Are fitness clubs just one big scam?

I signed for a membership as a Christmas gift to my daughter at her request. It was known at the time - and explained to the company - that my daughter might need surgery. I subsequently discovered that the doctor would delay his decision for a few weeks.

I wanted my daughter to have the full benefit of the gift so I decided to cancel the membership and re-start when she was well again. I checked the ministry website for the correct way to cancel. I complied in every way by using their suggested wording and both hand delivered and faxed the cancellation. I followed up with a phone call to be sure the cancellation was received. These steps were well within the cooling off period.

The fitness club refused to honour the cancellation and billed my credit card in the following year. They telephoned frequently demanding continuing payment after the end of the contract term.

I lost my credit card and had a new one issued with a new number. After that, the company could not bill me. I purchased a credit report to be sure it was not reported as an unpaid debt.

My original cancellation should have been honoured. What is the purpose of a law than can be ignored at whim?

i had a membership with Club Fit Edmonton and called to cancel as i was moving out of the province and they continued to withdraw payments for the next two and a half years. I thought the payment was my childs RESP but when i found out i called them and they said I had to fill out a form to quit (this was never mentioned to me before), i asked them how they could continue taking out the payments for two and a half years without me even stepping foot in the fascility without questioning the fact...never got so much as an apology

PAPs can be returned with 90 days of them coming from the account. You need to monitor your account and question anything you are not sure about. Mail a letter which requires a signature for delivery so you have proof the letter was sent to the gym. Finally close the account asap if they will not stop.
Try the YMCA - I hear a lot about for profit gyms taking money but not the non profit gyms like the Y.

I have been a gym member most of my adult life, I really enjoyed the feeling after I worked out. I have been ripped off for my entire membership fee in the days before any rules came into effect. And recently I stopped a membership that I was paying month to month, I went in a did it in person, filled out the forms only to discover they were still taking the money from my account. When I contacted the gym, they were very sorry, but of course! no one had any record of me ending the membership, and that they gladly offered to do it effective immediately, but would not refund the three months they got from my account. I was furious, total incompitance, and how convenient! I went to my bank and showed them my cancellation forms and they reveresed the three months payments back to me. Don't let them away with excuses! Gym memberships have to be the biggest rip off with the smallest print, besides cell phone companies! No more memberships for me.

I had to grind my teeth for almost a year as a hamilton fitness club refused to honour a written note saying that I could cancel my membership after 4 months. I knew I might have to relocate so wanted the clause put in. Unfortunately I only went only by the manager's assurances there would be no problem if I had to move. But when I did (with written proof of relocation) they pointed out that the head office did not sign it...as stated on the note...at the very bottom. I may have seen it but the manager was all smiles and reassuring there would not be ANY difficulties in cancelling early. The manager signed the note, but without authority...so they said.

They said they had no obligation to cancel early and continued taking out the money every two weeks. I talked with a lawyer friend, he said I could probably win in court. he felt they would just drag it out forever and then settle out of court...but he asked was the relatively small amount of money worth the stress and time?

Knowing what I know now, I wish I had just plunked down the $360 on the counter that first day and walked away--it would have saved me a lot of stress and frustration. From now on I just go with the YMCA or a municipal fitness centre.

I bought a life time "Gold Membership" to Bally's when I was living in the US and paid the Membership in full (no renewals) Once I move to Canada I was disapointed to not be able to work out at Ballys, but was happy to know that with my lifetime membership I could use any Bally's in the US which was great since I do travel there for leisure and business. I was blown away when I actually traveled back to my hometown and my home Club wouldn't honour my lifetime membership due to the fact that I didn't renew. I tried to explain the no renewal in the Gold Policy and was handle some excuse that the membership types had since change...blah blah blah. The worst part of the ordeal is that I actually had worked for them! I would never lock into a membership that took any CC info or wanted to monthy debit my accounts.

Isn't if funny how the people who complain abiut gym memberships never seem to mention the fact that the reason why they went in the first place was to become fit. If leading and active and healthy lifestyle is important to you and having a membership at a gym is part of that picture then it is incumbent upon the person to follow through with that plan. Whining about fine print is simply a way of saying I can't handle staying healthy. There may be a few people with circumstances that put them into a difficult situation, but my experience in the health club industry both as a memeber (28 years) and employee (22 years) has been excellent. I find that most persons who give up on gym memberships are looking for quick fixes, lack motivation and are basically quitters at most things in their life that require effort and the discarding of old habits. I'm sure there will be people who read this and get upset, but the simple solution is to live a healthy lifestyle and should you choose to join a gym, understand that bad habits take time to change. You may have spent 20 or more years doing the wrong thing. You will need time and patience to teach your body and mind to accept the right thing.

