Balance owing after a cancelled contract

Comments

• 0

  tj

  21 Oct 2010

  What you are describing matches a pattern of "contract" and debt collection fraud common with health club memberships.  Many of them have set up this scheme to milk the "New Years Resolution" crowd, upsell them into multi-year contracts with deceptive sales promises they can be cancelled, then use debt collectors years later to wring out "loan payments" on contracts consumers believed had been cancelled.  This racket has been going on for years.
  
  
  Typically, a consumer cancels or does not renew a membership.  Then either the health club continues to charge the consumer's account for months, using deceptive excuses to just grab more money while putting barriers in the way of getting refunds, or years later, some debt colector comes along and claims you never cancelled and now owe thousands for months of a "membership" you never used because you believed it was cancelled.  
  
  The contracts are sold as year or multi-year memberships with monthly payments, yet are really financed year or multi-year "loans", passed off to a third party "lender" partner, which then denies any responsibility for the failure of the health club to cancel the membership, despite numerous reports that consumers have in fact cancelled.  The health club, "lender", and debt collector are all working together to wearing down the consumer with excuses, claiming the consumer failed to cancel correctly years after they could have had any benefit for this alleged membership they are now demanding payment for, or perhaps counting on the consumer to lose cancellation records years later.  
  
  In effect, they "launder" the health club's initial sales fraud (misrepresentations of cancellation terms as part of upselling the consumer based on "discount plans") or cancellation fraud ("Don't worry, we will take care of it" when consumers cancel through the club, with contract terms requiring cancellation by registered mail), or fraud by the corporate franchiser (losing or pretending they never received a cancellation), by passing off the claim years later as an unpaid loan in the hands of a debt collector.
  
  You already found many similar complaints against Fitness One.
  
  In the U.S., you can find complaints similar to yours against Bally's and related debt collectors, as well as a number of other health clubs.
  http://www.consumeraffairs.com/health_clubs/ballys_total_fitness.htm
  http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/02/perimeter.shtm
  
  More recently, Bally's was caught sending fraudulent "past due" notices to former members who had in fact cancelled or not renewed.
  https://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagNews/release.php?id=3350
  "Tuesday, June 8, 2010
  
  Attorney General Abbott Charges Fitness Center Operator With Unlawfully Deceiving Texas Customers
  Bally Total Fitness Corp. mailed fake bills to former members
  
  AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged Bally Total Fitness Corp. with unlawfully attempting to mislead its former customers into paying “past due” membership fees they do not owe.
  ..."
  
  Note in this notice, posted on the Texas Attorney General's site, they imply that the consumer must make the indicated additional payments, even if they now wanted to cancel a membership that in fact was already terminated.  Complaining consumers were told the deceptive bill was really a "renewal offer".
  https://www.oag.state.tx.us/newspubs/releases/2010/060410bally_sample.pdf
  
  
  This is the sort of approach that works most effectively with this type of scam.
  
  https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/NWjODQ49zQC1HQjKG8gylA
  
  "had to contact the general attorney - 15 Mar 2010
  I had an 18 month battle with LA Fitness.  talked to corporate and sent 10 certified letters.  Had to contact the General Attorneys office in my state and have the bank close my account and launch a fraud investigation.  Finally received a refund."
  
  
  Recognize what you are dealing with.  This is a fraud, consumer protection, and law enforcement matter.
  
  Contact your Attorney General or consumer protection agency (or Canadian equivalent).

  Reply!
• 0

  I won!

  13 Mar 2012

  FITNESS ONE OWES YOU MONEY
  This is targeted to all persons who fitness one have continued to bill when you thought you signed up for a 1 year contract. This obv happened to me. I went there, signed a 1 yr contract and went twice. I know i signed up for 1 year so i had to live with that. I also have a bad habit of not looking at my visa statements so 8 months after my 1 yr contract ended i realized they were still billing me. I tried to contact them and no luck, they wouldnt call me back, couldnt find info on the company, wouldnt respond to emails so this is what i did.
  
  I looked at the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services site which tells you your rights. When looking at the part about Gym Memberships, i realized that all contracts must end after 1 yr. There are certain conditions though, one of them is that they can continue billing if they indicate on their contract that you must cancel it in order to stop being billed. However, this was not the case, nothing noted that on the contract and nothing satisfied the conditions listed on the site so basically my contract was supposed to end after 1 yr.  
  
  I sent them registered letters and no reply. It was extremely hard to find the address, they will not give it to you or call you back. I said i would make a complaint to the ministry if they didnt reply by a certain date and they didnt and never did. So I made the complaint, the Ministry reviewed it and I just got a cheque for 250$!!!
  
  TIP: if you want to make a complaint, make sure you document as much as possible. Emails, registered letters, a log of events about phone calls or visits to the gym. This is very helpful.
  
  You can contact this person at Fitness One:
  
  Kathy Della Chiara
  Director of Training and Recruiting
  905-761-8514
  100 Ortona Court
  Vaughan, Ontario
  L4k 0A5
  
  Good luck! Read your contracts and know your rights!

  Reply!