Gym Issues

[PearlM3]

Hey all,

So, I cancelled my membership at Premier fitness last October, thought everything was all good until mid april when I received a letter from them stating that I owed them $50, and if I did not deal with it they were going to send me to collections. The next day I went in to the gym, dealt with the memberships lady and got a letter from her on gym letter head stating that my account was closed and that the balance should be $0. She called head office and dealt with it while I was in the office.

Fast forward a month and tonight I recieved a call from some company(called MTR) stating that Premier had sent me to collections. I told them that I had a letter stating that the account was at $0, and they told me that I needed to fax it to them. I will obviously do it first thing tomorrow when I get to work.

My question for you all is: have any of you every experienced anything like this and if so how did you deal with it? Is it worthwhile to retain a lawyer?

Thanks for all your help.

[Default User]

No point getting a lawyer just yet.
Once they get it, keep the fax transmittal showing it sent. Follow up 10 minutes later to make sure someone actually has it in their hand.
Then request a confirmation that they will clear the file faxed to you

[Noisy Crow]

I'd insist that they prove to you that 1) you owe Premier money and 2) they have a right to collect it. Otherwise I'd send them squat.

Read here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/h_ca02149.html
and here: http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Personal_Finance_Collection_Agency_Rights.aspx

[Soyabean]

I heard a couple of premier fitness stories like yours. My work is actually offering to pay 50/50 for the membership but i decided to not go for them. I'd rather go LA

[JaYson]

this is very very common with premier fitness and extreme fitness.
they're notorious for doing this, you're lucky. often what they'll do (if you have direct deposit setup) they'll continue charging your account for the membership even after you've cancelled. they've also been known to "quietly" accumulate charges, and then after 6months then you'll get a lump-sum charge from them for oustanding accounts, threatening to go to collections.

i know use to know someone that worked there, and they said its was common practice and was deliberate. you always have to get something in writing from them from the day you cancel, and always keep a copy (even years later)

[JStroke]

Premier has done this to me before. I will never go back, and I tell everyone else about it. We canceled, and they continued to charge a credit card. I called about 5 times without the manager calling me back, so I had to go in and pretend I had an appointment with him, so that they would send me into his office. His first offer was to stop charging, but give me 5 months "free" to use up the money they had taken. I had to scream my f****** head off at him saying I didn't want to keep coming to their crappy gym and I wanted the money back. It took a while but they did refund it.

[FoXy]

Ya this so sooo notorious of them... STAY AWAY people! Go to a gym that isn't all about money and pressure.

I go to goodlife and have never had a problem.

[kramr]

Same, I have a Goodlife membership and zero issues. My wife cancelled her membership and no issues whatsoever!!



Ya this so sooo notorious of them... STAY AWAY people! Go to a gym that isn't all about money and pressure.

I go to goodlife and have never had a problem.

[fini]

Sorry to hear! Premier Fitness is notorious for this.
Ex Employees have been interviewed to the effect of "I don't understand why customers were still charged. I know I filled out the cancellation papers, but the people upstairs just didn't process it"

This has been covered on CBC marketplace. FIGHT IT! Don't let these bastards take your money.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2011/biggymripoff/

[Cust0m]

Ya this so sooo notorious of them... STAY AWAY people! Go to a gym that isn't all about money and pressure.

I go to goodlife and have never had a problem.

Goodlife Fitness ftw. Been with them for 5yrs now plus what sold me is the ability to go to any Goodlife Fitness location in Canada (excluding private clubs). Your not just isolated to one particular gym location which means you can go to any location that is convenient for you. :thumbsup

[peterm15]

My friend tried to not renew her membership after 1 year cause she moved to bc. They told her the only way to cancel payments was to go there in person. She couldn't even send a friend. She got a lawyer to write a letter basically saying her contract was up and they had no right to continue taking payments, if they wanted her to be there in person to cancle it they would have to pay for her flight.
I WONT join a gym for that reason.
I'm not sure which gym it was but it was one that has been mentioned above.

[mazdabetty]

All gyms are scammers. Even goodlife. They just screwed me over recently actually by putting through an unauthorized transaction on my credit card... I love how they're quick to jump all over you when they need a payment but as soon as they f*ck up and do wrong they disappear and are nowhere to be found.

