30 cancel notice is NOT really 30 days
Complaint
Amanda Herrera
Country: United States
I have so many complaints that it is hard to know where to begin. First let me say that when I signed up, I was made aware that we had to give a 30 day notice to cancel and I am totally fine with that… I have no problem living up to my agreement to give a 30 day notice. The problem is… It’s not really a 30 day notice. That is a lie!! It is false advertisement!
My first problem begins with the childcare center. There is not enough supervision on the busy evenings and it is not safe for kids ages 3-5. In the evenings when some of the bigger kids are there, they run wild and scare the younger kids who are too old for the “baby center” but not really old enough to stick up for themselves. My 4 year old REFUSES to go back to the gym because he has been teased, pushed, and hit by the older kids and left crying in a corner multiple times. Twice, he was pushed down the slide on his face by an older kid in a hurry to go down. Each time, as soon as my son told me what happened, I went in and told the ladies there. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do because either my kid didn’t remember exactly which kid it was, couldn’t find the kid, or the kids were no longer there. Here is a suggestion… watch them better. Or how about, when you see a little 4 year old crying in the corner, go help him. Tell him to show you who was being mean to him and then kick their [***] out!!!!! How about that!!! But no… there was nothing they could do (watch for a pattern here).
Now let us move on to some of the lies and half truths we were told. On the day we signed up, we sat with our sales rep for a good hour. We discussed their cancellation policy for a good 20 minutes of that time because I have been duped before and wanted it spelled out. Following is a list of the things he ASSURED US of and then the truth:
He said: At anytime, you may put your account on hold. We (lifetime fitness) understand that life throws you curves and that there may come a time when either money or time is too short. If that happens, call us up and we will put your account on hold from the very next payment and it will remain on hold until you choose to come back. That way you don’t have to cancel your account wasting your sign up fees. The fee to put your account on hold is $10 per month. Sounds good right?
The truth: You must give a 30 notice to put your account on hold. However, don’t be deceived by their “30 day notice” thing as it is not actually 30 days as I will explain below. In the middle of the month (about the 11th of March) we knew we were going to be short on both time and money in the month of April so my husband went in to put our account on hold. He came home and said that they won’t put the account on hold until May because you have to give them a 30 day notice for holds. First note that a 30 day notice would put us on hold as of the 11th of April, not the first of May, so this would actually be a 50 day notice, NOT 30. I called them up and told them that we were told something very different (seriously… since when does life give you a 30 plus day notice that its’ going to throw you a curve ball!!!). They said “sorry, there is nothing we can do, I can transfer you to a manager but to be honest they aren’t going to be able to do anything either”. I said transfer me. I got a mangers voicemail and left a message. He NEVER returned my call.
Now, my sales rep said to call him if I ever had any issues, so I called him. Of course I only got his voicemail. I left a somewhat angry voice mail explaining my problem. I told him I didn’t want to cancel but that I would if he didn’t fix this. I reminded him of what he told me and said that I was pretty frustrated to hear that the information he gave us was wrong. A week later, he still had not called me back. My husband then called and left a “kiss butt” voicemail and practically begged the guy to call him back. He did… within 15 minutes. When my husband mentioned that he never called me back he admitted that he hadn’t and that he was never planning to. He said he didn’t like my nagging tone and was not going to help someone who nagged him. SAY WHAT!!!!! What in world has happened to customer service? He had lied to me, then when I call him frustrated he has the nerve to call my husband and insult and criticize me admitting he didn’t care about my concerns and wasn’t ever going to call me back! This shocked me to the point that I never want to go back. I put a call in to his manager, but of course could only get his voicemail all three times that I tried. Finally I just left a message explaining to him how upset I was over being treated this way by his sales rep. He NEVER called me back. So now I have been lied to, disrespected, and ignored by management.
We finally got our account on “hold” for a couple of months and then decided to give it another shot. Unfortunately, within 2 months we realized that we just couldn’t fine the time nor did we have the extra money now that our kids were in sports (very expensive and time consuming), not to mention the fact that I had to see this guy who was so incredibly rude to me every time I went in. It just ate at me that he was allowed to treat me that way and that the manager wouldn't even return my call and apologize. Anything would have made me feel better, but they did nothing.
