Cancelation Nightmare

Complaint

0
Sharon
Country: United States
I recently moved and are now living far from the nearest LA Fitness center. I stopped by before I moved out to terminate my membership. They told me I need to send them a filled out form by mail. Ridiculous. I printed it our and sent it. A month later I saw I am still being charged. I called them. They said "they have no record of my cancellation". How convenient! I filled the form again and sent it as a certified mail to have the proof of me mailing and them receiving.

The charges continued. I closed my bank account, and now I am getting calls from LA Fitness asking me to update my banking account information. I said I canceled my membership but for some reason it's still open.

Comments

  • 0
    Dwayne
    | 2 replies
    I to was hustled by LAFiffness, I justed joined the 'Gym"  so I wanted to make an appointment with a personnel trainer, and was told by one of their employees the only way I can see any of their traines was to join the program, I re-stated that I know to excerise I just want one appointment, thats all, well, I left at the front desk thats what they say you need to do a letter requesting a cencelling of this program,  no nothing untill a checked my bank LAfittness, still was taking money new I am in small claims court.
    • 0
      bibi replies to Dwayne
      | 1 reply
      how did you small claims court work out? I am about to go to small claims court too
      • 0
        ilenelynne replies to bibi
        I have a small claims court case pending against them on March 19, 2013 in Huntington, NY.  They lied through their teeth and got me to buy a three year membership - prepaid.  The gym is a pigsty and I refuse to take a shower in their locker room.  
        If anyone else has cleanliness issues - i would love to hear about them before my case comes up.
  • 0
    Paul
    | 11 replies
    Hi, my name is ......  Unfortunately I do not have the contract but it does say I am bound to it for 12 months I did not read it carefully as I thought I was signing a receipt for payment.  Please read the rest and I hope you will be able to put this all together.  The dates are not exact but are approximately give or take a day or two correct.  Continue to read please,

    L.A. Fitness, Saugus, roped me into a personal training contract, $240 per month, w/out informing me that I was bound to it for a year.

    It is a long story so I will try to give you a shorten version.  However, this falls under buyer´s remorse and you do not handle them.  I do not see how this will fall under that if the other party was being egregious.

    Continue
    September 1 - I thought I was paying for only 10 sessions.  The guy Branden, who no longer works there, not once mentioned the contract.  He did not say I was signing a contract at all.

    August 31 - David, who also disappeared, introduced me to Branden and said that he is a personal trainer and can help me out.

    9-9-2010 Justin, told me Branden wasn´t a personal trainer and he was doing me a favor.  Shortly after, perhaps on the 15th or 16th of September,  that Justin told me Branden no longer worked there. He informed me that I was also bound to a contract.  My response was wow, I cannot afford this 240 dollars a month.  He said you can pay half the contract to break it.

    Melanie was the next person I spoke with.  The week of September 20th I spoke with her and she told me a Doctors note would suffice for the time being if I was getting gastric by'-pass surgery and in the meantime she could stop the payments until she heard something from corporate.

    Around the beginning of October, October 10, I called a lawyer, Donald Bertrand, who tried to contact L.A. Fitness on several occasions through out the month of October. Since he was doing me a favor, (I am friends with his daughter-n-law, he told me on October 28 that it was taking up too much time because nobody at L.A. Fitness was answering his calls.  I thanked him for his effort because he was doing me a favor.  

    Today, October 30, 2010, I called L.A. Fitness because THEY IN FACT TOOK OUT 24O dollars when Melanie told me that my Doctor´s note would suffice.  I havent had the surgery but am in the process of getting the gastric bypass.

    Surprise, when I called and asked for Melanie, I was told she no longer works there.  So these are my question to you.

    1.  Can you help me if you see this as not buyer´s remorse?
    2.  If not, can I take steps to call one of the news stations to expose L.A. Fitness?  if I am going to have to pay 240 dollars a month, I want other people to know about their deceitful and egregious behavior.
    3.  If this is buyers remorse, could you please explain to me how?  If 1, If nobody gave me the opportunity to say no to this agreement and 2, I had no idea that this was even a contract.  I would've never paid nor agreed to this since I was just looking for somebody to help for me for ten sessions to get into a routine and get back on track.

    since that time my self esteem has dropped.  I never thought in my life that I could be taken advantage like that.  I feel so embarrassed I do not even want to enter there anymore because I feel as though I am the biggest idiot and they took advantage of my fragile state as I was making final decisions to make an informed decision about getting gastric bypass.

    Thank you so much, even if you cannot handle this or do not want to, thank you for reading this long e mail.

    Sincerely,
    Please I want to remain anonymous until I know you are legit!

