Gold's Gym Deceiving Membership Renewal Practices

I had heard this from other people, but I didn't pay much attention to the matter.  Of course, I just fell victim to it myself.

When I signed up for a new memebrship in 2012, I asked for a 12-month contract. I also asked that the contract not be automatically renewed. I was told that, regardless, I was eleigible for a free six-month extension.

As planned, I stop using the gym shortly after my 12-month contract was up. But to my surprise, Gold's Gym began billing me after the 18-month period was up (12 + 6 free months).  I only realized tha just nowt.

When I called to dispute the issue, I was told that i signed for automatic renewal. Really?  What about my specific request to the salesperson at contract signing?  Did he trick me knowing that i was not going to sit around and read the fine print?  Who reads the fine print anyway?

To my knowledge, I am not the first one to fall victim to such a practce. It is clearly a deceiving practice. You get unexpectedley charged month-to-month and then it takes 30 days to cancel. In the meantime, the club pockets the money.