Good luck - and keep active.

I had a membership in the Club Fit of Calgary and when they closed their doors in Calgary continued to draw membership dues from my accounts claiming that they still had facilities open in the province in Edmonton which closed a few months later.

I wish I would have done more research before signing up for a "one-year" "membership" with Golds in Calgary. After one year I assumed my membership expired unless I renewed it. Not the case. I was informed I had a membership "for life". You have to give 3 months notice, in writing, to a non-existent headquarters. The managers and staff all fed me the same scammer rhetoric. After finally waiting out the notice period and believing to have successfuly cancelled my membership I discoverd months later I was still being billed through a third party out of the states. I am 100% turned off of gyms. Will never step foot in another Golds again. I agree that gyms are a complete rip-off. From now on, I will go to studios without contracts for yoga, and work-out at home or in the great outdoors.
READ THE FINE PRINT..or better yet, DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING!

Greg: I cannot believe that you actually posted what you posted. Who are you anyway???Are you devoid of reason.. Ask yourself this ONE important question, "Why the fine print?" If everything's above board. Give your head a shake we live in a free society with the ability to choose being one of the perks. The dribble you posted about the excuses "can't handle staying healthy" is the mark of a person that may have had one too many steriods. I can't believe some people... Greg..... the subject is gym rip offs ..not whether you think everyone should be involved in a gym and/or being healthy or not.

greg sounds like one of the sales people at a gym. its fine and dandy to work at a gym and travel 2 feet to excercise after work but some people have differing work schedules and travel to other places in the world for extended work periods! others have sickness in their family or have any number of UNEXPECTED things happen in their life. If a gym is no longer providing a service for someone, wether or not "they cant handle staying healthy", then the right thing to do is not bill them for that un-used ( or un-served) service. FYI the contracts are there because they know most people cant maintain a regular gym schedule for a year but they still want a years worth of money. Its classic sleaze and at the end of the day they want profits and dont give a crap whos healthy and whos not. Gyms, cc companies, banks, insurers, pharmaceutical companies : congrats you are the scum of the earth! Hope you sleep well at night!

I won't mention the name of the club but when I became a member, I would only pay by cheque (in advance) for 6 months and when it came time for renewal paid them again by cheque. No direct withdrawal. No credit card. Just payment up front. If I happen to get sick or get moved...too bad on my part depending how far you are into the 6 months.

That was the only way I would join. Any other way you are at your peril.

BTW: They always seem to demand payment every two weeks. That way they can squeeze an extra two payments out of you. Instead of 12 payments, one for each month, you are actually paying for 13 months (26 payments).

I walk now outside and swim now at the local city pool. A lot cheaper and you pay as you use it not as a member.

I decided to go to a gym in Calgary about a year before I was married, with the intent of getting into better shape before the wedding. The gym I went to gave the option of signing into one, two, or three year contracts, or you could pay an extra $100 up front, and cancel at any time. I took the latter option, thinking it would be best not to have to worry about being stuck in a long term contract. Sure enough, after the wedding finances got tight and paying off the bills from the wedding made it difficult to pay the monthly fee. So, I went into the gym to cancel the membership, thinking that when my fincances were back in shape, I'd just go back. Unfortunately, my last automatic withdrawal payment bounced due to a lack of funding, so I technically owed the gym about $45, which I intended to pay off at the end of the month. The gym refused to cancel my membership,stating that they could not do so until I had paid off the amount owing. So I filled out the cancellation forms, and they said they'd hold them until my account was paid off. I returned a few weeks later after the payments all came out of my account, and they had conveniently "lost" the cancellation forms I had filled out. One problem after another got in the way of cancelling, and I ended up having to go into my bank to block the automatic withdrawals from them.

All I can say about those gyms now, is that if they feel the need to lock you into rediculous contracts then clearly their policies or perhaps their gym itself, is not worthwhile. If their facilities were so great as they advertise, then they shouldnt have to fear clients deciding not to stay.

