Lucille Roberts Over Charged My Account, Would Not Honor orignal cancellation New York, New York

I joined Lucille Roberts in September 08 with a 2 year contract. Due to physical limitations, I could not use most of the equipment there and after only a few visits, I stopped going due to my health issues. However, in good faith, I continued to pay my monthly fee of $21.80. Before the end of my contract I called their number to make sure that my account was canceled. I could never get anyone on the phone. Sometimes, I was put on hold and then the call was terminated. I also called my local branch but I was told that I had to call the main office to cancel.

After many futile attempts to reach them, I emailed customer service to tell them that my contract was up and for them to stop billing my credit card. I did not get a response but my credit card was still being billed. I disputed the charge with my credit card three times and they reversed the charges. At no time, did Lucille Roberts contact me to tell me that my account had not been canceled. Finally after the last billing I checked on their website which had been revamped (finally) and saw a place to cancel.

However, now I received a bill in my email of $102.70. Even if they charged me for the 3 months before they accepted my cancellation, the amount should only be $65.40. A common courtesy reply to my original email would have cleared up the problem and I would not be subjected to threats by a collection agency. I called Lucille Roberts again and I almost fell off my chair because I finally got an answer after only a few moments. I was told that the contract I signed was a self-renewing contract and the only way I could cancel was by sending them a letter.

However, that is not entirely true since I canceled on their website. Plus, if they could send me a bill by email, why couldn't they accept my cancellation request by email? It appears that the numerous complaints against Lucille Roberts have resulted in some improvement in their customer service department. However, I would recommend that before you sign any gym membership, you should do your due diligence and check online for any adverse comments against the gym. You will save yourself a lot of headache and money.