filed a single one of the monthly financial reports required since the filing, so she is asking bankruptcy court Judge Marc Barreca to either convert it to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing or to dismiss the case entirely, which would mean that the Adamses lose the various protections conferred by a Chapter 11. The motion is set for a November 14th hearing.

Another recent action filed in the bankruptcy case was from a financial-services company that wanted to be added to the list of creditors, saying Sam Adams entered into a contract, less than a month before the Chapter 11 filing, selling a certain amount of “future receivables” to the company, for a six-figure sum, but not notifying it about the subsequent filing. The Adamses’ bankruptcy lawyer filed a response to this last week, saying that the “future receivables” deal actually wasn’t struck by Sam (A.) Adams, but by his father Sam E. Adams, acting on that particular day as a representative of the company. The document also notes that Sam E. Adams lives in Texas.

And in the moments before publishing this, we checked the bankruptcy-case records one more time. The couple from whom the Adamses were buying a waterfront Kirkland home on a rent-to-own basis are seeking a court order requiring rent payment, which they say hasn’t happened for some months. Their motion notes that with the fitness club closure – described as “deemed rejection of … the lease” – and the aforementioned motion to convert the bankruptcy to Chapter 7, “Mr. Adams’ prospects for reorganization appear even more dim than they were before.”

Sam A. Adams, a former pro-football player, bought the club during bankruptcy proceedings for the former operation, Allstar Fitness; we chronicled that transition and the previous bankruptcy proceedings in stories archived here (reverse-chronological order), October 2012-January 2014. The coverage of now-defunct WS (Athletic) Club will have its own archive shortly.

59 Replies to "Followup: West Seattle Health Club transition 'moving faster than expected'; plus, new developments in ex-owner's bankruptcy case"

  • Amy October 28, 2014 (2:19 pm)

    Thank you for the update!

  • previous member October 28, 2014 (2:21 pm)

    If Sam Adams tool all membership folders/information as stated in a previous article, what is being done to protect members from fraudulent use of the information?

  • Greg October 28, 2014 (2:28 pm)

    Thank you so much to Tracy for putting up so much information on this situation on WSB – it’s been by far the best source of updates for all of us who are following and affected by the gym closure.

  • Pg Carr October 28, 2014 (2:46 pm)

    Great info thanks. I did go by yesterday and see a lot of trash bags being put outside for removal.

    • WSB October 28, 2014 (2:47 pm)

      I actually meant to e-mail you and ask for permission to publish one of those photos – you linked the dropbox in the comment section – but haven’t had a chance yet.

  • PG Carr October 28, 2014 (3:27 pm)

    Please feel free to go ahead and publish any of the photos i put in the comment section. If you need any more photos let me know and i will do my best to get them

  • Ryan October 28, 2014 (3:29 pm)

    I’m still curious as to why my account was sent to collections before this whole debacle when I clearly went in and terminated my contract in person. Is there any sort of recourse for this after learning all that has gone on?

    I fought with the club and collections and neither would help. Now I am stuck with a collection on my credit from their mishandling of files or whatever.

  • Ian October 28, 2014 (3:31 pm)

    If the business (West Seattle Athletic Club) no longer exists – how the heck is someone supposed to cancel?

  • JJ October 28, 2014 (3:36 pm)

    Dan… what about the pool?

  • Freeman October 28, 2014 (4:09 pm)

    Thanks for the update! I want to see this gym succeed and I am pleased to see Dan Lehr charging ahead.

  • Cpeterson October 28, 2014 (4:11 pm)

    Thank you to the WSB for these updates!
    FYI to members, I contacted my bank and put a stop payment on the former business name for all future payments. (I was set up for automatic deduction monthly). I figured that since the new gym will be called something different, stopping payment for that business name specifically would not affect my ability to join/pay/utilize the facility when it is all fixed. I did not try to claim any back payments as I used the facility until its last day… no advice there those out there trying to do that except my bank said if I wanted to do that, I would need to speak with their claims dept.

    Really really really keeping my fingers crossed that the pool is working again soon and is clean. It got very bad for awhile there.

  • ABY October 28, 2014 (5:46 pm)

    Thank you WSB for the daily updates. I will continue to follow and hope for a new opening soon!

  • sillygoose October 28, 2014 (6:18 pm)

    Yahoo just in time, I am ready to join!! Thanks for the update I was just thinking about where I was going to work out if this club bit the dust.

  • Tom October 28, 2014 (6:58 pm)

    People, do yourself a favor and cancel your automatic withdrawal or credit card if you have one set up with these Adams Family gangsters.
    When the new gym is up and running I will try it for a month and use cash.
    That gym is haunted.

