Fitness Blowout

THE REST OF MY REVIEW, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 4−24−16. TO DATE 2 AND POSSIBLY 3 OF THE FREIGHT COMPANIES I CONTACTED HAVE SEVERED TIES WITH JIM ROSEN AND ANY COMPANY HIS NAME IS ATTACHED TO!
from California to North Carolina. I REFUSED TO TAKE DELIVERY, AND I BELIEVE THAT STEP WAS VITAL.
STEP 4: I continued to research the company and its unscrupulous business practices, and what I found was disturbing. Most laughable was the copied and pasted mission statement Jim Rosen pulled out year after year to make it appear as if he was trying to turn the company around. «We are committed to our valued customers, and are taking immediate corrective steps to regain confidence in us. We have begun putting a comprehensive plan in place to provide better and more-​timely information to you, more tools and resources for our team members and improved procedures for handling operational difficulties in the future. We are confident that, as a result of these actions, Fitness Blowout will emerge as a more reliable and even more customer responsive company than ever before. We take feedback and input from our customers very seriously because we care what you have to say. We continually strive to improve and streamline our processes and we have learned a great deal from this incident. Unfortunately when relying on third party carriers and vendors to deliver per our terms of contract, occasionally situations may arise creating unforeseeable delays or errors. After researching this situation this seems to be an isolated case in that this unit was not properly inspected by our vendor’s quality control.» I submit that if Jim Rosen truly had any intention of making changes with regard to his business practices they would’ve come to fruition long before now. It seems that his go to method is to always lay blame on someone or something other than himself… where there’s smoke there’s fire, and this guy reeks of smoke!
In the end I believe it was crucial that I shared everything I found with my credit card company and with the freight company used in my situation. As I’ve already mentioned, this prompted them to investigate further. I also shared the same information with other national shippers, and to my pleasant surprise I learned that these huge shipping companies take their brands very seriously and will sever ties with companies who would shed a negative light on them by using deceptive business practices. I BELIEVE THAT IF OTHER CONSUMERS WILL DO AS I HAVE DONE AND BRING THE DISHONEST PRACTICES OF JIM ROSEN AND FITNESS BLOWOUT TO THE ATTENTION OF FREIGHT COMPANIES THEY WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE ACTION AND REFUSE TO MOVE FREIGHT FOR ANY BUSINESS WITH A CONNECTION TO JIM ROSEN OR FITNESS BLOWOUT. You see, freight companies don’t like to touch freight more than once, and in the case of Fitness Blowout they’ve had to do so at an alarming rate. Though I believe I’ve been instrumental in making it very difficult for Jim Rosen and Fitness Blowout to continue to use certain freight companies to move their junk, there may be others out there whom I did not know to contact. My best advice to any of you is to contact the freight company being used in your case and insist they look into their account with Jim Rosen, Steve Barzilai, Fitness Blowout, Fitness Club Warehouse, Super Gym’s Fitness Warehouse, Fitness Club Warehouse, Super Gym Rosen, 1800Fit4Less, Exceleration Fitness, Excelerated Fitness. Good luck!
I did ultimately purchase the unit I was interested in from reputable company, Carolina Fitness Equipment, out of Charlotte N.C., and I couldn’t be more pleased with my decision to do business with them. Actually, I ended up with a unit that is two generations newer than the one from Fitness Blowout, and I paid $ 500 less for it. So, if you are still in the market for top of the line used equipment you might want to have a conversation with David Preble, the owner of Carolina Fitness Equipment~he’s good people!

I bought equipment from California warehouse with lifetime warranty on parts. The part broke and i called customer service. At first they said nothing covered and i had to fax a copy of my invoice. After that customer service rep. Meredith verified that i do have lifetime warranty for parts. She told me they will charge me for shipping and send the part. It is been 3 weeks since i was charged for shipping, no part. I tried calling and now someone else saying i\‘m not covered for the part again and Meredith do not answer multiple emails when i ask her when the part might be delivered to me. I never seen such a horrible customer service. The customer service as a complete opposite of your website advertising. I emailed everyone at Culver city location today asking again when my part can be delivered to me. I will wait sometime and will put reviews all over the internet about your customer service. I will still need my part because it is covered under lifetime warranty for parts. I got an email from someone else in their location, she promised that i will get a response shortly. I did get a response shortly saying that if they can not get me a part, they will refund me $ 20 which i paid for shipping a month ago. I keep emailing after this and they do not respond. The whole thing with lifetime warranty for parts is a scam. I’m not using my equipment for 2 month already because of this issue. Thinking about small claims court. I had to call my credit card to return $ 20.

i know why evil comes in many different manifestations! jim your actions will be passed down! i feel sorry for you!
stay away from this place!

