CLUB FITNESS- Membership contracts predatory, sales people will translate fine print incorrectly, gym continues to overcharge CARROLLTON Georgia

I am/was a customer of this gym. I was told by the guy who signed me up that it would not be a problem to bill me, as I do not allow direct drafts from my accounts. Much to my surprise, no bill showed up but my account got drafted.
I know he understood me, in our pre-contract discussion I told him a competing gym charged more to bill the customer. He gloated, "That's why we're taking their business."

So yes, other customers are unhappy with the dishonest way this club does business. I am one of those.

I am from Carrollton and have gone to Club Fitness for many years. They have a solid reputation in the community and is certainly the best gym around. ALL gyms have rules AND require a contract with restrictions and penalties for early termination. Unfortunately people who don't understand this, or who want to get out of their membership because they aren't getting what they want, get offended when it's time to pay up for breaking their commitment. No one likes those fees - but posting comments like this on the internet and using loaded words like "predatory" to make a business look bad is irresponsible and mean spirited. You should have understood what you were getting into or - like the previous comment said - paid the membership upfront. If you live in Carrollton GA and are looking for a gym - ask around. Club Fitness is really a great place with very nice people - including the sales staff. Neither myself or any of the people I know who are members have had any trouble like this at all.

I am from Carrollton and have gone to Club Fitness for many years. They have a solid reputation in the community and is certainly the best gym around. ALL gyms have rules AND require a contract with restrictions and penalties for early termination. Unfortunately people who don't understand this, or who want to get out of their membership because they aren't getting what they want, get offended when it's time to pay up for breaking their commitment. No one likes those fees - but posting comments like this on the internet and using loaded words like "predatory" to make a business look bad is irresponsible and mean spirited. You should have understood what you were getting into or - like the previous comment said - paid the membership upfront. If you live in Carrollton GA and are looking for a gym - ask around. Club Fitness is really a great place with very nice people - including the sales staff. Neither myself or any of the people I know who are members have had any trouble like this at all.

I am from Carrollton and have gone to Club Fitness for many years. They have a solid reputation in the community and is certainly the best gym around. ALL gyms have rules AND require a contract with restrictions and penalties for early termination. Unfortunately people who don't understand this, or who want to get out of their membership because they aren't getting what they want, get offended when it's time to pay up for breaking their commitment. No one likes those fees - but posting comments like this on the internet and using loaded words like "predatory" to make a business look bad is irresponsible and mean spirited. You should have understood what you were getting into or - like the previous comment said - paid the membership upfront. If you live in Carrollton GA and are looking for a gym - ask around. Club Fitness is really a great place with very nice people - including the sales staff. Neither myself or any of the people I know who are members have had any trouble like this at all.

I am from Carrollton and have gone to Club Fitness for many years. They have a solid reputation in the community and is certainly the best gym around. ALL gyms have rules AND require a contract with restrictions and penalties for early termination. Unfortunately people who don't understand this, or who want to get out of their membership because they aren't getting what they want, get offended when it's time to pay up for breaking their commitment. No one likes those fees - but posting comments like this on the internet and using loaded words like "predatory" to make a business look bad is irresponsible and mean spirited. You should have understood what you were getting into or - like the previous comment said - paid the membership upfront. If you live in Carrollton GA and are looking for a gym - ask around. Club Fitness is really a great place with very nice people - including the sales staff. Neither myself or any of the people I know who are members have had any trouble like this at all.

When it comes to this type of membership the best policy is to pay all the contract up front. If you have to pay monthly you cant afford it so dont do it!!!! If you pay up front make sure the paperwork has no Auto renewal policy. If it does you need to find out the period in which you have the option not to renew. Keep up with this date becasue if you dont you will have a nice shinny new contract to pay for. This is not only this club but any fitness club. This is the norm they want to make it hard to cancel. Also if you make paying up front your policy there is usually a discount and you have more leverage to force them into a 1 yr contract. When you pay monthly they have the upper hand and force you into a 24 month agreement.

This is the best policy to use to avoid costly collection activity that you again cant afford.

"Is this too complicated for you to understand?"

Apparently so. I'm not saying that the club is correct. This contract must have a cancellation policy on it somewhere (which is one of the first things you should look at in a notorious gym contract). I could see where a gym might want you to be liable for the entire amount of the two year contract, but if it's a two year contract, how can it suddenly extend to a third year if you want to cancel? Is that actually written on the contract? Even if it is, I have my doubts that a clause like that would hold up in small claims. I don't think they can make you liable for anything more than the original term of the contract.

As for relying on the representative's interpretation of the contract (which was my main point), you should poke around this site for awhile. It is chock full of folks who had a rep tell them one thing, then they signed a contract that said something completely different. By the time it gets to court, the signed contract is what takes precedence and it is unlikely that the company representative will voluteer that he misrepresented the terms.

" A REP REPRESENTS the gym, and therefore are required to convey
accurate information, otherwise what is the point? That comment
is truly absurd."

Is it absurd? The rep is required by whom to convey accurate information? He is not your attorney. Have you ever purchased a used car? Seriously, salespeople like this are trained to say whatever it takes to get you to sign on the dotted line. After that, the written contract takes precedence. Unless you have a video of the rep lying about the terms, you won't get very far contesting a contract on those grounds. Legally, it is best to disregard anything the rep tells you about a contract and go by what is on the paper.

I think you should take this to small claims court. If the gym is interpreting the contract the way you say they are, I think you have an excellent chance of winning.

Best of luck.

I DID read the contract, carefully in fact. I asked the manager to elaborate on all of it: just to be clear. Furthermore, when I spoke with the club after the fact about specific lines in the contract (renewal policies), they said "That's not what we meant. That paragraph refers to contracts in default and cancelled contracts". I was initially told that RENEWAL POLICIES refer to the options upon RENEWAL, not DEFAULT or CANCELLATION. So now instead of renewing for 12 months at my discretion, they are trying to charge me for 12 months for leaving the club. Is this too complicated for you to understand? Come on. I'm not stupid, nor am I offended by your implications at such. Gym contracts have been an issue for some time with little oversight, and I was fully aware of this when I signed the contract..... But I was made to believe that theirs was different.

BTW: "They are not bound by anything their rep says".... A REP REPRESENTS the gym, and therefore are required to convey accurate information, otherwise what is the point? That comment is truly absurd.

"I asked the sales manager to discuss ALL the fine print with me BEFORE I signed."

Unless the salesman also happens to be your attorney, what's the point? The whole idea behind fine print is that it overrules anything the sales rep says. They are not bound by anything their rep says, and you are bound to the terms and conditions of the written contract. If you can't be bothered with reading a contract, you probably shouldn't sign it. If the wording is so complicated that you can't understand what it means, then you certainly shouldn't sign it.