  • waterworld October 28, 2014 (7:03 pm)

    Ryan: The FTC has a webpage with instructions and links to sample letters for challenging information on your credit report that you believe is inaccurate:

    http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0151-disputing-errors-credit-reports

    Once you send a letter to the credit reporting company, it must investigate the claim and send your information to the organization that filed the negative credit report (the collection agency or the health club). That company is then required to investigate and report back to the credit reporting company. The credit reporting company then reports back to you.

    If you are correct, the company that provided the negative credit information must provide corrected information to all three credit reporting companies. If the collections agency is relying on erroneous information it got from the health club, it is possible that this process will force the collections agency to acknowledge the error.

    If the effort fails, it may be that your options are limited to pursuing your own remedies in court, or else waiting the seven years until the bad information drops off your credit reports. As for going to court, if the facts are clear that you discontinued your membership, were wrongly referred to collections, and the collections agency did not respond appropriately when you notified it, then you may have remedies under both the state Collection Agency Act and the Consumer Protection Act.

  • pd October 28, 2014 (7:49 pm)

    Thank u WSB 4 excellent updates. Like JJ I am most interested in pool. Will gladly rejoin club if pool up and running soon. Otherwise must look elsewhere. Much prefer this location for pool size, location and desire to see the club and Dan succeed.

  • Christine October 28, 2014 (7:52 pm)

    I’m very grateful for West Seattle Blog reporting. I’ve been following this story since I left West Seattle Athletic Club because Sam Adams wasn’t paying instructors. I still miss the club because of the fellow members and awesome teachers. Happily I’ve joined Anytime Fitness in the old Blockbuster location (CA north of Admiral). I sincerely hope that the latest change will bring good for all concerned.

  • Sarah October 28, 2014 (7:52 pm)

    Thank you, Dan Lehr. Very impressed by how fast you’re moving and appreciate your communication with the community.

  • Gail October 28, 2014 (7:55 pm)

    Dan – Once the dust settles, will the women only gym be returned to a women only gym instead of a graveyard for equipment?

    Also, what about the hot tub and dry heat and wet steam rooms?

    Everyone – FYI after taking a closer look, I noticed my credit card was billed under slightly different business names by the club.

    Up to and including May 2014 payment: MSF* West Seattle Auth Seattle WA

    June – September 2014 payments: The West Seattle Athle Seattle WA

    Up to this point, these transactions were described as “membership clubs” aka athletic clubs included by the automated bank payment system.

    October 2014 payment: The West Seattle Club and the description changed to “DANCE HALLS, STUDIOS, AND SCHOOLS” by the automated bank payment system.

    I would speculate that something on the gym’s end changed in the coding to change the name/descriptions of the transactions like maybe a processor changed or Adams’ business name changed. I feel the October transaction is quite suspect however as a description change might make the payment go through in case some block was put up against a similarly named “membership club” entity.

    I cancelled my credit card ASAP, but if it was still open, I would keep an eye on the transactions for similarly named companies that “aren’t gyms.”

  • mozabo October 28, 2014 (8:04 pm)

    Thanks for the update. Can Dan Lear give an update on spin bikes? I was hoping Sam took all of them. I stopped doing spin classes because the existing bikes are in bad shape. They are seven year old. It will play a part on my decision to rejoin if the bikes aren’t replaced. We were
    suppose to get new bikes last
    year and of course Sam didn’t keep the promise.

  • Eileen October 28, 2014 (8:21 pm)

    Ryan – you can also file a complaint with the State Attorney Generals Office. Here is the link:
    http://www.atg.wa.gov/fileacomplaint.aspx#.VFBcuOdfk18
    I’ve succesfully used this before and it can help get things moving. You can also let the credit reporting companies know you have filed a complaint.

  • kate October 28, 2014 (9:14 pm)

    PLEASE!! New doors to the pool! I beg of you! Those rusty danger doors better be replaced ASAP (not painted over). I won’t take the gym seriously until those things are GONE. Other than that, I’m feeling pretty good about the new ownership. Thanks Dan, for your efforts in communicating with us through the blog.

  • Scout 15 October 28, 2014 (9:26 pm)

    Still waiting to hear about the pool, women’s locker room, locker repairs and rowing machines? Once I hear about these items, I will gladly come back.

  • Hugh October 28, 2014 (9:40 pm)

    I don’t care about a door to the pool. I care about the pool.

  • some guy October 28, 2014 (11:10 pm)

    It seems the health club is not healthy! Ha ha ha. Can’t resist a pun.