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY! They will not honor any warranties. It is the run around at its best.

I should have read the reviews before I was cheated out of a deposit for a piece of gym equipment that I did not end up purchasing. I dealt directly with «Jim Rosen» the biggest snake oil salesman on the planet. He assured me that if I put a deposit down and either did not get approved or found a piece of equipment I liked better elsewhere, that I would get my deposit back — Wrong! I told him April 18^th that I had decided on another model with a company that had a faster delivery time and better ratings and I STILL have not received my deposit back :/​I tried emailing, texting and calling several times to get my refund back and was either blown off, ignored, or lied to by Jim Rosen. He even sent me an email stating he PROMISED and Guaranteed to issue me a refund if things didn’t work out but does that mean anything to him? No! I was so polite every time and calm saying things like «Please, Thank You, would you be so kind as to, I would appreciate it if you»… Etc and when I finally got stern after a month with no response or refund back he went psycho on me. He said I was «pathetic» because I’m 25 and not married and don’t have kids :/​something that bothered me since I’m physically unable to. He also called me a few choice names — all because after a month of waiting I finally got a little stern about my refund. This man is a lunatic with anger issues and so many excuses, he won’t take responsibility for or own up to anything. When I told him what model and company I went with instead of his in one of my many pleas to get a refund back he sent me this long winded text about what a big mistake I was making — even though I got it in perfect condition in 3 days, had a team of awesome delivery guys carry it upstairs for me at no extra charge and LOVE the treadmill I have. Funny how he had time to go off on me for making a better decision but couldn’t reply back about my deposit. When I mentioned purchasing my treadmill elsewhere and how I felt good about my decision given the delivery date, customer service and reviews I found (after I had given the creep my money of course) he started saying all the reviews were fake and that some issues were due to a manufacturer and yatta yatta just excuse after excuse — and I get it, with some businesses that really does happen but given that there are so many and the BBB score there is no way it can all be someone else’s fault or all fake. I told him regardless that it didn’t matter and thanked him for his time and just asked again for my deposit back… Still nothing. So here I am a month and several emails, texts, and calls later and still no refund :/​Fitness Blowout and Jim Rosen scammed me out of $ and I have nothing to show for it. I feel so foolish and when I told him Friday I was giving him one last chance to refund me he got so mad he said «I think I’m just not going to do it now» I have all of his texts to prove this as well. He threatens me and said I should move out of California. Everyone PLEASE stay away from this crazy man and his scam company.

