Premier Fitness, Premier Ladies Fitness, National Fitness Misrepresented details of agreement & become verbally agressive when I went back to try to sort it out Miamisburg Ohio

I was apparently the lucky "grand prize" winner in a drawing at the local movie theater.

I went in to claim my free month of workouts and services worth $200 - was lead to believe that would include working out with a personal trainer.
When I got there, I started getting the "sell." This included the question "which parts of your body do you want to work on" asked about 6 times. Each question was met with no specific part, I just want to work out and lose weight. It was like he was trying to push me into giving him a part of my body that I thought was insufficient. I got a little annoyed at this.

Then he told me how the owner (at this time, being relatively new to Ohio, and until finding this site, I thought it was a locally owned club with just 5 gyms - which I why I listened to the pitch - thought they might actually have some values) so he tells me the owner is a Christian.

Now in the year I have been back in the midwest, I have heard that a couple of times and I have learned that you better watch your back when someone plays the Christian - aka - trustworthy card... it means look out I have to cover for some bad stuff I am doing so if I tell you I or the owner is a Christian, well that makes us trustworthy. A real honest person, Christian or otherwise, does not need to use such "cover" tactics.

He then gave me an offer that was very attractive. Just under $34 for a 2 person membership and my $200 grand prize could be put toward the $250 sign up fee, so it would just be $50 to sign up and then just under $34 per month. First payment of $34 not due until a month from now.

No mention of a $19.98 ANNUAL fee to pay for cleaning and equipment repair. No mention of the $5 fee for the membership cards. Now these are not big fees, but in the hour+ I sat having him hard sell me, you'd think it would have come up...

So, I already had some red flags going off, but frankly I was tired and worn out by his hard fast talking approach. He told me that I could suspend the account at any time, and that I could cancel with 30 days notice. He also said that IF I had the account 3 years from now, my rate would renew at $15 per month.
Well, he handed me the contract, sorry, "agreement" he was adamant this was an agreement and NOT a contract. It had a few things prepinted on it like the $5 card agreement, which I mis-read as the $50- reading quickly and wanting to be on my way (and knowing that story about winning a grand prize was just that, but was prepared to let that slide). It also had some figures in the "installment" area, but I was not agreeing to any kind of an installment plan, so I did not pay too much mind to it.

Well, when he came back into the office, he handed me a sealed white envelope with my copies inside. I had attempted to read the contract before signing it, but he kept interrupting me and at one point even offered to read it to me. He took it away to fill it out and then came back with the envelope.
Apparently the strategy is to exhaust the prey and then take advantage of their mental exhaustion.

Well, I got home, got the reading glasses out, opened the envelope and found that he had filled in several boxes on the form and the contents he wrote down did not reflect our conversation.

I then read the contract start to finish even, the 7 pt grey type on the back side.

No where did it contain language regarding the ability to freeze or put the membership on hold. No where did it state I could cancel with 30 days notice --except in the area that spoke of the month to month that would start when this contract (not agreement) expired.

It was a promissory note committing me to basically paying them $1200 and having the right to come to the gym for 36 months as a result.

Well, we talked about a whole different ball of wax. He told me that I was not obligated to a 3 year contract and that was just the basis for the $34 per month price he was able to offer me.

It stipulated the type of clothing that men were allowed to wear and what women were allowed to wear. Now, it did not say "appropriate athletic attire" or "workout clothing". It said, and I am directly quoting:


"4. Exercise clothing: Leotards and leg tights or shirts and shorts are required for women. Men are required to wear gym shorts with a shirt, or sweat suits. No black soled shoes will be allowed on the courts. No other type of clothing will be allowed without approval of the club manager."


WHAT?????????????????? Why are women require to wear tights and a leotard as the sole option to shorts and a shirt when men get to wear a sweat suit as their option?

As a woman I have to get special permission to wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt to work out at a place I am paying to work out at?????????
So, less than 36 hours later (earlier today) I went back in to see him. There was another poor lady in his office, so I waited in the entry area.

I chatted with one of the personal trainers who relayed to me that she was not a certified trainer, but had been working at the gym for x years and knew how to train people on using the equipment properly. I am sure she did. However, she did not provide the typical personal training of staying with you during your workout.

Come to find out, to get the personal trainer that was played up on the phone, I would have to pay the company that subcontracts with the gym. The clubs included trainer simply shows you how to use the machines. They do not actually work with you at your work out sessions doing the normal things a "personal trainer" does, like encouragement and staying with you and focused on you. It was yet another misleading component.

