Cannot cancel a contract signed by a minor
Complaint
Jess Balansky
Country: United States
My 17 year-old daughter and her friends went to Bally Fitness Center. They had trial pass with them, but the employee talked them into signing a contract. When she said that she is only 17 and will be 18 in a few months, the employee changed her date of birth in the contract and said is not a problem.
When I discovered they signed the papers, I contacted the corporate office and requested that her membership with Bally Fitness Center be canceled because it was signed by a minor without parent's approval.
They responded that the contract will be canceled as soon as they have a copy of her birth certificate. I promptly sent the documents via registered mail. At the time we already started getting non-payment notices from Bally Fitness Center.
The calls from collection agency stopped for a few months but resumed again a month ago. We assumed that the contract has been canceled but apparently it was not.
I am not sure what to do as I already contacted our local attorney general, the corporate office, and FTC. They use deceptive practices to get people into signing a contract and I only hope that other people who read this will be aware of the way they conduct business.
When I discovered they signed the papers, I contacted the corporate office and requested that her membership with Bally Fitness Center be canceled because it was signed by a minor without parent's approval.
They responded that the contract will be canceled as soon as they have a copy of her birth certificate. I promptly sent the documents via registered mail. At the time we already started getting non-payment notices from Bally Fitness Center.
The calls from collection agency stopped for a few months but resumed again a month ago. We assumed that the contract has been canceled but apparently it was not.
I am not sure what to do as I already contacted our local attorney general, the corporate office, and FTC. They use deceptive practices to get people into signing a contract and I only hope that other people who read this will be aware of the way they conduct business.
Comments
Health clubs have been known for running scams involving failing to cancel contracts for years.
For example, here is testimony from an Equifax attorney to the effect that they had to stop accepting information reporting from that whole industry due to the high level of consumer disputes:
http://www.myfaircredit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8417
"7
...
11 RICHARD GOERSS
12 having been first duly sworn, testified as follows:
..
4 Q What is your current job position?
5 A I'm chief privacy officer and regulatory
6 counsel.
...
10 BY MR. BENNETT:
11 Q And in fact, if -- the reverse would also
12 be true then, so that if the information that your
13 customers were providing you was less accurate, you
14 would expect to see more consumer reinvestigation
15 requests or disputes?
16 A That's correct. And there are -- have
17 been over the years data furnishers where we've
18 discontinued accepting their information because it
19 generates a number of consumer disputes.
20 Q Really?
21 A Yes.
22 Q All right. Do you know the names of any?
61
1 A I don't know the specific ones, but there
2 was a situation with what were called the Future
3 Services Organization such as the health clubs and
4 those kind of -- where a consumer would sign a
5 long-term contract, discontinue the use of the
6 services, cancel their membership but the paper had
7 been sold to a financing and the finance company
8 wanted to report the information, and it developed a
9 lot of disputes and we determined we would not accept
10 that information.
11 Q You're referring to the Bally's Health
12 Club?
13 A That could have been one specifically, but
14 that we didn't accept them from the whole industry.
..."
Take a close look at your contract and look for the terms that describe how to terminate it in case you move. In particular, look for how far an alternative health club must be from your new residence to fully terminate it, and what procedure must be followed to legally terminate it in that case. You may have to move out of range of any of their health clubs, and notify them of that fact with proof by registered mail, getting a return receipt as proof of your notification so you can refute their usual claims that they didn't get any notice, or that you didn't send the required proof.
Do NOT depend on assurances that, say, you can just drop off some form, and they will take care of it, as these sorts of companies often just sit on your "membership", wait it out even as you don't use it, and then the associated "finance company" shows up after 3 years to demand full payment for what you didn't use.
Contact your state attorney general, or department of consumer affairs. A number of states have legal requirements that they must meet.
You may be able to end your contract if THEY change the terms, allowing YOU to terminate rather than accepting their changes. For example, if this facility were to close down, and there was no close substitute facility, as above, that might be a reason to terminate it. Or if they unilaterally increased some fee. That is probably covered in your contract.
The other way to end their contract is to find a reason why THEY have breached it, and would be willing to end it to settle with you. Say they have a pool, and they either closed it down for an extended period, or failed to maintain it in an acceptable state of operation. Or if, say, they failed to maintain the facilities in accordance with appropriate health codes, equipment were maintained in a dangerous condition, they were cited for failing to meet fire safety regulations, their staff treated you in an inappropriate, abusive, discriminatory or sexually harassing manner, etc. you might sue THEM. You might want to see a consumer protection attorney to discuss your problem.
The key thing to make sure of is usually that you cancel by sending written notice of cancellation to some address designated in the contract, and that you send it certified so you have proof of the date mailed.
There are many reports of health club memberships cancelled either by delivery of notice to some employee who says they will take care of it, or by mailing by ordinary mail, and months later they are still taking money out of your account, or threatening to damage your credit thru a collection agency, claiming they never received any cancellation notice.