I am giving this company a 1 star because that’s the minimum. They don’t deserve a 1 star! This has been by far the worse experience with a business I’ve ever had! It took months for me to get the elliptical I ordered. Mr. Rosen the CEO personally called me to make the sell. I should’ve known something was fishy because he wasn’t willing to stick to the original price he offered. I ordered the Free Motion elliptical. After weeks of waiting and constantly calling them I was told they didn’t have my machine in stock and they said they would upgrade me from the Free Motion to a Nordic Track elliptical. I didn’t get any email correspondence or emails from this company. I’ve stayed on hold for as long as 45 minutes and no one answered the phone. No one would return my phone calls or would answer my emails.
I started to wonder if they didn’t have the Free Motion elliptical from the beginning and the advertisement was just a scam! I finally got through to an employee and I told him I wanted to cancel my order because it had been months later and I didn’t have my machine. He promised to give me a $ 100.00 dollar credit and give me a free mat if I would agree to keep the order. Luckily I had him send me an email while I was on the phone to agree to the $ 100.00 credit and the free mat. I have not received my $ 100.00 credit. I contacted Mr. Rosen and I told him his company is run poorly and he told me I should be nice. I told him being nice and patient got me poor service.
It takes two men to deliver the elliptical. I was told by Mr. Rosen that he would have two men deliver the machine and set it up. I took off from work for the delivery date. A delivery man showed up alone and asked me to help him lift the nearly 300 pound machine! I had to call Mr. Rosen’s company again to explain what happened. They were clueless about what happened. I had to take another day off from work for the eventual delivery. Luckily an employee by the name of Pete showed up on time and assembled the machine for me.
I explained to Mr. Rosen I had an email from his employer agreeing to give me the $ 100.00 credit and his excuse was that employee no longer works for his company. He refuses to respond to me. He refuses to honor his employees request. I spoke to a few of Mr. Rosen’s employees and they all gave poor customer service. I contacted the accountant department and I have sent several emails about this issue and no one will respond to me.
Part of Mr. Rosen’s selling tactic is to promise a free lifetime warranty. I should’ve bought the machine from Sears and paid a few hundreds dollars more for a warranty. What good is a free warranty when a company doesn’t deliver? I am disappointed with myself for buying from the low class company.
Buyer, please beware! Don’t fall for the fancy, expressive website Mr. Rosen has. I think Mr. Rosen has poor character.
They are diligent about contacting you to make the sale. It’s true that once this company gets your money it’s a STEEP downhill!!!
I hope my review helps steer you in the direction of a credible company. I am still trying to get my $ 100.00 credit. Something legally should be done to Mr. Rosen for his poor business tactics.

If you like dealing with lying Scam Artist, Fitness Blowout is the place to go. If I wrote every detail of the incredibly horrible experience I’ve had with them, I get Carpet Tunnel.
Like many others have stated, the sales rep (Steve Barzalai) was very excellent at getting me to purchase my elliptical. I’m also told he’s the GM. Part of the pitch is how great their customer service is. He said they always get back to you unlike other companies. That was a big lie. Invoice said I will get the machine within 14 – 21 business days. My machine had a deadline delivery date of April 25. I called them on April 28 to get a status. Was told I’d get a call back on May 2 with a tracking number. Never happened.
On May 2, I called Fitness Blowout multiple times. I was never allowed to speak with anyone. Automated message said if I had a shipping question or service issue to file the request on their website and they’d get back to me in 24 – 48 business hours. Not what was originally promised.
Later that day I called my bank. They said Fitness Blowout sounded fishy and told me to file a claim, which I did.
On May 3 I got a boiler plate email from someone named Tatiana. Opening line was Sorry for the inconvenience, Dominic will call you today. Dominic never called.
On May 4 I got the same exact boiler plate email from Tatiana. Dominic did call me that morning. She promised to call back that day with a tracking number. Guess what, no call. I know, Shocker.
On May 5, just kinda for fun at this point. I sent Tatiana another email saying Dominic never got back to me. Guess what? Tatiana sent me the same lame boiler plate email.
I’ve sent an email to all of the contact info I have for Fitness Blowout demanding the order be cancelled and to refund my account. I’ve never received the product and as far as I know it has never been shipped.

LIARS, DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THEM!!!
I wanted a very particular item, the Tour De France training bike because of its features and purchased it from

