Private Workout Total scam with irrational policies Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Texas

I signed up for this thing based on an ad in a local newspaper--$66 Boot Camp, it said. Well, I got in there and the only employee on the premises explained the fine print. Like a fool, I signed up anyway. That was in January 2007. I signed up for the deal where you have to work out and log the details of it for 100 workouts in order to have them waive the $199 "initiation fee" or whatever they call it. My monthly fee was $20-something a month. Not bad, I thought. The diminutive woman who worked there showed me how to use all the equipment and how to fill out the workout log. (Later, I would learn that this is what they call a "session with a personal trainer.")

So I went every day for a while and then had an out-of-state work assignment that lasted several weeks; went back after that and then developed a severe pinched nerve under my left shoulder blade--actually, a recurrence of a pinched nerve, which I had indicated on the form where it asked for any pre-existing medical conditions or whatever. My acupuncturist and chiropractor recommended that I not lift weights or do anything strenuous involving my upper body. I called Private Workout and left a message asking what my options were, i.e., that apparently, for medical reasons, I needed to cancel my membership. After several days without a return phone call, I looked up the email address and sent an email to the same effect.

Two or three days after that, I finally received a reply from a woman named Edith, the office manager, saying I could pay $199 to cancel and I would have to do that 90 days in advance; or I could freeze my membership for $5.88 a month and return at any time. This was obviously a boilerplate email that she prepared for everyone who calls to cancel memberships from this ridiculous place. I wrote her back and asked, "Are these my only choices? I need to cancel for medical reasons and don't think I should have to pay $199 for that NOR $5.88 a month for something I cannot use." I never received a reply. Fast forward to April of this year when I learned that I would be relocating to El Paso. I went to the Private Workout Web site again, which lists El Paso as a location that's "coming soon." So I called Edith, waited three days without a reply, then emailed her asking about the El Paso location.

Bottom line: There is none. It is not under construction. Edith does not know when it will be constructed or might open. So I emailed her back saying that I was moving to El Paso and needed to cancel; once again, the same canned response as before. I contacted my attorney who said I would need to provide him a copy of my contract. Well, that was like trying to resurrect the Holy Grail. Edith claimed to have sent it by email three times. She would even send me emails with no attachments, then ignore me for three days. Finally, I called the location where I signed up (Las Colinas) and spoke with Robert, the branch manager. He said he had been "trying" to send me my contract for weeks. I asked him to read off my email address and he had it wrong--I mean, totally wrong, as in a hotmail address versus a gmail address. Then he made the ultimate mistake: He laughed. I told him in no uncertain terms that I did not think this was funny in the least. I also asked him for the name of the owner of the company. Robert reluctantly told me it is Patrick Kerwin, but quickly said he could tell me no more. I got the deep sense that many people have called this company with complaints. I made Robert read back my email address and I told him he had 10 minutes to scan and email my contract to me, or else I would track down Patrick Kerwin. Sure enough, here came the contract. I plan to send it to my attorney as soon as possible. This company cares nothing about health and fitness and only about money. All the testimonials on the Web site seem to be from people who work there.

Scott
Irving, Texas
U.S.A.