fitness works Fitness evolution rip off, sheisters, shady business practices, crappy customer service mesa Arizona

 so I joined fitness works/fitness evolution in april. They told me there would be $10 a month and an annual $40 membership fee in july. They also said that the membership could be cancelled or paused anytime, and no contracts. So a couple months go by and im getting bored of this gym, mainly because they don't have some of the ammenities that I like (punching bags, running tracks, etc.) And on july 10th I decided to go ahead and pause my membership because im not using it. The counterperson says they can only pause for military or medical leave. Then I saud okay just cancel it. Thecounterperson said the $40 annual membership is about to come out on the 15th, we usually require at least 5 days notice of cancellation, so just be aware that the fee might still be charged, but if you do get charged, just bring back in this cancellation form and we'll refund your money. So I said okay, and I also canceled my kids club membership as well. Well low and behold, on the 15th guess what comes out of my bank account, not just one $40 fee but two! They charged one for me and one for the kid's club too.

So obviously I was upset and called the gym. The girl on the phone told me to bring in my cancellation forms and they'll figure it out from there. I was at work so I had my wife bring them in and they told my wife the general manager would call me back. So while im.at work, I got a call from crystal davis, the general manager for fitness works. She said in a nutshell, no we are not going to refund your money becausec they are valid charges, you were told this in person and in writing when you signed your contract. Obviously I became very upset at this point, and I said that is a bogus policy and it is a grey area. They could make an exception considering that it was technically not within 5 days because I canceled it on the 10th which is exactly 5 days away from the 15th. Plus they shouldn't have charged an annual fee for the kids club anyway seeing as my daughter's not a member. So after bi*ing at her for a few minutes I demanded to speak with someone who would actually try to help me. She gave me the number to customer service and said they make the final decision. So I called them and spoke with a woman. I told her my situation and she then put me on hold, after about 3 minutes on hold she came back and told me the exact same thing the manager crystal told me. I demanded that she refund my money, otherwise I would tell my story to everyone who would listen. She basically gave me the run around and said I need to talk to the manager crystal, who just told me they were the ones to help in customer service.

I then asked to speak to a manager and she said there was no one higher than her and refused to transfer me to anyone else. I then hung up the phone out of sheer frustration. So I then called the gym back and asked for crystal, the operater said she's in a meeting but they would have her callme back. So a few hours later, I called back bbecause I received any call back, they said she had left for the day but would be back Saturday morning(which is today) so I call back today and asked for crystal, they said sure and put me on hold. I was on hold for almost 5 minutes, then I said screw it, I live right behind the gym so I walked up there while still on the phone. I walked to the gym all while still on hold, almost fir 10 minutes. I came in and the girl said she was sorry and forgot to transfer me, she then said that crystal wasn't there and that she'd be back monday. I told the girl that I think she's dodging me and passing the buck to other people. After I said that, the girl asks another employees, a well built and buff salesman to talk to me, I guess because I was intimidating her. I wasn't yelling or being rude but I could see how'd she be uncomfortable in that situation. The buff guy was not a manager of any type, he had no way of helping out with the situation, so I dont know why she sent him over anyway, but he said that he would pass my information along back to crystal and have her get back to me..AGAIN!

This is the kind of s* you deal with when you get membership with a gym that has "annual membership fees", they're money grubbing and sheisty, and will find any way they can to screw you out of money on the fringe of what's legal. I'm out $80 for a gym that im not even going to use. So, tell me, is this fair? I know it's technically "legal" but what's fair about double dipping two membership fees out of me then refusing to refund them because I canceled on the 10th instead of canceling on the 9th? I will never go to a gym that does annual membership fees again because if this, buyers beware of cheap gym dues because stuff like this is how they make the real money.