This article has been updated.
A Crunch Fitness customer recently called out the gym company for allegedly allowing one of their employees to harass her.
In a TikTok video, Amber (@ambermj_) shared an experience she purportedly had at a Crunch Fitness.
In the video, Amber claims she’s taking the issue to the web because she feels that the gym’s management has not taken heed of her concerns.
Amber says the gym has blocked her on all other platforms.
“The only reason why I am bringing it to TikTok,” she says, “is because the Crunch Fitness in Spartanburg, South Carolina has blocked me on every other social media platform.”
She claims that each time she’s posted reviews on Google or Yelp, they were removed.
“I’m not going to be silenced,” she vows.
Her video has nearly 400,000 views as of this writing.
What happened at Crunch Fitness?
Amber says that she was excited when a Crunch Fitness location opened in her area.
“The upstate finally got a really good gym,” she says. “I loved Crunch even though it was a 20-minute drive for me.”
She alleges that things took a turn when a Crunch Fitness employee she knew from outside the gym began causing issues.
Amber says the employee, Sarah, accused her sister of flirting with her husband, who works at the front desk.
“My sister trying to get red light therapy, ordering an energy drink, checking into the gym is not flirting with your husband,” Amber says.
Things escalate
Amber says she noticed that Sarah viewed her TikTok profile around the same time she was hanging out with an ex-friend of Amber’s, who she says previously assaulted her.
Feeling uncomfortable, Amber decided to message Sarah directly. She says she told her told her, “I do not want you getting on my socials and showing my content to someone who assaulted me.” Sarah allegedly reacted by calling Amber “irrelevant” and accusing her sister of continuing to flirt with her husband.
Afterward, Amber claims she and her sister reported Sarah’s behavior to the gym’s general manager, Brandy, but says, “Brandy did nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
She recounts how her complaints went unaddressed. Then, according to her, security footage that would have shown Sarah’s behavior was erased.
Amber says she then decided to go public by tagging the gym on Instagram in a post about why she was canceling her membership. Crunch’s social media manager initially responded, per Amber, and said they would forward her information to the regional manager.
However, after multiple attempts to follow up, Amber says she was blocked from the Crunch Fitness Barber’s Instagram page.
She says she posted her story on other platforms, but each time, her reviews were removed.
“We should not be silenced. It is not ok for this behavior to happen,” Amber says. “It is not ok because what Sarah did to me and multiple women are not ok.”
“I have all the proof,” Amber concludes. “I’m not going to be silenced, and I’m going to keep putting my review out there.”
TikTok gets results
In the caption of her video, Amber said that the TikTok finally inspired action.
“She is no longer going to be working there,” Amber wrote, but also mentioned that Sarah is now “trying to switch it up and say we were harassing her.” (Sarah disputes the allegation that she no longer works at Crunch Fitness.)
Amber believes that management is still a major problem.
She also pointed out that the gym has removed all Google reviews. However, Yelp and Facebook reviews remain visible.
“They have blocked me on TikTok too,” she added.
Sarah’s side of the story
In a phone conversation with the Daily Dot, Sarah, the Crunch Fitness employee accused of harassment, disputed Amber’s claims
According to Sarah, who is a Kids Crunch manager, Amber’s video is “full of lies and misinformation,” and she’s been facing online harassment ever since it was posted.
“The first lie was that she’s known me for a decade,” Sarah stated. “I was in a bridal party with this girl one time in 2016. Other than that, she doesn’t know me.”
She went on to allege that Amber fabricated key details about her story. She says the woman Amber claims assaulted her is a mother and businesswoman who’s “done nothing of the sort.”
When asked about Amber’s claim that her sister flirted with her husband, Sarah dismissed it outright, saying that she “trust[s] him completely,” that she “work[s] in a different room than him,” and that Amber was “trying to embarrass [her].”
Sarah further contested Amber’s allegation that security footage was deleted, saying the footage is accessible by subpoena and would show her acting professionally.
On that topic, Sarah said she has filed a police report against the two women, and that a lawsuit concerning the situation is also pending.
The Daily Dot was unable to obtain copies of the police report prior to publication.
Sarah claims the incident started when Amber tried to bring her sister’s child to the Kids Crunch area. The area only allows members to bring their own kids to avoid overcrowding.
When employees informed Amber of the policy, Sarah says she complained to management.
“They turned Amber away, and she got upset,” Sarah said. “When management didn’t take action, Amber started saying I was harassing, stalking—none of it is true. She’s lashing out because we followed company policy.”
Sarah also says that she has not been fired as Amber claims.
“I still hold my position as Kids Crunch manager,” she said. “I still work for Crunch Fitness.”
Sarah said that Amber’s allegations have had consequences at her work.
“I have people calling and threatening me, asking for my schedule,” Sarah said. “It’s very concerning because I bring my three-year-old to work with me every day, and now his safety is in danger because of this misinformation.”
”If you look at any of the reviews, I’ve got at least 15 from actual members praising my professionalism and care for the children,” she added. “But now there are reviews saying, ‘Your children aren’t safe with her.’ That’s worse than slander.”
Sarah says upper management is now involved in resolving the situation.
“The vice president of the company has decided to step in,” she said. “I’ve been in contact with HR for months about this, and they sent a cease and desist letter through their legal team. Now, they want a full meeting with everyone involved.“
To close, Sarah had a message for viewers. “I just want to say to everyone, please be careful what you listen to and believe,” she said. “There are real people underneath these lies.”
Viewers share their experiences
In the comments, users described their own negative experiences with Crunch Fitness.
“This is my gym, I feel so uncomfortable when I go there,” one user wrote. “But it’s so hard to cancel my membership it’s like they don’t want me to.”
“This is crazyyy I just went into the Spartanburg crunch to cancel my membership a month ago and am seeing this,” wrote another. “Them changing from 24/7 to closing at 10 did it for me but this is some fr tea.”
“Spartanburg fyp! That crunch location is soooo shady all around,” wrote a third. “The local ‘mom and pop’ gyms are pretty amazing just slightly more pricey! so sorry this happened to yall.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Amber (@ambermj_) via TikTok comment. Crunch Fitness did not respond to inquiries sent via their contact form and email.
Correction: Due to an editor’s error, this article originally inaccurately stated that Sarah did not respond to a Facebook message.
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