/​
I called because they had the best pricing. I spent 45 min on the phone with Rocky (
) discussing equipment and telling him I needed it quickly due to some events coming up within 2 weeks and needed to start training immediately.
He said we take 14 – 21 days for shipping so I asked about a rush. He said I will throw that in and that our standard is 9 – 10 days but you will get it in 6 – 7 days. Rocky told me it was in stock at their dealer (as they are a 3^rd party middle man) in Utah and could be shipped the next day so we had it on time. This item was ordered and paid for on the 9^th of Nov at 4:55 P.M.
I waited 3 full days and called to ask for shipping details so I could make sure we were available on the day it comes so it doesn’t get stolen off the porch. Upon calling the customer service rep said its not being shipped for another 2 or 3 weeks and was being very condescending about it. This went on for another 5 min and then asked to be transferred to the owner. He didn’t do that, he transferred me to Steve who is on his team.
I contacted the sales rep again by VM and Email. Several times we inquired and no response 2 days later from him. I tried contacting sales, customer service, chat and Jim the owner again. Nothing, just crickets and lies for almost 20 minutes and then hung up on.
Following this I spoke to Sonny who promised and guaranteed they had shipped the unit but would not give me a tracking number. She felt waiting a day to get a tracking number was okay. I called back at the end of the day and someone else told me it shipped but they wouldn’t have any tracking info for a week, If it shipped it shipped just give me the info.
Sadly to say when I called back and spoke to Tommy, (who honest and helpful) it wasn’t true, they lied several times again. This was on Friday, Tommy said he put in several requests to rusk the order and shipping, (Almost a week later) I waited till Monday at lunch time and called again. I waited for 40 min on the phone and finally reached Tommy again, he said the dealer just responded and said they don’t even have one and not sure when it will be available. So I paid in advance and waited a week just to hear we are clueless and have no idea when well even have it.
Currently I have left 2 messages for Jim the owner trying to cancel and get my money back. Currently they want to charge me me a restock fee of 25% on something they don’t even have, haven’t touched, haven’t been able to place or drop ship, I will follow up and let you know how this goes.
So days later they finally emerged with a new story of our shipping manager quit (on a side note I would too) and nothing went out. But I promise you I jumped through all the loops and made this happen for you, you’ll have it on Friday the 20^th of Nov, only 9 days after the fact, a far cry from you’ll have it in 6 days. So I waited till Monday the 23^rd and found out it hasn’t even been shipped till today. Scheduled time off arrival is now Nov 25^th by 8 P.M. 2.5 weeks later. Rocky (
) just lied to me from the beginning and shipped it normal and told me about 10 lies in the meantime. I asked Rocky how he was going to fix this mess and the response I got was sorry we have done what we can now go pound sand.
There are several thing that are seriously wrong with this company and their leadership. Just do what you say your going to do, don’t lie to people, it is completely inappropriate.
These people are incompetent, criminal and crooked. They lie and tell you whatever you want to hear and then you cannot get ahold of them for to get anything taken care of. There is a special place in Hell for people like this, they are extremely dishonest and unethical. Check the bottom of this Unilocal page, there are pages of 1 star reviews that are under «Not Currently Recommended» Do yourself a favor and avoid this middle man and go to a retail location or the manufacture directly.

NO STARS!!! I was able to get a full refund from American Express dispute department. Fitness Blowout will use many different tactics to discourage customers from a full refund. I person should be allowed more than a hour to return a product for a full refund. It is the law. So once again DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!

I don’t know how these people sleep at night! Biggest Scam Artists. Please don’t consider buying from this place. Once they get your money it’s downhill from there. Rude Customer Service, don’t care attitudes, won’t let you talk to anyone above them, lie to you, tell you what you want to hear, threaten you, drag their feet, pure fraud.
I have MS, in a wheelchair and I didn’t need this kind of stress in my life. After this experience, I won’t buy a toothbrush without checking the company out? All the negative reviews you might not get a new machine, and good chance it doesn’t work, if you get it at all. One thing is for sure, someday they will have to answer for it!
BBB rating F says a lot…

BUYER BEWARE. SCAM SCAM SCAM! Wish I could give negative stars.
This is the absolute WORST business I have EVER dealt with. We are a reputable physical therapy company, and we’ve had a broken machine on our floor for 2 months now. We paid for the upgrade package to cover service and repairs, but we have done nothing but get the run around. It’s taken 8 phone calls on our end and multiple emails to finally be told we will have to pay $ 175 trip fee for someone to come fix it. The owner had been assured that he would never have to pay anything for repairs if he bought upgraded packages.
Obviously unhappy with this, I ask to speak to a manager. Call center rep who answers assures me she IS the manager and there’s nothing they can do. (Funny, becuse 2 weeks ago a different rep also told me he was the manager, was EXTREMELY rude and didn’t help me either). I ask to speak to her manager and get the run around. I finally tell her they need to at least reimburse our upgraded packed fee since it MEANS NOTHING and we will get it repaired ourselves, and she said they can’t do that. It’s against policy. She kept refusing my request to speak to anyone else or any kind of supervisor, saying no one in the company will be able to help me. We’ve purchased 3 expensive pieces of equipment from this place and they won’t at least reimburse $ 300 to appease me, AFTER 2 months of frustratingly horrible customer service?
Also, the reps over the weeks kept going on and on about how we got our upgraded packages too cheap, our rep messed up, like they don’t owe us anything because we got some kind of amazing deal. Ummm that’s beside the point, call center reps. The point is FIX OUR MACHINE FOR FREE LIKE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO, IN A TIMELY MANNER.
How do owners of businesses like this sleep at night? I only wish we had read these reviews first!