    P.S.  This is a letter I sent to the Better Business Bureau.
    I am trusting God that your story is true.  Maybe you have already resolved your issue as I am starting to figure out where to go from here.
    • 0
      Sujatha replies to Paul
      Hi
      I am exactly in the same situation like you. Enrolled in personal training session $240 per month. I was not informed of any contract and also I was notified that I can reduce the training session any time I want. Did you get the problem resolved? If so can you please let me know so that I could do the same to get my money back.
      Thanks
    • 0
      Andy replies to Paul
      I have some questions about what you wrote
    • 0
      Julia replies to Paul
      | 5 replies
      I had exactly the same problem. What was your solution? I am suing those thieves. Want to join me? jieli20@hotmail.com
      • 0
        moduko replies to Julia
        I have the same problem with most of you. I got trick to sign personal training for 12 months. Tried to cancel but got refused. I was very angry to them. I would like to join u if you're suing them right now. moduko@gmail.com
      • 0
        Anonymous replies to Julia
        please email me I want to join the law suit eheredia5@toromail.edu
      • 0
        Daisy c replies to Julia
        Lvmoz20@ gmail.com I to would like to join
      • 0
        Ddukes replies to Julia
        hello I am in the same situation...contact me debrinaverizon@gmail.com
      • 0
        raymund replies to Julia
        How can i join in suing this crooked la fitness? This is my email raymund_espi@yahoo.com
    • 0
      Zach replies to Paul
      | 1 reply
      They continue these deceitful business practices. They duped me into a 12 month contract that I would never imagine. Like you, humiliated, anguished and pissed, I am fighting till they kneel.
      • 0
        Teya replies to Zach
        Hi, I am in the exact same situation, got tricked into signing a 12 month contract that the manager never spoke about. What did you end up doing?
    • 0
      Sirisha replies to Paul
      5 years later and it doesn't seem like they made any changes. I find myself in a similar situation now. I spent the last 2-3 weeks talking to customer service multiple times and emailing the district VP with no reply. I am already mentally exhausted from this and thinking about the nearly $1000 I need to pay in penalty just to not go there anymore. I believe that their penalties are severe and unfair, along with their sales tactics and purposefully cumbersome cancellation processes. Walking into L.A Fitness was one of my biggest mistakes! Is there still a law suit going on for this?
  • 0
    cindahecht@yahoo.com
    My two Marines were being shipped out. They went to LA Fitness to settle the bill. They were given forms to fill out and mail in which was done. Now a month later, my boysa are gone and I am getting calls. The forms had to be sent certified mail! I am not working and can not pay this bill. This is not the American way. Shame on LA Fitness.
  • 0
    saephanhnai@gmail.com
    i signed up for lady fitness in sept. and after a month after i signed up i called in to tell them that i needed my accout frozen for a couple of months because i dont have time to go to their gyms because i work full time and im a mother and their gym closes early so when i do have time i cant go because theyre closed and they said they couldnt do that so i said well i want to cancel it and she said i couldnt and i couldnt only cancel it if i get a doctors note saying i am disabled and i cant work out and i said so basically your going to keep charging me when im not going to be going to the gym to work out and the girl said yes. So i got pissed and i cancel my debit card and someones calls me today and says if i dont pay my dues for dec. then they will report me to collections and i was basically arguing with the manager and she obviously dont care and all they want is your money. Now im trying to figure out a way to fight them on this because i will not allow them to mess my credit over a gym membership.
  • 0
    Latoya Carter
    I joined the gym in 2006 before it even opened up. This Gym is located in Tinley Park, IL. The customer service is horrible and reading the reviews on this page, I am not surprised. I have complained to the BBB because I have not ever seen nothing like this ever and at that this for your health. You would think you will be able to have PEACE. They go in and out of your account without your permission. They are very misleading and unprofessional. I kept giving them chance after the chance but unfortunately my efforts with them have exhausted. Maybe these complaints will help them to resolve there issues as far as having ***** Customer Service.
  • 0
    Summer Newton
    When I signed up with LA Fitness I felt like I had to haggle throughout the entire process just to get a fair membership rate and not have to pay the ridiculous initiation fees. Then you get a complementary training session, which again I had to haggle for a decent price on top of being somewhat pressured to committee to the personal fitness contract. Interested in the idea of having a personal trainer I was hesitant because I knew my job wasn’t stable and I understood the terms of the contract. After mentioning that I didn’t want to committee to the 12 month contract, the sales associate told me that if I had to relocate he would be able to terminate the contract on his end. Whether he mis-spoke or he unethically lied to make a sale, needless to say I relocated (2 weeks later), without an LA Fitness in a 40 mile radius. Was he able to terminate it? Nope. Instead, he ignored all 6 of my phone calls and messages. His supervisor at least returned a call, but even he said I was misinformed and that that wasn’t a possibility. I am now waiting to hear from the VP of the Glendale (Indianapolis) location, but something tells me that I’ve not only been taken advantage of but that LA Fitness does not operate following ethical business practices. Thank you LA Fitness, I used your service 4 times at the most and will be paying a few grand all because you’ve hired incompetent and unethical people to your staff.
  • 0
    fosdick
    I am trying to cancel my membership because their "flagship" facility here is, after one year, filthy, broken down and run by snide egomaniacs.  I don't use it.  I went in to do this personally, was snorted at by the little girl at the desk and then given a form which I was told that I was required to personally mail in.  (??)    I did so right away, but only after being assured by a "manager" that the termination would be immediate and that I would be billed no further.  That was two weeks ago.  I looked at the website tonight to learn that my membership is still active.  I tried to cancel online but was successful only in obtaining a copy of the same form that I am "required" to mail in AGAIN before my cancellation becomes effective.  Apparently, this is a means of continuing to collect unwarranted payments from my credit card.  I plan to argue aggressively and I encourage others to avoid this scam operation.

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