I have been ripped off by gyms before, but I kept coming back to keep fit. You dont need a gym!!! You can work out at home. If any of you live in an apartment, no problem...I used to live in one to and you can fit a great bench and weights in there. With some research you can exercise and develop every muscle group. Cardio? Run outside, or take the stairs in the apartment - I did every day, 11 floors - I even brought my groceries up the stairs. I eventually moved out to the countryside and could no longer afford the crazy montlhy gym fees and fuelling up my truck to drive to the 35 km to the nearest gym so I went on Kijiji and E Bay, found a great universal gym and threw that in the garage. No excuses. You dont need a gym. Gyms are for egos. 30 or 40 a month is a lot of money no matter how you slice it. Just think for yourself - your life is in your hands, you dont need a gym - and besides the people in the gyms are rude, smelly, foul, sweaty and aggressive! ;)

I had a close friend sign up at a gym in hamilton. Her personal Trainer sexually assaulted her in his office. She called the police and had him charged. She told the club owner that she no longer felt comfortable working out at the gym and needed to cancel her contract. He refused to allow her to do so because they had another branch in the city that she could take advantage of. Even after being charged the Personal Trainer still worked at the gym and they forced payments out of her account until she was forced to close it. She had been put into collections because of this.

most gyms also have the option of transfering your membership to another person.
You go with the other person to the gym and sign it over, there is usually a fee to do this(was $70 at Club fit), but it is much cheaper than signing up for a new membership and paying those fees, you have the person taking your membership pay the fee, but this is something personal you arrange and the only thing the gym does is the ransfer for you.

P90X int he comfort of your own home and all you need is a TV, DVD Player, a set of dumbells and a pull-up bar. Way less expensive than a gym membership, and results that are just as good (or better) if you've got the motivation to keep up with the program.

I joined Club Fit in Edmonton. When my membership expired they continued to withdraw monthly contract fees and even increased the contracted amount. Same BS as all the above (except for the moral juggernaut Greg, give your head a shake, on second thought, I'm sure you've dealt with more than a few concussions in your life, nevermind). The best way is to call the bank and have them stop the withdrawls. Tell the gym to take you to court, it's not in their best interest, and send back any of their mailings.

Greg: Of course being healthy is an important goal, but signing up to a gym shouldn't have to turn into lifelong commitment forced onto someone by shady business practices. The last time I checked, we live in a democracy where people can make choices and just because someone cancels a membership doesn't mean that they are unhealthy, quitters, or lack motivation. Maybe they prefer to work out in different ways; taking classes or just doing it on their own. But I guess 22 years as a gym employee has brainwashed you into a cult-like mentality, heavy-handed tactics and narrow opinions. Try working out your mind in addition to your body.

I signed up for a membership to CLUBFIT in Edmonton for myself and my girlfriend. This was a new gym and was prety good. After a couple of months we moved to the other side of town and the club fit nearest us was a dump. Most of the equipment was broken down, and it was over crowded all the time and there was never any parking. It became more of an ordeal than anything just to get a workout. I figured there was only a couple more months left on the contract so I would let it slide and look for somewhere else to train. I contacted the manager of the clubfit branch that I signed up at and was told there would be no problem after our memberships expired. Imagine my surprise when I saw my account still being charged 2 months after the contract was up. I again contacted the manager and was told I had to cancel my "expired" membership in writing at the branch that I signed up at. Fine. I wrote a letter stating that we were canceling our memberships and drove across town to deliver to deliver it in person. I parked outside the door and my girlfriend went in to give it to the manager. When she came outside and told me that they wouldn't accept the letter and that we could not cancel our memberships I snapped. I totally lost it. I went inside to talk to the manager. They started with a run around about why this and why that but I would have no part of it. I started yelling loud enough for the whole gym to hear me and I told them very colorfully what a crummy dump of a gym this was. it didn't take long for a crowd to gather and then they said sorry and cancelled our memberships. What a joke.
All of these national chain "gyms" are the same. I would never set foot in another one. The people who sell memberships are no better than the shadiest used car salesmen. They sell as many memberships as they can with no regard for the actual capacity of the gym. They actually count on the people who will buy a membership and never show up to train. I have been training for over 20 years and have trained in some of the best facilities and some of the worst. When I pay for a membership I use it. I have found that the best places are neighborhood gyms. They will usually let you pay monthly, but give a better deal if you sign for a year or longer.