The Owner Jim Rosen is the worst! He told me I had a 60-​day money back guarantee. Free Shipping and Lifetime Warranty. I put $ 1000 down on a $ 2200 piece of equiptment. I cancelled the following day because it was the wrong specifications. I told him I was looking in to other machines. He cancelled the order but kept my money. I told him since the order was cancelled to take it off my card. He told me spent time on the phone with me and I should follow the Golden Rule. I put in a dispute on my credit card and informed him. He then threatened me as said things were now going to get messy for me. I have a whole string of text messages proving his fraud and threats.

RUN!!! Doesn’t even deserve a one star rating. Unless you like to get terribly frustrated and enjoy really bad customer service, do not buy anything from these crooks! Started out with the sale, which does go surprising well (imagine that!), and quickly went downhill after delivery time was not met (even after Rush Delivery was paid for), one of the items took over 60 days to deliver. Was a multiple phone call, multiple excuses exercise.
Now, one of the items is not working properly, they are supposed to cover labor and some parts. They have the most pathetic process of emailing 3^rd party techs that are not held responsible to respond, ever! So after many calls, messages, ‘emails’, with no contact from any service tech… I am done! Will just call MFR to find out what reliable tech support can service this equipment… at our cost! Not worth the savings to buy from this operation! BTW — they are listed with the BBB as Fitness Warehouse 4 Less and have an F rating!

Do not purchase from Fitness blow out or fitness club wharehouse they are using many names.them. I have ordered a piece of equipment. 1 of the 10 pieces has arrived. the program i ordered is called the «white glove» where they a third party intercept and install it for you. the product was dropped in the middle of my studio. asked about the install. said they do not install.
Fact. Product ordered a free motion machine. on 12/​30/​2015. it was shipped on 1./15/2016. 1 of the 10 boxes arrived 2÷12÷2016.
Called everyday and placed on hold. left messages on chat. to this day of 2÷22÷2016 I have not heard back. I highly recommend NOT waste your time with Fitness blowout.

This is an awful business. I would be shocked if they aren’t facing some type of lawsuit.
We ordered an HCI LXT trainer on January 8^th, 2016. They immediately charged our credit card but we have yet to receive our machine. They put in the wrong address in the wrong town. It took us 5 phone calls and emails to get that changed as it had already gone to the shipping company. The shipping company said they couldn’t change it without fitness blowout’s consent and fitness blowout said that the shipping company would change it but never did.
At this point I called the shipping company to confirm the delivery (we paid almost one thousand dollars extra for the «white gloves» instillation service) they said they would drop it off the next day but that they didn’t install. After paying so much for the installation I was livid. After being told to call back twice because the manager apparently takes 2 hour lunches I finally got through on my 3^rd phone call. He said that he would work it out and call back. He has yet to call back. We are still waiting. Awful company.

