24 Hour Fitness ripoff charging me for time I'm not using, tricking me in spending 2 more months! Mountain View California

Van,

This is a common scam, and the other poster from CA is correct. It is an illegal practice for them to charge you a last month after cancellation regardless of what the contract says.

Keep in mind that any provision in any contract that violates any law is invalid.

File a dispute with your credit card company immediately.

Those contracts are poor business anyway. Think about it, why would anyone have to trap a customer? It is unethical. Just like cell phone contracts always getting renewed for no valid reason. Same scam. Trap a customer so they cannot leave when we give them poor service.

I work in a high end fitness resort (gym) that has over 4000 members in just one of our locations in the Bay Area. Just this year, we had to stop collecting last months dues because of a new law that passed. It is no longer legal for a gym to require a 30 day notice, no matter what the contract says. While the cancellation does have to be in writing, you could cancel on October 31 and if you specify that you want your last month to be October, they have to honor that. They cannot make you give 30 days notice anymore, and certainly cannot penalize you for not doing so. I would definitely fight this one, they are not following the law.

Your contract specifically states that you must provide 30 days WRITTEN notice to cancel your membership. Calling them breaches your end of the contract, as does giving less than 30 days. The instructions are clearly spelled out for convenience purposes so that people will not have cancellation uncertainties.