So, he was finally free (I had declined an offer to discuss the problem with the GM as my ethics dictate that I sort out any confusion directly with the party responsible. If I am not able to sort it out, I then go to their immediate supervisor.)
So, my salesman comes to the desk, I tell him I have some questions about the terms and ask if we can sit down in his office. He declines going to his office, stating he has training clients waiting on him. (He had just said hello to 2 people who had walked in and was referring to them.) They were waiting on him and he just didn't have time at the moment to go sit down.

I said ok and proceeded to bring up a few points such as his having filled out the promissory note section (complete with interest payments), the $1200 commitment instead of a $34 month deal with the right to cancel. (I had even likened it to the way Netflix operates during our conversation the previous day.) I also made a comment about the unusual clothing stipulation in the contract and he dismissed this as being unimportant. (On its own I might concur, but in light of all the other issues it was just one more weird thing.)

He told me the price was guaranteed for 36 months. I said, that is not what this contract (and they do have contract written on the document) says. The contract says I am committed to paying $1200 over 36 months. I also asked him to show me the language about the freezing/suspending option because I could not find it. I produced my copies from my pocket. He told me he couldn't because it wasn't on there.

BUT, it WAS available and could be used for up to 6 months.

He started trying to tell me it was a guarantee like I was an idiot and did not know what a guarantee was. So, still standing at the reception desk, I proceeded to tell him Verizon is offering internet service for $17.99 guaranteed to never go up. That means they cannot raise the price for that service, ever. It DOES NOT mean I am committed to purchasing it forever.

At this point (about 5 minutes into it) he suggested we step into his office. He left the door open and did not go to sit at his desk. He then started asking me what part I did not understand, and he started to become a bit verbally agitated. I said I have told you how this written contract differs from what we verbally discussed.

Now, my contract copy has a form number and date in the lower left corner OH8558 05/09A* - now, I used to print forms, letterhead and such back in the early 80's and I know that means the form is specific for Ohio and was revised in May of 2009. So, the form is what, 2 months old and does not reflect this option? It also has a weird clothing stipulation that looks like it was from 1983?

In his office I said to him that I understood as a fitness expert he probably did not have to take contract law classes, (referring to the previous day when I told him I had gone to graduate school in business.) but that if something is written on a signed document that it is enforceable and what he verbally tells me one on one isn't going to get anywhere with a signed document that does not include such special provisions.

At this point he got much more aggressive than a person who was not intending to deceive would have. In fact, had there genuinely been a mis-communication, he should have been HAPPY to try to sort it out.

I had suggested that we just cancel this document and I would come in a few days later since he had training clients waiting for him, and we could sort it all out.

I had wanted to end up with the deal we discussed and would have even agreed to contracting to pay them $400 for twelve months as a middle ground to the situation.

But he whipped out a piece of paper (a fresh copy of the one he used with me the previous day) and went back into w"hat part didn't you" understand. Well, at this point I was getting pissed at his condescension to me and I just wanted to leave, canceling the contract within the legally provided 3 business days.

I again repeated I wanted a document that provided written confirmation of the deal we verbally discussed. He kept on asking me what I did not understand.

I said, you have people waiting on you and I don't want to infringe on their time with you. Let's just cancel this one and I will call you and come back in a few days and we can work it out. He responded with something I cannot recall now.

I then signed both the front and back cancellation notices and dated them. I again told him I just wanted him to sign the cancellation and we could work it out when he had more time.

He made some comment about how nice I was yesterday and something about not being nice today - I don't recall exactly what he said. Because I was getting really impatient and ticked that he was refusing to sign the cancellation.

I then said, are you refusing to sign the cancellation on the form?

Well, he became physically agitated and stood up and went to the side of his desk to walk out. I told him at this point I intended to cancel and if he wouldn't sign it, I would seek someone else. In a very aggressive physical move, he signed the form, and with great force and movement, ripped the copies apart and slammed the pink one on the desk in front of me.

Well, I had also told him I would expect the white copy of the form, showing the cancellation, to be returned to me within the legally required 20 days. He informed me he did not have the white copy.

I asked him to sign on the second cancellation section (on the other side of the form) and he was livid. He finally did sign and stormed out of the office huffing.

I WAS STUNNED.

Then, I come home to find all this stuff on an international chain with a horrific history.

I now know I am going to really have to put herculean effort into getting the membership canceled appropriately and ensuring the funds are returned.

I have contacted the local TV news station that does a Turn to 2 for these types of abuses. I am now going to email the reporter and tell them that this is a huge problem in the USA and Canada

Wow. The thing is, the facility was attractive and had good equipment. If they would just use ethical business practices, they would actually end up doing much better.

Now I am going to tell this story EVERY chance I get.

Bad PR for many years to come.

Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
U.S.A.