So on June 2nd 2012 my husband went in to give them our 30 days notice of cancellation. They said “Thank you very much; your cancellation will be effective July 31, 2012. What?? That is NOT 30 days… that is 59 days. He said “we were told, in detail, that we only had to give you a 30 days notice; that is not a 30 day notice”. They said “sorry, that is our police, there is nothing we can do. He then said, “so if we would have come in TWO days ago, we would only have to pay for June and not for July, but since we came in TWO days later we have to pay for an additional month at a rate of $113 for something my wife refuses to use (because of how I was treated), something my kids don’t want to use (because they are bullied in there) and something I don’t have time for. You are going to make me pay for TWO months instead of the ONE month we agreed to! She smiled and said “YEP”.
So, my husband called back and asked to speak with a manager. However, before they would transfer him they made him explain everything all over again. After he explained they said that technically, it’s not really 30 days unless you cancel on the very last day of the previous month. Otherwise, you have to pay for the entire month you are canceling in PLUS one additional whole month, the additional month being the 30 days that they are talking about. I don’t know about you, but that makes no sense and is very different from “30 days notice”! He said transfer me to the manager, please! Shockingly, we got another voicemail. And as seems to be the pattern there… no body ever called us back. So we went in. It took them awhile to find someone who would face us but someone finally came after about 15 minutes. She was very friendly while patiently listening to my story and when I finished she volunteered to show me on the computer the fine print that says the confusing details about their “REAL” cancellation policy versus the description that the sales guys pitch to you. I told her that our sales guy had just skimmed that part over on the computer, quickly scrolling through the tiny print while breezily saying that “this just summarizes the details I told you regarding the 30 days notice”. She then said “I'M SORRY, BUT THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO”. You can try the corporate office, but there really is anything for them to do either. The rules are the rules and your husband did sign right here, she made sure to show me. I repeated that the fine print was completely different from what the sales guy said and she just shrugged her shoulders and apologized again.
Conclusion: Read the fine print. The sales people at Lifetime Fitness lie. They are going to tell you whatever they think you want to hear to sign you up and that includes straight faced lies. You MUST read the fine print. If they try to breeze through the tiny print on the computer contract and then tell you to sign on the little black computerized box… tell them to first let you read the entire contract while they are sitting there. I tried to do this but our guy said he had another appointment coming in but would be happy to print it out for me to read at home. I should have said no… let me read it now (even though it probably would have taken me 2 hours, which is a part of their little scam). READ IT! Then, when you catch them in their lies, confront them and make them explain it in detail. Then, if you are fine with it, sign away!!
Where have all the good, honest business’ gone???
My first problem begins with the childcare center. There is not enough supervision on the busy evenings and it is not safe for kids ages 3-5. In the evenings when some of the bigger kids are there, they run wild and scare the younger kids who are too old for the “baby center” but not really old enough to stick up for themselves. My 4 year old REFUSES to go back to the gym because he has been teased, pushed, and hit by the older kids and left crying in a corner multiple times. Twice, he was pushed down the slide on his face by an older kid in a hurry to go down. Each time, as soon as my son told me what happened, I went in and told the ladies there. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do because either my kid didn’t remember exactly which kid it was, couldn’t find the kid, or the kids were no longer there. Here is a suggestion… watch them better. Or how about, when you see a little 4 year old crying in the corner, go help him. Tell him to show you who was being mean to him and then kick their [***] out!!!!! How about that!!! But no… there was nothing they could do (watch for a pattern here).
Now let us move on to some of the lies and half truths we were told. On the day we signed up, we sat with our sales rep for a good hour. We discussed their cancellation policy for a good 20 minutes of that time because I have been duped before and wanted it spelled out. Following is a list of the things he ASSURED US of and then the truth:
He said: At anytime, you may put your account on hold. We (lifetime fitness) understand that life throws you curves and that there may come a time when either money or time is too short. If that happens, call us up and we will put your account on hold from the very next payment and it will remain on hold until you choose to come back. That way you don’t have to cancel your account wasting your sign up fees. The fee to put your account on hold is $10 per month. Sounds good right?
The truth: You must give a 30 notice to put your account on hold. However, don’t be deceived by their “30 day notice” thing as it is not actually 30 days as I will explain below. In the middle of the month (about the 11th of March) we knew we were going to be short on both time and money in the month of April so my husband went in to put our account on hold. He came home and said that they won’t put the account on hold until May because you have to give them a 30 day notice for holds. First note that a 30 day notice would put us on hold as of the 11th of April, not the first of May, so this would actually be a 50 day notice, NOT 30. I called them up and told them that we were told something very different (seriously… since when does life give you a 30 plus day notice that its’ going to throw you a curve ball!!!). They said “sorry, there is nothing we can do, I can transfer you to a manager but to be honest they aren’t going to be able to do anything either”. I said transfer me. I got a mangers voicemail and left a message. He NEVER returned my call.