I want to hare a nightmare experience with Fitness Blowout USA.
read the reviews on Google and don’t make the same mistake I did.
I was on line looking to by a quality elliptical machine for home use.
i called the 800 number on the website and I was transferred to the general manager Steve Barzilai.
he did a good job upselling me to different model not the one I had in mind.
he also did a good job selling me the upgraded warranty.
to make a long story short the machine that was delivered to me had parts not even installed! the up and down ramp buttons did not function. The ramp was welded off center so that you are pedaling off center and there were several other problems. I was never able to peak with him again. I emailed him and left him messages for 2 weeks. when i finally got thru to a person i was transferred to anther company to deal with the problems. they said the manufacturer was the person to call for the first year, then my warranty would be honored. this started me down a deep dark hole. after one month of no reply’s I spoke with my wife and se suggested that I contact American Express and let them know of my problem. American express opened a dispute and stopped payment. i was contacted the same day from Icon there service branch. 2 weeks later a technician came to the house and confirmed the machine was not able to be fixed and that parts were not even installed. I was emailed with an authorization # to destroy the machine, cut the cord off and it was not there responsibility to dispose of it. they would not offer assistance for the machine and it was no longer being manufactured. American express ruled in my favor and credited my account.
after another couple of weeks I saw the $ 2,900 suddenly re appear on my American Express bill. I was shocked. I called America Express and they said a representative from Fitness Blowout or Icon had called them and said the machine was fixed and to re instate the payment. This is downright fraud! I forwarded them the email that said to destroy and dispose of the machine and they opened up another dispute for me. obviously they ruled in my favor once again and credited my account. This is where it gets ugly. for the past two weeks my wife and I have been receiving threatening calls and emails from Jay Cohen [
] he said that if I don’t pay him roughly $ 1000 my company credit will be damaged and he will advise his client to take me to court and sue me for a restocking fee. i emailed him and said you cant charge me a restocking fee for destroyed machine. he said if I don’t send him a check TODAY he is taking action. I want everyone to know what a bunch of crooks they all are. I will posting to Unilocal to any and everyone including the consumer affairs department. these guys have to be stopped. john Marshall

I am writing this for those of you who happened to make a purchase before reading Unilocal or the Better Business Bureau about this company — so that you don’t freak out too much like I did in your shoes. Like the other reviewers, I went to the
website and was quickly called by a seemingly intelligent and highly competent sales person who talked me into buying a new treadmill as opposed to the used LifeFitness machine I was looking at. He (Thomas) was excellent at saying all the right things to make the sale — i.e. lifetime maintenance, 60 day in-​home trial period, lifetime warranty, etc. Seemed like a no-​brainer. Once my purchase was complete, however, the tide quickly shifted. They had my order, charged my card, and as a customer I was therefore no longer of use to them.
I emailed Thomas to get an estimated shipping date, as I wanted to make sure I would be home when it was delivered and the confirmation email I got said that I should contact my sales representative for that information. He didn’t respond. I went online and spoke to one of the online chat representatives, who was INCREDIBLY RUDE. I saved the transcript because I just couldn’t believe this person worked with actual customers. She basically said I needed to call the customer service number and added «it’s not that hard,» like I was an idiot. I called customer service, and no one answered. Like, it was a complete dead-​end call. That’s when I started to panic a bit, and began looking around online for company reviews. I feared the worst, that the company was just an online scam and disappeared once you gave them your CC information. Reading these reviews and the information on BBB, I started to REALLY panic. I ended up calling them back once a day for about 7 days until I was finally given a tracking number for the treadmill. Prior to that, they had no information on delivery and basically said over and over that it would be 14 – 21 days, even after 25 days had passed.
Thankfully, I finally got the treadmill (a week past the estimated time frame) and so far nothing is wrong with it. In fact, I love it! It’s a great machine thus far. I am INCREDIBLY relieved to have not been completely swindled as I had thought I might be. I hear the service aspect is where a lot of people run into problems, so I’ll keep this review updated if/​when I need service on the machine.
Long story short — it is mildly possible that you will receive what you ordered without issue. Good luck!
PS. I have no proof that it’s in any way related, but my credit card number was hacked shortly after this purchase, just FYI.

