Boston Sports Club Keeps Charging Me |
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Before I moved out to California, I went through considerable effort to cancel my gym membership. It took many calls to finally get ahold of someone who could deal with accounts. After that, I had to give proof of the move, which of course, I didn't really a lot of since... I hadn't moved. They did accept my fiancee's transfer papers and I thought it was done. Yet, I look at my credit card and I'm still being charged.
So I guess I have to call them tomorrow. The only problem is that with the time zone switch, half of their day is over. I'm sure they won't have anyone who can help me until Monday. On Monday, I bet it will be pushed to Tuesday with some excuse and on and on. I'm now at the disadvantage of being 3,000 miles away.
Nothing is easy with this move.
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I called them this morning and it seems like they lost the paperwork for the move. As you have been able to tell, I was a little upset about it, so it was difficult to try to be polite. However, they got back to me quickly and professionally. Looks like I’m on my way to getting my money back.
I can see why they want some proof. I did sign a year agreement (though I’m not sure that was really explained to me, it could have been, but since I had no intention of moving it didn’t important). I think there’s a federal law to get you out of such agreements if you are moving. With gym memberships people often quit before they finish the third month, so they give a better rate for the 1/yr agreement over the month-to-month plan. It’s really not much different than cell-phones.
It seems ridiculous to me that you have to show proof of moving in order for them to cancel your membership. Why isn’t it sufficient to just telling them you want to cancel? I’m glad that you are getting your money back. I would consider writing a complaint if the sportsclub has a feedback page on their website or else use something like planetfeedback.com
I was thinking of mentioning the Friends’ episode. When I was told that the accounts’ person was in a meeting, I asked when she would be out of the meeting. The response was an hour or an hour and half. I said that I’ll call back in two hours if I don’t get a call first and if action isn’t initiated today, I’ll look to the state attorneys general. I ended up getting a call in about 12 minutes.
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about gym memberships, it’s that they’re not easy to cancel. The gym will do everything possible to go out of their way to make it inconvenient for you to cancel their membership. Everything from needing certain documents to having to deal with the “accounts” person who only seems to be at the facility at odd times during the day. Sometimes, they’re only at the facility a couple of days out of the week. It’s much more of a hassle than it should be. You know, there’s a great Friends episode about cancelling a gym membership. I’m sure some will know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. That’s enough for now.
[...] Lazy Man and Money, who will be hosting the Festival of Frugality next week, writes a brief post about how Boston Sports Club keeps charging him even though he’s moved and went through the pains of canceling in the first place. [...]
[...] Back in late October, I mentioned that Boston Sports Club kept charging me. I had figured it was over with the call that I made later that day. In fact, just last week, I got a check for the whole amount that they over-charged me. [...]
I am a very similar situation. We moved from GA to PA on June 1, 2007. Before we left we told them we were moving. No money was taken from our account in June or July. All of a sudden we were charged in Aug, Sept and Oct. We called to tell them we could send a copy of our new lease from here in Pa and they told us that moving didn’t matter. We didn’t provide them with 30 days written notice and so they will not refund us our money. The amount is $180!
I am in a very similar situation. We moved from GA to PA on June 1, 2007. Before we left we told them we were moving. No money was taken from our account in June or July. All of a sudden we were charged in Aug, Sept and Oct. We called to tell them we could send a copy of our new lease from here in Pa and they told us that moving didn’t matter. We didn’t provide them with 30 days written notice and so they will not refund us our money. The amount is $180!