Better off paying month to month at a smaller gym. Lesson learned!!

[Booostin]

Premier screwed me over too. I signed up but eventually cancelled and they kept charging me for over 6 months worth of a membership and I never even used them once! I didnt even get a membership card so I went in to talk to the woman in charge of accounts. It eventually got to the point where I called her a bitch and told her the only reason she is driving a bmw is because she keeps scamming people... maybe she can upgrade soon lol.

[aris]

I go to goodlife and have never had a problem.

Same here..been going for 3 years and never had a issue..

[PearlM3]

Hey thanks for all the info, I have contacted the collections agency with my paperwork, and they are looking into it. As well I have filed a complaint with the better business bureau, and now I need to file a complaint with equifax so they can fix my credit.

[JaYson]

I was at System Fitness in the beaches, I had a membership for almost 2 years, cancelled it with no problem.

[p-o-g-i]

I had joined with SNAP Fitness back in December/ January timeframe.
In the last 3-4 months, I was hospitalized for a respiratory issue and broke my ankle..... (both instances resulted in me working from home for almost 3 months). Once the cast comes off my ankle, there will be extensive physio done at the hospital as I tore some ligaments as well. So with that said, I wanted to cancel my membership as I haven't gone since March/ April, and won't be going to the gym anytime soon.

It was a battle to get this done as they wanted so many medical documents (but i understand that is required).... but it's just the fact that they had no issues in terms of signing me up and taking my money, but when it came time to cancelling...... they made it extremely difficult.

[PearlM3]

Hey all,

So just thought I would update you all on this situation. After fighting with the gym and whatnot, and dealing with the collections agency which surprisingly were really great to deal with( I guess the commission on a $50 account is not enough for them to really care). I decided to just go ahead and pay the thing.I've checked with equifax and the collections agency has not reported it, and was guaranteed that it would not be. So it has not affected my credit. In the long run i'm sure I could take the gym to court and win, but honestly is a day off of work worth the $50.

The moral of the story is, DON"T join gyms!!!!!!

[Booostin]

Hey all,

So just thought I would update you all on this situation. After fighting with the gym and whatnot, and dealing with the collections agency which surprisingly were really great to deal with( I guess the commission on a $50 account is not enough for them to really care). I decided to just go ahead and pay the thing.I've checked with equifax and the collections agency has not reported it, and was guaranteed that it would not be. So it has not affected my credit. In the long run i'm sure I could take the gym to court and win, but honestly is a day off of work worth the $50.

The moral of the story is, DON"T join gyms!!!!!!

haha thanks for the update... glad you settled it without any violence :P

[woodsball_delight]

lol weak. I worked at goodlife, and my gf is a gm there.... so many horror stories with premier, no one wanted to give up their banking cause premier had screwed them. they tried the same shit with me.. actually exact same situation. i just went in with records of all my payments and they basically ripped up their crap.

[KVS17]

I bought a one year gold membership off my friend for premier, good thing about it is you dont have to give them billing info when registering. So, I guess I havent had any issues with them...yet lol..

[m_bisson]

I hate gyms. The YMCA has been my most trouble-free experience. They let me pay a full year in advance and if I cancelled they would refund the portion of the year that I had remaining, no questions asked. Only thing that sucked is the one here in Brantford is very small... I ended up signing up with The Athletic Club this year, and it's been crappy so far. Next year I'm not even going to bother with a gym, I'm saving up for a decent road bike and I'll be throwing studded tires on my MTB for the winter months.

My $1000 mountain bike (Norco Sasquatch) is 12 years old and I have only replaced the fork for about $500 and the shifters for $60. The rest is stock, except brake pads. Much better investment compared to a gym.

[KVS17]

Seeing how everyone hates Premier, does anyone go to the one in hamilton on Upper wentworth thats looking for a workout buddy? (no homo lol)

[bluemazda3]

LOL I cancelled my premier membership awhile ago.. I went to the Upper James location...

[KVS17]

dammit lol...

LOL I cancelled my premier membership awhile ago.. I went to the Upper James location...

[rick@garage16.ca]

enjoy this one

http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?51966-Wynn-Fitness-Keele&highlight=WYNN