My experience with Fitness Blowout was pretty bad but after reading other reviews, I realize it could have been much worse. Fitnessblowout is a third party reseller or «middle man.» I purchased an elliptical that was supposed to be a top of the line model and started out on the most bizarre purchasing adventure of my life.
I called the company to ask about a top of the line Free Motion elliptical but as soon as I told the salesman what I wanted, he transferred me to general manager, Steve Barzilai. Steve talked me into ordering a top of the line EPIC elliptical instead by telling me the two machines were pretty much identical, made by the same company (ICON), and so on…
I had been researching ellipticals until my head was spinning and I was just ready to be done with the whole business. I paid almost $ 2000.
After ordering, my first clue that something was wrong was when I received the shipping confirmation and looked up the tracking information. The shipping weight didn’t match up to the specifications listed on the fitnessblowout website. I googled the elliptical and every website I encountered listed the machine as weighing 305 lbs. My machine weighs 264 lbs. I thought either the wrong machine was being shipped or it was missing a large part. I tried to call Steve directly as he had given me his personal extension and assured me that I could always talk to him about any concerns… I was never able to get in touch with him again. After he made his sale… crickets. He never returned my calls, answered my emails, or anything…
I finally called the main number at fitnessblowout and told them about the shipping weight being off. The salesperson, Amanda, put me hold and called ICON where it was being shipped from. She told me that ICON confirmed that they sent the right machine. BTW, I’m sure ICON did send the machine that was ordered by fitnessblowout (Steve), but it was not the one advertised by fitnessblowout. (I will note that ICON is not at all to blame for this catastrophe. They are a major supplier of fitness equipment and have no control over what third party sellers perpetrate. They have tried to bend over backwards to make sure everything was fine from their end.)
Anyway, long story short, I repeatedly tried to contact fitnessblowout about the wrong machine being shipped and have them rectify the problem. All they did was shift the blame, make excuses and finally avoid me. I’ve notified the Better Business Bureau. I will also post reviews about them so that others can avoid their scams.
I have an metaphor that sums up my experience. Let’s say you sit down at a restaurant to order desert. You look at the menu and see they have 2 flavors of ice cream, chocolate and vanilla. You order chocolate even though it inexplicably costs more but receive a flavor you never knew existed… chocolate & vanilla swirl! You find that you like the flavor but it’s definitely not what you ordered… it’s wasn’t even on the menu!
I will share the latest email I sent to Steve and Amanda. It’s been almost a week now and still no response from either of them. You’ve been warned!
Mr. Barzilai,
I now know that I didn’t receive the machine I ordered from you. The machine I received weighs 264 lbs. and has a 33 lb. flywheel. Your site lists the specs of the EPC 3.5 elliptical as weighing 305 lbs. and the flywheel weighing 35 lbs. I’m not sure what I got but it may be the one your site lists as the 3.0 because your site describes that one as weighing 261 lbs. For all I know, my machine may be some kind of hybrid of the two models… A mishmash of spare parts. The console diagnostics says the machine is a 3.1. I’ve attached a screen shot of the diagnostics.
Other than the machine not being the one I ordered, it is a bit unsteady and wobbles side to side when I am using it. I weigh 125 lbs. so it shouldn’t do that. That may be due to the lighter flywheel. This is one of the reasons I wanted the heavier 3.5 version. Also, the screen is scratched up. I will keep the machine unless you would rather go through the hassle of somehow having it shipped back. I don’t hate the machine but it’s just annoying that I didn’t get what I ordered and I tried to tell you something was wrong with the shipment because the weight was off weeks ago. I would like the price reduced to the lesser model and refunded to my account.
Please contact me about resolving this as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Amy M.
PS: I’ve spoken to ICON extensively now and the machine I have certainly does not match up to the specs of the machine I bought from you. I like the machine and it works well but I am upset that I didn’t get what I ordered. If I order and pay for a top of the line model, I expect to get what I pay for. I hope to hear back from you soon.
*******and********crickets***************chirp*******chirp ********chirping*****************