In general, health club membership contracts that are anything other than pay as you go, and cancellable at any time, are a widespread scam. At time of sale, they promise whatever it takes to close, but consumer reports of problems even when cancelled in accordance with the contract are widespread.
They usually set up their contracts as a 1 to 3 year contract, "financed" by some other company (actually with common ownership to the healthclub franchise) so your monthly payments aren't payments for monthly use, but instead are payments on a "loan". You cancel, even in accordance with contract, and after the contract would have ended, the finance company sells the allegedly unpaid "loan" to some debt collector, saying it was your problem you failed to cancel properly. New year's resolution time is a big opportunity to sign up suckers.
Your wallet would be safer if you joined the "Y".
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=1541
Dont ever do the business with Bally Fitness .
I had this membership for my daughter that has been living in Tennessee for over 8 years.
They have continued to withdraw from my checking account.
I have tried to find the location to call via the internet but cannot.
Please advise of who I must contact.
tj- you have no idea what you're talking about. Our "breaching" our contract by failing to maintain the club to one individual's "standards" do not constitute a requirement on our part to cancel their membership. We DO cancel memberships being used inappropriately (such as by another family member with existing member's consent) but the balance is due and payable if we find you are frauding your account. In conclusion, the only way to cancel your account is: death, permanent disability verfied by your primary care physician that renders you totally incapable of performing any physical activity (we have only once had this happen and it turned out to be FRAUD by the customer, or moving 25+ miles from any facility. We do not "finance" our contracts, rather everything is done in-house to keep a close monitoring on financial activity. ONLY when a member defaults does their membership get sold to a collections company. You are NEVER allowed to cancel a membership by phone, fax, or mail as we do not know if some jealous ex has obtained your information and is cancelling every account you have. We even require a form filled out and signed by two witnesses! Contractual terms clearly state that we may change said terms "at any time with no notice to buyer or member" and that these changes do not in any way affect the legality of their contract.
The reason Equifax has stopped accepting consumer complaints for fitness centers is because after the consumer files a complaint, the contract is read by Equifax attorneys and found to have sound structure and those "fraudulent" charges were actually perfectly legal bank drafts that continued until their cancellation date. We have been through this so many times: Members behave as though it's OUR problem that they're too lazy to go to the gym and that they are under their personally fabricated impression that they don't have to pay if they're not coming to the gym. We are not babysitters. It is in no way my responsibility to ensure your fitness health or personal motivation. Most people just assume that if they don't come to the gym that month, we won't charge them. It's an AUTOMATIC draft. That means our billing system drafts it - you guessed it - AUTOMATICALLY. Again, if you don't drive your car for a month, I'll bet the bank doesn't let you out of paying your note that month.
It is not a crooked business; but often members believe our contracts are something they will just get out of whenever they want "because they said so." If you think you are above the law, you are not. We follow the same financial and contractual structure as 95% of the health and wellness centers in this country. The law can, will, and has upheld our payment drafts in every single chargeback case we have ever processed.
What people think they are getting away with when they sign up for a fitness center is deplorable. People think they can come in, get 3 months free, and cancel their membership before they get drafted for their first paid month. Then when you tell them that they signed an agreement, they will say anything, whether true or a blatant lie, to get out of that agreement. I have had people I personally signed up and vividly remember conversating with about the cancellation policy say that they never even signed an agreement or have been in the building. One woman told us that she had never even lived in the state the club was located in. We mailed a fraud notice to her address down the street a few days later, and she magically received it the next day. She also magically still had a local home phone number and magically drove to the facility within 30 minutes of phone conversation from three states away. We had a gentleman who claimed that he cancelled his membership 10 years ago and angrily demand to know why we were calling him 10 years later. We had only been in business for two years at the time.
Grievances are not a valid reason to cancel your account, and neither is "not having time to come anymore." If you purchase a car, you can't give it back or stop paying the note because you don't have time to drive it anymore. You have to either sell it (similar to transferring your membership) or - here's a thought - GET YOUR FAT LAZY ASS UP OFF THE COUCH AND GO DRIVE! Most people try to cancel their membership with no valid reason other than that they are too lazy to go. Every gym allows cancellations with true or valid reasons. But if the facility is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. you have literally ZERO excuse not to come.
If someone signs up a minor, that is unfortunate. But the bottom line is:
IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FULFILL YOUR CONTRACT, DON'T SIGN IT.
the fair way to handle this would have been to put both of us on probation.
Bally Fitness is misleading and their Customer Service is poor. I feel sorry for the people that have to take people's phone calls, like mine, and have to refuse a termination of contract when they know it's the wrong thing to do.
I just called yesterday and couldn't get through...again. This is ridiculous.
When I originally signed up the gym was on my way home from work. I moved and it is out of my way to go to the gym. With gas prices on the rise and the economy the way it is I do not think it is necessary for me to use their facilities. In my new location I get more excercise riding my bike and walking than I did stopping at Bally. Last time I was there the pool wasn't even ready for use!
Do not have the time now that I have another job.
Thank You