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
i've tried 800-638-1343 and 866-402-2559. anyway, I'm in Atlanta GA and the guy at Bally's conned me into giving him a check as a form of payment. immediately he voided and scanned the check into some machine. this was an authorization into EFT withdrawals from your account ! I cancelled the membership in writing, certified mail within the 7 business days per contract. so far it has been over 3 weeks and have not heard from them or got my refund back. I wish I had researched about these clowns b4 going there. I have a feeling they will continue with automatic withdrawals from my bank acct so I will be closing that acct for good. can't get thru on phone with them to discuss my cancellation. I have all my paperwork & proof of cancellation. they have NOT sent me any cancellation letter also. I went to the club and cancelled it over there also and got my 'notice of new membership cancellation' paper proof all within 7 day. reading all the post I realize they will NOT be cancelling and send this to collection agencies since they won't be getting any money. I will sue them in court and the collection agency also. anybody out there can shed some more light on this ?
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/21512447/detail.html
"...
Family: Gym Took Advantage Of Man With Disability
Man Says He Was Driven To Gym, Signed Up Contract
Rafael Sanchez
Call 6 for Help Investigator
POSTED: 5:23 pm EST November 3, 2009
UPDATED: 7:09 pm EST November 3, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS -- The brothers of an Indianapolis man claim a local gym took advantage of their developmentally disabled sibling, signing him up for a contract that he couldn't understand.
Mark Hannon is 49, but functions at a much younger age, the family told 6News' Rafael Sanchez.
That's why they were upset when Hannon told them that two men representing Bally's Total Fitness came to his door last week, offering to sign him up for a gym membership.
Hannon told his brothers that the men drove him to the Pike Plaza gym, where he signed a contract and agreed to have $29.99 withdrawn from his bank account every month. He also paid $69.98 to cover the first and last month of membership, in addition to a services fee, he said.
Hannon's apartment complex has signs posted prohibiting soliciting. His brothers called the gym's actions predatory.
"They knew he was developmentally challenged and it did not bother them one bit," said Joe Hannon. "That's our brother. We care for him. We love him. We don't want anything to happen to him."
The brothers told Sanchez that they went to the gym Monday hoping to resolve the issue, but that their requests were rejected by the management at the facility.
When Sanchez went to the gym on Tuesday, a man who refused to identify himself said the matter than been taken care of, but would not offer any further explanation before showing the crew out of the building.
Hannon's brothers said they are worried this isn't the first or last time the gym has taken advantage of someone in a similar situation.
"I'm wondering how more people are they going to do it to? After meeting two young gentlemen yesterday, they don't feel they've done anything wrong," said Pat Hannon. "They feel it's their right to get America fit."
6News called and faxed Bally's corporate headquarters, along with a media relations representative, but those calls had not been returned Tuesday evening.
..."
For the Last one year i am corresponding with them , it so depressing I have to pay $59 per month for the services i dont use .
Is there any consumer protection in USA which can protect against Ballys extortion ? This is a daylight robbery .
It might be worth moving, just to cancel.
I told the manager of the gym that I wanted to join just for 2 months. He said "ok" and I didn't see any 3 years commitment. And here we are, I can't get them to stop my membership.
If you didn't agree to any extended contract, they may still attempt to keep taking your money on a monthly basis until you close or block their access to your account, or use other excuses to claim you have to keep paying them.
Be aware that there are common patterns to creating fraudulent contracts, for example, where one contract is presented for signing, but later a contract is alleged with altered or modified terms. Simplest form of this is to leave some blank to be filled in later, or adding a digit to some filled in blank, such as for the length of the contract.
Another form is to present the contract for signing, but not providing the consumer with a copy at the time, claiming it has to be signed by the company, but a copy will be mailed later. Then, additional pages are added, maybe even "initialed" (which is easier than full signature forgery, or the contract is modified, and either a copy is mailed, or not even mailed, since the purpose is to use it later by selling it off to a debt collector.
Delay between original signing and providing a copy of a fabrication works to the advantage of the con, as many people will be less certain of what they agreed to with the passing of time, particularly if the alteration is close to the original form.
I am definitely going to try to talk with Michael Sheehann the current CEO, I found a phone number of 773-399-1804 And an address of 8700 West Bryn Mawr Chicago IL 60631.
I would encourage all of us to file something together, is there a lawyer among us? If not maybe the Attorney general and the BBB could be of some assistance. It is an utter outrage to see them taking advantage of children, disabled people and the others of us who just want out from under them. Fortunately there are other places to go work out, but it sucks that I have to keep paying them after I cancelled. I would have said until I died but I am sure that they would still send bills and require a death certificate to stop billing you. They even asked me after 2 hours on the phone if I would like to keep my membership…Talk about crazy!
Please forward this information to anyone else we need to make our voices heard, they are the worst company as far as cancellations.
Credit Card, Check or Money Order. I figure if I pay with Money Order
they can not charge additional fees. They do not have my checking account or credit card info. Will it work?
bally is a [***]
Thank you