  • Dave C October 29, 2014 (7:58 am)

    The bastards charged my credit card 172.98 the day the closed…
    WTF

  • Seymore October 29, 2014 (7:59 am)

    Forget about the dangerous mold that’s EVERYWHERE. I wont take you seriously until you replace the door to the pool???? ok

  • PG Carr October 29, 2014 (8:13 am)

    Well good news at least with the chargeback. Wells fargo completed it already. They determined an “error did occur”. The error being a disconnected number and a disconnect club!!! Everyone should go ahead and file a CB as soon as possible with their bank

    Investigation has been completed
    ATM/Debit/Prepaid Card Claim Reference Number XXXXXX
    RE: Debit Card XXXX…..

    We have completed our investigation of this claim and determined that an error did occur. We have sent a letter by mail with the details of our investigation.
    Please refer to the letter for the final amount credited to your Wells Fargo account XXX
    If you have further questions after receiving the letter, please call us at 1-800-548-9554. Our hours are (in Pacific Time):

    During Daylight Saving Time: Monday – Friday, 4:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
    During Standard Time: Monday – Friday, 4:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

    Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We hope we have been able to assist you.
    Sincerely,
    Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center

  • PG Carr October 29, 2014 (8:13 am)

    Dave C we got charged too the day before closing. if you haven’t done so already DISPUTE!!!

  • PG Carr October 29, 2014 (8:14 am)

    Went by last night. the garbage bags are gone. the lobby looks OK. the pool still has a little bit water in it and about 4 shirts are still inside.

  • Amy October 29, 2014 (8:43 am)

    Drove by this morning on my way to work (7:30a) People working inside!!

  • Meg October 29, 2014 (9:52 am)

    To the new owner: Please keep Dance Grooves class with Jeffie Lou on Mondays and Thursday nights. This class is the only reason I still have a gym membership and we have a very loyal following of many people who attend regularly. Also, please ensure the TRX straps are put back up on the 3rd floor and in the women’s section.

  • CAmi October 29, 2014 (10:13 am)

    Please keep an ample amount of ‘open space’ near the windows on the top floor. There are lots of people who use this area to do various exercises that require space to move around. This is the only reason I keep a membership at the gym as it’s hard to find another gym with space to move. Also, please, please put in TRX and ViPR!!

  • danny October 29, 2014 (10:47 am)

    Is there any update on what kind of plan they have to screw over the trainers they will try to hire. I’m really curious what kind of terrible pay structure they come up with. People are still unable to realize that if you don’t pay staff well your club won’t succeed. Are you going with the typical route of finding less qualified trainers that you can pay less money to or the proven non greedy route of getting highly qualified trainers that get the money they deserve since trainers don’t cost the club anything in payroll. Is Dan like all the rest of the gym managers with experience? The vast majority of those guys are scumbags. If people want to find out if the club will succeed find out if they will pay their staff well I’m willing to bet they won’t, you should show your comp plan for trainers and sales reps and I can pick apart all the B.S. for everyone. Of its a good one Dan should have no problem showing it.

  • jj October 29, 2014 (11:40 am)

    Went by this morning and there are people in the front area working. A guy was on the phone so it looks like they have phones in place. The pool area (not counting the generator room) doesn’t appear to be touched including the clothing still in the deep end where there is a little bit of water left. Even if they trucked in 80K gallons and dumped it in, it would take several days to get it warm enough to swim. And clearly, they aren’t ready to put in water yet and without a pool/steam room, the draw to this club (for the price they charged in the past) isn’t there for me. Same old nasty spin bikes? No thanks…

  • bolo October 29, 2014 (11:43 am)

    Apparently a large number of members opted for auto-withdrawl from their bank accounts to pay the monthly dues. Why? Was there a hefty discount offered for this option? Just trying to learn from this probable swindle operation.

  • MissingJenC October 29, 2014 (11:52 am)

    Please bring back (and pay!) Jennifer Cepeda who used to teach Zumba there. PLEASE.

  • tm October 29, 2014 (12:30 pm)

    It’s been less than a week since Sam Adams and his people vacated. Give the owner a minute to get reestablished!

  • PG Carr October 29, 2014 (12:50 pm)

    “Please bring back (and pay!) Jennifer Cepeda who used to teach Zumba there. PLEASE.”

    I second that motion!