Now, my sales rep said to call him if I ever had any issues, so I called him. Of course I only got his voicemail. I left a somewhat angry voice mail explaining my problem. I told him I didn’t want to cancel but that I would if he didn’t fix this. I reminded him of what he told me and said that I was pretty frustrated to hear that the information he gave us was wrong. A week later, he still had not called me back. My husband then called and left a “kiss butt” voicemail and practically begged the guy to call him back. He did… within 15 minutes. When my husband mentioned that he never called me back he admitted that he hadn’t and that he was never planning to. He said he didn’t like my nagging tone and was not going to help someone who nagged him. SAY WHAT!!!!! What in world has happened to customer service? He had lied to me, then when I call him frustrated he has the nerve to call my husband and insult and criticize me admitting he didn’t care about my concerns and wasn’t ever going to call me back! This shocked me to the point that I never want to go back. I put a call in to his manager, but of course could only get his voicemail all three times that I tried. Finally I just left a message explaining to him how upset I was over being treated this way by his sales rep. He NEVER called me back. So now I have been lied to, disrespected, and ignored by management.
We finally got our account on “hold” for a couple of months and then decided to give it another shot. Unfortunately, within 2 months we realized that we just couldn’t fine the time nor did we have the extra money now that our kids were in sports (very expensive and time consuming), not to mention the fact that I had to see this guy who was so incredibly rude to me every time I went in. It just ate at me that he was allowed to treat me that way and that the manager wouldn't even return my call and apologize. Anything would have made me feel better, but they did nothing.
So on June 2nd 2012 my husband went in to give them our 30 days notice of cancellation. They said “Thank you very much; your cancellation will be effective July 31, 2012. What?? That is NOT 30 days… that is 59 days. He said “we were told, in detail, that we only had to give you a 30 days notice; that is not a 30 day notice”. They said “sorry, that is our police, there is nothing we can do. He then said, “so if we would have come in TWO days ago, we would only have to pay for June and not for July, but since we came in TWO days later we have to pay for an additional month at a rate of $113 for something my wife refuses to use (because of how I was treated), something my kids don’t want to use (because they are bullied in there) and something I don’t have time for. You are going to make me pay for TWO months instead of the ONE month we agreed to! She smiled and said “YEP”.
So, my husband called back and asked to speak with a manager. However, before they would transfer him they made him explain everything all over again. After he explained they said that technically, it’s not really 30 days unless you cancel on the very last day of the previous month. Otherwise, you have to pay for the entire month you are canceling in PLUS one additional whole month, the additional month being the 30 days that they are talking about. I don’t know about you, but that makes no sense and is very different from “30 days notice”! He said transfer me to the manager, please! Shockingly, we got another voicemail. And as seems to be the pattern there… no body ever called us back. So we went in. It took them awhile to find someone who would face us but someone finally came after about 15 minutes. She was very friendly while patiently listening to my story and when I finished she volunteered to show me on the computer the fine print that says the confusing details about their “REAL” cancellation policy versus the description that the sales guys pitch to you. I told her that our sales guy had just skimmed that part over on the computer, quickly scrolling through the tiny print while breezily saying that “this just summarizes the details I told you regarding the 30 days notice”. She then said “I'M SORRY, BUT THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO”. You can try the corporate office, but there really is anything for them to do either. The rules are the rules and your husband did sign right here, she made sure to show me. I repeated that the fine print was completely different from what the sales guy said and she just shrugged her shoulders and apologized again.
Conclusion: Read the fine print. The sales people at Lifetime Fitness lie. They are going to tell you whatever they think you want to hear to sign you up and that includes straight faced lies. You MUST read the fine print. If they try to breeze through the tiny print on the computer contract and then tell you to sign on the little black computerized box… tell them to first let you read the entire contract while they are sitting there. I tried to do this but our guy said he had another appointment coming in but would be happy to print it out for me to read at home. I should have said no… let me read it now (even though it probably would have taken me 2 hours, which is a part of their little scam). READ IT! Then, when you catch them in their lies, confront them and make them explain it in detail. Then, if you are fine with it, sign away!!
Where have all the good, honest business’ gone???
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