Step 1: Avoid overhead at all costs
Step 2: Staff a call center with minimum wage representatives (see Step 1) who know just enough about fitness equipment to sound like «Experts» who connect you with «Sales Professionals»
Step 3: Contract with independent «Sales Professionals» from… well, anywhere you can find desperate, duplicitous, money hungry sharks and saps that have access to a phone and/​or computer to do the selling for you. Pay them on a Commission base only (see Step 1)
Step 4: DON’T BUY A WAREHOUSE, STORAGE FACILITY, OR ANY FITNESS EQUIPMENT! That stuff is expensive (see Step 1)
Step 5: Instruct your «Sales Professionals» to sell whatever piece of equipment they can. Don’t worry about whether you can even get your hands on that piece of equipment, just get them to sign on the dotted line for a big dollar amount and promise whatever you need to get their money (Money Back Guarantees, Full Service Warranties, etc.)
Step 6: Make sure they visit your website during the purchase and track their «IP Address.» This will prove to the courts (we’ll get to that later) that you gave them a chance to read all your «Company Policies**»
Step 7: Check junkyards, abandoned buildings, and foreclosed homes for this equipment. Get it for free if you can. If you can’t find it for free try and get whatever product is cheapest to get ahold of, and can pass for the one you «Sold» to the customer. Many customers are stupid and won’t pay attention to little details like «Model Numbers» and «Missing Pieces.»
Step 8: There’s no need to rush any future steps because you already have their money.
Step 9: Ship them whatever piece of equipment you got for cheap and thank the customer for their money.
Step 10: Give instructions to your call center «Representatives» to play hot potato with all phone calls from purchasing customers. There’s no need to go out of your way to help (see Step 8)
Step 11: If someone wants to return a product let them know that’s against your policy. If they insist let them know they’re still on the hook for shipping costs and a restocking fee for the return, whether they even got the product (see Step 6**). Don’t ever promise them more than half of their money back. If they are ok with this refer them to the «Sales Professional» that handled their sale.
Step 12: Tell the «Sales Professional» their commission is on the line if the customer returns the product. This will motivate your non-​salary sales-​monkeys to not take no for an answer. Allow them to threaten the customer for half of the purchase price of the product as «incentive» (see: blackmail) for them to just give up and keep the junk you sent them.
Step 13: When your sales-​monkeys fail to dissuade the unsatisfied customer and they demand a return, make it as difficult and long a process as possible (see Step 8). As the owner you can take a break from counting your money to jump into this process. Have one of your «Representatives» use your name in e-​mails and review comments. You’re the owner and a busy important business man. You shouldn’t have time to address every customer’s individual concern, but make it look like you are making that effort so customers might re-​consider. If the Owner is addressing the issue surely the customer is a special circumstance that should have been handled better by your very reputable and amazingly awesome business. Take this time to remind them how long you’ve been in business, all the celebrities that use your products, and how they are getting a great deal because all your overhead (see Step 1) is taking all your profit for this deal (tee he he he he he!)
Step 14: Repeat steps 8, 10 and 13 until the customer gives up all hope and just accepts defeat and an inferior product.
Step 15: Profit
Footnote: Remember, the customer is not always stupid. For example, Customer John Doe pays $ 2000 for a top of the line treadmill with «free shipping». Just send him any treadmill you can dig up. When John Doe wants to return the product (see Step 11) remind him that «Free Shipping» is only for buying customers. Since they are no longer buying you need to «Recoup» those «Shipping costs.» Charge them for freight shipping both ways, and a 20% restocking fee (see Step 6) regardless of whether it was used or if they even received it. While the smart customer knows this is a bad deal, most will still pay the $ 2000 and keep the treadmill as opposed to paying $ 800 and getting nothing. Although the customer is not always stupid, they are almost always easily scared. Use big words and threatening language if they want to sue. Use terms like «Terms and Conditions agreement,» «Policy Agreement» (see Step 6), and «Countersuit.» Assure them that asking their credit card companies to reverse the payment will result in you permanently damaging their credit, preventing them from ever being able to have good credit ever again (bonus if you mention Home ownership dreams, car purchases, etc). They will eventually give up.

Good– very attentive and helpful throughout the sale process.
Bad– Every interaction since has made me feel like a professional javelin catcher.
1. My brand new treadmill broke after 3 months.
2. company refused to replace parts even though I purchased the extra coverage.
3. company covered the cost of labor from «third party» but only after I paid a $ 135 travel bill.
This is by far the worst company I have ever dealt with in the fitness industry (as a gym owner, I have worked with many.)
If you are trying to save money today and don’t care about the quality by all means fitness blowout is the place for you.
However, if you enjoy things like customer service, quality products, and honesty I strongly suggest shopping elsewhere.
Update to response:
Jim, thank you for the response, I have been in contact with your staff. I purchased the parts recommended by your technician and requested a follow up for installation. It is now over 3 weeks and still no service date has been set. If you are truly interested in making this rite please reach out to me. I would be happy to forward you all my emails with your employees. If you take charge and expedite this issue I will happily revise my review.