  • jj October 29, 2014 (1:35 pm)

    tm.. I’m one of many who understand there is a transition period, and it looks like they are doing a lot of “elbow grease” work that the facility needed.
    Truth is though, the owner of that building new for a long time this day was coming. When Adams filed chapter 11 this summer (and still didn’t pay rent after), you would know it’s a matter of time before he would be kicked out. The cleaning is simply keeping the existing staff on board to do what they should have been doing all along. How quickly new equipment gets in there and how soon they open is more of a report card on how prepared they were for this transition. If that place opens by the weekend (sans pool) then that shows they are aggressively going after it. If by the weekend, the pool hasn’t been cleaned out and the process of getting that up and running isn’t a priority, then I might as well join the 24 hour fitness for half the price. That’s the thing about this club… when it opened, it was $50/month which was relatively high but it was a nice facility and it had a pool. I’m optimistic a big scrubbing and painting will give the place a fresh look, but it’s not worth that kind of monthly outlay if the pool isn’t part of the mix. It will be, but after having that pool and spa out of order several times over the last couple of years, I’m in the position of not having to pay until things are up to standards. Where before, when the pool was down for 3 weeks a month or so back, I still had to pay $50 that month. I guess I’m saying I’m looking forward to a new owner but that owner better not take me (and my monthly dues) for granted.

  • tm October 29, 2014 (2:27 pm)

    @jj – I agree. Once they are up and running you will have to decide if what they plan to charge is worth it to you. I don’t think that’s known at this point. I believe Dan Lehr indicated that the pool would take a bit longer to get up to an acceptable condition for members to use. Sam Adams was served with eviction papers multiple times on that location and had always come up with the money. I imagine the owner did not want to purchase a bunch of expensive gym equipment if either that happened again or if Sam didn’t take all of the equipment but I don’t know his thinking on that.

    • WSB October 29, 2014 (2:56 pm)

      TM – just one correction – there were multiple unlawful-detainer (eviction) actions but he didn’t “always come up with the money.” The hearing in June, as we have written multiple times, was stayed because he filed for bankruptcy the weekend before. When the property owner successfully petitioned the bankruptcy court to lift the stay a couple months later, after Adams failed to make an ordered partial payment in August, another date was set – last Friday. Unraveling the bankruptcy documents, which we’ve been watching daily for months, it appears the formal action taken that day was “rejection of lease” – Adams sought an extension for time to decide on whether to keep or “reject” the club lease, the extension was denied, and according to paperwork that appeared in the file today, that meant as of Monday, he had de facto “rejected” it.

      • WSB October 29, 2014 (3:24 pm)

        Meantime, several members have just forwarded us a message, signed by Sam Adams, sent to whomever was on the membership e-mail list. Writing it into a story now, since it was clear last week that not all previous members were on the list. – TR
        .
        (Note – James’ comment above came in while I was writing this one. Same e-mail so far as I know.)

  • DJ October 29, 2014 (2:43 pm)

    Just spoke with Chase and tried to get them to cancel future payments to WSAC however if you’ve used a debit card for the revolving payments they won’t stop future withdrawal. Chase tells me you have to go through the labyrinthian credit card infrastructure to do so. Has anyone else had this experience? Don’t want to kill the actual card which is a huge headache.

  • WSJames October 29, 2014 (3:23 pm)

    Here is an cut and paste from an e-mail I just received on the WSAC mailing list from “Sam Adams”. Doesn’t look good for those with prepaid annual memberships. :( I’ve contacted them through the website, we’ll see what they say.
    .
    .
    “All of your membership and credit card information has been removed from the premises and will be destroyed. If you would like to sign back up at the club you will have to email John or stop by the club. Your memberships are officially terminated and you will not be charged again by the West Seattle Club. Some of you have not been charged for the last two months as we have been in transition with our new management software CSI. You will not be charged for those two months. For those of you that have been charged before the club was closed down or you joined less than 30 days ago, you will be receiving a full refund. If you have any questions please feel free to email us from the website at http://www.westseattleclub.com. We will be using the contact information that we have on file to send you your refund.”

  • maplesyrup October 29, 2014 (3:44 pm)

    DJ- Bank of America put a stop to all future payments attempted by that vendor. I had to pay $30 but according to them, the WSAC can’t process any more automatic payments. You might want to try again with your bank. I find it hard to believe that they can’t put a stop to automatic withdrawals from a specific vendor.

  • Peter October 29, 2014 (4:12 pm)

    @bolo: The easy answer is convenience. I was month-month (no contract), so no discount. Per my post in the other thread, I called my credit union, cancelled the debit card the club had on file, and disputed the November membership charge that appeared two days before they closed. PITA, but worth it for the peace of mind. Ongoing charges or worse were the driving concern.

    As somebody else eloquently articulated in the other thread, I think we are delusional if we don’t think some level of rate bump is coming for the kind of services most of us are clamoring for: Olympic-sized pool, honest and ethical staff, free classes, etc. Heck, the liability insurance on the climbing rock, assuming they even had any, had to be expensive all by itself.

