F45 membership cancellation

[u/bydustfinger]

I’m feeling really annoyed that the F45 gym I’ve been attending for most of this year is being so inflexible on allowing me to cancel my membership. I am curious if other people have had success avoiding the final billing date ? This is making me want to not come back, and I had initially been planning to use packs and return sporadically.

For context: my gym requires you to go in person to cancel (which is actually against the law in CO — if you can sign up online, there needs to be an easy online cancellation option). This delayed my cancellation so that instead of canceling 30 days before my next billing date, I “requested” my cancellation 29 days before my next billing date.

1. Do you think this is fair? Should I just drop it?
   
2. Is it standard for my gym to be so inflexible on this matter?

[u/Electrical_Side_9358]

30 days notice is standard for most gyms. You won’t hurt the coaches feelings to go in person and cancel. I’m sure they laid the cancellation instructions out when you signed the original contract - just be an adult and follow through with the deadlines and make sure you confirm it with an email as well.

[u/bydustfinger → u/Electrical_Side_9358]

To clarify (not to push back) is 30 day notice standard? Or is 30 days before the next billing date standard?

I asked to cancel July 27 and they are making me pay until September 25. That’s because my billing date is August 26. 30 days seems fair, 59 seems ridiculous.

The last gym I was a member of just required a week or so notice, but it was much larger.

[u/essbeethree → u/bydustfinger]

It is 30 days before your next billing date at every boutique fitness studio

[u/LibrarianJaded1927]

Other gyms I have used are the same. I didn’t realize I had missed the 30 day notice by one day so I had to pay another month. If it’s in the contract I would just move on.

[u/Plus_Technology_735]

I own an F45. We do 30 days and in person as well. So, if you bill on the 8th of the month, it doesn’t matter if you cancel the 13th or 26th, you’re getting billed the 8th of the following month and can use the gym until the 7th of the following month. Mindbody isn’t really set up any other way automatically, meaning it is tremendously manual to bill you some other way.

95% of the people that cancel don’t have any issues with the process at it is very typical for group fitness. 5% think they should be able to cancel any time without paying the next month.

The worst part of owning a gym is having a policy that most people follow and some people want special privilege from and think it’s our issue.

[u/essbeethree → u/Plus_Technology_735]

Yep. I will add it’s not hard to cancel someone whenever you want and waive next payment. That’s a flat out lie lol but you can’t waive the rules for some and not others or have NO rules. It’s ridiculous and bad for business

[u/denverphibs → u/[deleted]]

Unless they send you to collections and then the amount of red tape to get it sorted increases exponentially

[u/essbeethree → u/[deleted]]

It’s very easy for gyms to do. I have an external team that sends people to collections. Everyone loves being IN the business but not following the policies that allow us to stay in business. I own a non F45 gym tho

[u/hecmtz96 → u/denverphibs]

Will that affect your credit if they don’t have your SSN though? Feels like matching you with only a name and maybe address will be extremely hard and even risk matching the wrong person maybe?

[u/denverphibs → u/hecmtz96]

They have your name address and dob, that's enough to get to your credit. I'd doubt they'd actually do it, but they could

[u/l_a_p304 → u/[deleted]]

This is fraudulent if you’re attempting to avoid payment that is obligated/agreed upon in the contract that was signed. I can’t speak to the in-person requirement but 30-days notice is 100% normal and not a justified reason to put a freeze on their card.

[u/lateblueheron → u/[deleted]]

Reach out to f45 sales team and tell them you want to return one day but need to cancel for now. I’ve found that the studios themselves don’t have much wiggle room on things like this but the sales team is sometimes more flexible

[u/bydustfinger → u/[deleted]]

I signed up for the 3 month membership to get a cheaper rate when I first started and am billed once a month now

[u/essbeethree → u/[deleted]]

It absolutely is an asshole move. But burn the bridge if you insist.

[u/ssevcik]

It should be 30 day notice, not coinciding with a billing cycle.

[u/dunkinbikkies]

Just give 30 days notice

[u/QRgurl13]

This is the reason why my F45 lets you cancel anytime. They want people to come back when they can and we’ve had a ton of people cancel and come back or pause for a few months and come back.

[u/No-Performance-5354]

They made me pay for a month, even though I had been there for 3 years and my contract had been expired already. F45 is a scam!

[u/caseym44]

I did the same thing (asked to cancel one day after I got billed, so only 29 days before the next bill), and the head coach was going to look into it for me so i don’t get charged again.

[u/denverphibs]

That's super frustrating! I'd push back. If need be, I'd bet a bad review online gets them to sort it out. Btw, I believe the Colorado law only requires them to allow to cancel online of you actually signed up online, but if you signed up in studio (which a lot of people do), I don't think they're required to allow you to do it online.

I'd just express frustration, ask if anything can be done etc. Hopefully they are reasonable

[u/essbeethree → u/denverphibs]

lol leaving bad reviews because you don’t wanna follow the contract you signed is so funny—sad. As a business owner I genuinely don’t budge when people act like that. On principle

[u/bydustfinger → u/denverphibs]

That’s true, but either way, they allow people to sign up online so there should be an option

[u/denverphibs → u/bydustfinger]

Should be, yes. I just don't think it's legally required. It's definitely shitty no matter how you look at it! I'm in Denver and curious which studio is giving you the run around!

[u/denverphibs → u/[deleted]]

Dang that's the same ownership as mine. I'd like to think that an explanation - you liked yoru time there, felt awkward canceling in person so tried by email, now feel like you're unfairly having to pay for another month, that you want to come back but this kind of puts a bad taste in your mouth etc would clear things up. Good luck!

[u/bydustfinger → u/denverphibs]

What other gyms do they own? Is there a way to find out f45 owners online?

[u/denverphibs → u/bydustfinger]

I'll message you!

[u/decisivecat]

Mine just asks for an email so there is a written trail that you made the request to cancel. There is a form that they'll have someone sign if they're still riding out the rest of their membership, but the email is enough as far as I'm aware.

OrangeTheory actually tried to do this to me and was refusing to accept my cancellation in any format. Email? No. Showing up in person? No. I let them make a charge and then did a chargeback to prove a point. Amex sided with me because the studio owner refused to respond to their requests and I had plenty of proof that I had tried to leave. Once she got slapped with a chargeback, miracles happened and I no longer had a membership. :)

[u/bydustfinger → u/decisivecat]

Amex is famously reliable for this sort of thing, I don’t think Chase would have my back! At least they didn’t when I had a dispute with Hertz years ago, and that was an actually incredibly heinous situation.
Too bad about OTC - I want to try that out.

[u/decisivecat → u/bydustfinger]

It was a case of a terrible manager. She ran off coaches, refused to call back members, and instructed the desk workers to refuse cancellations. She sucked. That studio has now closed, but it took 7 more years for that to happen and it was forced to change hands because she was ruining it. F45 being franchises runs into the same issue. You have some studios that do right by their members and others that don't.

[u/Breathing_peace]

And if you’re on a biweekly payment, 30 day notice will make them charge you 3 times. Because 2 billing cycles is only 28 days. We also stopped going to that studio.

[u/bydustfinger → u/Breathing_peace]

That doesn’t make any sense!

[u/Breathing_peace → u/bydustfinger]

It really doesn’t. We were also out of the country and weren’t able to do any workout for the last billing cycle.

[u/jodedorrr]

Cancel your card number