    My rate stayed the same for about 10 years. I’m not privy to the financials, but it was hard for me to see how they could keep it going on roughly $50 / month / member. Evidently, they couldn’t.

  • Bradley October 29, 2014 (4:12 pm)

    “For those of you that have been charged before the club was closed down or you joined less than 30 days ago, you will be receiving a full refund” – Yeah, right.

  • Thomas M. October 29, 2014 (4:48 pm)

    I guess the US Trustees Office (which audits ALL Chapter 7’s) may have to get to the bottom of where the money went. Factoring off future receivables for big bucks? Where’d that money go? Representative for a day? Switcheroo with Daddy with a different middle initial? That debt buyer just showed up and you can bet they are going to raise Cain now that their “future receeivables” are bupkus.
    *
    Is it just me?
    *
    Make some popcorn folks, this could get interesting!

  • Amanda Correia October 29, 2014 (5:10 pm)

    Is Emerald City Smoothie still in operation there?

  • Thomas M. October 29, 2014 (6:56 pm)

    Holy smokes. I just read through most of the docs on PACER. Read them. You get something like $15.00 per quarter free at 10 cents a sheet that’s a whole bunch of pages. Unless you have a reason to read it, skip the Exhibit A to the Oregon health club Complaint… it’s 28 pages of boilerplate. Just grab motions, complaints, orders and you should get by.
    *
    There are a bunch of BK Code 523 adversary actions claiming various misdeeds of Adams either excepts the specific debt from a discharge, or renders the whole bankruptcy subject to a 727 Global Denial of discharge. Ouch!
    *
    I don’t know about converting this to a Chapter 7. The debtors are individuals and per their Statement of Financial Affairs (SOFA) they make about several times the means test limit of about $63,000.00 per year. How they would pass a means test is beyond me. If they can not qualify for a 7, the only result on the US Trustees’ motion would be dismissal. Does anybody know for sure how this works?
    *
    There were also some Rule 2004 examinations of the Debtors granted upon subpoena duces tecum (with documents) and those look really interesting. Does anybody know if any of these took place yet?
    *
    BTW Judge Barreca is one of the best I have seen, and goes absolutely by the book.

  • pd October 29, 2014 (7:12 pm)

    I wrote to Sam Adams at the email address WS James provided. I explained that I was stop paying on my credit card and wished him luck (remember he did come in after original owner failed ). Sam couldnt have been nicer. He offered to reimburse me any $ paid for te after closure. Perhaps by wriing him he will do the same for you. Maybe I was just lucky, but I get lucky alot when I treat people the way I want to be treated—even when I initially feel cheated. He was really nice and professional. Good luck to all. Let’s hope it worka out for members, the new owner and Sam.

  • Mel October 30, 2014 (12:19 am)

    This is the part where we see how dedicated to doing this right the owner really is.
    .
    When it’s reopened, I’ll walk through with my personal “punch list” and if things aren’t fixed, I spend a month working out at the Y. I’ll come back a month later, and if not fixed, repeat the process…until/unless I just get tired of it and stop coming back.
    .
    I know pretty intimately what needs to be fixed. If the club is fixed and worth the price, I come back. The club is not fixed, I don’t come back. It’s that simple.
    .
    Promises won’t do anymore.

  • LT October 30, 2014 (7:24 am)

    Dan/Tracy- any updates on the re-open date? Many of us are dis-placed and the Y just isn’t cutting it. Looking forward to the reopening, hopefully soon!

  • tm October 30, 2014 (8:38 am)

    @Thomas M – the 2004 Exam with the landlord’s attorney took place. The transcript is in PACER. It’s a fascinating read…..

  • ChrisBean October 30, 2014 (11:42 am)

    Any updates from Mr. Dan Lehr? In the last article, he did promise daily updates. It’s been two days since his last one. Just don’t promise anything if you can’t come through. Yes, I’m sure he is busy, but us former members would like to know what’s going on and when the new manager promises daily updates, he should be doing so.

    • WSB October 30, 2014 (11:46 am)

      No, I did not hear from him yesterday, nor so far today. Am sending an inquiry in a bit, to see if they at least have a new prediction for potential reopening.

  • ChrisBean October 30, 2014 (12:42 pm)

    Thank you, WSB. And I hope I didn’t come across directing my “don’t promise anything” towards you…it was for Mr. Lehr. I truly appreciate the coverage you have provided us from the very beginning.

  • PG Carr October 30, 2014 (1:34 pm)

    This story has even made Kiro TV. Some of the members contacted them. here is the link to the video

    http://www.kirotv.com/videos/online/video-closed-west-seattle-athletic-club-charges/vCzDHb/

Sorry, comment time is over.